Puritan Literature
by Jamie Bezmen
1. Readers are left not knowing for sure if the speaker really does now have supernatural powers because of her experience or if she is just insane.
2. Arthur Miller uses words associated with cold and heat in his stage directions. The effect is that we view John's relationship with Elizabeth as cold/unloving and his relationship with Abigail as vibrant/sinful.
3. The lack of punctuation and sentence structure in the 3 am section creates a sense of confusion that helps the reader understand that the speaker is losing her sanity.
4. Half-Hanged Mary
4.1. The speaker personifies death which makes death seem scarier.
4.1.1. The speaker was falsely accused of being a witch and hung. She hung all night long and when they cut her down in the morning she was not the same.
5. "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God"
5.1. Jonathan Edwards uses alliteration to help himself remember his sermon easier and so it will have euphony.
5.2. He uses the extended metaphor that humans are like an insect that God is holding over the pit of Hell.
5.3. He uses repetition to make sure his audience knows the message he's trying to communicate.
6. The Crucible
6.1. Arthur Miller wrote this play because he was accused of being a Communist during the Red Scare and he saw many similarities between the Red Scare and the Salem Witch Trials.
6.1.1. The Puritans had many strict rules to live by and the punishments for breaking them were harsh. In effect, they were motivated by fear of punishment. This caused people to accuse others so they wouldn't be accused themselves.
6.2. John Proctor had a one-time affair with Abigail Williams. Abby becomes obsessed and forces Tituba to do witchcraft so that Proctor would love Abby again. A domino effect is created and 17 people are hung for witchcraft.
6.2.1. The girls were seen in the woods by Rev. Parris, but Abigail places all the blame on Tituba. Since Tituba is a slave, she is easy to blame. She has little social power. Tituba is then forced to blame someone else and the only people beneath her on the social ladder are two homeless women.