Joshua Poernomo
Ms. Franklin
Honors Lang. Period 1
Study Guide Questions
1. Miller’s purpose of setting the scene in a jail cell was to show how the reader how the characters have changed and what the situation of the story is in at this point
2. The comic relief at the beginning of this act was used in a different way because it is shown that frustration is in all of these people. This also addresses the insanity for a moment and the reader figures out that this is not funny and that it is very ambiguous.
3. Danforth, Hawthorne, and Cheever’s conversation show the readers that the courts in Salem are not going well and that revolts in Andover have started to take place and it is making these men become worried.
4. Parris’ comment that Hale was trying to bring Rebecca Nurse to God means that Hale is trying to get Rebecca to lie to save herself. This is ironic because Parris implies that bringing a person to God is to make the person lie to save their own life and also for Parris to get out of trouble.
5. The relationship between the rebellion in Andover and the leaving of Abigail and Mercy Lewis is that they are seeing signs of trouble on the horizon. Abigail and Mercy realize that there is no other reason to stay in Salem, because Abigail no longer has John anymore, and because of this they have no other business in Salem anymore.
6. Parris is upset because he is seeing the court break in front of his eyes and he also he gets scared about his life. He is scared of his life because he finds a dagger falling to his feet when he when out during the night. He is also upset over the fact that his money has been stolen from him by Abigail.
7. The court feels that it is important to get one of the highly respected people in the village to confess to make the townspeople believe in the court more. The court would only escape with a confession, because the townspeople are getting rowdy and if the court does not provide “good” evidence then they will overtake the court.
8. Parris bring news of Abigail and Mercy Lewis leaving and this disturbs him greatly because they were the only proof that the court had. This is the only thing that Danforth has to prove that he is a good judge that is not tricked by teenage girls.
9. Parris says that the execution of Rebecca would wake a vengeance of Danforth because Rebecca is one of the higher up people in the village and is considered as the “brick and mortar” of the church. If people see a person like Rebecca Nurse hang then the townspeople would likely riot and would blame the judge, which is Danforth.
10. The event that makes Parris afraid for his life is the dagger that he found outside his house one day. This makes him scared for his life because this is a message from the person who did this, that Parris is the next person to die. This has a social significance because ministers are supposed to be the people that are respected and are known as a good person. The fact that Parris is breaking as a minister this is a sign that things are not going well in that village.
11. Proctor is the court’s last hope to save its credibility because the court knows that from Elizabeth, Rebecca Nurse, and himself only Proctor would be okay with lying to save his own life.
12. Reverend Hale is doing the Devil’s work because he is trying to get people to save their own lives by lying because he does not want to feel guilty if any of them die. Lying in Christian life is a very bad thing and it is considered as an act of the Devil and anyone that is encouraging it is thus doing the Devil’s work. Hale is primarily doing this because he feels bad about getting all of the innocent people killed and he is trying his best to fix what he screwed up.
13. From writing this, Miller showed a purpose of the theme that also comes up in Young Goodman Brown. This theme is that once the scenario gets bad then the faith is really tested and Miller shows the reader what he thinks about faith and this links back
