1. The Crucible
Act I

2. Atmosphere Tense, suspenseful atmosphere Setting = melancholy mood
Small upper bedroom in Parris’s house
Simple furnishings
Narrow window
Betty is lying inert; Parris is distraught

3. Modes of Discourse
Interweaves exposition about events that have happened before the play begins
Girls’ activities in the forest
Abigail’s relationship with the Proctors
Expository asides
Relevant historical facts about the characters
Summarizes important features of the Puritan’s world
Theocracy in Salem
Attitude toward the forest as the last outpost of the Devil

4. Act I Reading Check
Mrs. Putnam says that Mr. Collins saw Betty ---- over Ingersoll’s barn.
Mary Warren is afraid that she and the other girls will be ----.
Abigail says that she will ---- anyone who reveals what happened in the woods.
---- is the only one able to comfort Betty.
The Reverend Parris demands that he be given his ----.

5. Character Notecards Samuel Parris Village minister
Weak man who claims authority
Concerned about his social status
Obsessed with his enemies
theme of community paranoia or hysteria
Hypocrite
Carries favor with Thomas Putnam and John Hale

6. Character Notecards Create notecards for the following characters:
Abigail Williams
Thomas and Ann Putnam
Rebecca Nurse
John Proctor
John Hale

7. Journal Response
How is Abigail responsible for starting the whole scare about witches in Salem? Is she lying? Insane? Possessed? If Abigail had not been caught dancing, would the witch trials still have been held? What makes you think so? Or do you think someone else is to blame?

8. Character Analysis

9. Activity
Act One introduces many of the important characters of the play. Your job is to create character flashcards. On the blank side of the card, please write the names of the following characters. On the lined side of each card, please include important details about the character as well as important page numbers that you can refer to at a later date.

10. Reverend Samuel Parris
Village minister of Salem; mid 40s
Main concern is his reputation and status in the community
Motivation= suspicion and paranoia

11. Abigail Williams 17 year-old orphan Niece of Rev. Parris
Strikingly beautiful and resourceful
Chief force of evil
Motivation=villainy

12. Ann Putnam Thomas Putnam Husband of Ann
Motivation- longstanding grudges against others
Ill-natured bully- throws around his weight as a major landowner
Wife of Thomas
45 year-old
Whining and irrational
7 children died in infancy
Sees witchcraft as the only explanation for her misfortune

13. Reverend John Hale Nearing 40, Minister of Beverly, Mass.
Approaches religious matters from a scientific perspective
intellectual
Lacks malicious motivations & obsessions
Sincere but limited by his narrow-mindedness

14. John Proctor Farmer in his mid-30s
Husband to Elizabeth, father of 3 sons
Tragic Hero….what is his flaw?
Main protagonist and moral center
Honest, blunt, and direct
Skeptical towards organized religion
Flawed and respectable

15. Francis & Rebecca Nurse
Elderly man, husband to Rebecca
Arbiter
Held in high opinion by most
Resented for his rise in social status…renting farmer  landowner
Previous disputes with the Putnams
72; 11 children, 26 grandchildren
Calming influence, voice of reason
Name= maternal, dignified, and competent