The Crucible

Act 1 Packet

Name:

Period:

Due Date:
Directions: Answer the following questions in complete sentences for full credit.
1. Why would Miller include the note on historical accuracy?

2. What 2 things did goody Putnam blame on witchcraft?

3. Why is Thomas Putnam so bitter? Cite 3 examples.

4. Who is Revered Hale?

5. Upon hearing accusations of witchcraft, Mary warren runs to warn Abigail. What does Mary think they
should do?

6. What does Abigail say about Elizabeth Proctor? How might this affect the outcome of the play?

7. What is the Putnam’s grievance over land? What significance might this have?

8. What is John Proctor’s chief complaint against Parris’s sermons?

9. To what does Tituba confess? Why?

10. What is revealed about authority in Act 1?

Passage Analysis
11. “Old scores could be settled on a plan of heavenly combat between Lucifer and the Lord; suspicions and the
envy of the miserable toward the happy could and did burst out in the general revenge.”
-Explain how this passage is directly related to what Miller wants us to learn about revenge.

This passage, the last sentence in Miller’s introduction, is one of his most explicit lines. Miller points out that
even though the residents of Salem are pushed to live pure, holy lives, revenge and jealousy still exist. People
still get envious and vindictive, and under the cover of hysteria, they then have the ability to use their religion to
seek revenge. In fact, they can use the idea of God and the Devil as a way to justify and act on their worldly
desires.

12. “The witch hunt was not, however, a mere repression. It was also, and primarily is importantly, a long
overdue opportunity for everyone so inclined to express publicly his guilt and sins, under the cover of
accusations against the victims.”
-Explain how this passage is directly related to a central theme of The Crucible.

13. “There is prodigious danger in the seeking of loose spirits. I fear it, I fear it.”
- Why is Rebecca so fearful? What is she afraid will happen in Salem?
 Act 1 Theme Chart

Directions: fill in the chart with the corresponding character, citation, and quote that contribute to the
development of the theme for each of these topics.

Topic Character Citation/ Quote Meaning/ contribution to theme

Revenge Authority
Hysteria

Act 1 Journal Entries

Journal topic Response
Monday
Thursday Tuesday
Friday