English 2230 / Fall 2007

Essay #2 -- Connecting The Crucible to Our Puritans

The Anoka Ramsey Community College Theatre Department is producing Arthur Miller's play, The Crucible on November 2, 3, 8, 9, and 10, 2007, at 7:30 p.m. each evening, with a "post-play discussion" on Saturday, November 3, 2007. Current ARCC students are entitled to two (2) free tickets; get your tickets from the bookstore before the performance (free tickets will not be distributed at the box office).

Even though Miller is a "contemporary" playwright, the play itself is about the Salem witchcraft trials of 1692, which connects well with the first part of our course. Therefore, I want you to attend the play and think about how it connects to the Puritan authors and texts we read.

Then, write a 2-3 page essay in which you illustrate and explain how seeing the play "brings to life" for you the Puritan authors and texts on our course reading list: William Bradford, Anne Bradstreet, Edward Taylor, Samuel Sewall, and Cotton Mather. In other words, think of your essay as an answer to this question: "While you were watching the play, which authors and/or texts did the characters, dialogue, action, scenes, etc. in the play remind you of?"

Everything we read and talked about is open for discussion, including the authors' own lives and any of their texts, or even parts of their texts. Additionally, you might want or need to refer to the historical background materials on pages 2-27 and/or 93-106.

Obviously, you can take a "literal," straight-forward approach to this assignment. However, you might find you need to be a bit more "flexible" in making connections between the play and our authors and texts. And, some "flexibility" is expected and perhaps even encouraged. Just stop by and talk to me if you are wondering about how much "flexibility" is too much. In fact, stop by if you have any questions at all.

Due Date: Monday, November 19, 2007 -- final draft only.

 

Additional Notes:

1.) Any and all information and texts we've encountered in this course are "fair game" for this essay -- I am not going to restrict you to just the Puritan era, information, and authors. After reading the play again and then seeing it for myself, I see connections to many other things in this course, not necessarily just to the Puritans.

2.) Because of the possible opportunity to skip the play and instead just read the play or watch the video, I am going to be looking for a few specific things from the ARCC production of the play in your paper. Of course, characters and dialogue will be the same in the ARCC production as in the text or in other productions, but other things might be different:

So, somewhere in your paper, try to work into your paper 2-3 specific things from the ARCC production of the play. However, try to have these things be meaningful rather than just to satisfy the requirement. I know it seems a bit artificial, but you can do it.