The Crucible Newspaper Project
This actual assignment can be accessed and WILL be submitted through the EDMODO site.
You are a member of the staff of the local newspaper in 1692 & the 1950’s. You have been very busy
lately because the town faces a historic crisis. The town is anxious to read the next edition of your
newspaper…
You will create a newspaper based on the important events that take place in Arthur Miller's play The
Crucible & The Red Scare.
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The newspaper will consist of a minimum of TWO pages.
The first page will consist of a minimum of 2 articles about 2 significant events in the story.
The second page of the newspaper will consist of a minimum of 2 articles about 2 significant
events that took place in the world during the Red Scare (1 MUST include an article on
McCarthyism or the Red Scare).
Each news story must be at least 150 words long.
After writing the minimum 4 articles (2 from events in the play + 2 from world history), create a 2 page
newspaper using the articles they have created. All articles in the newspaper must be typed.
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Also include a minimum of 6 graphics (pictures, drawings, charts, graphs, etc). The graphics
may be hand-drawn, computer-based clipart, photographs, images from the internet, etc.
All photos must have captions.
These graphics should include typical "space fillers" into the newspaper to add realism. Fillers
include things like advertisements, weather reports, cross word puzzles, an advise/gossip
column, etc. Make sure it is era appropriate for each page.
HELPFUL LAYOUT LESSONS AND ONLINE TEMPLATES:
Interactive Web-Based Newspaper Template
Downloadable Templates in Various Formats (Word, Illustrator, Photoshop, etc)
Templates for creating the newspaper: PiktoChart.com OR Lucidpress.com OR Google Extension OR Word file
Youtube Video Tutorials for MS WORD
NEWS STORIES FROM THE PLAY:
The Crucible is a 4 Act play. Students are expected to write at least 2 stories based on events from the
story. You may only use 1 story per act.
The stories should be based on the significant events from the play and from historical details. Flesh out
the minor details for their stories as you see fit. HOWEVER, as you write each story they must be true
to the historical record. DO NOT add/make up information that will significantly change how the story
actually unfolded in history. For example, the stories cannot say that aliens came down and kidnapped
Tituba -or- that John Proctor and Abigail Williams got married and lived happily ever after.
NEWS STORIES FROM HISTORY:
When searching for topics to write about from history, you may use a 10 year window of time (19461950’s). Any significant event that occured in the world during that time is fair game for a story, but of
course some events will be more interesting to research and will be easier to write about based on the
amount of information that is available, and one must be about McCarthyism /The Red Scare. The links
to the timelines at the bottom of this page may give you ideas.
A good way to gather information all in one place is to open a Word document and as you find info,
copy and paste it into that document. After you have gathered all of the information and details that you
want for your story ideas, email it/save it to a drive, etc. and use it as the basis for your ORIGINAL
articles. You cannot simply copy & paste a summary of an event that you found online. You must turn it
into an interesting NEWS ARTICLE.
NOTES:
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The timelines will most likely NOT provide you with enough information to create a news story.
Use the timelines to identify potential story ideas, then gather more information by using Google
or another search engine.
Remember, do NOT just copy information about a historical event from the internet and paste
into your "article" and believe that you are done. THAT is plagiarism. Among other things,
plagiarism will result in a score of ZERO for this project.
History Timelines online:
HISTORY EXPLORER - Just scroll down the page to find the years/events you find interesting.
(http://www.historyexplorer.net/?World_History_Timeline:1601_AD_-_1787_AD)
INFOPLEASE TIMELINE - Choose the century you wish to look at and then look year by year for significant
events that interest you. Some events listed in the timeline have hyperlinks that will take you to additional
information. (http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0777090.html)
HISTORY.COM TIMELINE - Select a century from the timeline at the top of the page and then select a
decade. Scroll through the list of important events found within each decade.
(http://www.history.com/wt.do?century=1600&decade=1650)
DIGITAL HISTORY - Move the gold slider at the bottom of the page and watch the map change as it adds and
takes away locations for important events in history. Move the slider to the time around 1690 and you will see an
orange dot appear on the map representing Salem, Massachusets. click on the Salem dot to get more information
on what happened at that time. (www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/timeline/timelineO.cfm)
CHRONOLOGIES - Enter the type of history you are interested in (General, Political and Military, U.S.
Cultural History, American History, etc) THEN enter the dates (years) you want to search.
(www.memorialhall.mass.edu/chronology/make_chronology.jsp)
HYPER HISTORY - A completely interactive timeline. View historical timelines that present famous people,
events, scientific discoveries, religious movements, political occurances, etc. When you click on the buttons to
the left of the page, the bottom of the page, or within the timelines themselves, information will appear on the
right side of the page. (www.hyperhistory.com/online_n2/History_n2/a.html)
CAMELOT INTERNATIONAL TIMELINE - View virtual timelines for anywhere in the world covering
2000 years of history. (www.camelotintl.com/world/europe.html)
ARTICLE EXAMPLE: Remember that you are supposed to be writing stories for a NEWSPAPER, which
means that your stories should include the important pieces of information that make up a news story (Who,
What, When, Where, Why, How). Be sure that the events you choose to write about would be considered
interesting/newsworthy for a newspaper to report on. Here is an example story. DO NOT copy this article
simply use it as a guideline.
STRANGE BOOKS AND STRANGE TIMES
It has been reported that a woman living in Salem, a Mrs. Martha Corey, has been reading strange books in
her house. Her husband, Giles, was overheard yesterday asking the Reverend Hale about the books and
what it might mean in light of the recent occurrences of witchcraft in the village.
According to Mr. Corey, "I have waked at night many a time and found her in a corner, readin' of a
book...Last night...I tried and tried and could not say my prayers. And then she close her book and walks
out of the house, and suddenly...I could pray again."
While this reporter could not get the Rev. Hale to confirm that this is a definite sign of witchcraft, he did
let Mr. Corey know that they would need to discuss this further saying, "Ah, the stoppage of prayer - that
is strange."
Neighbors of the Corey Family have confirmed that they, too, have seen Martha Corey reading books and
even, much to their horror, laughing as she did so. One person in particular who has known Martha Corey
since she was a young girl had this to say:
“Martha has always been nice, but strange. She has always had odd ideas in her head about things like
books and reading and education. Why, at some point she even told her parents that she wanted to go to
college! Can you imagine that? A woman going to college?! What good would that do her? Everyone knows
that a woman needs to know about raising a family and working along side her husband. College won’t help
her with that. So it doesn’t surprise me that she was seen reading. I wouldn’t be surprised if she was
mixed up in the witchcraft that has been going on as well.”
When this anonymous individual was asked to elaborate further on what she meant about Mrs. Corey’s
involvement in witchcraft, this person would not say anymore, saying she was afraid that Mrs. Corey might
send her spirit in the night to kill her.
The Crucible Newspaper Project Rubric
POINTS
20
Includes 2 or
more articles
which represent
Content/ important events
Knowledge from the play & a
(4 total articles) minimum of 2
articles that
represent the
time period well.
15
10
5
Includes 2 or
more articles
which represent
events from the
play & a
minimum of 2
articles that
represent the
time period.
Includes less
than 2 articles
from the play &
or less than 2
articles that
represent the
time period.
Missing articles
from the play or
time period.
Could have
chosen more
relevant events
or historical
events for
articles.
Layout
Visually
appealing.
Includes 2 or
more pages
including 6
graphics &
creative artwork
or other
advanced
features. No
unused spaces.
Somewhat
visually
appealing.
Includes 2
pages including
6 graphics &
artwork. No
unused spaces.
Somewhat
visually
appealing.
Includes some
artwork. Has
less than 2
pages or less
than 6 graphics.
Has some
unused spaces.
Not very visually
appealing.
Includes little to
no artwork. Has
spaces that
could be better
utilized. Missing
pages &
graphics.
Grammar
Grammar,
spelling,
punctuation,
capitalization are
correct. No
errors in the text.
All titles are
correct &
relevant &
engaging.
Includes few
grammatical
errors,
misspellings,
punctuation
errors, etc. that
do not distract.
All titles are
correct &
relevant.
Includes few
grammatical
errors,
misspellings,
punctuation
errors, etc. that
do distract/are
noticeable.
Some titles
could be more
engaging or
accurate.
Includes several
grammatical
errors,
misspellings,
punctuation
errors,
etc. Missing
titles, etc.
Fairly original,
creative. Could
have done more
with the time
that was allotted.
Could have
more “spacefillers”.
Not original or
creative. Did not
spend enough
time on project.
Uses little or no
“fillers”.
The story/article
seems to need
more editing. It is
noticeably too long
or too short in
more than one
section. Needs
more
development.
Missing some of
the who, what,
where, when, why,
how of story.
The article needs
extensive editing.
It is too long or too
short to be
interesting. Little
to no
development.
Missing a
significant amount
of the facts of the
story.
Creativity/
Originality
Somewhat
Original,
original,
creative, time
creative, time
appropriate.
appropriate.
Includes creative
Includes
“space-fillers”.
“space-fillers”.
Economy of
Language/
Writing
The story/article is
told with exactly
the right amount of
detail throughout.
It does not seem
too short nor does
it seem too long.
Good facts &
development.
Includes the who,
what, where,
when, why, how of
story.
The article’s
composition is
typically good,
though it seems
to drag somewhat
OR need slightly
more detail in one
or two sections.
Includes
development.
Includes who,
what, where,
when, why, how
of story.
Total Points
Evaluation
/100