Crucible Essay Fixes
CAPITALIZE!!!
Title of your essay!!! EACH WORD!! Title of a book or play The Crucible. Proper Nouns: John Proctor
Citations
No commas Page numbers! Not Acts Go at the very end of the sentence! More weight says Giles Corey (Arthur 22). If you use a quote from a source other than the play you still need to cite it!!
No I and YOU
I am going to show you What would you do? I feel I think I am going to prove to you My essay is about
Introductions
Do your mistakes promise you life in Hell and an eternity of sorrow? Of course not. Making mistakes is part of life. The Crucible by Arthur Miller is based upon the events in history known as the Salem Witch Trials. However, during this time, it wasn t just witchery people were put on trial for. The people of Salem were tested for their religion, faith, honesty, and especially mistakes they ve done in their lives. The character John Proctor is judged and tested for the great mistake he has committed in his life. Although he has made many mistakes during his time in the story, he is still a man of integrity.
Everyone s stomach lurches as they hear the sickening thumps of good and honorable people being pushed off the hanging platform. They re being hung for crimes not committed, and after so many deaths of people they had known their whole lives, many are questioning whether it is actually those being hung that are infected with the devil, or whether it is the ones condemning them to their deaths that are sick. Eventually the hanging stopped, but not before many innocent people died because they would not lie to live. They went to the grave defending their integrity. This just goes to show that any and all governing bodies have absolutely no right to dictate morality.
Ralph Waldo Emerson said, Nothing is at last sacred but the integrity of your own mind (Leatehwizard). Integrity is adherence to moral and ethical principals; soundness of moral character; honesty. John Proctor demonstrates them when he admits to adultery, when he will not sign his name to lies, and when he says he cannot judge another by their sins.
In society today, behaviors that were once frowned upon are now socially acceptable. Laws have recently been made that make things that are not moral to some legal. Since the government has pronounced it legal, does it mean it is no longer immoral? The answer is no; a governing body does not have the right to dictate morality. It is a decision we make for ourselves which is shown in Arthur Miller s The Crucible.
The human race shares a common flaw. It does not matter whether it is the president of the United States or a garbage truck driver; everyone has exhibited a form of hypocrisy. Why is it so easy for people to be a hypocrite? Alfred Alder explains a reason, It is better to fight for one s principles than to live up to them (Cosner). The idea of one being more comfortable with fighting for one s principles than to actually live up to them is thematic in many movies, T.V. shoes, and books. Hypocrisy is a natural human flaw because people are willing to say they believe in a principle rather than to live it. This is best shown in Arthur Miller s play The Crucible.
Counterclaim
Some would argue that it is better to live another day than it is to die for a lie, but in the end you have to live for yourself.
Reasoning
Reasoning (bad): Dr. Freud, who was a well-respected psychologist in the 1900s, believed that people had two natural tendencies: sex and survival. The second tendency is the focus. I have been thinking I would confess to them Elizabeth (Miller 135). People from the beginning of time had just tried to survive. Sometimes that is all humans were out to do survive.
Reasoning (good): 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 (Miller 52). Here John Proctor is trying to convince Danforth that Abigail Williams is a liar. He is demonstrating that personal integrity is more important than survival. This is an example of how surviving requires lying and unhappiness. Survival is not really surviving.
Conclusions
One brief paragraph that summarizes your main points and strongest argument. Wraps up the essay! (So your essay just doesn t end suddenly) Nothing new is brought up in this paragraph!
Miscellaneous
Peer Edits only received half if you weren t prepared on the day we did them in class. Quickly make sure your score was added up correctly. If you have any questions please feel free to stay after class or come in during lunch to ask me!