“Mid-Term Break”by Seamus Heaney



“The Crucible”by Arthur Miller

|Quotation |Technique |Analysis |Evaluation |

|A short selection of text |Language technique or manipulation |Explain HOW/WHY the writer has used the technique. What effect does it have?|A wider consideration of the text as a whole. Explain HOW WELL the use of that |

| |of punctuation | |technique helps the writer convey his overall message. |

|“Now look you, child, your |Tension portrayed when Parris is |It is apparent Parris is selfish. He does not care about his niece this is |Throughout the whole play it is clear Parris is a minister and should be respected|

|punishment will come in it’s time. |worried about his reputation. Betty|clear when he says “your punishment will come…” it is clear now that as long|however he is very unpopular, selfish and greedy only interested in him not the |

|But if you have trafficked with |is sick in bed, Parris praying for |as his reputation does not suffer he does not care if his niece is to be |community. It is a clear parallel with the issue of McCarthyism. |

|spirits in the forest I must know |her, and then starts questioning |punished. His desperation for his niece to tell him the truth is clear | |

|for surely my enemies will and they |Abigail about what happened in the |through his tone he knows his leadership can be ruined if the real truth | |

|will ruin me with it.” |forest. Initially seemed worried |comes out. Word “enemies” shows he has political enemies who have power to | |

| |about Betty, audience soon realise |“kick” him out. Tension comes when Parris begging for the truth but not | |

| |prime concern of Parris is |getting any. | |

| |reputation. | | |

| | | | |

| |Characterisation | | |

|“…let either of you breathe a word |Abigail throwing vicious threats at|This is a really strong threat. The seriousness of her tone shows that this |Even through the rest of the play her vicious character is portrayed for example |

|or the edge of a word about the |other girls her little secret is |is just not an empty threat. Word choice - “black,” “terrible,”, “night,” |when she is accusing innocent people of dealing with the devil. She is the most |

|other things and I will come to you |out and she is trying to prepare |and “shudder,” all have negative connotations shows how cold and evil this |evil and cunning character of the play. She also says a charm in the forest to |

|in in the black of some terrible |for the worst. |girls is. It is also clear from the way she talks to them that she has power|kill Goody Proctor this again shows her vile nature. It is commentary on those who|

|night and I will bring with me a | |over them and that they respect her. |tried to bully others during 1950’s America. |

|pointy reckoning that will shudder |Characterisation | | |

|you,” | | | |

| |Imagery | | |

| | | | |

| |Descriptive language | | |

|“You did! You did! You drank a charm|Betty is going to jump out of the |Repetition of the word “you” shows that what Abigail did was wrong and | Abigail’s cruelty is again clearly shown as the audience find out that that she |

|to kill John Procter’s wife! You |window when all the girls are in |malicious. The disgust Betty is feeling toward her big cousin is conveyed |was an actual fact trying to kill another person that night in the forest at this |

|drank a charm to kill John Procter’s|the upper room of Parris household |trough her tone. Exclamation marks show Betty’s anger because she is |certain point the audience do not know who this women is but they soon find out. |

|wife!” |trying to wake Betty; suddenly she |screaming. | |

| |gets up, runs to the window and | | |

| |tries to jump out. | | |

|“I know how you clutched my back |Point where audience become aware |It is shown that Abigail is a sexual predator as well as evil. Her tone is |Audience meet another main character at this point but first impression is not |

|behind your house and sweated like a|of Abigail’s and Proctor’s love |sweet and provocative showing she can act innocently when she wishes. Clear |very good because he is an adulterer but his guilt is also clear. Audience now |

|stallion when ever I came near! Or |affair. Both are alone joking about|that she remembers everything clearly and wants to relive it. Rhetorical |know that Betty was right and that Abigail would want to kill Proctor’s wife so |

|did I dream that? It’s she that put |what happened in the forest. |question shows Abigail is reminding Proctor what happened and that he can’t |that she could have him all to herself. The tension of the affair is clear all the|

|me out, you cannot pretend it were | |do anything to change it. Her great deal of confidence is again portrayed at|through the play e.g. when we meet Goody Proctor |

|you .I saw your face when he put me | |this point. |And Procter together and the atmosphere are tense especially when Abigail’s name |

|out, you loved me then and you do | | |is mentioned. |

|now” | | |Shows how a good man can be swayed by a determined woman. |

|“(in a temper): My name is good in |A man’s name is a very important |The stage directions show that Abigail in angry and the use of the |It is clear here that Abigail’s name is very important to her. Despite her affair,|

|the village! I will not have it said|theme thought out the whole play. |exclamation marks further emphasises this. From her angry tone it is clear |she still wishes to be known as an honest girl. This highlights how someone will |

|my name is soiled! Goody Proctor is |It is clear here that Abigail is |that Abigail feels very strongly about her good name. |lie convincingly for self preservation. |

|a gossiping liar.” |worried about her name and will do | | |

| |anything in her power to protect |It is ironic that she protests about her “good name”, as her name is soiled | |

| |it. |due to her affair with John Proctor. Her defensive nature would be powerful | |

| | |in presenting to the reader a character who desires to keep the truth | |

| |Irony |hidden. Her response is also likely to be convincing as she is so angry at | |

| | |the insinuation her name is soiled. | |

| |Characterisation | | |

|“I have known her, sir, I have known|At this point through desperation |Proctor is ashamed clear through the repetition of the phrase “I have known |This is the point where the affair is out in the moment it is very tense because |

|her,” |John Proctor ruins his repetition |her”. Stage direction also state that Proctor is trembling this again |the audience do not know if the authority will believe Proctor or if Abigail will |

|“How do you call heaven? Whore! |and reveals the truth about his |emphasises how guilty he feels about his sins. |use her vindictive powers to convince them Proctor is lying. |

|Whore!” |sins. | | |

| | |The word whore is effective as it is a powerful one, one which would never | |

| |Word choice |be used at this time without powerful provocation. His attack on Abigail is | |

| | |clearly filled with anger and rage, highlighting that he despises her for | |

| |Characterisation |what she is trying to do. It clearly shows the turmoil Proctor is in at this| |

| | |point. | |

|“I came to think he fancied her. And|Elizabeth is asked to clarify her |When she uses the words “I think” it shows her hesitation. She has not gone |Elizabeth’s love for her husband is clear at this point because she lies for the |

|so one night I lost my wits, I |husband’s claim in the court room |mad because from act two the audience know that Elizabeth knows that her |first time in her life to save her husband’s name and reputation .Abigail has |

|think, and put her out on the |scene when she comes in she is very|husband is an adulterer. Elizabeth’s pauses when she speaks also show her |again won. It highlights how a series of lies, brought about because of hysteria, |

|highroad.” |tense which in turn makes the whole|inner conflict. |and the governments need to know everything, can cause massive problems in a |

| |atmosphere extremely tense as well |This situation is difficult for her to talk about as she is a woman who has |society. |

| | |a good name in the village, and knows that a black mark against her husbands| |

| |Characterisation |name is a black mark against hers. | |

|“(Steping up to Danforth) what look |When the truth about Abigail’s |Clear that Abigail is a confident Young woman. He defiance in front of the |This again builds up the evidence that Abigail is a vicious and an evil girl. Her |

|do you give me…? I shall not have |affair with Proctor is revealed |governor is an act which at that time would not be tolerated. It shows her |confidence was conveyed when she threatened the girls in Act one and yet again it |

|such looks,” |Abigail no longer acts innocently |character is powerful and self-assured. |is clear now. Her conflict with authority here indicates her power and desire to |

| |towards the authority of the court.| |be taken seriously. |

|“Because it is my name! Because I |This is what John Proctor says to |The Repetition of the word Because emphasises the fact that there are many |Although John must pay for this with his life he has been able to maintain his |

|cannot have another in my life. |Dansforth in Act 4 when he has just|reasons why Proctor will not sign the document. Through his tone it is clear|good name in the town for his wife and children: allowing them to live without |

|Because I lie and sign myself to |confessed. However by refusing to |that he is desperate. The exclamation marks show that Proctor is shouting |being heckled and slandered for being related to a “heathen” Despite Proctor’s |

|lies Because I am not worth the dust|relinquish his name, he redeems |with fear. |affair with Abigail, he is a likeable character, a character who is tragically |

|on the feet of them that hang! How |himself for earlier failure and | |flawed. His flaw is that he was weak, and that he wanted to save his name. |

|may I live without my name? I have |dies with integrity. |He is determined that his name will be preserved and therefore he cites that| |

|given my soul; leave my name! | |he has given his soul, but wants his name. This highlights that he feels he | |

| | |is dead inside as he has lied and that his sense of worth has been | |

| | |obliterated. | |

|“You are a coward! Through you be |This incident happens in act two |The repetition of the phrase “you are a coward” shows that Proctor feels |Proctor’s love for his wife comes clear now because he is doing everything is his |

|ordained in God’s own tears, you are|when the authorities come to arrest|strongly about this. Also the use of the exclamation marks shows that he is |power to try and stop the authorities from taking her away. This also brings out |

|a coward now!” |Elizabeth after claims that she is |angry because he is shouting. Proctor’s anger is also clear through his |the theme of conflict with authority which can also be seen in the court room |

| |involved with the devil and so |tone. |scene when Abigail also stands up for herself against the people in power. |

| |Proctor tries to stand up for his | |Proctor’s conflict with authority is shown all the way through the play e.g. when |

| |wife. | |Proctor and Giles go against Parris and Proctor says “I like not the smell of this|

| | | |“authority”” It links in with the government being involved in everything, that |

| | | |conscience is no longer a personal issue, but something to do with state |

| | | |administration. |

|“My name, he want my name “I’ll |This is when Proctor persuades Mary|The repetition of the word “name” shows that her reputation is very |Mary was the weakest girl but she has proven that she is definitely one of them by|

|murder you,” he says “if my wife |to tell the truth about what is |important to her. By saying the phrase “overthrow the court” she convinces |also telling twisted lies. The theme of a man’s name and conflict against |

|hangs We must go and overthrow the |really happening however after some|the whole court that she is telling the truth because proctor is against the|authority are again conveyed here. |

|court” he says!” |manipulation from Abigail, Mary |authority. | |

| |switches sides and goes against | | |

| |Proctor. | | |

|“I want to open myself! . . . I want|This outburst from Abigail comes at|The repletion of the word “I” convinces the authority that she is telling |Seeing Abigail’s success, the other girls follow suit, and with this pattern of |

|the light of God; I want the sweet |the end of Act I, after the |the truth. She further convinces them by listing people who she supposedly |hysterical, self-serving accusations, the witch trials get underway. Abigail’s |

|love of Jesus! I danced for the |slave-girl Tituba has confessed to |saw with the devil. She confesses her sins but cleverly says that she has |vindictive ways are again extremely clear here. This speech is the basis of the |

|Devil; I saw him, I wrote in his |witchcraft. |gone back to Jesus in order for the court to believe his innocence. |witchcraft hunt and therefore the whole play because that is what it is about. It |

|book; I go back to Jesus; I kiss His| | |is from this accusation the hunt starts. |

|hand. I saw Sarah Good with the | |This introduces the concept of naming names and the theme of a man’s name. | |

|Devil! I saw Goody Osborne with the | | |This statement is reminiscent of the one made by Elia Kazan, who named names and |

|Devil! I saw Bridget Bishop with the| | |became a pariah overnight. This happens with Abigail too. |

|Devil!” | | | |

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