1. Demographers and anthropologists have corrected the notion that European explorers in North America entered a territory by showing that the land in some areas was already as densely as parts of Europe.
a. fertile…settled
b. colossal.. wooded
c. desolate… populated
d. valuable…exploited
e. hostile…concentrated

2. True or False
Confessing to a crime you didn’t commit in order to avoid punishment is wise.
The difference between right and wrong is clear.
It is better to die for what you believe in rather than to lie to save your life.
It’s more difficult to forgive yourself if the person you have hurt doesn’t forgive you.
Courage means doing something even though it can be difficult and fearsome.
A person is innocent until proven guilty.
Justice is best determined in a court of law.

3. The Crucible (1954)
By: Arthur Miller

4. American Drama Types of Characters
Drama has many of the same types of characters that are found in fiction.
The protagonist is the central character of the play. This character is at the center of the conflict and often undergoes radical changes during the course of the play.
The antagonist often opposes the protagonist, giving rise to the central conflict of the play.
Some plays also include a foil, a minor character who provides a striking contrast to another character.
Interplay among these characters heightens the dramatic tension as the play develops. The names of all a play’s characters are listed in the cast of characters at the beginning of the play.

5. American Drama (cont.) Speech Devices
In drama, the playwright develops the story line through the characters’ actions and dialogue. Virtually everything of consequence—from the plot details to the character revelations—flows from dialogue, or conversation between characters.
Other speech devices used by playwrights include
Monologue: a long speech spoken by a single character to the audience or another character
Soliloquy: a reflective speech in which a character speaks his or her private thoughts aloud, unheard by other characters
Aside: a short speech or comment that is delivered by a character to the audience but is not heard by other characters who are present

6. Puritanism
Christian faith that originated in England in the early 1600s.
Puritans believed in predestination.
They split from the Church of England in 1633.
Many emigrated to the American colonies.
Their radical beliefs flourished in the new world.

7. Witchcraft in Salem
Like all Puritans, the residents of Salem Village believed in witches and in witchcraft.
They believed that witchcraft was “entering into a compact with the devil in exchange for certain powers to do evil.”
They considered witchcraft both a sin and a crime; it was a very serious accusation, which was carefully and thoroughly investigated.
The witchcraft hysteria began in Salem, Massachusetts, in early 1692.
Reverend Samuel Parris’s daughter and Abigail Williams started having fits of convulsion, screaming, and hallucination.
A doctor examined the girls and concluded that they only explanation for these bizarre behaviors was witchcraft.

8. Witchcraft in Salem
During the next eight months of terror, more than 150 people were imprisoned for witchcraft.
By the time court was dismissed, 27 people had been convicted, 19 hanged, and 1 pressed to death.
The hysteria that snowballed in Salem reveals how deep the belief in the supernatural ran in colonial America.

9. McCarthyism
McCarthyism is the term used to describe a period of intense suspicion in the United States during the early 1950s.
It began when Senator Joseph McCarthy, a U.S. senator from Wisconsin, claimed that communists had infiltrated the Department of State.
A special House Committee on Un-American Activities was formed to investigate allegations of communism.
During this period, people from all walks of life became the subjects of aggressive “witch hunts” based on inconclusive, questionable evidence.

10. McCarthyism
Persons accused of being communists were often denied employment in both the public and private sector.
In the film industry alone, over 300 actors, writers, and directors were denied work in the U.S.
American writer, Arthur Miller, was one of those alleged to have been “blacklisted.”

11. Arthur Miller (1915-2005) American playwright and writer
In 1953 he wrote The Crucible, which uses the Salem witchcraft trials of to attack the anti-communist “witch hunts” of the 1950s.
He believed the hysteria surrounding the witchcraft trials in Puritan New England paralleled the climate of McCarthyism – Senator Joseph McCarthy’s obsessive quest to uncover communist party infiltration of American institutions.
He refused to give information regarding his colleagues and was found guilty of contempt of the court. His sentence was later overturned.