Quote Handout

Name:_____________________________                             Date:__________

Mrs. Thompson                                             The Crucible

 

NATURAL LANGUAGE

 

DIRECTIONS: Arthur Miller wrote The Crucible in 1953 and since he sought to make his work historically accurate, he crafted dialogue that was natural for the time period. Though many of us sigh at the thought of reading literature like this, it is simple to follow if we follow some logical steps. First, let me start by reminding you that when people are having a conversation, they often speak using incorrect grammar. Likewise, some of the dialogue in The Crucible is written informally to make it seem more realistic to the reader. Let's take a look at one example.

 

• As an example, read the following quotation and think how it can be rewritten more formally:
  

  "Abby, we've got to tell. Witchery's a hangin' error, a hangin' like they done in Boston two year ago! We must tell the truth, Abby! You'll only be whipped for dancin', and the other things!" (Pg. 18-19)
  

  
   

• Now examine the same quotation that has been rewritten to follow the formal grammar rules of the English language:
  

  Abigail, we have to tell because witchcraft is a sin for which we can be hanged; witches were hanged two years ago in Boston. We have to tell the truth, Abigail! If you tell the truth, you will only be whipped for dancing and the other activities!
  

  
   

DIRECTIONS (con't): So, I'd like you to get acclimated to the language of The Crucible today. This will help not only during this unit, but for future units and any other piece of literature like this that you encounter

 

Remember these guidelines for understanding this style of writing:

• Change archaic words:
  
  • DOST/DOTH—does (verb)
    
  • HAST/HATH—has (verb)
    
  • NAUGHT—nothing (pronoun)
    
  • THEE—you (pronoun: object form)
    
  • THINE—your (possessive pronoun)
    
  • THITHER—there; to that place (adverb)
    
  • THOU—you (pronoun: subject form)
    
  • THY—your (possessive pronoun)
    
  • THYSELF—yourself (reflexive pronoun)
    
  • 'TIS—it is
    
  • WHENCE—from where; from what source; from what place (adverb)
    
• Omit contractions. For example, replace "we've" with "we have."
  
• Omit any dialect, dated, or slang terminology, such as "dancin'."
  
• Write in complete sentences. Sometimes we do not speak in complete sentences, but it is best to write using formal language for academic purposes. Also, combine multiple short sentences into longer, more complex sentences.
  
• Omit any unnecessary words.
  
• Add words for clarity if necessary.
  
• Do not begin sentences with "and" or "but," simply begin the sentence with the next word in the sentence.
  
• Fix all grammatical errors.
  
• Improve vocabulary as much as possible.
  

1. "He bid me come and tell you, reverend sir, that he cannot discover no medicine for it in his books" (Miller 9).
   

   
    

   
    

   
    

   
    

2. "She ails as she must—she never waked this morning, but her eyes open and she walks, and hears naught, sees naught, and cannot eat. Her soul is taken, surely" (Miller 13).
   

   
    

   
    

   
    

   
    

   
    

3. "It's weirdish, I know not—she seems to walk like a dead one since last night" (Miller 18).
   

   
    

   
    

   
    

   
    

4. "No, he'll be comin' up. Listen, now; if they be questioning us, tell them we danced—I
   

   told him as much already" (Miller 18).
   

   
    

   
    

   
    

   
    

   
    

5. "I'll show you a great doin' on your arse one of these days. Now get you home; my wife is
   

   waitin' with your work!" (Miller 21).
   

   
    

   
    

   
    

   
    

   
    

6. "I cannot sleep for dreamin'; I cannot dream but I wake and walk about the house as
   

   though I'd find you comin' through some door" (Miller 23).
   

   
    

   
    

   
    

   
    

   
    

7. "She is blackening my name in the village! She is telling lies about me! She is a cold,
   

snivelling woman, and you bend to her! Let her turn you like a–" (Miller 23-24).

HOMEWORK FOR TONIGHT!!!!!!!!!!!!!

1. Write the paragraph that you were SUPPOSED TO WRITE this weekend!!!! It will be collected tomorrow and will count as a QUIZ grade!

2. Find 10 quotes from the first 24 pages of The Crucible and translate them into modern, formal language. Bring this to class tomorrow! It will count as a HW grade!!!

REMEMBER: HARD IS THE WALL, DIFFICULT IS THE TASK! HANGED IS THE PERSON, HUNG IS THE PICTURE!!!

Hey ALL!!!

I hope it's okay for me to take a second to be a hackneyed teacher and say: "I'm so excited to see how this blog works for our class!"

Now that that's done, let's get down to what you all visited the blog for...homework.

1. Please make sure you have notes on the background narration found on pages 4-7 of The Crucible.

2. Read to page 24 (Abigail's line: "John, pity me, pity me!") and annotate, looking for important lines or examples of diction.

3. Answer the following question on a separate sheet of paper (you can type it or handwrite it):


In class, we spoke about the importance of the first impression. Take a close look at Abigail Williams in these first pages. What is your first impression? Cite at least two specific lines from the pages to support your claim. This should be a well developed paragraph.

Setting a Purpose for Your Reading

As you read "Act I" of The Crucible, please be sure that you can answer the following eight questions:

1.What happens in the woods before Act I that causes Betty’s mysterious illness?
2.What are Dr. Griggs’ findings?
3.What is the real reason that Abigail cannot find work?
4.Why is Ann Putnam convinced that her daughter is bewitched?
5.What shocking thing does Betty try to do when she awakes, and of what does she accuse Abigail?
6.Describe Rebecca Nurse’s thoughts about the sick children.
7.What three things does Abigail say that Tituba has done to her?
8.What does Tituba say to avoid being whipped and hanged?

Class Notes

Notes about "Young Goodman Brown" and "To My Dear and Loving Husband"

 

1. Hawthorne vs. Anne Bradstreet
   
   1. Anne Bradstreet
      
      1. came from England to the Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1630 as part of the Great Migration of Puritans
         
      2. Religious
         
      3. Known as much more intelligent than the typical Puritan woman
         
   2. Nathaniel Hawthorne
      
      1. descended from the Hathornes and the Mannings
         
      2. Ancestors
         
         1. Major William Hathorne (c. 1606/7-1681), known for his persecution of Quakers
            
         2. John Hathorne (1641-1717), the son of Major William and Anna Hathorne and a magistrate of the Court of Oyer and Terminer who was the stern interrogator of the accused witches.
            
         3. He was intrigued, even haunted, by his paternal ancestors, and they appear in his fiction on more than one occasion.
            

            
             

2. Puritan Beliefs about Humanity
   
   1. All humans are sinners because even though people have free will but will naturally choose evil
      
   2. Man lived in darkness without power
      

      Puritan response to this horror
      

      1. Guarding the LIGHT (God) with rigorous DEVOTION
         
      2. God= narrow searchlight probing darkness of the universe, lighting only small group of the Elect
         
   3. Man can achieve good only through control and self discipline
      
      1. self-reliance
         
      2. Industry (work)
         
      3. Frugality
         

      Thus man has limited ability to choose between good & evil
      

   4. Imagination dominated by the presence of EVIL
      
3. Puritan Beliefs about Marriage
   
   1. marriage was a civil union, a contract, not a sacred rite
      
   2. Love and responsibility between a married couple was equal to a moral and religious duty.
      
   3. Through a true, righteous marriage, the reward of everlasting life through love will be obtained
      
   4. Marriage was often used as a metaphor for the divine love between believers and God
      
   5. Puritan leaders made the institution of marriage one of the basic means through which to control and bring order to their society.
      
   6. Thus, adultery was considered the ultimate sin, a moral violation of God's will.
      
   1. True Purpose of "To My Dear and Loving Husband"
      
      1. Interpretations
         
         1. She is being honest and truly loves her husband
            
         2. She is really speaking about religion and her love of God
            
         3. She is making fun of women (satire) and finds the typical behavior of Puritan females ridiculous
            
      2. POETIC DEVICES:
         
         1. rhyme scheme
            
         2. iambic pentameter
            
         3. alliteration
            
   2. True Purpose of "Young Goodman Brown"
      
      1. SHORT STORY
         
         1. Allegory
            
            1. Definition: a form of extended metaphor, in which objects, persons, and actions in a narrative, are equated with the meanings that lie outside the narrative itself. The underlying meaning has moral, social, religious, or political significance, and characters are often personifications of abstract ideas as charity, greed, or envy.
               

               Thus an allegory is a story with two meanings, a literal meaning and a symbolic meaning.
               

            2. Names:
               
               1. Young Goodman Brown
                  
                  1. Goodman—Good Man
                     
                  2. Brown--commoner
                     
                  3. Brown's youth suggests that he is an uncorrupted and innocent young man
                     
                  4. Brown has a personal "faith" in goodness of humanity
                     
                  5. Tilting head back shows the reservation he feels
                     
               2. Faith
                  
                  1. Goodness found in a young wife
                     
            3. Place:
               
               1. Forest
                  
                  1. Subconscious of the mind
                     
                  2. Must travel far away from innocence/purity/goodness to do evil
                     
                  3. The scene of the witch meeting with the flaming altars is an allegory for Brown's baptism into the evil world that surrounds him.
                     
                  4. The farther we walk into the forest, the more caught up in evil we become. Before long, we don't even realize how we ended up so far from innocence and purity.
                     
                  5. We have the choice to turn back to faith all along, but as Puritans believed, we don't because we are instinctively evil.
                     
            4. Objects:
               
               1. Maple Stick
                  
                  1. Rots from inside out
                     
                  2. As humans, everything inside of us is evil; thus, it comes out when we act upon it.