TIPS Product #1 Mitchell Klein
Fall, 2002 mhklein@con2.com
TITLE:
“THE LOSS OF
CIVIL LIBERTIES AS DEPICTED IN “THE CRUCIBLE”:
A TIPS WEBQUEST
SUBMITTED BY-MITCHELL KLEIN OF
EVANDER CHILDS HIGH SCHOOL
INTRODUCTION:
The Salem witch trials of the 1690’s
provided the historical basis for Arthur Miller’s “The Crucible” Though Miller
clearly wrote the play as a warning about the McCarthy era in his own time, our
Founding Fathers took the Salem trials as a prime example of the need to
separate church and state, establish freedom of religion, and provide due
process of law in our justice system. In
this webquest, you will go back to
Your job will be to serve as an
investigative reporter for a newspaper that is covering the trial. By
completing this webquest, you will be able to write a newspaper story based on
your observations. Your article will
explore the loss of civil liberties. You will use the text of Miller’s play,
historical documents, and internet resources to investigate the trial. Remember that Arthur Miller used many
historic documents to write his play.
There are many useful essays by Miller in the
play, where he explains how he compressed and altered some of the straight
facts in order to heighten the drama and to define the social problem as he saw
it. Moreover, the events that occurred in the early nineteen fifties closely
mirrored the injustices in
This,
in fact, was emblematic of Arthur Miller’s genius.
TASK
Your task will be to produce a newspaper
article of at least two pages. You will
also make an oral presentation to your classmates of up to 5 minutes, about the
social problem of the loss of civil liberties in 
PROCESS:
Your class will be broken into groups of
three students. You will be using four
worksheets from the American History Public Policy Analyst Website, which will
help you focus on the key issues of this project. You will use these to complete your article.
1. Identify the Problem : www.maxwell.syr.edu/plegal/TIPS/worksheet1.html (The lack of civil liberties in
2. Gather the Evidence: www.maxwell.syr.edu/plegal/TIPS/worksheet2.html (Document examples of the victims of the
Salem Witch Trials)
3. Determine the Causes: www.maxwell.syr.edu/plegal/TIPS/worksheet3.html (Were there any causes you can list which
led to the Salem Witch Trials?)
4. Evaluate the Policy: www.maxwell.syr.edu/plegal/TIPS/worksheet4.html (Can you determine if there were any public
policies established by the Puritans during this period?)
5. Were there any changes in
public policy as a result of the Salem Witch Trials? Can you suggest a public policy for today
which would help avoid the injustices of
In addition to the above, you should
discuss the following items in your article.
As you examine historical documents, articles, the text of Miller’s
play, and internet resources, think about how you would engage your readers
with your description of the Salem Witch Trials. What testimony goes unchallenged that should
be challenged and shows a social problem exists? What are some of the statements that Judge
Danforth makes or questions he asks that you, as a modern American feel are
debatable? To what category, in the TIPS process, would your answer relate? As
a reporter, how would you describe the sight of neighbor testifying against
neighbor during this trial? Can you
think of any comparisons with Salem Public Policy?
and
later events in American History or contemporary
RESOURCES
You may use general internet search engines
such as
1- YAHOO www.yahoo.com or
2--METACRAWER www.metacrawler.com
These search engines may provide some
leads for articles on the topic.
3--Online encyclopedias such as
ENCARTA www.encarta.com may provide a general
background article for you.
4. www.google.com-FOR GENERAL INFORMATION ON
Salem in 1693 and the background for the “The Crucible”.
Some specific websites on the topic
include:
Society vs. the Individual in Arthur
Miller’s “The Crucible” and Criticism by Lois Gordon on the GaleNet site http://galenet.gale.com/a/acp/name
www.salemwitchmuseum.com/learn2.html ,
www.mayflowerfamilies.com/enquirer/salem_trials.html are three local
sources of
www.ogram.org/17thc/miller.shtml These sites have background to Arthur
Miller’s
www.angliacampus.com/public/sec/english/crucible
www.asuaf.org/~gurujohn/drama/miller-crucible.html
www.salemwitchtrials.com This sites give a
background to the Salem Witch Trials of 1692
ALSO—Confer with your English teacher. She has been apprised of
your assignment and will be of great value in your research as a resource
person
ALSO—Use
the print media in the library. Literary reviews and other periodicals can be
of great help.
EVALUATION:
Your written work
will be graded in the following manner;
|
Grade |
65%-69% |
70%-79% |
80-95% |
100% |
|
|
Too limited
content and too few facts to support PPA criteria |
Adequate content
but few are supporting the PPA criteria |
Good content and
good support of PPA criteria |
Excellent use of
facts and content and excellent support of PPA criteria |
Presentation Rubric – Evaluating Student Presentations
|
|
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
Total |
Organization |
Audience cannot understand presentation because there is no sequence of information. |
Audience has difficulty following presentation because student jumps around.. |
Student presents information in logical sequence which audience can follow. |
Student presents information in logical, interesting sequence which audience can follow. |
|
|
Subject Knowledge |
Student does not have grasp of information; student cannot answer questions about subject. |
Student is uncomfortable with information and is able to answer only rudimentary questions. |
Student is at ease, with expected answers to all questions, but fails to elaborate. |
Student demonstrates full knowledge (more than required) by answering all questions with explanations and elaboration. |
|
Graphics |
Student uses superfluous graphics or no graphics. |
Student occasionally uses graphics that rarely support text and presentation. |
Student’s graphics relate to text and presentation. |
Student’s graphics explain and reinforce screen text and presentation. |
|
Mechanics |
Students presentation has four or more spelling errors and/or grammatical errors. |
Presentation has three misspellings and/or grammatical errors. |
Presentation has no more than two misspellings and/or grammatical errors. |
Presentation has no misspellings and/or grammatical errors. |
|
Eye Contact |
Student reads all of report with no eye contact. |
Student occasionally uses eye contact, but still reads most of report. |
Student maintains eye contact most of the time but frequently returns to notes. |
Student maintains eye contact with audience, seldom returning to notes. |
|
Elocution |
Student mumbles, incorrectly pronounces terms, and speaks too quietly for student in the back of class to hear. |
Students voice is low. Student incorrectly pronounces terms. Audience members have difficulty hearing presentation. |
Student’s voice is clear. Student pronounces most words correctly. Most audience members can hear presentation. |
Student uses a clear voice and correct precise pronunciation of terms so that all audience can hear presentation. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Total Points |
|
CONCLUSION:
You
should have clearly seen the social problem that existed in
For our next webquest, we will use John
Steinbeck’s The Grapes of Wrath to examine the public policies and social
problems during the Great Depression.
STANDARDS: This webquest incorporated the following
NEW YORK STATE
ENGLISH
LANGUAGE ARTS
1:
Standard # 3—Language for critical analysis and evaluation
2:
Standard # 4—Language for social interaction
SOCIAL
STUDIES
1:
Standard # 1--History of the
2:
Standard # 5—Civics, Citizenship and Government
THE
ARTS
1:
Standard # 4—Understanding the cultural contribution of the arts