Historical and Cultural Connections - History of the Salem Witch Trials, McCarthyism, and Allegory
Though Arthur Miller's play The Crucible is a work of fiction, it is based on real events and people. You will come to know many characters throughout the play, but who were the real people that inspired the characters? What were they really like, and what were their stories?
To explore the real life of one of these characters, choose one from the list of historical people below and complete some research using the Internet on the person. Then, create a trading or baseball card with an image of the historic person and his or her "stats" or information. If you cannot find an actual image of the historical person, you may use a general representation of what the person may have looked like as a substitute. You will need to use a minimum of two reliable sources. As you conduct your research, you must also include a variety of domain name suffixes (such as .com, .edu, .net, .gov) rather than just using .com websites, for example.
As you gather your information and design your trading card, be sure to include the following required elements for the historical person:
- the date of birth and death (if historically known)
- the occupation
- some information about his or her life story (family, important events, etc.)
- the role the person had in Salem society
- the role the person had in the Salem Witch trials
Please choose one historical person from the list below:
- Abigail Williams
- Reverend Samuel Parris
- John Proctor
- Rebecca Nurse
- Judge Hathorne
- Thomas Putnam
- Ann Putnam (known historically as Ann Putnam, Sr.)
- Giles Corey
- Tituba
You will need to use resources outside of this course to complete this assignment, so please submit a Works Cited document with your assignment submission. If you need assistance, visit the Developmental Module for information on citing any resources that you used. Before you begin, review the Historical Person Trading Card Rubric to help you complete your assignment and understand how your work will be graded.
Once you have completed your trading card, please submit your work with the Works Cited document to the dropbox.
Recall the KWL chart that you began in the Warm-Up. Now that you have learned about background and historical context of The Crucible, make sure that you have completed the last column of the chart, What I Learned. Once you have completed all three columns of the KWL Chart, please submit your work to the dropbox