Time: Beginning time 10:30-10:40 DREW DODDS

Character

-My favorite character in the crucible play would be John Proctor. I Think he stood out more than any other character mainly because he was a brave man. At the end he was going to be hanged for being falsely accused of being involved with the devil and not confessing. He knew he was Innocent so he did not want to confess being involved with the devil so he ended up dying for standing up for himself. He would rather die than to live a lie.

Object Brainstorm:

One object that would fit Proctor would be a rope.

1. That it is long and skinny.

2. You could take this object apart by pealing it or you could chop is up with a sharp object.

3. A rope is made of tiny strings twirled together in a spiral.

4. You could use this object in so many different ways. You can tie people up, make a swing with it, climb it, play tug a war with it, and you can play jump rope with it. Back then they used it to hang people.

5. If a rope could talk it would probably brag about all the different things you can use it for.

6. This Object can symbolize Help, Death, or Fun.

Similarities

The rope symbolized help and in the play John Proctor help the people who read or watch the play see how dangerous McCarthyism was and how intense all the lies and confusion can become. It also symbolized death or their ultimate punishment like the cross for Jesus because it was the place were they paid for their sins which in the Crucible everybody was being hanged for witchcraft.

Essay

The Salem witch trials was a very serious thing that happened in 1600s and then a smiler thing happened in the 1950s called McCarthyism. Arthur Miller wrote a play called the Crucible to show the people during the 1950s how dangerous McCarthyism was. One main character was John Proctor and I think an object that is similar to John Proctor would be a rope because I think a rope symbolizes help and John helped the people of the 1950s see how dangerous the situation they were currently in really was.

Whether people are using a rope to tie something together, or tying it to a tree so you can climb it , or repelling off a cliff while rock climbing, or mabey using it just to have fun, a rope can always come in handy. John proctor is similar to a rope because a rope can tie things together or link something together and John linked McArthyism to the Salem Witch-trials in the 1600s and showed how they were very similar to each other. The people who read the play that Arthur Miller wrote they would see that the Salem witch-trials were similar because lying people were being accused of being someone or doing something that they didn't do. Other people got angry and it caused mass chaos and confusion. When Arthur Miller wrote the play during this time period people became more familiar to the situation that they were currently in. Arthur Miller's most powerful character in the play was John Proctor he made the play more intense by standing up for himself and choosing to die rather then to give up his name and live a lie. Since in the story the lies got so serious that they started hanging people for being accused of witchcraft and John was hanged even though he had nothing to do with the devil. I think since he chose to be hanged rather than to confess and live a lie it helped show the people in the 1950s how serious there situation could get even though it already was pretty serious.

Since John Proctor chose to do whats right it helped the people of the 1950s and even people today understand this situation is deadly. John acted like a rope linking the Crucible and McCarthyism together and also acted like a rope by helping people see how one person's lie can destroy many.

Scarlet Letter Essay

Scarlet letter

The Puritans back then had very strict punishments for breaking the laws. If you broke a major one like murder or adultery in Hester Prenn's case then you were sentenced to be stoned to death. In The Scarlet Letter Hester committed adultery and was brought to court. The normal punishment was to be stoned but because Hester was so beautiful and she was a mom they spared her. She was still punished though and it affected the rest of her life and those that were close to her.A good start. You have some insightful parts. Add your name. Write in present tense. Correct the spelling. You butchered the names of the characters. How does the punishment contribute to the theme of the novel? What is Hawthorne telling the reader through his choice of punishment? -Kristinaturner 10/5/07 9:20 AM
Hester from now on had to wear a big A on her clothing so that everyone would know that she commuted adultery. This was supposed to embrace her and she was ashamed by it for a while. Hester's embarrassment also made a very bad impression on Pearl, Hester's child. People thought she was a devil possessed and Pearl was sort of a sign to the people of Hester's sin. Little kids would throw rocks at Pearl and make fun of her so Hester and Pearl had to move to the otter edge of town. Not only did this scarlet letter affect Hester it also affected Demmesddale, which is the guy she had the affair with. "In his secret closet under a lock and key there was a bloody scourge." This quote from the book is talking about how Demmesdale felt very bad for Hester and wanted to be punished but he was to scared. Scared to confess he punishes himself in secret to make himself feel better because he knows that Hester is taking all the blame and he is to scared to tell the truth.
Meanwhile Chilling worth does not blame Hester for cheating on him even though she is his wife. He knows that he is old, and ugly and not good enough for her. He is however mad at the person who had the affair with Hester which was Demmesdale. Chillingworth did not know who it was, though he suspected it was Demmesdale. "Who is that Hester I shiver at him." This is Chillingworth talking about Demmesdale and he knows that there is something suspicious about him. Demmesdale knows that Chillingwoth is angry and is on to him so he keeps his distance.
Over the course of time Hester changed the meaning of the scarlet letter. It was meant to embrace her and to mock her. Hester helped the poor and the widows and people started looking at her differently. Instead of looking at the letter and thinking how dirty and bad she was they saw the lettered and remembered how kind she was. Hester switched the purpose of the letter so it didn't really affect her anymore, but Demmesdale on the other hand kept going down hill. Even though no one knew he was the one who had the affair with Hester and he didn't have a scarlet letter, hiding the truth just destroyed him. "More than once Demmesdale had gone into the pulpit with a purpose to reveal his secret." This quote is saying that Demmesdale did feel very awful for Hester he still couldn't bring himself to have enough courage to tell the truth to the people. This secret he keeps slowly destroys him until he died from being so sick for what he had done.
The Puritans punishment for Hester not only affected Hester but also her child, Chillingworth and defiantly Demmesdale. Hester seemed to have pulled through the hard times Demmesdale however did not and he eventually died from all the stress. Even though the scarlet letter didn't destroy Hester it affected her life a lot and it killed Demmesdale even though it was not meant to.