137 Comments
Emily Dingman
9/11/2014 10:43:10 am
This made me wonder most of all, it made my wonder why? Why could people have jumped from one story to another, a young girl cries out that she has been bewitched by a friend and then in the same day the girl cries out that her friend is now innocent. Where people that afraid then to someone they could not understand? I know they did not have the knowledge we have today but they where still humans, they where still people with brains and processed thinking. How could there have been people that would have not used the gift of their brain to their help, the go wit one story to the next, to believe a girl who had no evidence other then a spiritual claim. How they hung so many innocent people that had no crime to pay for, it makes me wonder why and how we where able to move from that. How it was such a hard strict way of thinking, it makes me wonder how we could have envoled from that strict life into what we are now.
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Piper Tompkins
9/11/2014 11:58:23 am
I agree that its inconceivable how we have changed from such a strict time and now we have so much freedom.
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Christian Klosterman
9/11/2014 12:11:47 pm
This was really weird to me also, how could they take a person's word so seriously and hang so many people with little to no proof of any of these things actually happening
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Jackson Sjogren
9/11/2014 02:25:32 pm
Yeah it's crazy that people still believed this girl after the story had changed so many times!
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Morgan McNevin
9/11/2014 02:32:18 pm
I cant believe the court still took her seriously when she was obviously making things up as she went.
Noah Legier
9/12/2014 02:24:39 am
Yeah people mustve been pretty uneducated at the time to believe those claims. And it seemed that whoever had the smarts to not participate in the trials where then accused anyway.
mikey
9/11/2014 03:49:23 pm
I think its very interesting to look at how so much was held from us and then we are given so much freedom today.
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Abby Elliott
9/11/2014 07:16:42 pm
People today do not all see the Bible the same way
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Piper Tompkins
9/11/2014 11:55:41 am
This really made me think about how wild it is that one girl could manipulate so many people. Abigail starts out seeming like a caring compassionate person but then when the doors are closed she turns on everyone and revealed her true motives, to destroy a marriage. It also makes me think about how theocrasy really ruined the town of salem. They used reciting the ten commandments as an interrogation tactic, to prove or disprove a person was practicing witchcraft. That does not seem like an appropriate way to ensure a satan free lifestyle. I also thought it was interesting how John Proctor would have a short temper towards his wife and lash out at her, and then he would go and protect her from being persecuted for being a witch. I felt like he did this out of remorse for what he did to her, and guilt knowing she was being framed and he caused it.
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Christian Klosterman
9/11/2014 12:09:47 pm
I agree! Reciting the ten commandments was a really weird way to tell if someone was worshipping Satan or not.
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Chandler Gaines
9/11/2014 12:15:10 pm
I also agree it was and interesting part of the story.
Noah Legier
9/12/2014 02:26:45 am
yeah just because i cant recite one rule of the fight club doesnt mean i am not in the fight club
Kaeli Leoni
9/11/2014 12:16:53 pm
I totally agree with what you said about how surprising it was that they used things like asking people to recite the ten commandments as evidence in court and how seriously they took it.
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Morgan King
9/11/2014 02:08:14 pm
I also found it interesting the contrast between Proctor's temper to his wife and than how he "heroically" went to try and save his wife from being persecuted. It shows the imperfection that went on behind closed doors, but were eventually brought in those dark times.
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Christian Klosterman
9/11/2014 12:06:40 pm
I think this play was really odd. Of course it seems odd to us nowadays, but I wonder if anyone else back then heard of all of these witch trials and felt a little sceptical. I'm sure there were some people who weren't totally sold that these regular people were making pacts with Lucifer and doing satanic rituals. Maybe a lot of people were sceptical, but didn't say anything because they might have gotten hung or tortured. This is what interested me the most in this long play.
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Piper Tompkins
9/11/2014 12:19:54 pm
I agree! I feel like if I was in that time I would have been really skeptical about all these people being executed for worshiping satan.
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Kaeli Leoni
9/11/2014 12:21:02 pm
I agree with what you said about how although some people were skeptical of the suspicions, they kept their mouths shut out of fear of being hanged. It was a really odd time back then and I'm glad it's not like that anymore.
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Chloe
9/11/2014 01:12:02 pm
I wondered that too!
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Matt Rose
9/11/2014 02:21:59 pm
I agree it was actually pretty funny to see grown men believe that stuff.
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Eli Murguia
9/11/2014 03:53:58 pm
I know right?! It's really just child's play. How could they be so gullible?
Jackson Sjogren
9/11/2014 02:27:46 pm
It was also crazy that people could be killed for trying to tell the truth there fore most just lied and admitted to crimes they hadn't committed.
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Jack Campbell
9/11/2014 02:33:14 pm
I wondered the same thing about the skepticism, however during this time people were very susceptible to supernatural explanations because of their theologies.
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mikey
9/11/2014 03:52:18 pm
I agree, if I was to be in that time I don't know what I would've done really. It seems like neither side had enough proof to support their idea.
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Alex de Villiers
9/11/2014 06:23:01 pm
I'm not sure if everyone really did believe those stories either, maybe everyone just wanted a reason to be able to get back at the person they don't like the most.
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Benjamin Rose
9/12/2014 01:00:17 am
I really wonder how people's thought processes worked back then, how daily life was and how weird it would seem to us.
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Chandler Gaines
9/11/2014 12:13:16 pm
I liked this story. It was interesting and jumpy, but it was jumpy in a good way. It kind of grabbed your attention back when there was a twist like how the bewitched girls blamed all the others in act three I believe. I also enjoyed how the story was in an old tense of english. It made me understand better where the story came from because I could picture the era that they were in. Overall it was a great play and portrayed very well with good presentation aspects.
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Grant
9/11/2014 02:23:00 pm
I agree with you I also think that the story jumped around a little bit.
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Michele moua
9/11/2014 03:09:59 pm
I agree with you, the story had a lot of variation and change within themes and moods making it really interesting and made me curious for more.
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Nicole Matteson
9/11/2014 05:13:39 pm
I agree, this play definitely was an attention grabber! Its interesting to see the language they spoke and all their thought processes too.
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Kaeli Leoni
9/11/2014 12:14:49 pm
This play made me think that people will do practically anything to save themselves. Throughout the whole play, Abigail and her friends continued to blame their own acts on others, creating excuses as they could to save their own skin. I couldn't believe that she went so far as to let other people die for crimes they did not commit and felt no shame for it either. It also made me think about how it was such a different time back then in the court system, especially dealing with things like witches and the Devil. Even though they had no hard evidence other than people's word, they found that credible enough to trust. They just assumed that each person was telling the truth even though during this particular case, hardly anyone did. I think that times have changed a lot for the better since then, especially in law, and I am grateful they have.
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Chandler Gaines
9/11/2014 12:16:20 pm
I like how you summed up those examples. It was a very deceiving story as you said.
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Isaac Fernandez
9/11/2014 01:23:08 pm
Yeah!! It is insane how they can say someone is going to die based on someone saying something.
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Matt Rose
9/11/2014 02:20:42 pm
I agree it was very desperate and childish of them to scoop so low and start something very unnecessary.
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Kayla Feather
9/11/2014 12:41:48 pm
I think that that their lives back in Salem were so different from our own that it's almost hard to fathom. If Something like this were to happen to day I think no one would have died but those girls would have probably been charged with attempted murder, or something. Although I am curious how no one stopped to think that the girls were lying. Mainly how Abigail was making most of the claims. Wouldn't you have put two and two together? Or did they just assume she was the most unlucky girl on the whole planet? I feel that no one really questioned it because everyone got a benefit-except the people who hung. Although in the end Abigail didn't get John Proctor wish is sad that he died but I feel it was good that Abigail didn't get what she wanted.
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Isaac Fernandez
9/11/2014 01:20:23 pm
Yeah, I think it is good how she didn't get what she wanted too!
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Mikayla Kricfalusi
9/11/2014 01:22:06 pm
I agree that it is very strange that everyone believed Abigail. However, I think that people might have been deluded by their belief that God was talking through the girls. Religion both protected and enabled them.
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Sarah Lockhart
9/11/2014 04:14:48 pm
I agree, that was really bothering me too that no one really questioned Abigail or the other girls! They just went into random fits and everyone went 'on my, the only explanation is witchcraft!'
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Emily Hayashida
9/11/2014 12:42:14 pm
This play enforces the belief that people are generally selfish, and will do anything to save themselves. In the beginning Abigail comes off as a sweet girl, up until the point that affair brought up. From that point on you see Abigail's true side. Her and her friends plot against everyone when they discover that confessing they were involved in witchcraft, is actually better than denying it. When they start accusing others, Salem erupts in chaos and many people are arrested and sentenced to death. I can't believe that Abigail and the other guilty friends felt no remorse when accusing the others, especially when they were responsible for many deaths. The court system is also confusing in the sense that the only facts needed was for someone to testify against you, with no proof necessarily. This is so unlike today, and this is almost the same as the Red Scare in which McCarthyism was involved too.
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Chloe
9/11/2014 01:12:54 pm
Good observation about the selfishness, I never considered that.
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Mikayla Kricfalusi
9/11/2014 01:17:59 pm
I agree with your estimation of Abigail, but I think that there were also a lot of instances in which people showed altruism. Here the court is also different, with the accused being guilty until proven innocent, which is one of the reasons courts today are innocent until proven guilty beyond reasonable doubt.
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Michele Moua
9/11/2014 03:19:36 pm
I love your insight on selfishness. I really think that its part of human nature to be selfish and opportunistic. A little bit sort of like "Survival of the fittest" in a small sense i guess. Not sure if you'll catch my drift. But, I guess that morals and ethics with religion are to keep those natures of selfishness and incautiousness condemned, in a way.
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Kevin
9/12/2014 12:34:06 am
I agree with Emily many people were selfish back then.
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Mikayla Kricfalusi
9/11/2014 01:14:49 pm
"A fire, a fire is burning. I hear the boot of Lucifer, I see his filthy face! And it is my face, and yours, Danforth! For them that quail to bring men out of ignorance, as I have quailed, and as you quail now when you know in all your black hearts that this be fraud- God damns our kind especially, and we will burn, we will burn together!"
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Shea Saulino
9/12/2014 01:54:41 am
Stunning insights and choice of phrasing. Excellent.
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Jenna Welsh
9/12/2014 04:56:50 am
I, too, was both horrified and pleased with Elizabeth at the same time. I so wanted her name to be cleared, but I thought it was so admirable that she lied to the court to save her husband. Beautiful analysis!
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Mrs. Clark
9/19/2014 04:54:20 pm
This is one of the best commentaries on this play that I have ever read. Thank you for your honest and in depth analysis. :)
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Chloe Rice
9/11/2014 01:23:35 pm
One of the most interesting facets of this story is the character John Proctor. He is abusive and loving to his wife Elisabeth; a sinner and a guilty lover. It seemed clear in the beginning he did not care for Elisabeth, and yet in the end he was willing to soil his name in her defence. Proctor understood how wrong it was for Abigail to punish his wife for his own sins. She was the clear antagonist of this story; driving a large majority of the plot and causing pain for many of the characters.
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Rena
9/11/2014 03:17:56 pm
I totally agree. I wonder how she could justify it to herself.
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Alexis Habib
9/12/2014 02:44:08 am
Very good point!
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Ian
9/11/2014 01:47:20 pm
This play was really fun to watch my classmates act our. I feel what abigail did was inhuman almost. It shows how fast people can turn on one another. This play was odd thought if people still acted like today it would be total anarchy.These people would turn on anyone just to be safe from people accusing them. I really had mixed feeling about this play but overall i stilled learned something.
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Ian
9/11/2014 01:47:59 pm
Out not our
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Isaac Fenandez
9/11/2014 01:54:04 pm
This play, definitely made learning about history awesome! The whole time it kept me with wanting more. The whole thing about all of the girls lying about everything was crazy. Having our class act it out, really helped me to fully understand and have a lot of fun going through this story. This play, is one of the best things that I have ever read. It was really crazy to read that people could be sentenced to be hung, just because someone said they were a witch. The "Evidence" they had back then was just people saying they were being honest. Being Proctor, I felt super bad for the guy. He stepped up with a few of his friends to actually fight the authority. He then got blamed for being a servant of the devil. I give the guy major props though. He came out with a sin that would have destroyed his name for his wife. It really showed how much he valued his wife. I really felt bad for the guy, he knew he messed up by cheating on his wife and when he constantly is asking for her forgiveness, she tells him she can't grant him forgiveness. It seemed like he knew he had nothing to lose, so he figured he would just go out with his faith and love for his wife.
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Morgan King
9/11/2014 02:03:55 pm
Yeah I totally agree with you. This was a very intense play, with a lot of exciting details that kept you reading. I agree with you when you pointed out the lack of evidence. As well as how Proctor had sinned, but remained faithful and pure at the very end.
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Dylan L
9/11/2014 02:30:19 pm
Isaac- we have very similar posts! This is interesting, because even though I didn't mention it in my post, I also had thoughts about Proctor that were similar to yours. I do agree with you that he "gave in" because he had nothing to lose. By the way, you did a pretty nice job at acting it out!
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Alexis MIranda
9/12/2014 02:18:02 am
Your right! This play was really intense towards the middle of the play. It also helped me learn better when my classmates acted it out.
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Chloe Rice
9/11/2014 01:54:11 pm
The witch trials took place in a time period where women had very little power. Its interesting to see how the women like Abigail and Ann Putnam suddenly gain authority with the ability to accuse others of Witchcraft. When Abigail makes the outburst in act one, "I want to open myself! . . . I want the light of God, I want the sweet love of Jesus! I danced for the Devil; I saw him, I wrote in his book; I go back to Jesus; I kiss His hand. I saw Sarah Good with the Devil! I saw Goody Osburn with the Devil! I saw Bridget Bishop with the Devil!" In a way she is suddenly given the authority of a man. People are listening to her and they care about what she has to say. Elisabeth just minds her own business and butchered in the gossip world for it, even tried as a witch! The women given the most power in this play are the ones who accuse others. I wonder if this is done on purpose as part of the message of the crucible, or if it is just a consistent theme throughout history that women have to endanger other women to succeed? Of course in the end Abigail does not get what she wanted, John proctor, but in a way she is the catalyst of the entire story. Without her drama, and deceit, it might have happened much differently.
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Jack Campbell
9/11/2014 02:30:49 pm
Its interesting how they were able to get what they want and gain power by making accusation about other women in the town.
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Dylan L
9/11/2014 02:34:52 pm
I totally agree with what you were talking about, Chloe. Especially the part where you mentioned that women have to endanger other women to get (or feel), power. I think that this is a pretty interesting aspect, since it relates pretty well to modern things. It reminds me a lot of Mean Girls. Anyway, I think that you brought up some really interesting points, and I agree with you.
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Sarah Lockhart
9/11/2014 04:17:44 pm
I really love your perspective on the story and the power it gave the women; I didn't really think about power struggles while reading it.
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Matt Rose
9/11/2014 02:18:29 pm
I felt very unsatisfied with the way the story turned out so far. After watching tons of cartoons and growing up around stories where lying always ended badly, it was weird and felt wrong to see it actually work out for Abigail. It sucked to see so many deaths happen over such a selfish lie but it also made the story very interesting and amazed me how far it went. It scared me too on how much power these women had that they could lie all day and control who they want and somehow still be untouchable.
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Hesham
9/11/2014 03:42:22 pm
I know! People will do almost anything to escape trouble. I agree that its scary that someone can come up with lies and get executed
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Nicole Matteson
9/11/2014 05:16:16 pm
I love your connection with the cartoons! It is strange to see the "villain" win in this play. Most the time they loose and so the whole time in this play i was waiting for abby to get found out. Yet, she never did.
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Alex de Villiers
9/11/2014 06:24:48 pm
The story isn't completely over so we don't know if it ends up badly for Abigail or not.
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Morgan King
9/11/2014 02:19:26 pm
I thought that this play was phenomenal! It was very intense though, it brought to light the imperfections that happen when you try to force two things, the church and government, to work as one. I found it hard at times to believe it was based on true events, because of how "in your face" it was written. The one thing that really stood out to me is how it started with the hatred of someone's wife. I could feel the lies of niceness from Abigail when she was around others, but the pure jealously when she was alone. I felt more connected with the play, especially when we had people acting it out in class. I think that the overall focus of this, was to reflect on history, as well as show what happens when you try to let dishonesty protect you. You end up spirally out of control with sometimes catastrophic results, because you chose not to be honest and faithful to yourself. That is probably the one thing I think people should really take away from this, is that even when something you believe in is disregarded by others, you should never let that disregard beat you down, and you should stand strong and faithful to yourself.
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Tristan Elghoroury
9/12/2014 02:15:41 pm
Yea ! Even though I was only there for 1 day of acting i also belive that it helped me learn it through kind of playing the parts of these people.
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Grant
9/11/2014 02:20:08 pm
Throughout the reading there are many fine examples of betrayal and deception . The first example of betrayal/deception was when the first group of people was accused of witchcraft. They tried to lie and say they weren't doing anything wrong, but later learned that they could pass it off onto many others by confessing. This worked because they claimed that they were drawn by the devil and able to bring a bunch of other people in for accusing with them. Another example of betrayal and deception was when people were accusing each other to settle old hatred for each other. I think that this shows how people can change their problem into multiple problems for other people.
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Kane
9/11/2014 03:09:32 pm
I think it was interesting the way you looked at it. I felt you used great examples of betrayal, and I agree with the point you made.
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Jackson Sjogren
9/11/2014 02:23:24 pm
I think that this story just truly showed the problems with theocracy. The judge instantly judged John Proctor when learning he missed sabbath on several occasion and even hinted that his wife was guilty based of this information. Also a lot of the evidence brought up in court was circumstantial. For example Giles wife was considered a witch after she supposably cursed a farmer from owning goats yet there was no proof. It just goes to show how flawed the court system was and how much it has improved.
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Morgan McNevin
9/11/2014 02:30:55 pm
Jackson you have a great point here. I would love to discuss this further sometime after school.
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Eddie
9/11/2014 03:47:42 pm
Rig ^
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Dylan L
9/11/2014 02:25:06 pm
This play was really powerful. I thought that the story seemed very dramatic and kind of like a modern TV show. I really enjoyed acting out the play in class compared to reading it individually. When we were acting it in the class, it made learning this history really enjoyable, and very easy to follow and understand. I feel that we should try to do this more commonly, because it seems like most people are agreeing with me in that it is very helpful. I do think that we should have more specific roles, though, since in our class people kept changing characters (which got quite confusing). Ultimately, acting out the play in the class made me wonder how realistic the play was, and how fictional it was. I could certainly see it being mainly true, but it wold be interesting to see a laid-out comparison between true, and play.
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Eli Murguia
9/11/2014 04:04:36 pm
I totally agree! I loved having something as simple as reading become so fun and interactive! I definitely agree that we should do more of these acting books in class activity/project things.
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Mrs. Clark
9/19/2014 05:23:53 pm
This is great feedback about the process Dylan. However, the prompt is asking about the play content. :)
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Mrs. Clark
9/19/2014 05:25:55 pm
And we will go over what really happened on Monday.
Jack Campbell
9/11/2014 02:28:30 pm
I found this play to be insightful to the extent that people will go to in order to protect and save themselves. In the play there are many accusations thrown around between the characters. After the girls are caught dancing in the Forest, Abigail knows that she will be questioned and accused of witchcraft. In order to stop this from happening she denies everything and convinces the other girls to not admit to anything that they had done other then dancing. From the way that she was pretrade in the reading, Abigail is very forceful in trying to prevent any of the girls from confessing. Later in the play when Tituba is questioned, she admits to more than just dancing. When she does this she realizes that there is a scapegoat. As soon as she starts to blame all of the other women in the town, Abigail and The others join in on blaming everyone else for what they had done. This shows that even though they claimed to be good Christian women, they were willing to do anything in order to protect themselves.
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Hesham
9/11/2014 03:45:04 pm
I really liked how you put this together. Its crazy how people are so selfish.
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Lucas LeVieux
9/12/2014 02:35:39 am
Yes, this is truly a study in human character. Everyone is so afraid of shame and death, that they'll blame anyone to avoid it.
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Morgan McNevin
9/11/2014 02:29:50 pm
I found it very Interesting how Abigail could manipulate so many people and even get a loyal group of followers just to create an anecdote about how they were attacked by all these different spirits while they were in the courtroom and how everyone actually believed them and they were not needed to prove evidence as the supernatural occurrences could not be proven but were obviously real from the reactions on the girls faces. I also think that the judges were 100% at fault when even presented by Giles that this was a fraud to scam people out of their land and property the judges simply asked for proof and when no circumstantial evidence was provided giles was almost arrested for disrupting the court.
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Justin Reyes
9/11/2014 03:35:40 pm
I like the way on how you formulated your thoughts. You really provided a thorough analysis of what happened throughout the end of the book which made it better to understand
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Noah Parr
9/11/2014 02:38:42 pm
When I read this, I had a main kinda thought resting with me. And it is that they are not smart. Not one bit of scientific knowledge rest in them. But what they do know is theology. And It is all they know. So when I read through it, I would think of the clear reason and logic that could o against it, but that they would never use. I felt like the only one with sense was Proctor, even though he was not a good person. He was abusive mean, and an adulterer, but he knew that things were not right, and he sought to try to get out of this bad situation. I just wonder what would have happened if they tried A little bit of rational thought. If they looked, and they said, "Do I trust these girls, with their ever-changing stories, and the hard proof that says that they are planting witch traps?" Then most of this wouldn't have happened.
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Kane
9/11/2014 03:06:16 pm
I agree with what you said, but I think this may of been exaggerated as a play, and in the real situation, it may be more believable. but this is a reflection on the play so i guess that is fine.
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Jonathan R
9/11/2014 04:55:23 pm
I completely agree with everything you have just said! If everyone just calmly walked through the events someone would slip up and they would be able to learn the truth.
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Shea Saulino
9/12/2014 01:56:51 am
I totally agree with your thoughts and reasoning. When you said you had a thought resting inside you, I found that very powerful.
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Srdja
9/11/2014 02:45:59 pm
I realy like this play. It make me thing about all innocent people died just becaouse of someone's caprice. Not only in this story but in generaly in history of entire world. Abigale and her friends are little Hitlers. It is impossible how one common girl can manipulate entire society. It is bit silly. I can only find reason in obsession for one church, religion and eveything that was going outside this should be punished in a cruel way. Even if those are just fictitious and lies of eight year old girl.
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Dr.Eddie (The Pastor) Ph.D
9/11/2014 03:43:08 pm
I'm going to have disagree, comparing her to Hitler doesn't make sense. I understand what you meant though, that she was basically manipulating everyone but at the same time not really. Everyone saw a chance for vengeance and took it. In the part when the girl that laying on the floor (I forgot her name) betty I think, she named someone who was with the devil, then everyone began accusing other people.
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Kevin
9/12/2014 12:38:30 am
I agree with Eddie a lot of people were accusing each other for different things.
Dillon Prescott
9/11/2014 02:50:14 pm
This made me really wounder how much sanity people had in these days. I mean they took the word of a young girl that these people were guilty, and hung them for it, and then do nothing when she disappears for good. Plus the judge was just to worried about his reputation to make anything right so to many people had to die.
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Alexis Habib
9/12/2014 02:45:22 am
You made me re-think my opinion on the judge!
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Kane McGrath
9/11/2014 02:54:37 pm
What I thought was very interesting, was how they used witchcraft to fulfill their greed. Throughout history there is always been backstabbing, but typically it was done by stabbing someone in the back usually with a knife or other sharp object. But after they realized they could get away with it legally by accusing someone of being a witch, murder became so much simpler. It was also surprising that no one looked for a persons incentive of accusing someone of being a witch, and almost blindly followed what they told. I found it very interesting that the court system took evidence based on absolutely no proof. It also amazes me how they always said this was such a respectable judgment system and to trust in the fairness of it, but they carried out their governmental duties like a bunch of idiots. I'm sure it may of been fear of the unknown that drove them to accept such rash accusations, But this does not justify their actions. But I think it's also possible for people to future to come look back upon our court system today and think nearly the same thing, it could be that we were never put into the situation,so we would have no idea what it's like. Now with our expansive system of communication, we know that such things are based upon opinion and should not be taken so seriously, but back then being isolated in the Americas, it's not so hard to believe such a thing, especially when your entire society is founded upon religion. And after almost all of the people believed in witchcraft, I'm surprised the main character looked towards reason and logic before giving in to ridiculous accusations. But I really think this story can teach a great lesson on blindly looking up rumors. Lies can spread like a virus, once when one person hears it, they spread it to the people around them, soon your entire society is infested with this illness, I think it was quite surprising that the people who made up the story’s about witchcraft, most likely believed in witchcraft themselves, despite knowing that they themselves made up a story about it. I also think it's a good life lesson on acting upon a belief something that can't be proven but can't be disproven. I think we should not accept these as facts and not let it influence our legal system.
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Grant
9/11/2014 03:04:02 pm
I like how you described your thoughts about the story and used examples from it and real life.
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Mrs. Clark
9/19/2014 05:54:08 pm
I so appreciate your response because it lacks ethnocentrism! It would be so easy to say, "how could they be so gullible" or something similar but that would be evaluating them based on our culture's standards. Simply because it take place in America, we have to consider differences in time period as well. Like you said, we are probably making decisions now that people in the future will scoff at. Well done Kane!
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Michele Moua
9/11/2014 03:06:43 pm
This play has given me a great insight on what it is like to live in such a time. Back then they were so superstitious and easily swayed through words. A whole lot of pointing fingers and blaming with little to no proof, other than words and promices. Everyone is so frantic to eliminate a deadly threat hidden somewhere amongst the people. its a very different culture which when presented to us almost seems insane. The fact that one girl can convince and entire community that certain individuals are cursed and a danger, with practically no proof other than her words seems insane. The consequences they face that are heavily influenced by their beliefs will push abigail to insane extents to protect herself and her friends. SO dramatic and emotional often changing direction with theme and mood; its funny I guess, it make our girl drama nowadays look like nothing. I guess life back the was more dramatic and a struggle so everything will seem insane. I enjoyed reading with my class and being presented with different styles of literature and it really mixed things up. I't definitely won't be something i would forget anytime soon.
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Chenoa
9/11/2014 05:32:10 pm
I agree. The people during those times relied heavily on the word of God more than anything else.
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Kendall Tally
9/11/2014 03:08:57 pm
I don't enjoy these kinds of stories and I never will. The amount fear mongering in this play/during the real time is huge! It takes place in the past, yes, but similar things happen even today. We may not be burning witches at the stake, but people are still afraid of the world and the innocent can still be condemned.
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Rena
9/11/2014 03:25:47 pm
I totally agree that the innocent can still be accused of guilty, and with a lack of evidence, that is crazy. It actually kinda relates to the West Memphis 3 story. 3 guys were arrested for murder but there was very little evidence against them and they were in prison for like 15-20 years. It's like you're guilty until proven innocent which is crazy.
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Rena Dillenbeck
9/11/2014 03:16:22 pm
Wow this play. I thought my life was full of drama before this. It is amazing how someone can manipulate a whole society with lies. I am still amazed by that, even though I finished reading like an hour ago. I think this play shows how selfish people could be. I don't know about anyone else, but that makes me feel sad. Abigail risked the lives of others. The main thing that this play makes me wonder about is why and how humans could be so brutal to each other?
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Eli Murguia
9/11/2014 03:29:20 pm
I totally agree with Isaac, this was so much fun! I loved being able to act out history, it really helped me in remembering the content.
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Eli Murguia
9/11/2014 03:35:31 pm
So to kind of summarize my rambles, I had really thought about what John was saying about Abigail and it really got me wondering why Abigail did what she did. But I really felt that what Abigail had done was pointless in that all she had done was achieve nothing but the death of the one that she claimed she wanted.
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Mrs. Clark
9/19/2014 05:31:36 pm
I love your rambles!
Eddie Herrera
9/11/2014 03:32:09 pm
This was a weird story but it spoke the truth though it was kinda of exaggerated with the witch craft and all of these problems. It felt like a Mexican soap opera or any in general. I thought this because it was just a fight over love, morals, and vengeance. I felt that this happens a lot in real life. Vengeance is a cruel things which often causes a domino effect. It doesn't necessarily need to be over love it can be over envy, jealousy, power, and hatred. In the play, every one was trying to get vengeance on each other because of one of these reasons. It was like survival of the fittest, framing one another so one can prosper from it in any way. My wonder is that we all say that vengeance is bad but I'm sure that everyone has committed an act that correlates with vengeance; if we know it's bad why do we do it?
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eli Murguia
9/11/2014 03:44:02 pm
Preach it Eddie! That's really true though, and I think that the reason that we do things even though we know it's bad is because that as humans we all have a little bit of selfishness inside and when we do things good or bad, sometimes we do it because of that selfishness or want of some kind of personal gain.
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Eddie The Pastor
9/11/2014 03:52:40 pm
Amen
Alexis Miranda
9/11/2014 03:41:22 pm
This play was really interesting in so many ways. The character that really caught my attention was Proctor because in the beginning we found out that he cheated on his wife, which made us think that he is not a very truthful guy. But once we came across the second scene, where Proctors wife was accused by Abigail, he started to defend her. He did not want them to take her and let them chain her, this made me realise that Proctor still loves his wife. Which was really suprising to me because I thought he didn't have any feelings for her in the beginning.
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Eli Murguia
9/11/2014 03:48:42 pm
I agree! At first I thought he was kind of a joker when he said "maybe..." after Abigail had asked him if he had not looked into her window at night. I too felt like he was kind of in denial that he loved Abby, but in the end he stood for Elizabeth even up till his death.
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Eddie
9/11/2014 03:50:59 pm
Alexis, I agree with you 100%. Proctor did really love his wife, he didn't realize how much he did until they were going to take her away from him but at the same time he began to realize that his mistake has finally caught up with him.
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Justin
9/11/2014 04:05:14 pm
I agree Alexis, it really just shows that the characters are very deceiving to the plot.
Mikey Saunders
9/11/2014 03:46:50 pm
This story to me was very entertaining to read! I thought that it's so crazy to see how so many people could be fooled by one girl and how she could manipulate the other girls. To me this opened to my eyes of how our courts are today then how they could've been back in the day when people didn't have as much proof as we need in our courts today. A big eye opener was the Vengeance card being played by so many of the towns people. A wonder for me is would it actually be so hard to fool people into thinking such things? Given the power of manipulating people you could almost fool anyone about anything. If people could do this I think people would do it even if it wasn't for good.
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Justin R.
9/11/2014 04:02:17 pm
Manipulation and instant betrayal were prime in this story. The character Abigail appeared as such an innocent girl in the beginning of the story. Then as time goes on you start to see her true behavior and how it really affected the town of Salem which was truly deceiving. That particular trait makes this story so unique since it consists of many twists throughout the plot of the story. It led to the point where it was a “free for all” scenario which led to many excuses in order to save one’s self. With the lack of tangible evidence, only spoken word was the most legitimate “evidence” in order to prove someone wrong back in the day. That example shows the weak spots in the court-system back in the day, and how it really changed for the better.
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Alexis Miranda
9/12/2014 02:06:41 am
Yes, I agree with you, about the part when everyone was just trying to fight for themselves.
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Sarah Lockhart
9/11/2014 04:12:02 pm
I really enjoyed this play, and it really made me think about the truth. There were so many different lies being told that it made the play a little difficult to keep up with at times, but it also made it very complex and deep. Each character had their own motives and all got sucked into the downfalls of a theocracy. I noticed greed come up a lot in the play, mostly with Abigail and her desire for John Proctor and with Mr. Putnam who wanted more property. My mom always said money is the root of all evil and I saw it come to life in this play. It also makes me wonder what it would be like to live in a time where people could accuse someone of being a witch and them getting hanged without any real evidence against them. That's terrifying to think that anyone could be accused of it, even kind, elderly women like Rebecca Nurse.
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Jonathan R
9/11/2014 04:52:08 pm
I also can't believe how ignorant and pompous the officials of this town were and just the sheer I idea of being hanged because if the someone else says is simply ludicrous.
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Chenoa Levy
9/11/2014 05:36:55 pm
I agree, think desire clouded Abigail's judgment, and would do anything to get what she wanted, even if it meant hurting people along the way.
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Ryan Cormack
9/12/2014 02:08:36 am
I agree that Abigails need for Proctor changed so much of the story and peoples lives; accusing people of witchcraft was a huge deal.
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Jonathan Richeson
9/11/2014 04:48:16 pm
I think that if I was put in John Proctor's position at the end I would also not lie and taint myself. John Proctor was redeemed in my eyes at the end of the play. He had the chose to either lie and condemn his name, or to stick with the truth and die a man who many people knew was innocent. At first he chose to combine both paths but when that failed he chose to try and redeem himself in the eyes of the Lord. I feel as though Elizabeth forgave John after he was hanged and decided to move on with her life. But I also feel that this experience caused many to lose their faith. I wonder how so many people fell for these lies and why even the thought of dancing was taboo. Personally I believe that had everyone kept a level head everything would have been sorted out, but because everyone was quick to anger, many people confessed and only made things worse.
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Ryan Cormack
9/12/2014 02:10:46 am
I agree that it was really powerful how Proctor told the truth in the end and stuck with his morales.
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Nicole Matteson
9/11/2014 05:12:12 pm
The Crucible made me wonder how similar this play was to the real thing. It made me wonder how the court judges would react in our present times if they saw all we do normally now. Most of all it made me wonder how someone could wish death on others. When someone dies, they no longer can take all the opportunities life had in store for them, they no longer can experience and grow and learn. When you wish death on someone, you wish their families and loved ones a walk through hell to get over the loss. I don't think people think through their actions in present time and especially in this play. I think the girls actions were spontaneous and not well thought through. Overall though, i really enjoyed this play and all its frustrations. Its nice to change time periods every once in a while.
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Hesham
9/11/2014 05:14:44 pm
This play was awesome. Its crazy how so many people lied just to save themselves. False evidence caused people to be condemned to death. This play reminded me of The Lord of The Flies. The boys in that book killed each other just because they did not get along or they had their differences. They were selfish, just like in this play. People are savage in different ways, and this play shined light on to a different perspective of savagery.
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Chenoa Levy
9/11/2014 05:26:40 pm
I thought this play showed just how far people are willing to go out of jealousy and vengeance. Abigail was so blinded by jealousy she was doing anything to get what she wanted. She took advantage of the overly religious town to spread lies. She didn't hesitate to quickly start pointing fingers even if it could cost someones life. But it was not only Abigail who took advantage of the whole situation. Countless people were jumping at each others throats accusing each other of witchcraft out of pure jealousy. Although it's not as severe now there are people who still do crazy things out of jealousy.
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Alex de Villiers
9/11/2014 06:20:20 pm
This play made me wonder why people were so dang superstitious and crazy in the past. Like what sensible human being would blindly believe some story that a crazy girl came up with to avoid getting in trouble. Did people just not ask question? Was it normal to believe everything and anything a person said?
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Abby Elliott
9/11/2014 07:18:53 pm
Proctor did not sell out his friends. He let them choose their own fate
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Lucas LeVieux
9/12/2014 01:55:12 am
This is really just a story about blame. People really just keep spreading the blame, and by the end, everyone is blamed.
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Abby Elliott
9/11/2014 07:12:51 pm
I see The Crucible as a love story...
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Nadir.....yeah
9/11/2014 07:48:28 pm
To be honest I loved the whole concept of supernatural occurrences and things they can't explain and the whole making deals with satan thing.....I hope that didn't sound weird. One thing that I noticed though, half of this story is pretty much a bunch of grown men pointing fingers at everyone (mostly women). Like stop acting like you're the only victim, they suffered too! They were mentally and spiritually tortured! Like honestly I feel bad for these women 'cause if I was being controlled like that I would be scared too! So many innocent people died. Like everything was set up in a way that would successfully ruin innocent people's lives!
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Kevin Stiemke
9/12/2014 12:23:48 am
The play was fun to watch. It made learning history a lot more fun. This was a pretty interesting story. Its crazy how Abigail just started turning on people, and calling them witches. They took away Proctors wife, and I think after they took his wife away he realized how much he really love his wife.
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Kevin Stiemke
9/12/2014 12:27:32 am
Continuation. A lot of innocent peoples lives were being lost, because if they claimed they weren't a witch they would die, and if they claim that they were then they would stay alive with a harsh punishment. Its crazy how fast someone could accused of being a witch back then.
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Benjamin Rose
9/12/2014 12:58:48 am
I agree, I too think it made learning the history a lot more fun.
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Benjamin Rose
9/12/2014 12:30:24 am
I thought the play was interesting. To me, it’s really a commentary on the sad state of affairs that was Salem and the colonies back then. This is what begins to happen when religious extremism takes over. People are always talking about Islam and the extremists (which are a fairly small percentage), but I would bet that some other religions, especially Christianity, when put in the right circumstances would give very similar results. Religion and government tied together does not work, not having freedom of religion does not work. This is what I’ve learned from the play.
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Shea Saulino
9/12/2014 01:53:29 am
Think- I think that this reading was quite interesting. Not that it ended very well- almost everyone gets thrown in prison, dies, or escapes. However I enjoyed this ending because it wasn't the normal ending to any story. Variety is always important.
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Ryan Cormack
9/12/2014 02:06:22 am
It's hard to believe that this actually happened in the past, that people accused each other of being wizards and witches and were killed because it, even though there is never any real evidence besides peoples testimonies which also didn't have any back up evidence. In act three, it was crazy to me that the girls who were dancing and actually doing "witchcraft" accused everyone else of witchcraft instead. Just the whole idea that people used to think like that is almost surreal to me, that this is a story that did/could of happened.
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Jenna Welsh
9/12/2014 04:51:14 am
I felt the same way! I was cringing through most of the play because it was so ludicrous to me that something like this would happen in real life.
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Noah Legier
9/12/2014 02:19:39 am
What i wonder is why people where so hostile towards each other. Wether they accused each other through jealousy or resentment. If the salem witch trials where going on right now i probably would have been in trial a long time ago.
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Alexis Habib
9/12/2014 02:42:46 am
I wonder is the pregnant women in custody are killed after they give birth, and the baby given to another, because they would have been dead long before if not already pregnant.
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Niklas Wenz
9/12/2014 02:46:12 am
I don’t think we can comprehend what it was like in the time the story plays. We don't know what they were believing in and we don't know what they thought for example while pursuing a witch. Maybe they thought: ¨this witch could kill the people i love if we don't catch her¨, and nothing else; or maybe there had also been some that thought differently. In fact it was the beliefs that made this time so different and through this so cruel. That's why i'm wondering if there is a belief in our time that could be false, cruel or something like this in the future. While reading this text, I felt more and more unsure if our time is as perfect as we think it is. We all should think about it and if we find something that could be wrong or odd, we should try to find other people that think like us and maybe try to change it. That's what changed the human behaviors to what they are now. Every difference could be an improvement even when we first don't know it.
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Lucas LeVieux
9/12/2014 02:49:19 am
It's especially interesting to me that all these people could be so close, yet so contemptuous towards each other. I've always lived in San Diego County, a place with more than three million inhabitants. There is plenty of room for contempt. However, Salem is a very small town at this point, and everyone seems to know each other. Everyone seems to be friends, a community of people who share the same beliefs. Yet they do not hesitate to blame each other, when accusations begin to surface. Interesting how a community that seems to be all about unity can fall into a pattern of disunity.
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Tristan Elghoroury
9/12/2014 02:12:40 pm
Yea !so true. I think it was just everyone trying to save themselves, so that's why they would blame others.Everyone was really scared!
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Tistan Elghoroury
9/12/2014 02:10:43 pm
This play made me feel angry and sad at the same time!I thought it was crazy that just because a lot of coincidences came together at once and how, with the belief of witchcraft it built itself up, to one really big tragic part of history. It was sad because these things really didn't have to happen, the blame just got pushed around from town member to town member.Old disputes were stirred up and people lied about others that they maybe disliked to have them removed/executed.It was also really difficult to read how the "witches" testifies to there supposed "evil" doings so that they would not be killed. Now that they had admitted that they had indeed "bewitched" people ,even if they were not executed ,how would they be treated in the future? After the trials? I'm guessing that they would be outcasts from society.The problem still isn't solved!
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Ezekiel
12/21/2023 06:46:31 am
*Personal Opinion
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