Tips for Organizing The Crucible/McCarthy Era Paper:
Ideas to Consider for Content:
Once you’ve gathered your research on the McCarthy Era, look for similarities between the people, behavior,
and events of the McCarthy Era and those that are presented in the text, The Crucible. Some specific items you may
want to look into (but are not limited to…)might be:
--What was going on PRIOR to these events that made them more likely to occur or escalate?
--Who was responsible for initiating the events? What were the motives?
--What was the public reaction to these instigators? Why?
--What types of new behaviors, practices, procedures, etc come into being as a result?
--What types of individuals are targets? Why?
--What happens to those accused?
--Why is behavior that seems absolutely ridiculous and unfair allowed to continue?
--What happens to those who try to stand up against the injustices?
--What finally brings the events to an end?
Organizing Your Paper:
Your paper should demonstrate your understanding of the parallels between the text and the events that
inspired Arthur Miller to write it, the McCarthy Era. It should contain a balance of: (1) research on the McCarthy Era, (2)
textual evidence from The Crucible, and (3) your analysis of the similarities. While I am not requiring you to submit an
outline for this paper, creating one prior to beginning your draft will no doubt lead to a better organized product. Below
are some tips for how to organize your outline/paper.
1. Your introduction should include brief background information about the connection between the
McCarthy Era and Arthur Miller’s writing of The Crucible (giving a brief synopsis of the text as well).
Your thesis statement should conclude your introduction and should document the specific parallels
you will discuss in your paper (in the order you will address them).
2. The body of your paper will focus on the specific parallels between the two. You should address at
least 3 different parallels in your paper. Each paragraph should contain a topic sentence that
specifically states the parallel you are discussing. The paragraph should contain SPECIFIC EVIDENCE
from both your research AND the play (This means you must have parenthetical/in-text citations
included in each paragraph!)
SAMPLE PARAGRAPH FORMAT: (Yes, these will be large paragraphs!)
Transitional phrasing
Topic sentence—stating the parallel between the McCarthy Era and the play
Example #1 from McCarthy Era
--followed by explanation
Example #1 from play
--followed by explanation
Your analysis
**You may certainly address more than one example of a particular similarity to further
demonstrate your understanding; however, your paper must address at least 3 different parallels.
3. Your conclusion should summarize your analysis based on your thesis statement. It should not be a
complete restating of your thesis.
Finishing Touches:
Make sure that your paper is in proper MLA format, including:
--12 pt. Times New Roman font
--1 inch margins throughout
--includes proper heading (your name, my name, class, date)
--proper header (your last name and page #)
--title (no bold or underline, italics only for literary titles)
--proper in-text/parenthetical citation within text
--Work Cited page (with proper format and alphabetical order)
--double-spacing throughout entire paper (including work cited)
AND MAKE SURE TO EDIT YOUR WORK!!!! You should have edited your paper at least twice before submitting.
And if possible… have someone else read it as well. I am NOT your editor. When you submit a paper it should be an
example of your best writing and you should have put substantial effort into revising/editing to correct any errors in
content, language, grammar/mechanics, format, etc. It is your FINAL product, so it should be your best!