Crucible Analysis Quiz

1. A. The Puritans fled persecution and then refused to punish anyone, which left Salem defenseless when real witches appeared
2. B. The more devoutly the people believed in God, the more often the Devil appeared to test them, so piety itself drew evil
3. C. Salem had no laws, yet it executed more people than Boston
4. D. A theocracy formed for good purposes, to keep the community united, became so repressive that it bred the panic that tore the community apart ✓

Correct answer: D. Act One interjection: the theocracy was 'forged for a necessary purpose,' but 'the repressions of order were heavier than seemed warranted,' and the witch-hunt was a 'perverse manifestation' of the panic that followed.

1. A. To give readers historical context and motives, and to draw explicit parallels to his own era ✓
2. B. To give actors detailed stage directions on how the girls should move and speak during the crying-out scenes
3. C. To prove from the court records that the supernatural events really happened, as the judges believed
4. D. To summarize each act for students

Correct answer: A. They explain grudges (Putnam, the Nurses), the theocracy's paradox, and the Devil as a political 'weapon' compared to Cold War anti-communism.

1. A. The line comes word for word from the trial record, so audiences treat it as history rather than drama
2. B. Modern audiences are still not sure diabolism can be laughed at, so the old habit of thinking in absolute good and evil survives ✓
3. C. Hale is meant to be a comic pedant whom audiences are supposed to laugh at, so the silence shows bad acting
4. D. Audiences find the play too long to laugh

Correct answer: B. He comments 'we are not quite certain even now whether diabolism is holy and not to be scoffed at,' then ties this to modern good-vs-evil thinking.

1. A. Hale and Putnam supply names and frame questions so Tituba gives the answers they want ✓
2. B. Tituba deliberately names women she has quarreled with, using the moment to settle her own private scores
3. C. Abigail whispers names to Tituba during the examination so that suspicion stays away from herself
4. D. Hale refuses to accept any confession

Correct answer: A. Putnam asks 'Sarah Good?... Or Osburn?' and Hale asks 'Two? Three? Four?' — Tituba then 'sees' exactly those women.

1. A. Hale cannot read Latin
2. B. The learned expert, called to bring order, ends up starting the mass accusations he later regrets ✓
3. C. The books Hale carries turn out to be the same forbidden books Martha Corey hides from Giles, so the expert is the real sinner
4. D. Hale was secretly sent for by Proctor to expose Parris, yet he ends up siding with Parris against Proctor

Correct answer: B. Hale's examination sets off Tituba's confession and the crying-out; by Act Four he says 'There is blood on my head!'