Daily
Introduction
October 12 – October 13
Standard:
 Read the Overture
to Arthur Miller’s
The Crucible
 Reading Quiz
Next Class
Honors
 Read Chapters 4-6
in The Scarlet
Letter annotating
for Consequence
and Irony.
 Reading Quiz
Next Class.
Homework
Rationale
 Period 1: 38%
 Period 3: 25%
 Period 4: 24%
 Period 5: 18%
 Period 7: 14%
 Period 8: 23%
24% of you
answered correctly
76% of you
did not
My sister and her husband just
moved into a new home a year
ago, and dozens of homes are
still being built all around
them. This, indeed, is a perfect
explanation for the presence
of a scorpion in their
bedclothes. Scorpions hide
during the day and search for
food and water at night.
Arizonans will tell you that it’s
a good idea to refrain from
going barefoot in the dark,
both outside and inside.
If the author were to delete
the phrase “both outside
and inside,” the essay would
primarily lose a detail that:
a)
adds essential information
to the discussion of
Arizona.
b) is not particularly
necessary to the impact of
the essay.
c)
supports the reference to
the scorpions’ behavior.
d) adds an element of humor
to the essay’s theme.
This question tests your
ability to discern which
details are important to the
subject of an essay. In this
case, the author previously
mentioned that scorpions
can be found in the home,
and it is obvious that they
still live outside. The
underlined portion
reinforces the notion that
scorpions can be found both
inside the home and outside
the home.
This is why the best
answer is:
Acquiesce
Definition:
 To give in or go along with
Part of
Speech:
Verb
something without
protesting, even if you
don't really want to.
Synonyms:
 Accommodat
e
 Comply
 Concur
An example of acquiesce is
agreeing to go on vacation
to the mountains when you
really wanted to go to the
sea.
Standard
Objective:
SWBAT gain
background
knowledge of
Arthur Miller’s
“The Crucible” in
order to better
understand the
context of the
play.
SWBAT use direct
and indirect
characterizations
to describe the
main characters of
Nathaniel
Hawthorne’s,
“The Scarlet
Letter.”
Honors
Objective:
Standard
Introduction to The Crucible
Vocabulary
From The Overture
Definitions to Know…
 Villainous
 Wicked
 Ideology
 System of social beliefs
 Predilection
 Bias in favor of something
 Parochial
 Close-minded
 Perpetuate
 Make something last
 Perverse
 Stubbornly unreasonable
 Manifestation
 Acting of showing something
Salem in the 1600s
Salem
 Established 40 years
before
 Work ethic leads to
increasing economic
productivity
 No literature- seen as
“vain enjoyment”
 Holidays were a time
for worship
 Idle people sent to
court
Puritan Recaps
Puritan Attitudes
 Indians were
“heathens” who
could not be
converted
Theocracycombination of state
and religion, leaders
are divinely guided
 Intolerant of other
religions (even
though they were
persecuted)
 Belief that they were
“chosen”
Theocracy established
to maintain unity,
protect Puritan beliefs,
and enforce order
Historical Background
in The Crucible
Background
 Based on true events
 Some changes have been made,
but the characters and hysteria are
all true
 1692: Witchcraft hysteria begins in
Salem, Massachusetts
 Over the course of 8 months, 150
people were imprisoned for
witchcraft
 Overall, 27 people had been
convicted, 19 hanged, and 1
pressed to death
Background
In the 1600s, Puritans settled
on the East coast of the
United States. They brought
with them the hope of
religious freedom, but
instead became embroiled in
hysteria over the existence of
witches.
They had been persecuted in
their native England, but
they created a theocracy and
eventually persecuted others.
Historical Accuracy – via Miller
This play is not history in the sense in
which the word is used by the academic
historian. Dramatic purposes have
sometimes required many characters to be
fused into one; the number of girls
involved in the “crying-out” has been
reduced; Abigail’s age has been raised;
while there were several judges of almost
equal authority, I have symbolized them
all in Hathorne and Danforth.
As for the characters of the
persons, little is known about
most of them excepting what
may be surmised from a few
letters, the trial record, certain
broadsides written at the time,
and references to their conduct
in sources of varying
reliability.
However, I believe that the reader will
discover here the essential nature of one
of the strangest and most awful chapters in
human history. The fate of each character
is exactly that of his historical model,
and there is no one in the drama who did
not play a similar - and in some cases
exactly the same - role in history.
They may therefore be taken
as creations of my own, drawn
to the best of my ability in
conformity with their known
behavior, except as indicated
in the commentary I have
written for this text.
How did it start?
In 1692, several girls in the
village of Salem,
Massachusetts became
intrigued when a West
Indian servant told
them stories of magic
and voodoo from her
native land.
Bored and restricted by the
oppressive Puritan life,
the girls slipped into the
woods one night and
“conjured” love charms
and hexes.
One girl, Betty Parris,
slipped into
unconsciousness when
her father caught
them. She wouldn’t
wake up, and this
started the discussion
of witchcraft. To avoid
punishment, the girls
created the story of the
“witches” who made
them dance and
conjure the spells.
Witch Hunt
Those accused of being
witches were most often
found guilty. Sometimes they
were sentenced to be tied to a
rock dunked in a pond, and
if they sank, they were
declared innocent. Innocent.
If they somehow survived the
dunking, they were obviously
witches, and they were
executed.
Most of those found guilty of
witchcraft were hung.
One man was pressed to
death with rocks because he
refused to plead guilty or
innocent, insuring that his
sons still inherited his lands.
Additional Background
It began as a way for the oppressed
girls to avoid being punished.
Most of those accused of
being witches were women.
It then became an ideal way to get
revenge on anyone whom you
disliked.
Many were healers, and used
plants to heal people.
People started accusing their
neighbors of being witches so
they could steal their farmland.
Many were without family,
and this made them easy
targets.
People accused others of being
witches if they wanted to steal
their husbands or wives or
possessions.
They were people who did
not fit in with the
mainstream for some reason
Character List
Thomas Putnam
 Turned down as a minister
 Daughter, Ruth, “afflicted”
 Wife lost seven of eight
children
 Resentment felt toward
village
 Parris is a wormy little
character.
 Miller says in his notes that he
found nothing redeemable
about the historical Parris. As a
result, he evidently felt no need
to make his fictional version
any better.
 First of all Parris is greedy.
 The Reverend gives weak
justifications, but never denies
any of the accusations.
 Very concerned about his
reputation
 Son of the richest man in
village
Reverend Parris
Protagonist vs Antagonist
John Proctor





Farmer in mid-thirties
Reveals hypocrites
Has an affair with Abigail
Williams
Proctor was a stand-up guy who
spoke his mind.
Around town, his name was
synonymous with honor and
integrity. He took pleasure in
exposing hypocrisy and was
respected for it. Most importantly,
John Proctor respected himself.

Abigail is vengeful,
selfish, manipulative, and
a magnificent liar.

This young lady seems to
be uniquely gifted at
spreading death and
destruction wherever she
goes. She has an eerie
sense of how to
manipulate others, to
gain control over them.
All these things add up to
make her a marvelous
antagonist.
Abigail Wiliams
Static Characters
Reverend Hale




Considered and expert in the
ways of the Devil
Called to Salem by Reverend
Paris to investigate
This guy has trained and
trained to be the best witchhunter ever, and he's psyched
to finally get a chance to
show off his stuff.
Though he's probably a little
full of himself, but
ultimately his goal is to
valiantly fight the Devil.





Often blamed for hardships
In his eighties
Giles Corey is a strong old man
and has only recently converted
to Christianity. He's likeable, but
is not too bright.
His biggest bumble in the play is
when brings up the fact that his
wife reads strange books.
To Giles, any book is strange
and the idea of a woman
wanting to read totally blows his
mind. His mention of this fact
leads to an accusation that his
wife is a witch
Giles Cory
Stock Characters
Goody Putnam
 Lost seven of eight
childern in infancy
 Convinced the Devil
took her children
 Resents Rebecca Nurse
 Reverend Parris’s slave
from Barbados
 The first one to confess
to witchcraft
 Conjures spirits with the
girls in the woods
Tituba
Key Themes
Hysteria
Intolerance
Tragic Hero
Revenge
Puritan Ethics
Reputation
Homework
Read
 Full Text of Arthur Miller’s
“An Overture” from Act One
of The Crucible
Reading Quiz
 Topic- Full Text of Arthur
Miller’s “An Overture”
from Act One of The
Crucible
Overture
Quiz
Reading
of ACT 1
Honors
Characterization and Symbolism within
The Scarlet Letter
Summary/ Analyses
Chapters 1-3
1.
2.
3.
A crowd of men and women assembles
near a dilapidated wooden prison. The
narrator remarks that the founders of
every new settlement have always
sought fist to build a prison and a
graveyard. He adds that this particular
prison was most likely built upon the
founding of Boston and describes
prisons as the "black flower of civilized
society.”
Next to the prison door stands a
blooming wild rose bush. The narrator
imagines that perhaps the rose bush
grows in such an unlikely place to offer
comfort to prisoners entering the jail
and forgiveness from Nature to those
leaving it to die on the scaffold.
The narrator describes the rose bush as
sitting on the threshold of the story he
plans to tell. He then plucks one of the
rose blossoms and offers it to the
reader. He describes the gesture and the
blossom as a symbol of the moral that
the reader might learn in reading his
"tale of human frailty and sorrow."
Chapter 1
1.
Prisons are a "black flower" because
though they are meant to punish sin
(represented by the color black in the
novel), they would not exist without
sin. Prisons feed on sin in order to grow.
2.
The prison, a "black flower," contrasts
with the beautiful rose bush, which
grows naturally. The prison punishes,
Nature and the rose bush forgive.
3.
The Scarlet Letter's moral is that people
must accept and forgive their own and
other people's worst qualities. To deny
those qualities, as the Puritans do, is to
deny one's identity.
1.
2.
3.
The crowd outside the prison grows
restless waiting for Hester Prynne to
appear. The faces in the crowd are
grim, yet familiar, since Puritans
gathered often to watch criminals be
punished. The narrator says that the
Puritans considered religion and law
to be almost identical.
Some of the Puritan women waiting
outside the prison say Hester
deserved a harsher sentence. One
states that Revered Dimmesdale,
Hester's pastor, must be ashamed that
a member of his congregation
committed such an awful sin.
Another says that Hester should have
been executed for her sin.
Hester exits the prison holding a three
month-old infant. The prison guard
puts a hand on her shoulder, but she
shrugs him off and goes out alone,
with "natural dignity," looking proud,
radiant, and beautiful.
Chapter 2
1.
Puritans, like the prison, are
supposed to hate sin, but seem to
thrive on it. They gather with a kind
of grim fascination to watch sinners
get punished and even executed.
2.
The comments about Hester paint the
Puritans as cold and harsh. The
mention of Dimmesdale's shame
foreshadows his association with
Hester and her crime.
3.
In contrast to the crowd, Hester, the
sinner, is natural and beautiful. She
faces the crowd alone, as an
individual.
1.
2.
3.
On her chest Hester wears a scarlet
letter "A," affixed with beautiful
embroidery that strikes some
women in the crowd as
inappropriate. The narrator
describes the letter in detail, noting
that its "fertility" and "gorgeous
luxuriance" pushed it beyond the
Puritans' boundaries of acceptable
dress.
Hester is tall, with a head of dark
glossy hair, and a beautiful face with
deeply set black eyes. She has a
lady- like dignity, which the narrator
says never was more powerful or
beautiful than when she emerged
from prison.
As the crowd stares at Hester, the
crowd focuses on the scarlet letter,
which transfixes everyone. The letter
sets Hester apart, enclosing her in "a
sphere by herself" outside the
watching crowd.
Chapter 2
1.
By embroidering the letter,
Hester transforms a badge of
shame into a symbol of
individuality. The narrator
connects the letter to nature with
the word "fertile."
2.
Hester's appearance again
contrasts with the drab Puritans.
Despite her sin, or perhaps
because of it, she is a vibrant
individual.
3.
The letter isolates and
distinguishes Hester. In a sense,
it defines her identity.
1.
2.
As part of her punishment, Hester
must stand before the crowd on the
scaffold for several hours. Her walk
to the scaffold is inwardly agonizing,
though Hester never reveals her
suffering. The narrator observes that
once upon the scaffold, the beautiful
Hester took on the image of "Divine
Maternity," and yet her beauty also
had the "taint of deepest sin."
Governor Bellingham, a judge, and
other officials observe the
"spectacle" of Hester's punishment
on the scaffold. The crowd, aware of
the presence of authority, remains
serious and grave. Hester feels the
urge to scream at the crowd and leap
off the scaffold, but she restrains
herself.
Chapter 2
1. Divine Maternity is a name for
the Virgin Mary. Hester
suggests this symbol of purity
to the crowd only by contrast.
But the narrator seems to imply
the symbol really does fit her.
2. Hester wants to rebel, whereas
the Puritans all remain quiet
conformers. The Puritans make
Hester suffer to create a
"spectacle" to scare people away
from sinning.
1.
2.
Hester thinks about her past in order
to endure her time on the scaffold.
Lost in reminiscence, the harrowing
scene before her eyes seems to
vanish. Hester thinks about her
youth spent in poverty in England.
She envisions her parents' faces and
sees also the face of a "misshapen
scholar," her husband.
Finally Hester's thoughts return to
the present. She looks out at the
menacing crowd assembled before
her. Hester touches the scarlet letter
and squeezes her baby, Pearl, so
tightly that Pearl cries. Hester then
realizes that the letter and her baby
are her only reality.
Chapter 2
1. Hester overcomes being shamed
by retreating into her own
mind. Her sense of self serves
as a shield against the Puritans'
judgments.
2. Hester is surrounded by
symbols of sin: herself, the
letter, Pearl. The letter splits her
identity into a public self that
the Puritans dominate and a
private self she controls.
1.
2.
3.
Suddenly as Hester looks out
into the crowd she recognizes
Roger Chillingworth, her
husband, standing beside an
Indian at the edge of the crowd.
She clutches her baby in alarm.
It cries out in protest.
Chillingworth is "civilized and
savage." He is small, intelligent
looking, and somewhat
deformed, with one shoulder
higher than the other.
Chillingworth's face becomes
horrified when he sees that the
woman on the scaffold is
Hester, his wife. Chillingworth
and Hester's eyes lock. He
quickly places his fingers to his
lips to silence her.
Chapter 3
1. The person who should
most comfort Hester (her
husband) makes her feel
uneasy and alone.
2. Civilized, savage, and
deformed, Chillingworth
contrasts with the nature.
3. Chillingworth silences
Hester in order to protect
his reputation. He ensures
he isn't associated with
Hester's sin.
1.
2.
3.
Chillingworth asks a man about Hester's
identity and crime. The man is surprised
Chillingworth hasn't heard about Hester's
notorious sin. Chillingworth lies that he's been
held captive by Indians. He asks the man to
explain Hester's crime.
The stranger tells Hester's history. She had
been married to a scholar from England
(Chillingworth), but had arrived in
Massachusetts alone while he remained in
Amsterdam. She lived alone in Boston for two
years before falling into sin and scandal.
Chillingworth asks who fathered Hester's
child. The man says that the child's father
remains a mystery and suggests that Hester's
husband come from Europe to investigate the
matter himself. The man also notes that
Hester did not receive the full "extremity of
righteous law," which would have punished
her with death. Chillingworth says Hester's
sentence makes more sense because now
Hester will serve as a living "sermon against
sin."
Chapter 3
1.
Chillingworth seems almost
cold- blooded, lying about his
past while watching his wife
suffer on the scaffold just to
protect his reputation.
2.
Hester's independence results in
part from her living on her own
for years. Chillingworth
essentially abandoned her.
3.
The man's suggestion is fulfilled:
Chillingworth has arrived,
aligned himself with the
Puritans' perspective on Hester's
crime, and speaks as if he has
no connection to his own wife.
The mention of "righteous law"
emphasizes the Puritan fusion of
religion and law.
1.
2.
Chillingworth predicts that
the man who fathered
Hester's child will eventually
be revealed and repeats the
phrase, "he will be known!"
Mr. Wilson, an elderly local
reverend, addresses Hester
and calls on her pastor,
Arthur Dimmesdale, to
question her about her sin.
Dimmesdale demands that
she reveal the identity of her
baby's father, but she says
she will never reveal his
name. Mr. Wilson then
delivers a fiery sermon about
sin, after which Hester
returns to her prison cell.
Chapter 3
1. Chillingworth condemns
lying to protect oneself, but
he's doing it too!
2. Dimmesdale conforms to
public expectation and
demands that Hester divulge
her lover's identity, but he
lacks the courage to reveal
that he's her lover. Like
Chillingworth, he abandons
her to protect himself.
Direct Characterization
Definition: when an
author tells the reader
directly something
about a character
Examples:
 Jenny is a generous
person
 Mark is dressed like
a thug today.
An example of direct
characterization occurs soon
after Hester ascends the scaffold.
As the narrator describes her
appearance, he notes that she
took after the “feminine gentility
of those days; characterized by a
certain state and dignity” (37).
Here, the narrator directly tells
the reader that Hester is a
dignified woman and carries
herself with confidence.
Indirect Characterization
Definition: when an author
shows the reader something
about a character, either
through actions, thoughts,
dialogue, or other characters’
viewpoints
Example:

Jenny spent all of her
time volunteering at a
soup kitchen.

Mark was seen wearing
sagging pants, a white
wife beater, and a red
bandana around his
head.
An example of indirect
characterization appears soon after
when Hester is standing on the scaffold.
The narrator reveals that Hester
“sustained herself as best a woman
might, under the heavy weight of a
thousand unrelenting eyes, all fastened
upon her, and concentrated at her
bosom…[S]he had fortified herself to
encounter the stings and venomous stabs
of public insult” (37). In this passage the
reader can infer that Hester is a strong
woman who is not afraid to stand up to
other people and their judgments of her.
Themes
Sin
 Chapter 1
 Chapter 3
Individuality
&
Conformity
 Chapter 1
 Chapter 3
CHAPTER 1 - On one side of the portal, and rooted
almost at the threshold, was a wild rose- bush, covered,
in this month of June, with its delicate gems, which
might be imagined to offer their fragrance and fragile
beauty to the prisoner as he went in, and to the
condemned criminal as he came forth to his doom, in
token that the deep heart of Nature could pity and be
kind to him.
CHAPTER 2 - On the breast of her gown, in fine red
cloth, surrounded with an elaborate embroidery and
fantastic flourishes of gold-thread, appeared the letter
A. It was so artistically done, and with so much fertility
and gorgeous luxuriance of fancy, that it ... was of a
splendor in accordance with the taste of the age, but
greatly beyond what was allowed by the sumptuary
regulations of the colony.
Nature
 Chapter 1
Puritanism
 Chapter 2
CHAPTER 3 - When he found the eyes of Hester
Prynne fastened on his own, and saw that she appeared
to recognize him, he slowly and calmly raised his
Nnger, made a gesture with it in the air, and laid it on
his lips.
Homework
Read
 Read Chapters 4-6 in The
Scarlet Letter annotating for
Consequence and Irony.
Reading Quiz
 Topic- Chapters 4-6
Ch 4-6 Quiz
Discussion of
Irony and
Consequence