I really like prefacing The Crucible with a study of psychology and mob mentality. I find that this helps us to frame our understanding of what happens in the play itself, and gives students a language for talking about character actions. Some of the resources I have used are below:
I also like to do some work with the actual accusations and trials using sources like the ones below:
I find that reading a section of "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God" sets an interesting tone on its own, but I also like to do a Style Steal with it. As we read, students experience it as a text, but also identify things that make it stylistically interesting--the imagery, for example, and the violent diction. They then create a persuasive text of their own using EITHER a selection of the techniques OR specific words that stood out to them, depending on their skill level.
The Crucible is ripe for enrichment around the following topics:
Some modern text pairings:
Please also check out the #disrupttexts conversation around The Crucible!
- "The Real Lesson of the Stanford Prison Experiment" from the New Yorker
- "The Stanford Prison Experiment"
- "The Stanford Prison Experiment"
- "The Milgram Experiment"
- "Milgram Experiment"
- Philip Zimbardo: The Psychology of Evil
I also like to do some work with the actual accusations and trials using sources like the ones below:
I find that reading a section of "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God" sets an interesting tone on its own, but I also like to do a Style Steal with it. As we read, students experience it as a text, but also identify things that make it stylistically interesting--the imagery, for example, and the violent diction. They then create a persuasive text of their own using EITHER a selection of the techniques OR specific words that stood out to them, depending on their skill level.
The Crucible is ripe for enrichment around the following topics:
- "Othering," particularly around Tituba and other people who don't fit the mold
- Instances of groups with power inflicting it on those with none
- The "witch hunt" rhetoric of modern politics
- Other false accusations, including the story of Emmett Till
- The role of social media in mob mentality
Some modern text pairings:
- Jon Ronson: When online shaming goes too far
- Monica Lewinsky: The Price of Shame
- "Half-Hanged Mary" by Margaret Atwood
- This poem is amazing on its own, but it's also based on a fascinating true story. We read this all together once through. Then I split kids into pairs or groups of three and give each group a single "time" printed in the middle of a large sheet of white paper. They work together to deeply analyze that time period, both with words and with images, a sort of "one-pager." Then we post the pictures around the room and students do a gallery walk from beginning to end, getting an in-depth look at the shifts and changes within the poem.
- Internment by Samira Ahmed
- The Innocence Project
- The Serial Podcast
- They Called Us Enemy by George Takei
- Midnight Without a Moon by Linda Williams Jackson
Please also check out the #disrupttexts conversation around The Crucible!
