The Crucible | Characterization Essay
Throughout The Crucible, many characters undergo change while others experience
little change at all, all while learning about themselves, as well as others. For this essay,
you will choose two characters and will analyze their development throughout the play.
Discuss the change or lack of change undergone by the main characters as well as the
insights these characters gain from their experiences during the Salem Witch Trials. In
addition, in knowing that The Crucible is an allegory for McCarthyism and the
Communist Red Scare of the 1950’s, what lesson is playwright Arthur Miller trying to
teach us through this characterization?
REQUIREMENTS:
1. Choose two characters from The Crucible to analyze. Please see the character
list on the back to help with your selection. Try to select characters who have a
connection to each other.
2. Use the Quote-Note-Thought strategy to pull out quotes that demonstrate how
the character has changed or has remained the same throughout the play. You
will want to use quotes that demonstrate what kind of person the character was
at the beginning of the play vs. the middle of the play vs. the end of the play.
Analyze each of your two chosen characters’ arcs.
3. Write a four paragraph essay where you analyze each character’s
development.
a. Introduction
i. Attention grabber
ii. Overview of points
iii. Thesis
b. Body Paragraph 1: Character #1
i. Discuss the characters’ change or lack of change from the
beginning of the play to the end.
ii. Use quotes and explanations of scenes as proof of this change;
remember to set up quotes and cite them as well cite as summaries
of scenes! Example: (Miller 926).
iii. What insights did this character learn about themselves and others
during the Salem Witch Trials?
c. TRANSITION TO Body Paragraph 1: Character #2
i. Discuss the characters’ change or lack of change from the
beginning of the play to the end.
ii. Use quotes and explanations of scenes as proof of this change;
remember to set up quotes and cite them as well cite as summaries
of scenes! Example: (Miller 926).
iii. What insights did this character learn about themselves and others
during the Salem Witch Trials?
d. Conclusion
i. Restated thesis
ii. Summary of character analysis
iii. Final thought: What lessons are Arthur Miller trying to teach his
audience through these characters’ development? Through having
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a character change or stay the same, what is Miller trying to
demonstrate to the audience?
THE CRUCIBLE | CHARACTER LIST
John Proctor - A local farmer who lives just outside town; Elizabeth Proctor’s husband. A stern, harsh-tongued
man, John hates hypocrisy. Nevertheless, he has a hidden sin—his affair with Abigail Williams—that proves his
downfall. When the hysteria begins, he hesitates to expose Abigail as a fraud because he worries that his secret
will be revealed and his good name ruined.
Abigail Williams - Reverend Parris’s niece. Abigail was once the servant for the Proctor household, but Elizabeth
Proctor fired her after she discovered that Abigail was having an affair with her husband, John Proctor. Abigail is
smart, wily, a good liar, and vindictive when crossed.
Reverend John Hale - A young minister reputed to be an expert on witchcraft. Reverend Hale is called in to
Salem to examine Parris’s daughter Betty. Hale is a committed Christian and hater of witchcraft. His critical mind
and intelligence save him from falling into blind fervor. His arrival sets the hysteria in motion, although he later
regrets his actions and attempts to save the lives of those accused.
Elizabeth Proctor - John Proctor’s wife. Elizabeth fired Abigail when she discovered that her husband was
having an affair with Abigail. Elizabeth is supremely virtuous, but often cold.
Reverend Parris - The minister of Salem’s church. Reverend Parris is a paranoid, power-hungry, yet oddly selfpitying figure. Many of the townsfolk, especially John Proctor, dislike him, and Parris is very concerned with
building his position in the community.
Judge Danforth - The deputy governor of Massachusetts and the presiding judge at the witch trials. Honest and
scrupulous, at least in his own mind, Danforth is convinced that he is doing right in rooting out witchcraft.
Giles Corey - An elderly but feisty farmer in Salem, famous for his tendency to file lawsuits. Giles’s wife, Martha,
is accused of witchcraft, and he himself is eventually held in contempt of court and pressed to death with large
stones.
Thomas Putnam - A wealthy, influential citizen of Salem, Putnam holds a grudge against Francis Nurse for
preventing Putnam’s brother-in-law from being elected to the office of minister. He uses the witch trials to increase
his own wealth by accusing people of witchcraft and then buying up their land.
Ann Putnam - Thomas Putnam’s wife. Ann Putnam has given birth to eight children, but only Ruth Putnam
survived. The other seven died before they were a day old, and Ann is convinced that they were murdered by
supernatural means.
Ruth Putnam - The Putnams’ lone surviving child out of eight. Like Betty Parris, Ruth falls into a strange stupor
after Reverend Parris catches her and the other girls dancing in the woods at night.
Tituba - Reverend Parris’s black slave from Barbados. Tituba agrees to perform voodoo at Abigail’s request.
Mary Warren - The servant in the Proctor household and a member of Abigail’s group of girls. She is a timid girl,
easily influenced by those around her, who tried unsuccessfully to expose the hoax and ultimately recanted her
confession.
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Betty Parris - Reverend Parris’s ten-year-old daughter. Betty falls into a strange stupor after Parris catches her
and the other girls dancing in the forest with Tituba. Her illness and that of Ruth Putnam fuel the first rumors of
witchcraft.
THE CRUCIBLE | PREWRITING
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CHARACTER:
QUOTE (with page #)
NOTE
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THOUGHT
CHARACTER:
QUOTE (with page #)
NOTE
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THOUGHT
THE CRUCIBLE | QUOTE INTEGRATION VS. PARAPHRASE/SUMMARY
Often, you will be paraphrasing or summarizing specific scenes of the play in
order to support your character analysis. When this is the case, you will explain
the scene, cite it, and then explain its relevance to your point.
EXAMPLE:
At the beginning of the play, Ann Putnam questions why she has lost seven children
during childbirth suggesting that she is not to blame and, therefore, Satan’s work must
be afoot. In Act I, Ann demands that her former midwife Rebecca Nurse not judge her
anymore and then asserts that there must be more than God’s work at hand since she
lost all by one child to death (Miller 928). During this scene Ann is questioning why,
according to her Puritan beliefs, God would chose for her to lose so many children in
childbirth. To Ann, who feels she is a good Christian woman, witchcraft must be
involved, as this is the only reasonable explanation. She is quick to assert witchcraft
must be present in Salem now as this would explain why so many of her children would
die during childbirth. In addition, by questioning God’s “natural work” (i.e. her children’s
deaths) and denouncing Rebecca Nurse’s judgment, Ann reveals her own self-doubt
and guilt. While Rebecca Nurse questions Ann for sending Betty to summon the dead,
we see no examples of Rebecca judging Ann for her children’s deaths (Miller 928)…
However, often you need to use a specific quote in order to support your position
as sometimes the author’s words are more powerful than your own. If this is the
case the quote should be set up properly with an explanation of the scene in
which it occurs as well an explanation of why it is relevant to your point.
EXAMPLE:
At the beginning of the play, Ann Putnam questions why she has lost seven children
during childbirth suggesting that she is not to blame and therefore, Satan must be afoot.
In Act I, Ann cries to her midwife Rebecca Nurse, “I’ll not have you judging me any
more. Is it a natural work to lose seven children before they live a day?” (Miller 928).
During this scene Ann is questioning why, according to her Puritan beliefs, God would
chose for her to lose so many children in childbirth. To Ann, who feels she is to be a
good Christian woman, witchcraft must be involved, as this is the only reasonable
explanation. She is quick to assert witchcraft must be present in Salem now as this
would explain why she lost her children. In addition, by questioning God’s “natural work”
(i.e. her children’s deaths) and denouncing Rebecca Nurse’s judgment, Ann reveals her
own self-doubt and guilt. While Rebecca Nurse questions Ann for sending Betty to
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“conjure up the dead,” we see no examples of Rebecca judging Ann for her children’s
deaths (Miller 928)…
THE CRUCIBLE | THESIS STATEMENT
EXAMPLE:
CHARACTERS AND WHAT I’M SAYING ABOUT THEM:
Ann Putnam: trying to understand why her children died; does not understand why God
would do this to her or why she is being punished; feels guilty; feels the eyes of the
town upon her; led by her power-hungry husband; quick to jump to witchcraft; blames all
but herself
Thomas Putnam: obsessed with power and wealth; willing to point fingers at poorer
people in town; first to name names; first to threaten hanging; wants land; conceited
ROUGH THESIS:
Arthur Miller demonstrates the human fault to be corrupted by power, greed, and guilt
through the characters of Ann and Thomas Putnam.
REVISED THESIS:
Through the characters of Ann and Thomas Putnam, Arthur Miller demonstrates to us
all in The Crucible, how easily human being’s actions can be directed by power and
greed or how easily they can be controlled by an even more powerful feeling: guilt.
What two characters are you analyzing and what are you saying about them?
Combine in a sentence:
Revise for complexity:
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NAME:
PERIOD:
THE CRUCIBLE ESSAY | KEYSTONE EXPOSITORY SCORING GUIDELINES
Scoring Doman
Thesis/Focus
Content
Organization
Distinguished (5)
 Establishes and
sustains a precise
idea/thesis
 Displays a clear
understanding of
task, purpose, and
audience
Proficient (4)
 Establishes a
controlling
idea/thesis
 Displays an
understanding of
task, purpose, and
audience
Apprentice (3)
 Provides an
inconsistent
idea/thesis
 Displays a limited
understanding of
task, purpose, and
audience
Novice (2)
 Provides vague
or indistinct
idea/thesis
Displays a minimal
understanding of
task, purpose, and
audience
Incomplete (0)
 Provides no
evidence of a
controlling
idea/thesis
 Displays no
understanding of
task, purpose, and
audience
OR
 Does not respond
to the prompt
Distinguished (20)
 Provides relevant
content and specific
and effective
supporting details
that demonstrate a
clear understanding
of purpose
Proficient (16)
 Provides relevant
content and
effective supporting
details
Apprentice (12)
 Provides
insufficient content
and ineffective
supporting details
Novice (8)
 Provides
minimal content
Incomplete (0)
 Provides little to
no content
OR
 Does not respond
to the prompt
Distinguished (15)
 Chooses
sophisticated
organizational
strategies
appropriate for task,
purpose, and
audience
 Uses sophisticated
transitional words,
phrases, and
clauses to link ideas
and create cohesion
Proficient (12)
 Chooses
appropriate
organizational
strategies for task,
purpose, and
audience
 Uses transitional
words, phrases,
and clauses to link
ideas
 Includes a clear
introduction, body,
Apprentice (9)
 Displays some
evidence of
organizational
strategies
 May use
simplistic and/or
illogical transitional
expressions
 May not include
an introduction,
body, and/or
conclusion
Novice (6)
 Displays little
evidence of
organizational
strategies
 Uses few or no
transitional
expressions to link
ideas
 May not include
an identifiable
introduction, body,
and/or conclusion
Incomplete (0)
 Displays no
evidence of
organizational
strategies
 Does not use
transitions to link
ideas
 Does not include
an identifiable
introduction, body,
and/or conclusion
OR
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Style
Conventions
 Includes a clear
and well-defined
introduction, body,
and conclusion that
support or reinforce
the argument
Distinguished (5)
 Uses consistently
precise language
and a wide variety of
sentence structures
 Chooses an
effective style and
tone, and maintains
a consistent point of
view
and conclusion that
support the
argument
 Does not respond
to prompt
Proficient (4)
 Uses precise
language and a
variety of sentence
structures
 Chooses an
appropriate style
and tone, and a
point of view
Apprentice (3)
 Uses imprecise
language and a
limited variety of
sentence structures
 May choose an
inappropriate style
or tone, and may
shift point of view
Novice (2)
 Uses simplistic
or repetitious
language and
sentence
structures
 Demonstrates
little or no
understating of
tone or point of
view
Incomplete (0)
 Uses repetitious
language and
sentence structures
 Demonstrates no
understating of
style, tone or point
of view
OR
 Does not respond
to prompt
 Writer makes few
errors and errors do
not interfere with
reader
understanding
 Writer makes few
errors and errors
seldom interfere
with reader
understanding
 Writer makes
errors and errors
may interfere with
reader
understanding
 Writer makes
errors and errors
often interfere with
reader
understanding
 Demonstrates
command of
standard English
grammar and usage
 Demonstrates
command of
standard English
capitalization,
punctuation, and
spelling
 Demonstrates
command of
sentence formation
 Demonstrates
control of standard
English grammar
and usage
 Demonstrates
control of standard
English
capitalization,
punctuation, and
spelling
 Demonstrates
control of sentence
formation
 Demonstrates
limited or
inconsistent of
standard English
grammar and
usage
 Demonstrates
limited or
inconsistent of
standard English
capitalization,
punctuation, and
spelling
 Demonstrates
limited or
inconsistent of
sentence formation
 Demonstrates
minimal control of
standard English
grammar and
usage
 Demonstrates
minimal control of
standard English
capitalization,
punctuation, and
spelling
 Demonstrates
minimal control of
sentence
formation
 Writer makes
errors and errors
consistently
interfere with
reading
understanding
 Demonstrates
little or no control of
standard English
grammar and
usage
 Demonstrates
little or no control of
standard English
capitalization,
punctuation, and
spelling
 Demonstrates
little or no control of
sentence formation
TOTAL: ____ / 50
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