The Crucible: You are the Critic!
Did you enjoy reading The Crucible? Did you enjoy studying The Crucible? Why/why not? What was your biggest takeaway from the play? Do you think it should be read in high schools? Should it be included in the American canon of literature (books that "everyone should read")? Explain.
i did enjoy reading the crucible as it was a overall good book and the story was a lot a nice deviation from the normal books that we read in English . The biggest takeaway from the play that i got would be perfection in any sense is not possible for humans as regardless of dedication or principles no human can stay true to those values for their entire lives . Personally I do believe the crucibles should be included in American cannon literature much more than stories written by Sophocles as the crucible can be a lot more applicable to aspects of life and engaging than other books
ReplyDeleteI strongly agree with your takeaway regarding perfection. It is simply not something that is achievable by humans regardless of how hard you may try. A good example from the play is when Elizabeth lied about Proctors affair despite the fact that she was an honest woman who did not lie. It goes to show that under the right circumstances people's ideas will shift and they will show what they are capable of.
DeleteI agree with Jean's take that there are many valuable lesson's that can be learned from the crucible such as how human's at the end only care for survival and will blackmail everyone who might stand in their way. Or how much affair's effect the mind state of the other partner.
DeleteI agree with your review because you helped demonstrated the useful information that could be learned from the story. But, you also didn’t ignore the aspects of the story that are often seen to many times that don’t allow for diversity of lifestyle, religion and time period in the American canon of literature.
Deletei agree with your review and how no human being can become perfection. I think that the crucible teaches a plethora of lessons that everyone should learn from.
Deletei agree with your take on the book. On how perfectionism can lead to disaster especially as imperfectibly is what makes us human at all.
DeleteI agree there were a lot of takeaways from The Crucible. Especially how no human can stay true to their beliefs for their entire life. Especially when its life or death.
Delete- Johana Brito
I did enjoy reading The Crucible because it was teaching me a different outlook on certain topics such as forgiveness and how far envy can motivate people to forget about their morals. For me, the biggest takeaway from the play was that societal pressures will only make those conform to ideas or rebel against them. I think The Crucible should be read in high schools and included in the American canon of literature because it is a memorable play that teaches you many lessons. You're likely to remember about The Crucible which is helpful because it is based off a true story and you're able to create your own ideas about human imperfection and morality.
ReplyDeleteI agree how The Crucible implied how humans struggle to forgive as seen with Elizabeth and John and how envy can drive someone to do bad things (Abigail). Knowing that this book tells a story from the Salem Witch Trials and is an allegory of the Red Scare, it'll be easier to learn from the past about doing the right thing.
DeleteI agree with Jasmin for bringing up an important point of forgiveness and envy, I think the root of all problems Salem faced was because of envy and innocent people were pulled into chaos. Also even though I might not agree with Elizabeth's choice to forgive John she still stood by his side until his death and even lied for him.
DeleteI agree with jasmin that envy can motivate people, jealously is a major downfall for many people. the trials all started because of vengance, abigail wanting john created this mess.
DeleteI agree that The Crucible should be included in the American canon of literature because as you said it was based off a true story and it could be a good book to help history not repeat itself.
DeleteYes I agree with your discussion of the outlooks The Crucible provides because personally it did open my eyes to topics I never thought of before. In a way I feel The Crucible did have an impact on my thinking of humanity itself such as morality and imperfection.
DeleteI agree with Jasmin for bringing up an important point of forgiveness and envy. Since I think forgiveness was an important thing in this story and definitely had a impact on this story line overall.
DeleteYes, I did enjoy reading the crucible because it helped me better understand how we normally lie under pressure and not care about other people especially if it means our life is on the line. The biggest takeaway from this play for me was to not let pride get in the way of what is truly important. For example, when John wouldn't sign the paper because he had too much pride was the cause of his death and the reason why he couldn't go back to his family. The crucible should be read in highschool because it is a good book to teach us to be careful who we call our friends. In the Crucible Mary’s so-called “friends” turned on her when all she wanted to do was tell the truth in the time of pressure her friends were not truly her friends. They only cared about themselves. This book should be included in the American canon because it is a good book that teaches people valuable life lessons. This book is also similar to another event that happened such as the Red Scare when people were being accused of Mccarthyism without any evidence. This book can really help us see the negative effects of accusing each other in a time of desperation. Maybe this book would help us not repeat history.
ReplyDeleteI think it's interesting the perspective you have about Proctor refusing to give the paper he signed confessing to witchcraft and seeing the devil. You view it more as a prideful action whereas I believe Proctor is so hurt that he gives this powerful monologue because he knows he is innocent. He protected innocent names when Danforth asked him who he saw with the devil. He is putting aside all his pride and ego. Proctors' emotions are all coming to light as he chooses to protect his family by ripping up the paper. He knows that the moment his name under the confession goes up all over town his life and especially his families will never return to any state of normalcy.
DeleteI agree with everything you said! The Crucible showed how too much pride can affect you and many valuable life lessons. It would've been cooler if we were able to look between parts of the book where Miller made an allegory of during a moment of the Red Scare. It was nice to see John and Elizabeth's character evolve even though their situation was tough. It just shows that change is and is not possible based on a persons morals and character.
DeleteI really liked your analysis of the plot and seeing a different perspective from mine. I do agree when you said that if helps us reconsider who we trust and how we can apply some of the themes to our own lives.
DeleteI agree we do lie its our nature. We are naturally selfish and lack empathy for others.
Delete- Johana Brito
I can appreciate The Crucible, but I was not particularly fond of it. Similar to all works of writing there is always something to take away. I think Miller did a great job at incorporating various lessons into his book, some that he may have written unintentionally. He also made it a point show the progression of the characters and how they change as their circumstances become increasingly challenging. The growth within the characters emphasizes that all humans are capable of changing. Humans should never be deemed as singular because we are comprised of a multitude of characteristics and at times of misfortune is when a person's true identity is revealed. I extremely enjoyed the analysis of the play we did in class. We got to explore the historical context, elements of literature, and everyone interpreted the book in their own unique way allowing others to broaden their perspectives. I think The Crucible is an appropriate book to read in high school, but I don't think it should be included in the canon of book nor the curriculum. There are millions of books in the world, yet we still teach students based on the same set of books. The school system and cannon need to diversify the works of literature they deem as high quality. I don't believe we have to remove books from the cannon. I believe that we need to add even more because there is so much writing in the world and yet modern books are not receiving the title of mastery the way other books in the cannon were recognized.
ReplyDeleteI agree with your review because you helped demonstrated the useful information that could be learned from the story. But, you also didn’t ignore the aspects of the story that are often seen to many times that don’t allow for diversity of lifestyle, religion and time period in the American canon of literature.
DeleteI agree with your review that the book teaches various lessons and the fact that the characters growth shows that humans are capable. This can be shown through proctors character growth throughout the story.
DeleteI really agree with your outlook on The Crucible as it summarizes my thoughts on The Crucible as lessons relevant to today’s society are present that everyone should be aware of. I agree there should be more books that have more diversity as it’s important to read different perspectives to explore themes we never thought of.
DeleteI enjoyed reading The Crucible because it was a different style of literature from what I usually read. I can't say it was a breeze for me because of the different style of English to analyze but once the scenes were clarified for me, it made me interested to read more and figure out what will happen next. This book gave me a big takeaway about not letting pride overcome you. Like John, I didn't want others to look at my name the wrong way which led me to distance myself from doing things that were important to me. John's pride took over him by not letting the judges get the document as it would taint his image in the town, this allowed me to realize that sometimes being too proud of yourself is not the answer as it could take everything away from you. The Crucible was an incredible book to read knowing Arthur Miller's intentions behind it when he wrote it. It should be read by everyone as it not only teaches everyone history from the Salem witch trials and the Red Scare but it shows people the importance of values and morals in every single aspect of a situation.
ReplyDeleteI agree with your takeaway that we should not let pride overcome us. I also liked how you supported your takeaway with parts of the text. I also agree with reading the Crucible teaches us history and helps us understand it better.
DeleteI agree with you especially when you said that it shows people the importance of morals because some people chose to lie to save themselves and others stayed with their truth because of morals even if that meant they were going to be killed.
Deletei agree as the whole idea of the crucible is far call from the normal type of reading we do in school and it has a lot of intrigue and dept. to a book that seem very surface level and has a extensive past and history relating to it
DeleteI agree that The Crucible should be read by everyone because it really does show the importance of values. I too struggled with the different style of English at times.
DeleteI agree, because it is an important read. Also, the language can be confusing because it can just go over your head. Also, it shows the importance of morals, that is critical in activism.
DeleteI thought The Crucible was an interesting piece of literature because it used a different type of language and the plot was very engaging. It followed several different themes all throughout the story and revolved around several characters and showed how all their choices indirectly affected their entire society. It demonstrated how the actions of others could influence someone's fate. Although it was a good read I don’t believe that it should be in Americans canon of literature because the story wouldn’t be appealing to everyone. If someone were to read the book and not attempt to do a deeper analysis they possibly wouldn’t understand the full message of the story nor understand the allegory of the story.
ReplyDeleteI agree with your takeaway that we should not let pride overcome us. I also liked how you supported your takeaway with parts of the text. I also agree with reading the Crucible teaches us history and helps us understand it better.
Deletei agree that the crucible has many memorable lesson. but i do believe that everyone should read because of the themes they can take away, lies and envy causes chaos.
Deletei disagree as i believe that the crucible book is able to stand alone without the concept of the real or intentional backstory and is able to develop one that purely correlated with the book and not with the actual history
DeleteI also believed the plot was engaging. I also really liked the way you explained all the character's choices indirectly affected the entire society!
DeleteI did enjoy the Crucible, I believe the morals of the story still remain true to today's society in terms of the dilemmas the people of Salem face. People make mistakes and for that they face consequences, for some it's as easy as apologizing and for others it may cost their lives. Throughout the book we also saw the changes and the ups and downs in John's and Elizabeth's relationship but no matter what they stayed true to themselves and supported each other until end. I think this book should definitely be taught in High Schools since it presents a wide variety of lessons for young adults.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Saba that the crucible should be taught it High schools since it does teach us many lessons. For example it teaches us that we have consequeunces for our actions, Not to let pride overcome us, and people will do almost anything for the things they desire.
DeleteI agree with Saba because The Crucible has lessons to learn and we can use those lessons to guide us through today's society. If we don't decide to use this book to our advantage and guide us, we may fail and drop in the society/economy.
DeleteI agree with Saba because since the lessons that the Crucible gave us could change our society for the better. This book could help us understand,forgiveness,morals,etc.
DeleteI did enjoy reading the crucible at times. The crucible had some parts of where the story was very slow and boring but towards the end of the play the story picked up and it became a lot more enjoyable to read. My biggest takeaway from the crucbile is that we should remain calm during times of mass hysertia. This was my biggest takeaway becasue if the town of salem stayed calm and did not fall into panic the whole salem witch trails could have been avoided. I think this book should be in the Amercian cannon and should be thought in High Schools. I say this becasue it teaches us many life lessons that we use daily. For example the book is relatable during many periods of time like during Covid and McCarthysim.
ReplyDeleteCan agree with this perspective. The intro seemed quite boring but the end was actually fun to read. I see why the problems might have possibly been avoided if people had managed the pressure too.
DeleteI can appreciate The Crucible, but I was not particularly fond of it. Similar to all works of writing there is always something to take away. I think Miller did a great job at incorporating various lessons into his book, some that he may have written unintentionally. He also made it a point show the progression of the characters and how they change as their circumstances become increasingly challenging. The growth within the characters emphasizes that all humans are capable of changing. Humans should never be deemed as singular because we are comprised of a multitude of characteristics and at times of misfortune is when a person's true identity is revealed. I extremely enjoyed the analysis of the play we did in class. We got to explore the historical context, elements of literature, and everyone interpreted the book in their own unique way allowing others to broaden their perspectives.I think The Crucible should be read in high schools and included in the American canon of literature because it is a memorable play that teaches you many lessons. You're likely to remember about The Crucible which is helpful because it is based off a true story and you're able to create your own ideas about human imperfection and morality. I believe that we need to add even more because there is so much writing in the world and yet modern books are not receiving the title of mastery the way other books in the cannon were recognized.
ReplyDeleteI agree with everything Sharif said this book had a lot of aspects and lessons for us to incorporate with and yes every high schooler should read this for educational purpose.
DeleteI can agree with what Sharif said. I can agree that people are completely capable of change and the relevance of having it be a true story helps support the validity of the plot.
DeleteI really enjoyed the Crucible. but what i didn't enjoy was that the reading was very slow for me, as an avid reader its kind of boring to read the same book for over a month. I think everyone should read the book, the message of mob mentality is very important. this book connects with today society, since it based off the McCathrism and the salem witch trial. every high schooler should read this because it teaches many memorable lessons.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Katie some parts of the book were a little boring but I believe I understood it more when watching the film you put up. Visualization is better then imagination in my opinion.
DeleteI did enjoy reading the Crucible I believe the story might still remain true to today's society in terms of the laws and the people of Salem face. People make mistakes and for that they will face consequences, for some it's as easy as apologizing and for others it may cost their lives. Throughout the book we also saw the changes and the positive and negatives aspects in John's and Elizabeth's relationship but no matter what they stayed true to themselves and supported each other until the end. I think this book should definitely be taught in High Schools since it presents a wide variety of lessons for young adults and educates us as humans.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Brandon because everybody makes mistakes and unfortunately, all mistakes come with a price. This book does provide us with many life lessons and reality checks.
DeleteI enjoyed reading the Crucible during the end of the play. Act I and Act II progressed a little too slow for me. I think that studying the Crucible was a little boring. I didn't enjoy how slow we progressed through the play. The biggest takeaway that i got from the play was that you need to face your fears instead of run from them. I do think that The Crucible should be taught in high school because it teaches some good lessons and it is a good resource that everyone should read at least on time in their lives.
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed reading the Crucible during the end of the play. One message that I took from this play was that instead of running away from your fears, you need to face them. Something good and positive may come out of it. If something negative does happen, then at least people will remember you for being brave and facing your fears. I think that The Crucible should be taught in high schools because it teaches them good life lessons and messages. Not only in high school, I think everyone should read this play at least once so that they understand what may happen in reality if you do certain things.
ReplyDeleteI agree with this, facing your fears will eventually lead to good no matter what the consequences may be.
DeleteI did enjoy reading the crucible as its plotline and motive I believe is important. It helped give me insight into how society functions in the way that it does. One message that I took from this play was on how important it was to stay truthful and stay to your morals. As Abigail plotted her revenge, lied, and directed blame to stay 'pure' in society. She used religion as her puppet to hurt others, disregarding the whole purpose of religion as something to believe in. I think that the crucible should be taught in high schools because it can show them the power and influence of your words and how important it is to stay aware and informed in any situation that can evolve to becoming disastrous.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteFor majority of the time, I liked reading The Crucible. My favorite section of the book is the conclusion. As you read the book, you quickly realize that, in general, people only think about themselves. Even if it was true for the vast majority of those in positions of authority, we eventually come to understand that this wasn't the case for everyone. We had Corey, who passed away without uttering a word so that his boys would inherit all of his land. Rebecca Nurse is another example who refused to make a false accusation against an entirely innocent person. My main takeaway is that when you don't want to let something go, it can hurt you without you even recognizing it. I think the Crucible should be taught in High school because it encourages the reader to study the text and see how many of those things still occur in society, even if they do so in a more contemporary manner.
ReplyDeleteI did not enjoy reading The Crucible in the sense of something I would read on my personal time but something that I feel is an important book to American Literature in the sense analytically. I didn’t enjoy reading it because it’s personally not my interests in regards to the language and description. I felt reading as a chore as I’m personally not fascinated with the Salem Witch Trials. I do feel like The Crucible has important themes and motifs that apply to today's time and throughout history. An example is scapegoat which I personally took as the most significant as it has been done in the past, present and will continue in the future as it’s human nature to place blame. It explores many topics and concepts that I feel are important to today’s society and young readers such as fear, love and survival. I think it should be read in High School for analytical reasons but not something everyone should read. Someone should read it for the knowledge and lessons that come with it but not as a necessity or must read as there’s more books that provide more diversity.
ReplyDeletei so agree on the fact that it can get boring and that it doesn't automatically draw interest in readers.
Deletethe crucible is an intriguing play. I enjoy its direct subtle activism and its intense use of internal conflict and dialogue. it remains to be a staple of modernism. It is an important constant within how accusation is taught, within this book we can dissect and understand the intensity of the accuser and accused. the book explores a lexicon of topic of a modernist, such as adultery/sex, marriage, lies and the art of deceiving. in this we see theocracy and truth juxtaposed, and we see the basis of reason and belief v. truth and reality. in essence the crucible remains a critical sphere within spectrum of literature.
ReplyDeleteFor the most part I did enjoy reading the Crucible. Studying the book eventually became interesting after getting deeper into the book and understanding the signs. My biggest takeaway is the understanding of one’s inclination / or at minimum, the thought towards saving oneself while throwing others under the bus when under major pressure. It’s often just human nature to test when under pressure, and we can judge but in an actual situation, so many different factors at play can influence our decisions. It should be read in high schools, because it gives perspective on how pressure influences our decisions, shows symbolism and showcases historical events. Not necessarily a book all people would want to read, but definitely one that people should take a look at.
ReplyDeleteI did enjoy reading the crucible since it showed how different society was back then. It helped give me insight into how society functions in the way that it does. One message that was to be truthful on everything. As Abigail plotted her revenge, lied, and directed blame to stay 'pure' in society. She used religion as her puppet to hurt others, disregarding the whole purpose of religion as something to believe in. Also, I think that the crucible should be taught in high schools because it can show them the power and show them how your actions have consequences since this is a perfect book to show that.
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed reading the crucible as it had very insightful lessons all throughout. It was a direct attack on McCarthyism. It taught me to not to jump to conclusions and expect the worst as it can lead to imminent chaos. It also taught me about morals and how it’s s never that simple. How Elizabeth bent her morals for the love of her life. And how John stood by his in the face of death.
ReplyDelete- Johana Brito