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The Crucible and “The Breaking of Charity” Essay

Arthur Miller based his play The Crucible on what he called the “breaking of charity,” which we define as “betraying someone, or refusing him or her basic human generosity, compassion and respect.” Miller called it “the most common experience of humanity” and, unfortunately, we can find many examples of this type of phenomenon in recent history.

You have two choices for this essay:

Choice 1: Identify and research an example of “the breaking of charity” in recent history. You will write a 3-4 page essay examining the causes of the event and compare and contrast its causes with those of the Salem witch trials, as portrayed in The Crucible. You must get your topic approved by me before you submit your draft. You may use a novel or film about the event as part of your research.

Choice 2: In The Crucible, Miller examines the personal interests and grudges that motivated certain individuals’ actions, and fueled the witch craze. At the same time, he raises the question of how such hysteria can be stopped. For this option, you will choose one character from The Crucible and thoroughly examine his or her interests, grudges (if any), actions, and motivations and evaluate how they contribute to what happens in the play. Your 3-4 page essay should be based on your notes from your double-entry journal, and consist of thorough analysis of critical scenes involving your character.

A full draft (Type 3), AT LEAST 3 PAGES TYPED, is due Mon., December 21. You must have it in class on 12/21 to receive feedback from a classmate. Your final draft MUST BE TYPED OR IT WILL NOT BE ACCEPTED and is due the day we return from holiday break – Mon., January 4.

You must provide citations for your quotes within the body of the essay and also include a “Works Cited” list at the end of the essay. (We will go over how to do this.)

Within the body of your essay, you should cite the play like this:

(Miller 832) [Replace “832” with whatever page your quote is on.]

In your “Works Cited” list, cite the play like this:

Miller, Arthur. "The Crucible." Elements of Literature, Fifth Course. New York: Holt Rinehart Winston, 2000. 830-887.

If you use any sources other than the textbook, you must cite them as well, according to MLA format. You can use to create your citations.

Be sure to check the rubric on the back of this handout for details on how you will be graded for this project!

IMPORTANT NOTE: If you will be leaving early for holiday break, you must turn in your draft before you leave, in time to receive feedback, or YOU WILL RECEIVE A ZERO for your draft.

EXTRA CREDIT OPTION: Work with up to five classmates to create a documentary video based on your respective essays about “the breaking of charity.” Your video should include narration and reenactments of scenes from The Crucible and other research sources to illustrate your arguments. Your video must be complete and ready to be shown to the class on January 8, the Friday we return from holiday break. See me ASAP if you get a group together that wants to tackle this.

The Crucible and “Breaking of Charity” Essay Rubric

|CATEGORY |Outstanding |Very Good (7-8) |Satisfactory (6) |Unsatisfactory (5 and below)|

| |(9-10) | | | |

|Thesis / Main Argument |Thesis/main argument is |Thesis/main argument is |Thesis/main argument is |Thesis/main argument is not |

| |clearly stated in |clearly stated in the |stated in the introduction, |stated in the introduction. |

| |introduction, which sets up |introduction. |but not necessarily very | |

| |thesis and peaks reader | |clearly. | |

| |interest. | | | |

|Topic Sentences and |Topic sentences present |Topic sentences present |Topic sentences present |Topic sentences don’t |

|Paragraphs |clear, provable arguments |clear arguments that are |arguments relevant to the |present arguments relevant |

| |that are relevant to and |relevant to and help develop|thesis/main argument. |to the thesis/main argument.|

| |help develop and maintain |and maintain focus on the | | |

| |focus on the thesis/main |thesis/main argument. | | |

| |argument. | | | |

|Evidence |Evidence is relevant to |Evidence is relevant to |Evidence is relevant to |Evidence provided is not |

| |topic sentence, accurate and|topic sentence, and somewhat|topic sentence, but not |relevant to the topic |

| |convincing. References to |accurate and convincing. |necessarily accurate and |sentence (and the thesis). |

| |The Crucible and research |References to The Crucible |convincing. References to |References to The Crucible |

| |(if applicable) are fully |and research (if applicable)|The Crucible and research |and research (if applicable)|

| |explained and clear. |are fairly clear. |(if applicable) may be |are not clear. |

| | | |unclear. | |

|Comprehension of The |The essay demonstrates |The essay demonstrates good |The essay demonstrates some |The essay does not |

|Crucible |strong comprehension of the |comprehension of the play, |comprehension of the play, |demonstrate comprehension of|

| |play, including characters, |including characters, plot |including characters, plot |the play, including |

| |plot and themes. |and themes. |and/or themes. |characters, plot and/or |

| | | | |themes. |

|Formatting, Spelling, |Essay is 3-4 typed pages in |Essay is 3-4 typed pages in |Essay is 3-4 typed pages in |Essay is not 3-4 typed pages|

|Grammar and Citation |a Word doc, double-spaced, |a Word doc, double-spaced, |a Word doc, double-spaced, |in a Word doc, |

| |with a 1.25” margin, using |with a 1.25” margin, using |with a 1.25” margin, using |double-spaced, with a 1.25” |

| |the correct font and a |the correct font and a |correct font and proper |margin, using correct font |

| |proper heading. Spelling and|proper heading. Spelling and|heading. Spelling and |or proper heading. Spelling |

| |grammatical errors are very |grammatical errors are few. |grammatical errors are |and grammatical errors are |

| |few. Essay has clear |Essay has clear paragraph |frequent, but do not inhibit|frequent throughout. Essay |

| |paragraph breaks for each |breaks for each new topic. |meaning. Essay has clear |doesn’t have clear paragraph|

| |new topic. Quotes and |Quotes and paraphrased |paragraph breaks. Quotes and|breaks. Quotes and |

| |paraphrased references are |references are correctly |paraphrased references are |paraphrased references are |

| |correctly cited. |cited. |correctly cited. |not correctly cited. |

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