The Crucible

Research Topics

Using the supplied Web sites along with library reference material, groups prepare a five-minute summary of their research on their allocated topics. The aim of imposing a five-minute limit is two fold:

1.	to ensure that this preliminary work does not occupy an inordinate amount of classtime. 

2.	to ensure students read and summarise reference material in their own words rather than eg. simply printing web pages and reading them. 

The websites listed under each heading will aid student research in their particular topic. Teachers might consider extending this activity to also involve students in Thinking Critically about Research Sources (see http://english.unitecnology.ac.nz/resources/units/research/home.html). 

Group 1 - Arthur Miller 

·	Key events in his life. 
·	Other works (especially Death of a Salesman)
·	His beliefs/political outlook including communist connections. 
·	Arraignment by the House Un-American Activities 

Arthur Miller (see http://www.kennedy-center.org/programs/specialevents/honors/history/honoree/miller.html)

Arthur Miller (see http://www.levity.com/corduroy/millera.htm)

Group 2 - Witchcraft: Background 

·	What was witchcraft? Who practised it?
·	Describe the social response to withcraft in Europe in the 16th and 17th centuries. 
·	What social and religious factors are given to account for the harsh response to witchcraft?
·	What can you find out about modern witchcraft or wicca. 

The Witching Hours (see http://www.bigfoot.com/~ShanMonster/witch/)

What About Witches (see http://www.salemweb.com/witches.htm)

Group 3 - New England in the 1690's 

·	What type of people settled Massachusetts?
·	How did they survive?
·	What were their main fears and anxieties?
·	What can you find out about their social structures/hierarchies?

The Massachusetts Enquirer (see http://www.mayflowerfamilies.com/enquirer/)

Puritanism in New England (see http://www.scholars.nus.edu.sg/victorian/religion/puritan2.html)

Puritanism (see http://www.infoplease.com/ce5/CE042673.html)

New England Background (see background.rtf)

Group 4 - The Salem Witch Trials of the 1690's 

·	What events led to these trials?
·	Who was involved - as prosecutors? As victims?
·	What were the outcomes of the trials?
·	How do historians interpret these events?

The Salem Witchcraft Trials (see http://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/salem/salem.htm)

Salem Witchcraft Hysteria (see http://www.nationalgeographic.com/features/97/salem/)

A Chronology of Events (see http://www.salemweb.com/memorial/default.htm)

Salem Witch Trials Memorial (see http://www.salemweb.com/memorial/stones1.htm)

The Carey Document: On The Trial of a Salem Death Warrant  (see http://earlyamerica.com/review/summer97/carey.html)

Arthur Miller's The Crucible: Fact & Fiction (see http://www.ogram.org/17thc/crucible.shtml)

Group 5 - McCarthyism and the crack-down on communists in the 1950's 

·	What was the Cold War?
·	What was McCarthyism? Who was Joe McCarthy? What were his aims? methods? Who were his victims? 
·	What lead to his eventual downfall?

Senator Joe McCarthy - A Multimedia Celebration (see http://www.webcorp.com/mccarthy/mccarthypage.htm)

Senator Joe McCarthy (see http://dept.english.upenn.edu/~afilreis/50s/mccarthy-bio.html)

"The State Steps In: Setting the Anti-Communist Agenda" (see http://dept.english.upenn.edu/~afilreis/50s/state-agenda.html)

Communism and National Security: The Menace Emerges by Ellen Schrecker (see http://dept.english.upenn.edu/~afilreis/50s/menace-emerges.html)

"The Growth of the Anti-Communist Network" (see http://dept.english.upenn.edu/~afilreis/50s/anticom-network.html)

© Ministry of Education, Wellington, New Zealand (First published 1998)