Terms to Know
Allusion
 ALLUSION: A casual reference in literature to a
person, place, event, or another passage of literature,
often without explicit identification. Allusions can
originate in mythology, biblical references, historical
events, legends, geography, or earlier literary works.
Authors often use allusion to establish a tone, create
an implied association, contrast two objects or
people, make an unusual juxtaposition of references,
or bring the reader into a world of experience outside
the limitations of the story itself. Authors assume that
the readers will recognize the original sources and
relate their meaning to the new context.
 http://web.cn.edu/kwheeler/lit_terms_A.html
Allusions in Act 2
 Allusion
 1. What does the biblical allusion to Moses and the parting of the Red
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Sea suggest about how the crowd views Abigail?
2. (a) What does John Proctor’s allusion to Pontius Pilate imply about
Proctor’s opinion of Reverend Hale? (b) What does the allusion to
Pontius Pilate imply about the witchcraft proceedings in Salem?
Connecting Literary Elements
3. In what way do details of historical context, including the status of
women, explain why women were accused of witchcraft?
4. Knowing that keeping the Sabbath and attending church services
were strictly enforced by the Puritans, how do you interpret John
Proctor’s exchange with Reverend Hale about the baptism of Proctor’s
sons? Explain.
5. The Puritans lacked laws to protect people from illegal searches and
arrests. How does this fact add to your appreciation of the scene in
which Elizabeth Proctor is apprehended?
Links to Allusions in Act 2
 http://julienj.wikispaces.com/file/view/act2+alle%3Du
sion.pdf
 https://sites.google.com/site/mrbrimhall/pages/thecrucible/the-crucible-act-ii-1
Conflict
 CONFLICT: The opposition between two
characters (such as a protagonist and an
antagonist), between two large groups of people,
or between the protagonist and a larger problem
such as forces of nature, ideas, public mores, and
so on.
 http://web.cn.edu/kwheeler/lit_terms_C.html
Types of Conflict:
Internal
Internal:
Man vs. himself
Internal conflicts in Acts 1 &2?
Parris?
Betty?
Proctor? Goody Proctor?
Mrs. Putnam?
Abigail?
Others?
Types of Conflict:
External
 External:
 Man vs. man; Man vs. Society; Man vs. Nature; Man vs
machine
 External conflicts in Acts 1 and 2?
What is a Crucible?
 cru·ci·ble

[kroo-suh-buhl] Show IPA
 noun 1. a container of metal or refractory material
employed for heating substances to high
temperatures.
 2. Metallurgy . a hollow area at the bottom of a furnace
in which the metal collects.
 3. a severe, searching test or trial.
Dialogue
 The lines spoken by a character or characters in a
play, essay, story, or novel, especially a
conversation between two characters, or a literary
work that takes the form of such a discussion.
 How does Arthur Miller use dialogue to move the
events of the plot and develop characters?
 http://web.cn.edu/kwheeler/lit_terms_D.html
Irony
 Actuality vs. Expectation
 Cicero referred to irony as "saying one thing and
meaning another.“
 Irony in Act 1 and 2: The entire town began
listening to the little girls and allowed them to
determine who was accused of witchcraft. How
ironic that they listened to them during this time
when little girls typically have no voice and no
valuable opinions.
Situational Irony
 Situational irony (also called cosmic irony) is a
trope in which accidental events occur that seem
oddly appropriate, such as the poetic justice of a
pickpocket getting his own pocket picked.
However, both the victim and the audience are
simultaneously aware of the situation in
situational irony--which is not the case in
dramatic irony.
 http://web.cn.edu/kwheeler/lit_terms_I.html
Verbal Irony
 Verbal irony (also called sarcasm) is a trope in which a
speaker makes a statement in which its actual
meaning differs sharply from the meaning that the
words ostensibly express. Often this sort of irony is
plainly sarcastic in the eyes of the reader, but the
characters listening in the story may not realize the
speaker's sarcasm as quickly as the readers do.
 http://web.cn.edu/kwheeler/lit_terms_I.html
Dramatic Irony
 Dramatic irony (the most important type for literature)
involves a situation in a narrative in which the reader
knows something about present or future circumstances
that the character does not know. In that situation, the
character acts in a way we recognize to be grossly
inappropriate to the actual circumstances, or the character
expects the opposite of what the reader knows that fate
holds in store, or the character anticipates a particular
outcome that unfolds itself in an unintentional way.
Probably the most famous example of dramatic irony is the
situation facing Oedipus in the play Oedipus Rex.
 http://web.cn.edu/kwheeler/lit_terms_I.html