November 29th, 2011 "Welcome Back, Juniors!"

Dear Juniors,
I hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving break!
1. We obtained the themes for Act 1
2. I returned your study guides back to you, as they will be useful for your ACT 1 Quiz!
3. We completed Journal #5 located below.
4. We read "The Examination of Sarah Good" found on page 155 in the literature text.


1. Journal #5: "Crucible: Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned"
ALL OF YOU: Tell me what you think this quote means...."Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned." Justify your explanation. How does this quote relate to events within The Crucible?

GENTLEMEN: Please reflect on a moment in your 16 or 17 years of existence when you genuinely angered a female. Please tell me about the circumstances behind her fury. What was the final result?

LADIES: Please reflect on a moment when you have genuinely been angered by a male. Tell me why you were so angry. What happened? Please include specifics in your response.


HOMEWORK:
1. QUIZ on THURSDAY. covering ACT 1. The quiz has several parts. PART 1: You must identify the characters referenced from the given quote. PART 2: You must identify the character that is speaking. PART 3: You will be given several questions pertaining to events within ACT 1. PART 4: You must identify the five themes within the play, and then include an example from ACT 1 which illustrates the specified theme.

STUDY! STUDY! STUDY! STUDY! STUDY! STUDY! STUDY! STUDY! STUDY! STUDY!

2. ARTICLE #3 is due on Monday, December 6th. Please include 7-10 annotations/notations/page/using ALL your colors.

PRACTICE QUIZ: For each question correctly answered on the practice quiz, 1/2 point of extra-credit will be added to your official quiz score.
Directions: Identify the speaker for the following quotes.

1."Goody Proctor is a gossiping liar." _________________
2. "What constitutes the reading of strange books, Mr. Hale?" _______________
3. "Here is the invisible world. In this book, the Devil stands stripped of all his brute disguises."
_____________________
4. "Why am I constantly persecuted here? I am not use to this poverty. I left a thifty business in the Barbados." _________________
5. "I think she'll wake when she tires of it." ________________
6. "That tract is in my bounds. My bounds, sir. It stands clear in my grandfather's will that everything from the north pasture on wards is......" ___________________
7. "Witchery is a hang'in error like they done in Boston two year ago. We'll only be whipped for the danc'in." ________________
8. "I know it, sir. I sent my child--she should learn from Tituba who murdered her sisters." __________
9. "The Devil is precise; the marks of his presence are definite as stone, and I must tell you all that I shall not proceed unless you are prepared to believe me." ________________
10. "Abby, put it out of mind. I'll not be coming for you more." _____________________

Tuesday, Novemner 22nd, 2011

Dear Juniors,

I hope you have a wonderful holiday; I look forward to seeing you on Tuesday, November 29th!
We completed the following today in class:




1. Journal #4: "Crucible: Why Innocent People Confess to Crimes"
Please divide your paper horizontally into two sections. Please label each section in the following way: Part1 and Part 2

Part 1: Please respond to the following question. In three to four sentences identify how the article entitled "Why Innocent People Confess to Crimes" relate to events within The Crucible. I realize that you haven't completed ACT 1 of the play; however, you know enough from our class discussions that you can fully answer the above question.

Part 2: What questions did you ask? I know that you were able to use all the colors, but I did ask you to specifically use RED. Please indicate the questions you asked for Part 2.

We continued reading Act 1!

HOMEWORK:
1. NONE! Enjoy your holiday weekend, cute kids! I look forward to seeing you on Tuesday, November 29th!

Friday, November 18th, 2011

Dear Juniors,

Enjoy your weekend! What did we do in class today, Mrs. Crampton?
Well, let's see.....

1. We started reading THE CRUCIBLE during our last class period. We also obtained all the information regarding the characters and vocabulary for ACT 1. Today I shared ACT 1 from the film THE CRUCIBLE so that each student could obtain a visual image of the characters. This was helpful, as everyone in class was able to answer some of the study guide questions for Act 1.

NOTE: If you missed class, I would suggest that you rent the film and watch it up to the "crying out" scene. The clip for Act 1 is approximately 20 minutes.

2. We then continued to read. Brian and Becky did well with acting out the scene between John Proctor and Abigail. Thanks for the great laugh, you two!

HOMEWORK:
1. Please make sure that you read/annotate/notate Article of the Week #2 using all your colors, but primarily RED!
2. Please respond to your ACT 1 study guide questions for TUESDAY!

Cheers,
Crampton

Monday, November 14th, 2011

Dear Juniors,
STOP MISSING CLASS, Cute Kids!

What did we do today, Crampton?

1. We completed learning more about Arthur Miller, as "his" group was the last to share their information with us.
2. We then completed Journal #3 pertaining to a movie clip from Good Night, and Good Luck. If you missed class, then you will need to rent the film yourself or locate it on Net Flixs. The clip is slide #15 entitled "The Evil of It." I gave each student a handout detailing the questions for Journal #3 last class period.
3. I then proceeded to explain the "take-home" quiz. The instructions for the quiz are located below. Your quiz is due on FRIDAY!

Introductory Quiz for The Crucible/Puritan Schema

Instructions: Please select THREE of the following questions for your quiz. Please support your responses with information regarding our last class discussion concerning the Puritan culture. Please use MLA format for your responses (typed, 12 point print, Times New Roman font). Each response should following the eight sentence body paragraph model. Please do not use first or second person pronouns in your responses, but you may use passive verbs. You are welcome to use the Bible as a source and any handouts that you currently have in your notebook, but the Internet is not available for this assessment.

1. Examine the historical facts regarding the Salem witch trials and the Joseph McCarthy hearings. In what ways does Arthur Miller employ these facts in the service of his drama? Support your points with examples from our class discussions.

2. What social and religious factors concerning Puritan culture are to account for the harsh response to witchcraft? Support your points with examples from our class discussions.

3. The word “Puritan” actually means “unspoiled” and “clean.” Explain the verbal irony regarding this title. Support your points with examples discussed in class.

4. Discuss how the Puritan belief in Biblical text caused them to commit heinous acts against humanity. Support your points with examples from our class discussions.

5. Define some of the basic concepts regarding Puritan ideology. Support your points with examples discussed in class.

6. Discuss the following statement, “Theocracy suffered from a lack of flexibility.” Support your response with evidence from our class discussions.

7. Discuss the hypocrisy associated with Puritan culture and their strong belief in the Bible. Support your response with evidence from our class discussions.

Previous Student Example (Lucus Stewart, 2010): What does the belief in witchcraft indicate about the Puritan society regarding women? Support your response with evidence from our class discussions..

The Puritans represented a highly superstitious people. Their superstitions were fueled by ignorance, and the fact they misinterpreted Biblical text. For example, Exodus 22:18 states, “Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live,” was interpreted by Puritans. They believed this verse gave them permission to kill any one involved in witchcraft. However, the actual meaning relates to a “witch,” or a person not having the “Light of God;” consequently, they would suffer from this lack of knowledge. The belief in witchcraft indicated a convenient way to keep people, especially women, in "check". The Puritans believed in the original sin regarding Adam and Eve partaking of the fruit in the Garden of Eden. It states in Genesis 3:6, “When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it.” Due to this belief, women were considered evil and caused men to sin; consequently, they were always accused of witchcraft. The Malleus Malleficarum, a book used by the Puritans to identify witches, indicated that women act as the greatest vice for men. This ridiculous idea led the Puritans to falsely accuse women of witchcraft, and therefore made the Puritan society one of male dominance and fear.

4. We then proceeded to identify the characters within Act 1!

HOMEWORK:
1. QUIZ covering Puritan time period is due on Friday, November 18th! Please see explanation above.

Thursday, November 11th, 2011

Dear Juniors,
I appreciate you indicating that the blog was not updating. I hope that I have rectified the problem. Please let me know if the same problem continue to occur. THANK!

What did you do today in class, Mrs. Crampton?

1. We had each group share information regarding their particular Puritan topic. This information was recorded on the goldenrod colored handout that you have in your notebook entitled "Introductory Information on The Crucible."

2. In addition, two clips were shared with the class concerning Senator Joseph McCarthy. This gentleman falsely accused 205 Americans of communism during the 1950's; consequently, these individuals lost their jobs and were "black listed" by their friends. DOES THIS SOUND FAMILIAR? I have included an image of McCarthy below.



HOMEWORK:
1. PLEASE review the information discussed in class today concerning Puritan culture. You will have a quiz over this information on MONDAY.
2. Please read/annotate/notate/7-10/ALL COLORS the article entitled "WHY I WROTE THE CRUCIBLE?" This is due on Monday, as well.

Enjoy your weekend!