The Crucible Act I Study Guide
- Why has Reverend Parris sent for a doctor as the play begins?
Parris sent for the doctor because his daughter, Betty, has not moved since 12pm.
- What advice does the doctor send back? Doctor says might be caused by something unnatural.
- About what does Parris question his niece Abigail? Parris asks Abigail what she, Betty and the other girls were doing in the forest.
- Why is Reverend Parris especially concerned about the talk of witchcraft? Because he is the Reverend, church leader, of the town and he doesn’t want to look bad. He says he has enemies that are trying to fire him.
- What did Parris see in the woods the previous night? Parris saw a dress n the ground and someone running naked through the woods.
- What has Elizabeth Proctor said about Abigail? Elizabeth says she doesn’t want to come to church because she doesn’t want to be around Abigail.
- Why does Abigail say she was dismissed by the Proctors? Abigail says she was fired because the Proctors treated her like a slave.
- What rumors have circulated the town about Betty Parris? What proof later occurs that “proves” that she is bewitched? The Putnams think there is witchcraft involved with the girls’ sickness. Someone claimed they saw Betty flying over the barn.
- Why did Mrs. Putnam contact Tituba?
Mrs. Putnam knew Tituba could talk to the dead. She had lost 7 newborn children and thinks they were murdered by a witch.
- Who does Abigail accuse of conjuring spirits at this point? Abigail says it was Tituba who was conjuring spirits.
- What does Betty Parris reveal about what happened in the woods?
Abby drank blood as a charm to kill Goody Proctor (Elizabeth).
- What threat does Abigail make to the other girls?
She threatens that she will kill the girls in the night with a knife if they say anything to the adults about what happened in the woods.
- What happened in the past between John Proctor and Abigail? How does each of them feel about it now? They had an affair and John committed adultery. John wants to move on because he feels guilty. Abigail is still in love with John and thinks that he still loves her.
- What is Rebecca Nurse’s opinion on the girls’ “illnesses”? Rebecca Nurse thinks the girls’ are faking their illness and just playing pretend.
- How does John Proctor feel about Reverend Parris? John Proctor thinks Parris talks about Hell and money too often.
- What is the dispute between John Proctor and Thomas Putnam? They are fighting about lumber. They disagree about whose land it is on.
- Why is Reverend Hale in Salem? To help Betty and rid the town of witches/the Devil.
- What does Giles Corey reveal to Reverend Hale? He asks Hale about his wife reading “strange books”. He wants to know why his prayers are stopped when she reads.
- When Abigail is questioned by Reverend Hale, who does she blame? What proof does she offer? Abigail blames Tituba. Abigail claims Tituba made her drink blood.
- What ultimatum is Tituba given? She has to “tell the truth” (admitting that she is a witch) or be whipped and hanged.
- Who does Tituba accuse of being a witch? She accuses Goody Osburn (after the Putnams mention Osburn).
- Why does Abigail start accusing people at this point? She might do it to avoid trouble or being accused herself. She might do it to accuse people she doesn’t like.
- Consider all the characters. If you could choose two characters who are most to blame for the way Act I ends, who would they be? Why? Student personal opinion/response.
Name ______
Direct characterization – The author TELLS the reader about a character through narration or stage directions.
Indirect characterization – The author SHOWS the reader about a character through what the character says or does, or what other characters say about them.
Read each quote and answer the questions that follow.
- Betty says, “you drank blood Abby! You didn’t tell him that!” (Miller 19).
- How does this quote characterize Abby? This quote characterizes her as a liar and odd.
- Direct or Indirect? Why? Indirect because Betty says it about Abby.
- Mercy says, “Oh, you’re a great one for lookin’ aren’t you, Mary Warren?” (Miller 19).
- How does this quote characterize Mary Warren? This quote characterizes her as an observer who thinks she’s more moral than the other girls.
- Direct or Indirect? Why? Indirect because Mercy says it about Mary Warren.
- Parris says, “Where is my wood? My contract provides I be supplied with all my firewood” (Miller 29).
- How does this quote characterize Parris? This quote characterizes him as greedy.
- Direct or Indirect? Why? Indirect because it is something Parris says that reveals his personality.
- Arthur Miller explains, “Mr. Hale is nearing forty, a tight-skinned, eager-eyed intellectual” (Miller 32).
- How does this quote character Mr. Hale? This quote characterizes Hale as a smart man in his 40s.
- Direct or Indirect? Why? Direct because the author tells/writes this in the stage directions.
- Giles Corey tells Reverend Hale that his “wife reads strange books.”
- How does this quote characterize Mrs. Corey? This quote characterizes her as someone who may be a witch.
- Direct or Indirect? Why? Indirect because Giles says this about his wife.
Name ______
The Crucible
Act I Review
Write the name of the speaker on the line. If you use your book to find the quote, write the page number next to the name of the speaker.
- “It’s a bitter woman, a lying, cold, sniveling woman, and I will not work for such a woman!” Abigail Williams (12)
- “You’ll only be whipped for dancin’, and the other things!” Mary Warren (19)
- “They will howl me out of Salem for such corruption in my house.” Reverend Parris (14)
- “You loved me then and you do now.” Abigail Williams (24)
- “She’s improved a little, I think – she give a powerful sneeze before.” Mercy Lewis (17)
- “Wherefore is everyone suing everybody else?” Giles Corey (31)
- “It were sport, Uncle!” Abigail Williams (11)
- “Ah, you’re wicked yet, arent’ y’!” John Proctor (22)
- “The Devil is precise; the marks of his presence are definite as stone.” Reverend Hale (38)
- “I can make you wish you had never seen the sun go down!” Abigail Williams (20)
- “What signifies the readin’ of strange books?” Giles Corey (40)
- “I am not used to this poverty; I left a thrifty business in the Barbados to serve the Lord.” Reverend Parris (29)
- “Here is all the invisible world, caught, defined, and calculated.” Reverend Hale (39)
- “But I will cut off my hand before I’ll ever reach for you again.” John Proctor (23)
- “I’ll clap a writ on you!” Thomas Putnam (32)
- “I discovered…my niece and ten or twelve of the other girls, dancing in the forest last night.” Reverend Parris (38)
- “No, no, sir, I don’t truck with no Devil!” Tituba (43)
- “There are many others who stay away from church these days because you hardly ever mention God anymore.” Thomas Putnam (29)
- “There is a murdering witch among us, bound to keep herself in the dark.” Thomas Putnam (16)
- “We shall need hard study if it comes to tracking down the Old Boy.” Reverend Hale (37)
- “Where is my wood? My contract provides I be supplied with all my firewood.” Reverend Parris (29)
- “You drank blood, Abby! You didn’t tell him that!” Betty Parris (19)
- “I bought a tract from Goody Nurse’s husband five months ago.” John Proctor (32)
- “A child’s spirit is like a child, you can never catch it by running after it.” Rebecca Nurse (27)
** ReviewACT I Vocabulary definitions**