Act 2: DUE THURSDAY, 10/17
The Crucible
Act 2
Study Questions
Terms: define the following vocabulary words or terms AND write an example for each.
You may use a dictionary, the internet, and/or the glossary from your textbook (pg. 1342).
1. Theology: the study of religious faith, practice, and experience; a system of
religious beliefs or ideas
2. Vengeance
3. Metaphor
4. Personification
5. Verbal irony
6. Situation irony
7. Dramatic irony
8. In your own words, describe the dinner scene at the start of Act 2.
9. In your own words, what is the relationship between John and Elizabeth like?
10. What new duty has Mary Warren been performing in Salem?
11. What will happen if the accused do not confess?
12. What ominous revelation does Mary Warren make about Elizabeth in court? How did it
worsen the issues between Elizabeth and John?
13. What are some of the ways in which John Hale questions Proctor and his wife about
their religious faith? How do the Proctors answer each of the questions and
allegations?
14. Why is John’s not going to church significant to the play?
15. What news briefly shakes Hale’s belief in the court system?
16. What theological argument does John Hale use to explain the causes of the events in
Salem?
17. What has happened to Abigail?
18. What is found in the poppet? How did it get there?
19. Explain how each of the following is an example of verbal, situational, or dramatic
irony:
a. Mary’s gift of a poppet to Elizabeth
b. The one commandment out of ten that John Proctor cannot remember
c. Proctor’s statement about Abigail at the end of the act, “Good. Then her
saintliness is done with.”
20. Explain the meaning of the following metaphors:
a. Hale: “Theology is a fortress”
b. Francis Nurse: “My wife is the very brick and mortar of the church.”
c. Proctor: “Vengeance is walking in Salem.”
21. The end of this act hints that the most important conflict in the play, will take place
between two specific character—a protagonist and an antagonist. Who is the
protagonist? Who is the antagonist?
Act 3: DUE THURSDAY, 10/24
The Crucible
Act 3
Study Questions
1. How do Proctor, Francis, and Giles plan to use Mary Warren’s testimony to prove that
“Heaven is NOT speaking through the children”?
2. How do Danforth and Hathorne attempt to get Proctor to drop the charge that Mary
Warren has lied?
a. Why do they want him to do so?
b. Why does Proctor refuse?
3. Why are Proctor, Francis, and Giles repeatedly accused of attacking the court?
4. Why is Putnam brought into the court?
5. Why is Giles accused of contempt of court?
6. Do you agree or disagree with Danforth when he said “no uncorrupted man may fear
this court”? Why?
7. When Hale suggests that Proctor should have a lawyer, what does it tell us about
Hale’s feelings about the justice of the trial?
a. Is this a change in his attitude? Explain.
8. What does Abigail say about Mary’s testimony?
a. Why does she lie?
9. What role does Parris play during the testimony?
a. Why does he lie about the dancing in the woods?
10. Why does Elizabeth deny John’s relationship with Abigail?
a. What is the result of her denial?
11. What evidence from the play tells us that Hale no longer believes the testimony and
crying out of the girls?
12. For the following characters, list examples from Acts One, Two, and Three of the
evidence used against them. Include the page number from which you found the
evidence.
Character
“Evidence/proof” that they are witches
Page #
Sarah Good
Elizabeth
Proctor
Rebecca
Nurse
Martha Corey
13. Why would someone confess to being a witch even though the audience knows it’s not
true? Explain.
a. Why would someone refuse to confess to being a witch? Explain.