Download The Crucible – Analytical Essay Choices

The Crucible – Analytical Essay Choices
Choose one topic to write about:
1. WRITING ABOUT QUOTATION: The critic Richard H. Rovere believes that
to understand The Crucible, it is important “to look rather closely at Miller’s
social ethic and at what he has been saying about the problems of
conscience.” How is Miller’s social ethic – what he regards as correct and decent
human behavior in society – expressed in the play? In an essay, explain the role
conscience plays in determining the characters’ behavior in society. Determine
which characters exemplify Miller’s social ethic based on how he judges them
and their behavior in the play.
2. WRITING ABOUT CHARACTER: One of the most effective ways that
character traits are revealed in The Crucible is through the characters’ reactions to
events around them. In an essay, compare and contrast the characters of Hale
and Danforth. Describe their different reactions to the accusations of witchcraft,
the testimony, and the evidence, and explain what these differences reveal about
their characters.
3. WRITING ABOUT TITLE: A crucible is “a highly heat-resistant container in
which metals or ores are melted, mixed, or fused at very high temperatures.”
From this meaning comes another meaning of crucible, “a severe test or trial.”
Write an essay explaining why The Crucible is an appropriate title for Miller’s
play. Consider the meanings of the word and the title’s relationship to plot,
characters, and themes.
4. WRITING ABOUT SETTING: Salem, Massachusetts, in the late 1600s
provides the general setting for The Crucible, but each act also has a specific
setting. In an essay, discuss how two or more of the play’s specific settings
provide effective backgrounds for the action that takes place in them. Act One: a
simple, sparse upstairs room in Parris’s house as the backdrop for the audience’s
introduction to Puritan society. Act Two: a homey family setting as the backdrop
against which the problems between Elizabeth and Proctor are presented. Act
Three: the courtroom area as the backdrop for the confrontation between
individualism and authority. Act Four: the bare jail cell as the backdrop against
which the characters bare their souls and examine their conscience.
5. WRITING ABOUT TRAGEDY: A tragedy is a work that ends in the downfall
of its main character. According to the Greek philosopher Aristotle, the function
of tragedy is to arouse fear and pity in the audience in order to produce a
catharsis, or cleansing, of these emotions by the play’s end. The protagonist, or
tragic hero, is an otherwise noble figure who nevertheless displays a personal
weakness, or tragic flaw, that helps to cause his or her downfall. Fate and other
antagonists – characters or forces in conflict with the protagonist – also
contribute to the hero’s doom. The hero’s courage or nobility in the face of an
overpowering challenge astonishes the audience and thus wins its sympathy.
Keeping all of this information in mind, prove that The Crucible is or is not a
tragedy.