ACT 1 QUESTIONS:
1: Were you surprised when the accusations against specific individuals began to multiply?
I wasn’t surprised that they happened more than i was surprised that they’d already started happening and gaining traction.

2:(a) What is Betty's condition when the play opens?
Betty is in a “coma” and she’s pretending to be sick asleep.

(b) What does Abigail say she and Betty were doing in the forest?
She said that they were only dancing.

(c) Make inferences: What seems to be the main motivation for Reverend Parris's concern about the girls' behavior in the forest?
He wants to clear his name before any of his enemies can get ahold of the information.

3:(a) What do Abigail, Betty, Mercy, and Mary discuss after Reverend Parris leaves his daughter's room?
They start to put together their alibi for when they are questioned.

(b) Interpret: What events does this scene suggest may occur later in the play?
It suggests that they’ll be interrogated later on about this event.

4: Who is Reverend Hale?
Reverend Hale is a Reverend who works out of the town of Salem.

(b) Why is he contacted?
He’s contacted to disprove the theory of witchcraft in the town.

(c) Evaluate: Do you think he is being fair and impartial so far? Why or why not?
He’s being more or less fair because he does believe in witches and wants people to be proven innocent.

5:Summarize Abigail's prior relationship with the Proctors.
She was the Proctor’s maid. Abigail was having an affair with John Proctor but she was soon kicked out of the house and fired by Elizabeth proctor, who was suspecting the two’s relationship.

(b) Interpret: What does Betty's revelation about Abigail's actions in the forest suggest about Abigail's feelings for Elizabeth Proctor?
Betty realizes Abigail’s resentment for Elizabeth, and her murderous tendencies shine through in this and are picked up by Betty.

6:What evidence suggests that sharp divisions exist among the people of Salem Village?
They started blaming others when they were interrogated to try to bring them down.

(b) Apply: Name two others who may be accused. Explain your choices.
Elizabeth Proctor and someone else who Abigail has a bad history with.


7:What types of situations could cause a contemporary American town to become afflicted by a general hysteria?
Maybe something like a disease that has a slow startup but a high contagious output and no outward early symptoms.

ACT 2 QUESTIONS:
1: Which character do you find the most intriguing? Why?
Abigail is the most interesting character. It’s fun to watch how all her lies and traps play out, with her barely being in the scene and still having an impact, like in the one with the doll.

2:What does Mary Warren bring home to Elizabeth Proctor?
She brings her a Poppet.

(b) What is the significance of this gift?
The poppet is found to have a needle in it for safekeeping, which Abigail uses against her by claiming that she was in pain where the needle was stuck.

3:What evidence is used to support Abigail Williams's assertion that Elizabeth Proctor is guilty of witchcraft?
The Only evidence was the fact that there was a needle in the Poppet.

 (b) Do you think the evidence is compelling? Why or why not?
This evidence isn’t compelling, as the poppet didn’t even belong to Elizabeth before then and the fact that it’s a poppet, needles are supposed to go into it.

4:What does Sarah Good do to save herself from hanging?
She confesses to the witchcraft and Devil pact accusations.

(b) Why should such an action save her?
This meant that she could have been “saved.”

5:According to John Proctor, what is "walking Salem" and writing the law of the community?
Walking Salem is just vengeance.

(b) Support: What evidence would support Proctor's assertion?
The fact that people are using the Witchcraft Accusations as ways to get back at people who’ve wronged them.

6:Who says the witchcraft trials are "black mischief?"
John Proctor.

(b) What is ironic about that remark?
The Witch Trials are supposed to be used to find Evil and Black Magic users but it’s just being used by evil people to take advantage of others.

7:Why is it surprising that Rebecca Nurse is charged with witchcraft?
Rebecca was one of the most goodly people in the whole town, and she was cited by others as being an extremely good person.

8:Do you find it ironic that Ezekiel Cheever is the one who arrests Elizabeth Proctor?
I do, because the proctors told Cheever to arrest Elizabeth but he went to search their house and found the poppet instead.