Blog Post on main page: (Remember - you must copy and paste the prompt and standards into your blog prior to your response. The standards listed are what I will use to grade your entry. This will ALWAYS be the process.)
RI.11-12.3, 1 – Explain how the opening scene is a catalyst for at least three major events in the play. Be sure to evidence from the text to support the events (remember – you have a copy of the screen play on Edmodo!)
RI.11-12.6, 1 – Explain how the author has use rhetoric in the play to develop his clear argument (appeals - logos, pathos, ethos; rhetorical devices: visit http://www.flashcardmachine.com/machine/?topic_id=2282658&source=pub.pub_details for a solid review of topics you could elaborate on in your post. Please note the text evidence and HOW the author used this evidence to develop rhetoric for his argument in the play.
RI.11-12.2, 1 – What truth is the author attempting to reveal with his play? Cite evidence from the text to support your analysis.
RI/RL.11-12.2 Thematic Unit Connection, consider these lines from the text:
PROCTOR, with a cry of his whole soul: Because it is my name! Because I cannot have another in my life! Because I lie and sign myself to lies! Because I am not worth the dust on the feet of them that hang! How may I live without my name? I have given you my soul; leave me my name!
How does Proctor’s sense of self impact him personally, and in turn, his family and the community of Salem?
In the beginning of the play, there is a group of thirteen or fourteen girls running rampant through the woods that meet up with a Barbados slave, Tituba. She tells these girls to kneel around the fire. Tituba then asks “What you bring me?” The girls give her what they brought and begin their ritual. However, in the text, Miller says that it isn’t a real witch ritual, but just a false one, and the girls are trying to get boys to love them. “Make him love me,” said Mercy Lewis. However, all were playing around, except Abigail Williams. In the text, she went berserk and grabbed a chicken from Tituba, smashing it against the big metal pot until it bled. A girl said “She wants John Proctor!” Abigail hopes that by drinking the blood of the chicken, she will kill Elizabeth, John’s wife, and get to be with John Proctor again. Then, Reverend Parris discovers them and is horrified. This introductory scene is the cause, or catalyst, of many major events in the play. One major event that is a result of this is a witch trial between the girls. In the play, the girls are accused of practicing witchcraft, as Salem was already under a witch scare, and anyone not acting normally (in the Church’s eyes) was accused of being a witch. Another major event was the conflict between Abigail and John Proctor. In the play, Abigail really wants to be with John. However, he thinks she is evil and regrets having an affair with her. Throughout the entire play, it can be seen where she tries to get back with him, especially at the end of the play where she apologizes to John after she got him executed, and tries to get him to escape to Barbados with her. However, he would rather die and be truthful than be with her. Another major event was the accusation of Mary Warren being a witch. All throughout the play, Mary is accused of being a witch because her and Abigail were not in the best of terms. Though Mary was innocent of witchcraft, Abigail, being her vindictive self, somehow managed to get the blame off of herself and onto Mary.
In the play, Miller uses very strong appeals to logic, emotion, and ethics. Miller made the play with a very gloomy and moody tone that helps build on the emotional appeal. Throughout the play, there are many moments where the audience can connect with the characters through emotion, such as when Elizabeth is accused of witchcraft and is being taken away, and she has to say goodbye to her children. Another extreme emotional appeal was at the end of the play, where Rebecca, Martha, and John Proctor are hanged for being innocent. It is said that a witch can’t recite prayers, yet when they were on the gallows ready to be hanged, they all said one together, before being executed. This appealed to our emotions because we knew that they were innocent, and the fact that they were executed was extremely wrong. Miller also used ethical appeal to develop his argument that the witch trials were wrong. In the play, he gave several situations that built upon the ethical appeal to the audience. One of the strongest ethical appeals in the play was the conflict between John Proctor, Elizabeth Proctor, and Abigail Williams. John Proctor had an affair with Abigail, and he then stopped being with her because he wanted to save his marriage. He could be with Abigail, because she still wanted him. She went on to try to get back with him, as she says in Act 1, “I look for John Proctor who put knowledge in my heart!” However, John’s morals have set in and he wishes to pursue their marriage. Miller also uses logical appeal to help convey his argument, and shows all of the false logic that was practiced by the Church and high members of Salem. In the play, John Hale serves as the logical character. He sees the truth in the innocent, and tries to tell the others. In Act III, Hale counter-argues all of the logical fallacies set up by the Church. He tells them that they are wrong and they need to recognize their inaccuracy. Also, in Act IV, he tells Danforth that it is a lie, and questions how he doesn’t see it. All of these appeals, emotional ethical, and logical, help to develop his argument by showing how unfair the witch trials were and building upon the four themes of empowerment, reputation, intolerance, and hysteria.
The entire play is based around revealing the injustice and false logic of the Salem Witch Trials. The author uses four themes that all existed in the Witch Trials and assigns them to characters. These themes are intolerance, hysteria, reputation/identity, and empowerment. In the text, there is a trial in Act III and Act IV. This trial is about the girls claiming to be bewitched by Mary Warren, and it develops into a very slippery slope. Danforth is head of the trial, and he fails to see the logic in the accused. When Giles Corey is removed from the court and accused, he says “Say no more, John, he means to hang us all!” Miller uses this trial, as well as the entire play, to reveal that the witch trials were unfair and unjust to all that were hanged. In total, nineteen innocent men, women, and children were executed. The end of the play supports this truth because John, Rebecca, and Martha were hanged for being innocent, even though they had no evidence against them.
Proctor’s sense of self definitely impacts him personally, and this in turn impacts his family and his community. When John says “Because it is my name! Because I cannot have another in my life! Because I lie and sign myself to lies! Because I am not worth the dust on the feet of them that hang! How may I live without my name? I have given you my soul; leave me my name!” after signing the confession, it shows that he wants to at least keep his dignity and his name, since they had already taken everything else from him and torn apart all that he held sacred. He begs to keep his name because he wants to keep to his reputation, as he was known for being loyal and having integrity. Blackening his name by putting the signed confession on the Church door will ruin him and make him out to be a liar and a fake. This sense of self impacts his family because it gets torn apart when he is hung, after he refuses to post the confession with his name on the door. This also affects the community because along with him, two other innocents were hanged. The town will mourn their loss and regret the trials. Before he was hanged, numerous people said “You’re a good man, John.” This shows that his sense of self has definitely had great effect on himself, his family, and the community.
However, this quote was not the only example where his sense of self impacted his life, as well as his family and the community. In the text, John struggled with his inner character. Thus, he had an affair with Abigail, which displayed his weak sense of self and lack of respect for his character. However, after looking over his mistakes, he regained his morals and ceased relations with Abby. This development of his sense of self affected his family in the sense that it tore them apart and made Elizabeth trust him less. This sense of self impacted the community greatly, as the whole trial between the girls was because of Abigail’s lust for John after he quit the affair. It led to numerous hangings and accusations.
