Monday, September 29, 2008

What's In A Name?

Please answer all of the following questions; use specifics and make sure to elaborate.

1. Describe your reputation (with your friends, family, teachers, etc.) How important is your reputation to you? How does it affect how people treat you? What impact does it have on your behavior and decisions?

2. Think of some characters in The Crucible who are concerned with maintaining their "good" names. Describe two characters who are particularly concerned with keeping their reputations. What do they want to maintain and why? How does this affect their behavior and decisions? How could this ultimately further the conflicts at hand?

3. What are some of the reasons for the hysteria? List as many as you can think of. (you will need to think about the fears, motives, and actions of the characters to answer this)

28 comments:

JordanR said...

1. My reputation with certain people is truly all that matters to me. I use to care a lot in middle school what people thought about me but I’ve learned that most of the time it doesn’t matter. I wouldn’t really know what my reputation is, but a lot of people know that I’m really outgoing and easily amuse so my friends say. I don’t know if this is how it is for everyone but when I know someone is outgoing I normally feel more comfortable talking to them, so that could be one way that someone may treat me different. Being outgoing has a huge impact on my behavior, it makes me more adventurous and more willing to do things, but when it comes to my decisions I don’t like my actions decide. I always try to think before I make a decision and not let my craziness interfere.
2. Two characters I could think of right off the bat is, John Proctor and Abigail Williams. Abby is the one who is most concerned with keeping her name “good” in the village. I think part of that is because of all the witchcraft accusations and because adultery was such a bad thing back then. Personally I think that this took part in making Abby very manipulative and paranoid. With John Proctor he is less paranoid about it all but still his main goal is keeping his name “good” in the village. He wants to keep his name good because he doesn’t want to lose his wife, and he knows that having an affair with Abby was a big mistake, one because it’s wrong, and two because she now won’t leave him alone.
3. I myself are wondering the same question, the way this book started out the witchcraft came out of left field. I don’t understand why they immediately thought of witchcraft rather than saying she was ill. I think a lot of the characters in the book have really messed up pasts so that’s why it turned into this big mess. But I also am wondering why it is such hysteria.

verrettaa said...

1.My reputation I believe with my teachers is one of the usual student who turns in their assignments and doesn’t the homework. With my friends, I have a reputation to be creative and to be a loyal friend. In my family I am the youngest and so I am considered the spoiled one in the family. My reputation is important to me, but it hardly consumes my life. I don’t spend every minute of everyday worrying about whether or not my actions will make people think something bad about me, and the concern of my reputation rarely affects my behavior and decisions. I usually do things the way I want them, and I am not concerned about what other think of me. I care what my close friends think more than anyone else.
2.Abigail Williams is especially concern with keep her reputation good in the community. She wishes to stay known as an obedient clean woman in her community and she goes to great lengths to maintain this reputation. Abigail manipulates her friends in order to keep her secrets hidden, even to the point of threatening their lives. The state of her reputation consumes her life completely, and she is always considering how her actions and the actions of other will affect it. With the state of Abigail, the conflicts are expected worsen because she is cause fear in many of the young girls in the village. Reverend Parris is another one who is very concerned with his reputation. He Is always trying to make his good actions known, while trying to hide any action that could harm his reputation. Parris also often tries to change the attention to him. He also spends lots of time attempting to keep his name good in the village.
3.The great desires of characters like Abigail and Parris are some causes of the hysteria. Also, arguments between characters like Parris and John Proctor is a big cause of hysteria in this society. Paranoia has added to the hysteria. For example, Abigail has become paranoid over keep her reputation clean and through her actions, she has instilled fear in many characters and suspicion is others. Some character have been fueling the hysteria through their acts of revenge at one another also.

Lauren L said...

1. My reputation with my friends and family would probably have to be being outgoing around them but then a little quieter when I’m around a lot of people I don't exactly know. Another part of my reputation is that I’m a nice person and I usually try and please people even if that means I don’t get what I want. My reputation isn’t everything to me but it does play a small role in my everyday life. If I was to become really mean and rude I’m sure all of my friends and family would think of me differently. I don’t think my reputation really affects how people treat me. I mean ya, I’m a nice person but there are still going to be people out there who think I’m mean. So having a reputation doesn’t really matter because people are still going to like and dislike you not matter what. My reputation has an impact on my behavior and decisions because I usually always think about how my decisions will affect other people, or at least I try to. That’s just the kind of person I am.
2. Two characters from the crucible that are obsessed with maintaining there reputations are Abigail Williams and John Proctor. Abigail is known in the city for being a good girl. All children were thought to be perfect, no one thought they could sin. Abigail was always the well trusted girl. Abigail is actually a manipulative liar. She will do anything to keep her reputation thought because then people will think she is a good girl and they will trust her. With the entire city’s trust, Abigail can do so much. John on the other hand is a very well respected man in the city. Many people rely on John for many things. He does have a secret though and doesn’t want it to get out into the city because then his reputation will be ruined and none of the town people will look at him the same. John would probably also go to extremes to keep his name clean in the town of Salem.
3. I believe the hysteria started because many people let there imaginations wonder a lot about witchcraft and what if people in there town were really using witchcraft. I’m not saying there wasn’t witchcraft I just think one person got accused and then everyone thought that was obviously the reason for all the weird behavior around the town. Then after the idea of witchcraft got into everyone’s minds, they would notice something that would have been totally normal to them before the accusations but then blame it on someone or say someone did it to you, just because they had something to blame it on. The people took the idea of witchcraft to the extreme.

Dani H said...

My reputation is a minor part in my life. As long as I am happy with myself then my reputation is great; although if everyone hates me, I should face reality that my actions need to change. If I have a reputation of being cruel and a liar then people are going to treat me like dirt. This then in effect will make me grumpy and sad, which will then be taken out on my peers once again. This is a cycle of cause and effects.
Abby is a main character that worries about her reputation in Salem. To protect her name she lies and accuses other people of actions they did not take, to take he blame of her. People then, to protect themselves, blame it on another person and this repetition becomes a large cycle of blaming and accusations. Another character is Mary Warren and all the other girls who involved in the forest events. They don't want Salem to find out about their ceremonies and in result blame other older woman of witchcraft to take the blame off them.
There could be many reasons for the hysteria in Salem. The revenge of Abby against Elizabeth turned into others building the confidence to seek their revenge. Fear of witchcraft and Hell was easier solved to blame people then actually confront the girls of their actions. There has been evidence there was the drug LSD in the bread the people were eating.

casey o said...

1. I believe that I have a good reputation with my friends and teachers. I used to care a lot about what people think of me, so I would almost be fake so they would like me. But now days I can just be myself and everyone is cool with it. I think that everyone worries about where they stand in school sometime or another. I used to try and act how people wanted, and I lost friends, but now I don’t care what people think of me and if they don’t like how I am acting then they can get over it. I used to be the “good” kid who never did anything wrong, but I learned that to make through life you have to break rules, so I do whatever I want and don’t think about the consequences.
2. Abigail is one of the main characters in The Crucible, and now that people are talking witchcraft, she begins to lie to the town so she can keep her name good. She soon starts to rat out others, even friends, saying that they were involved with witchcraft, thus she seems to be innocent for telling others. She also wants to keep her affair with John hidden, so she lies and manipulates others into believing that she is a good girl. Reverend Parris is another character who is obsessed with being Reverend of the church. He does not want to be accused with having witchcraft in his house because they will run him out of town. He seems to be more worried about his position in the church than his own daughter who had been ill.
3. The Puritans had never encountered such a thing before. They have always thought that kids were good and could never do wrong, thus when they found them dancing in the woods, they did not know what to think of it so they accused them of witchcraft. Abigail plays a large role in the hysteria because of her need to keep her name good. She wants to stay clean so she accuses other girls of witchcraft, which starts the whole town on a mad hysteria to find the “witches”. One person got accused of witchcraft and once the word got around, everyone started accusing others to have a reason for all the weird behaviors in the town.

jbarry said...

1.Reputation is huge in my mind. Many people say that they don't care what people say or think about them but really, what other people say is what EVERYONE is going to think about you. My reputation with my friends and my teachers is that I stand up for myself and for what I believe and that I am a kind and caring person. People have more respect for you when they know that you are a reputable person. They treat you much better and are generally less aprehensive to a reputable person than to someone with a soiled reputation. When your reputation is good, you generally make decisions to keep it that way. Your behavior generally reflects your reputation for people to see.
2. Abigail and Reverend Parris are the two main characters who are concerned with their reputations. With Abby, accusations of witchcraft and an affair with a married man would certainly ruin her, and she knows that the only way to stay in the village is to keep her name clean, which leads to her accusations of people like Elizabeth Proctor. Parris tries to keep his reputation to maintain power with his parishoners. He knows that there is a faction of the church that would destroy him, if given the chance, so he tries to hide the happenings of his household and eventually blames them on others.
3. Many of the girls are acting just to keep from getting in trouble. The know that if they get the people on their side, they will have the power to accuse whomever they please, and get away with it. Abigail Williams is trying to get back at John and Elizabeth Proctor because of the way that they have treated her, and because John will not continue his affair with Elizabeth. Also, alternative motives such as past grudges, land and power are beginning to come into play, and many people are seeing that in the hysteria of Salem, they can make personal gains because of where the focus of the town lies.

tylerm said...

1.My reputation with my friends is that Im the tallest in the group and the weakest. With my family it is that im the older child and the tallest in the family. With my teachers is that im the responsible student. My reputation is in the middle, i don't care but it still matters to me where i am. How it affects me is that im easly teased by my friends but at the same time im ready to stand up. How it impacts my behavior is that im goofy all the time.

2.Two characters i think are John Proctor and Abigail Williams. Abby is the one who wants to keep a good name about her throught the village. Partly because of the witch craft that was a bad idea back then.I think her doing this is making her even more paranoid then before.John Proctor isless paranoid in facts he's the only one not paranoid in the village. but still try's to keep his name good, because he doesn't want to lose wife for the fear he thinks Elizabeth knows about the affair with Abby.

3.I think the hysteria is because of the time they live in back then. They didn't know much of what was happening, they didn't know that the person was ill and not under witchcraft.

MikeW said...

1. My reputation would be the funny, talkative, and maybe annoying guy to the people around me. I really like to be social around others and I sometimes get carried away with how much I say. My reputation means nothing at all to myself. I really don't care what people think of me, whether it is bad or good. I see people trying to get to know me better because under all the jokes and sarcastic humor is a sensitive guy. When people compliment the way I act, I try to stay that way. I must admit, there is pressure from your friends that make you who you are.

2. There are two characters who stand out as people with huge reputations, and that is Reverend Parris and John Proctor. Reverend Parris would want to maintain his authority over others with the use of speech and illusion. He makes other people in the town of Salem believe that some people are witches and that God is behind it. He definately abuses this power and attempts to perpetuate Salem. This authority that Reverend Parris has, makes him greedy and liable for other people's actions. He also becomes more paranoid with Salem's status. This could force others to feel afraid or weak because of the witches and his power. Reverend Parris could possibley make the whole town implode because of a stupid belief, witchcraft.
John Proctor is known as the laid back man who tries not to be associated with the church and its commandments. He tries to keep the independent and opinionated role because he is already seperate from most of the townspeople of Salem. He tries not to appear weak and desperate, but he really is. He could not live without his wife, Elizabeth, or his wealth. This shadow of John Proctor forces him to be intelligent, mysterious and brave. This could turn John Proctor against the people of Salem because most of the townspeople are believers of God. John Proctor is also a believer of God, but he doesn't appeal as a dedicated one.

3. The hysteria could be caused by events that seemed strange or unnatural, such as the needle in Abigail or Betty being possessed by demons. Also, the horseplay caused in the woods and the preaching of Reverend Parris. Abigail Williams feared being isolated from the townfolk so she began to lie about the mistakes she had made. She also had made others seem at blame, rather than her. Reverend Parris' nieve mind had believed Abigail and he had told the whole town one of Abigail's lies. Abigail's lies, unfortunate events that occurred, and Reverend Parris' preachings and nieve mind had caused the hysteria to form in Salem.

Tabitha M said...

1. My reputation means nothing to me. Why should I care what people in high school think of me. Of course I'll always crave my classmates approval, however I have come to the conclusion that I am living my life for me, not the satisfaction of others. My reputation has changed over the years. Freshman year I thought it would make anyone cool to act like a slut, well thats what my friends did. Sophmore year I learned not to follow the idiotic behavior of my surrounding friends, who in the end left me to be what they consider popular by making others feel completely unimportant and not worthy of their time. Junior year I have no reputation, I hangout with people that don't bring me down, hurt me for their pleasure, or act above me. This year I am already enjoying the benefits of not falling under trends and others beliefs.
2. Mary Warren is trying to maintain her good name for Abby. I believe Mary wants to maintain this relationship with Abby from fear. Mary never knows what Abby has up her sleeve next and must stay behind Abby for protection. Mary's behavior has changed with her lies and sticking to Abby. As Mary stands behind Abby, she is risking the lives of innocent people. John Proctor to holds shame to his name. He wants to keep his reputation and never spill a word about him and Abby's affair. The conflict from him standing back and not standing up to Abby in fear of his reputation may cause his wife to die.
3. John Proctor fears that the town will find out about his affair with Abby.
Abby's main motive is to get John, however she has made a mess of many peoples lives in doing so.
Mary fears the consquences of Abby, if Mary is to tell the truth about the poppet etc.

kaylab said...

1. I think reputation is very important. I want people to think good things about me and I wouldn't want anything to ruin my reputation. I think people treat me with respect because I do have a good reputation and if I did something to distort what they thought of me, I think they would treat me alot differently. I try to behave really well and I make good decisions based on what I know is right because I do care about my reputation and what people think of me.
2. Reverend Parris is extremely concerned with his reputation and he would rather keep a clean slate than do the right thing in some circumstances. He wants to be the "perfect" reverend and man of god that he sometimes forgets about the other things and people in his life. He always puts himself before others because he is so concerned with his reputation. This behavior could further the conflict because he could banish any idea of witch craft and make sure that none of his family is accused putting a mark on his name. Another character concerned with reputation is Elizabeth Proctor. She doesn't want anyone to know about the affair between her husband and Abigail so she refuses to make it real. She wants to maintain the "perfect wife" role and works hard to keep it. She sometime acts cold toward her husband and secludes herself. Since she has a problem with Abigail, I think that she will either get herself or Abby in trouble.
3. Some of the reasons for the hysteria ar: fear of defying faith, town, and family; accusations based on old grudges, land ownership, and relationship problems; conflicting motives between people.

Scott B said...

1. My reputation with people that I meet is usually somewhere close to the quiet funny guy. Many people also know me to be good at math and science and that i like to bring up random facts that no one really cares about. I really don't think much about my reputation with people. I just act myself and never worry too much what people think. By doing this I never really have to think on how I should act around different people, I don't have to change anything.

2. Abigail is definitely a character that is way too wrapped up in her reputation. She lets her need to be the image of a perfect woman consume her so much that to those close to her she is the complete opposite of what she is striving to be. She in many ways becomes a monster set on fooling everyone into believing her good. Reverend Parris is a lot the same. He lets his want of being the perfect reverend get a hold of him and then he becomes a hypocrite. He is supposed to be a person teaching of God and the people’s salvations but instead talks continuously about the image he is supposed to represent as he showed in the golden candlestick argument. These two are really what are driving the witch hunts. Because they are trying to cover for themselves they are more than willing to destroy other people reputations to save themselves.

3. Some of the potential reasons for the hysteria could be; the ingrained fear of anything that could potentially involve the devil, the constant hiding of past misdeeds, and the trepidations of death. From the very beginnings of their lives all the people have been taught to fear the devil. And since witchery is considered to have been a pact with the devil himself the people are thoroughly terrified of what might happen. The fact that nearly all the people of Salem seem to have a grudge against someone else because of something that happened years ago and that they never shared their hurt feelings with the person, they are bringing them out in a new way and calling them witches. The last factor that I can think of is that all people are terrified by the thought of death. The people of Salem seem to fear it with every fiber of their being and this leads to a hysteria when they get accuse of being a witch for which the penalty is death.

Gracie G said...

1. I think the reputation that I have towards the people at school is pretty good. I don't go out of my way to be mean to people, I'm relatively nice. If someone hates me I'd be surprised because they would probably have no reason to. The reputation that I care about is the one I have with my friends and family. Like the characteristics I posses such as a loyal friend, and honest and trustworthy person, I would hate to loose that title, because I would carry guilt, knowing that I let them down. I care about the reputation of my artwork, I'm not going to start slacking because I can draw, I want to put all my hard work into each and every piece.

2.Abigail Williams is very concerned about keeping her reputation good n' clean. She wants to keep the title of the obedient, Christian woman, that she is known for. Abigail manipulates her friends so all her secrets don't get out. Reverend Parris is also very concerned with his reputation. He is always making his good deeds known amungst the town of Salem, but also keeping his sins to himself. Parris always has to be the center of attention and attempting to keep his name good in the town, even though not many are too fond of him.

3. Some reasons for all the hysteria are: The community, and family; accusations centered around past grudges, fear of defying their strong faith, and sexual desires.

Gracie G said...
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Trent W. said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Trent W. said...

1. My reputation matters quite a bit to people who know me, or consider me friends. I try to do what is right in there eyes, but sometimes, I will do something that I believe is right, or go on my own. I try to be different yet I want to be supported also. My parents got a little upset because I took French as oppose to Spanish. My parents had to live with it. I want my friends and to acknowledge that I am my own also. When it comes to other people i could careless what my reputation means, because I shouldn't dwell on it alone.

2.In the book i think John Proctor is worried about keeping his name clear of anything. He's already not going to church which is disgraceful to the Puritans enough. Then since he had an affair with Abby, he surely doesn't want that to get out as well. He's weary about the issue to a certain degree though. Then there's Abby who is completely paranoid about the whole idea of her name being mentioned as one of those who participated in dealing with the Devil, so to speak. She's done dirty deeds to see that she's not the only blamed in order to get the scope off of her. She throws out names, and threatens those who claim to reveal. It's apparent she will destroy everything around her, so she may have the benefit to live, even better with Proctor. She is making a huge deal about it that also ties into the John Proctor affair. Both of them are paranoid about that.

3.Reasons of the hysteria include but are not limited to power of the Puritan Church, revenge ranging directly from Abby as to indirectly as Rebbeca Nurse. And fears of devious pasts of certain people.

rachel b said...

My reputation is important to me. I don’t like when people who don’t know me judge me on what they hear, so I try to prevent doing things that people will talk about negatively. Reputations are difficult because once people hear things, they never forget them. Everyone is quick to judge, it’s just human nature. I want people to see me as a nice, happy person, so that’s the way I try to act.
The two characters that are most worried about their reputations are Elizabeth Proctor and Abigail Williams. Elizabeth didn’t tell anybody about the affair between John and Abigail. She just fired Abigail and tried to forget about it. Clearly she hasn’t forgotten, yet she doesn’t tell anyone about it. She doesn’t want people to find out because then they will know that her marriage failed and that’s bad for her reputation. I think she is trying to protect John’s reputation at the same time. Abigail also has the intentions of protecting her reputation. She doesn’t want anyone to know that she practiced witchcraft, so she resorts to threatening people.
I think hysteria in this instance is a result of revenge. The whole reason some of the girls were in the forest is because they wanted revenge on somebody. Once people were accused, everyone tried to find someone else to blame. Usually they blamed people who they didn’t like or they were seeking revenge on.

JimmyE said...

1. I believe my reputation with my friends is a goofball and love to have dumb fun. My Family sees me as kind of lazy but smart and always willing to have fun. Teachers probably see me as a talkative person who could get better grades then I do. My reputation isn’t that important I’m just myself and don’t care what anyone thinks of me. I try to treat everyone the same with the same personality as well. I think because I could careless what people think of me it keeps me out of a lot of problems I might get into if I cared.
2. Abigail Williams and Reverend Paris are far too concerned with their reputations to make good decisions to help others. As result of Reverend Paris caring about his reputation he has scared some people out of the church when he only preaches about the devil and what not to do. Abigail could be at the root of all the events in Salem all because she wants to keep her name good in the community. With neither of them willing to ruin the reputations the community will suffer as they accuse more and more innocent people.
3. The root of the hysteria is whether or not you are going to get accused or not. If you get accused the only way you don’t get hanged or killed is confessing that you are a witch despite you being innocent. Hysteria results because if you get accused you either die innocent or ruin your integrity and confess. Also for some of the girls originally involved the fact if you speak of Abigail actions in the forest, she has said she will kill you in your sleep.

mitch w said...

1. I perceive my reputation with my friends, family, teachers, and other people as a well upheld bar of expectations. All these people see me for who I really am. The fact that my reputation is being myself it is not all too important to me. I know I can always uphold my reputation because I am always going to be myself in every situation. The way people act towards me and treat me is with care and respect because they know I will do the same to them. My reputation for the choices I make is also a generally good one. Although it is not perfect people see me as a leader because of the good choices I have made.


2. In The Crucible many of the characters are very concerned with their reputations. Two of the characters that are most concerned with the way they are perceived are Reverend Parris and Elizabeth Proctor. Reverend Parris is seen by most as a good person who looks out for the village through the church. When his daughter is “possessed” by an evil spirit people look at him in a new way. He does not like this at all so he tries to change the people’s opinions back to him being seen as “good’. Elizabeth Proctor has had a clear name through out her life. The only blemish she has on her record is her husband John having an affair. When Elizabeth is accused of witchcraft she panics about her name no longer being “white”. This clearly shows her concern for what people distinguish as.


3. Some of the reasons for the hysteria in Salem are the moldy bread theory, blaming a scapegoat for the unexplainable, and the urge for power that is human nature. The moldy bread theory explains the hysteria because the mold is very similar to the drug LSD. This would cause people to hallucinate and essentially go crazy. Another theory would be the people of Salem trying to find a scapegoat for their problems. Having something to blame your problems on allows for the thought of being “perfect”. When you have nothing wrong with yourself then why feel bad about any situation. Power is another thing that contributed to the chaos. All the characters want some sort of a greater amount of power so they can make things the way they want them in the village.

Strahan K said...

1. To me reputation is not at the top of my priority list but it does matter. I mean I don't want people going aroun and saying a bunch of bad things about me because that will have negative effects when I meet new people. But that being said I don't try to nurture my reputaion and make sure that everyone likes me. Personally I think that not worrying about my reputation will improve it anyway because it will give me more time to be real instead of worrying about who doesn't like me and why. To quote comedian Kat Williams "Haters hate, and there will always be haters. They hate because its their job and if they didn't hate they'd probly just sit around bored all day. All you can do is keep it pimpin' and let them hate."
2. The most obviouse answer to this question is Abbigail Williams. When she is talking to John Proctor she even says that her name is being "blackened" in the village which shows that she obvioulsy cares about what everyone thinks of her. And in order to keep her good name she is going to accuse everyone who has talked bad about her as being a witch. This is driving people to fear her instead of be nice to her, which means that even more rumors could be spread about her and make her reputation even worse. So in reality she is making it worse for her self. The next person I can this of is rev. Parris. He is all upset because this witchcraft deal is happening in his house. At one point he even says he is worried about how his enemies will use this against him. It seems he is only worried about portraying his church, family, and self as being perfect.
3. I belive that the reasons for this hysteria are mainly based on religious beliefs. The puritan culture lived way to fearfull lives. They were affraid that everything they did would make god angry. It also appears that they were extremely strict and uptight which might be why things got blown this far out of proportion. This could have been a minor issue but instead it ended up killing people. And as far as I can tell they are pretty ignorant as well because they think the children are incapable of lying when in reality it is quite the opposite. These are the main factors for the hysteria of the situation.

Joyce B. said...

1. I think I have a pretty good reputation with my friends because I’m nice and trust worthy. They come to talk to me a lot when they are upset about something, but at the same time I’m a very emotional person so I get stressed and upset a lot and although they never say anything I would assume that they get irritated with me fairly often. My reputation with my family and teachers is much less desirable. Both my parents and my teachers think I’m a slacker and they probably think that I’m not smart and don’t care about my future because I often don’t get my assignments in. My reputation with my friends is very important to me because they are my family and if I messed up my reputation with them I wouldn’t have any thing left. My reputation with my teachers is also important to me because I want my teachers to respect me although I don’t think I have much respect from many of my teachers this year because I haven’t been managing to turn in many of my assignments. My reputation with my parents isn’t vary important to me because it generally seems like I’ll never be good enough for them and so more recently I’ve kind of given up. If I have a good reputation in generally people will treat me better or give me more of a chance as apposed to if I had a bad reputation. I think people with good reputations behave better and make better decisions because it’s what is expected of them.

2. Abigail is very concerned about her good name in the town and she constantly says that Elizabeth is out to ruin her name. Abigail wants to maintain respect from the fellow villagers. I think she lies to people about her past so that they will think she is a good person and they will respect her. Because Abigail doesn’t like Elizabeth she will falsely accuse her of doing things to get her in trouble. Parris is also very concerned about keeping his good name. He has finally earned respect as a priest and suddenly his daughter is involved in some mysterious activities. I think he is very concerned about his reputation so perhaps instead of always thinking of the best thing to do to fix things he wants to do any thing that will keep him and his family out of trouble. This may lead to problems later on based on the decisions he’s making now.

3. The hysteria is caused by many things like the drama between Abigail, John, and Elizabeth. Also the fact that back then traveling was hard so you were with the same group of people all the time which would drive any one nuts. I have no idea for sure what’s causing the hysteria though, obviously if historians can study this for years and years and not know for sure what happened how should I know after a couple of weeks of studying the trials.

AndrewA said...

My reputation with my friends, family, teachers, etc. is something that I try not to keep in mind. My reputation with all those people is good, but what I'm saying is that reputations don't mean much to me because as long as someone has good morals and intentions that is a good enough reputation for me. I treat others as I would like to be treated, and I don't ever do anything to people to give them a reason not to like me. So as far as I know, I have a pretty good reputation with just about everyone. The decisions I make are usually very well thought out and are made based on my morals and ethics. My decisions and behavior are not influenced by others. I do what I believe is right, even if others disagree. Most people treat me pretty well because they look at the good side of my reputation. Others treat me with little respect because of my life style, but I show those people that I am not a stereotype, that I'm my own individual, and that they have no right to make assumptions based on my reputation.

Two characters in The Crucible that are particularly concerned with maintaining their "good" names are John Proctor and Reverend Parris. John Proctor doesn't want the town of Salem to think that he doesn't believe in god. More importantly, he doesn't want the town to know about his affair with Abigail Williams. He doesn't want the people of the town to think that he would commit adultery, because it would not only ruin his good reputation in the church, but it would also ruin his social reputation in Salem. Proctor's only options are to either confess to his affair and deal with its consequences, or to keep his "good" name and continue to let Abby go on her rampage. Reverend Parris had a bad reputation in the town for a long time, and finally when his name was beginning to whiten, his daughters and their friends were caught practicing "witchcraft" in the forest. Parris will do anything he can to keep as good a reputation as possible, so he believes that calling in "an expert" on witches will clear any commotion in the town. Parris obviously does not see the turmoil that is yet to come. By doing this to try and protect his family and his name, he actually is going to be responsible for the spread of the hysteria.

Many theories behind the reasoning for the hysteria could potentially explain it. The first and most plausible would be that the bread in the village could have been tainted with a mold that can make people act and react as if they are on LSD. The people of the town that were "bewitched" could have just been under the influence of the effect of the mold and/or the entire town's perception was altered by the effect of the mold and that is why they acted the way they did. Another reason for the hysteria could be the fact that Reverend Parris called in Reverend Hale to make sure there were no supernatural beings at work. Instead, he convinced many innocent people to confess to their "witchcraft" and he also convinced others to point out people that "performed witchcraft" whether it be on them self or others. The last reason for the hysteria is pretty straight forward. The fact that so many "witches" were popping up in Salem was very alarming and discomforting for its citizens. The people of the town at this point became very insecure and nobody knew who was a witch and who wasn't. Some even started questioning good friends because of how big of an epidemic this hysteria was.

meredith a. said...

1) My reputation with my family and friends is important to me. I really care what my they think about me because they are the ones who matter to me the most. Everyone says that they don’t care about what others think of them, but they actually do. I care what other people think about me; not a lot, but I still care somewhat. I mean I can understand if I did something wrong to hurt somebody and they don’t like me, but when people just start judging for no apparent reason, that’s when I don’t care. Overall I’m a nice person, but some people are going to think I am mean just because they don’t know me. If I had a reputation of cheating and lying, people would probably be disrespectful to me in many ways. But if I have a pretty good reputation, people will either treat you nicely or not really care at all. Having a good reputation makes me want to make good decisions; however, if you have a good reputation you always want to make some kind of risk so you’re not so good.
2) Abigail Williams is one of the two characters that want to keep their name “good” in the village. She wants to keep it good because people think of her as a really good person and if they find out she had some part in the witch accusations, then her name wouldn’t be so good after all. This affects her behavior by making her very paranoid. Another character would have to be John Proctor. He wants to keep his name good in the village because he doesn’t want anyone finding out about his affair with Abby. If people found out about that, he would lose his wife Elizabeth and his “good” name.
3) Abby uses hysteria to accuse Elizabeth Proctor of witchcraft and have her sent to jail. Also Reverend Parris strengthens his position within the village by using hysteria. In the end, hysteria can thrive only because people benefit from it. It suspends the rules of daily life and allows the acting out of every dark desire and hateful urge under the cover of righteousness.

Dylan L said...
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Dylan L said...

My reputation is extremely important to me. I don’t go try to be someone I am not, but I always try to be respectful and polite. To most people I come across as a laid back, but outgoing person who works extremely hard and loves to be around people. My reputation with my family and friends is exceedingly similar, I like to hang out, relax, and just have a good time. I consider myself extremely loyal to anyone I am close too, and would always be there if they ever need anything. When I am around my teachers I am a little more conservative, simply because I am usually always tired from school. I always try to treat others how I like to be treated; most people treat me back with the same respect I give them. If I person is mean or disrespectful to me they usually are not worth my time, and I try to associate with them as little as possible. I have made unintelligent decisions in the pass that came with consequences, and I will certainly make more. However, for the most part I make good decisions in and out of school.

Abigail is a main character in The Crucible who is extremely concerned with keeping a “good name.” She doesn’t hesitate to accuse other people with false accusations like Elizabeth in order to cover up her unlawful accusations of witchcraft and her affair with Proctor. She is under a lot of pressure to be perfect because her uncle is the reverend. Her accusations cause much more hysteria throughout the town of Salem. Reverend Parris is also extremely concerned with his reputation. He strives to be a good reverend and leader in the town, sometimes forgetting to look beyond the laws of the church. Instead of helping the people in need he often times puts fear in them, causing them to falsely accuse other people.

The main reason there is so much hysteria throughout Salem is caused by ones fear. Fear of people breaking the laws of God. Fear of the town finding out about John Proctors affair with Abigail. Fear of witchcraft and association with the devil. All of those can be related back to fear of a bad reputation.

mattc said...

I really don’t know what my reputation is with my friends or family or my teachers. But I know what they think of me. I think my friends find me nice to be around and they are glad that I am around at times. When I say at times, I mean sometimes friends get in fights and need some space from each other. With my family, my dad and I are really close. We do everything together. We go to games together or just watch them together. I think he sees me as a joy to be around. Same with my mother, we don’t have the same bonding time as my father and I, but we are close in a loving way. I think she loves my appearance as much as possible. I think if she could she would take me everywhere with her. But with my sister, we hate each other. We hate each other so much; it makes our enemies look like friends. So with all these people in my life I think my behavior and decision making is how my friends and family treats me and how I treat them.

In the crucible I see Abigail and Reverend Parris very concerned of their names or reputation is in the town. Abigail wants her name to stay good so she makes horrible lies that hurt other people, just so her name stays good. Also with Reverend Parris, he wants his name to stay good and doesn’t want people to think wrongly of him. They both will not stop at anything unless their names are good in the town. Their behavior with their names needing to be good is causing a lot of damage. Not just physically but also mentally. I see later in this play, their actions will cause much caouse.

I think the reason for all this hysteria is because people don’t want to believe that the girls where sick or just playing a trick but want to blame their beliefs. If something goes wrong lets blame god or the devil. Everything is controlled by heaven or hell. I just think these people need to think facts rather than faith. And bring another priest to help the situation actually back fired at everyone in the town.

Tiffany F. said...

1. My reputation with my family and friends does not matter to me because I like the person that I am I do not care what others think of me, we are all different, each our own person. As long as you treat others how you want to be treated, you will give the message of caring and respect will be given back to you. With my family and friends I am myself, basically just having fun and being who am I, and if you know me you will know I do. I make wise, smart choices and think before I act, I listen to my inner voice telling me right from wrong.

2. The characters of John Proctor and Abigail Williams are concerned with their “good” names. John is hiding the sin of his affair with Abigail, he proclaims himself to be a Christian yet he forgets the commandment thou shall not commit adultery. He is trying to maintain that he is a good person because he doesn’t want his name tarnished in the society. It affects his behavior between Abigail and Elizabeth, his wife. His behavior affects his decisions because he doesn’t want to go against Abigail, he fears she will turn on him and reveal their affair. On the other hand he wants to be nice to his wife to show to her that he still loves her and cares for her. It furthers the conflict between John, Abigail, and Elizabeth; it becomes a love triangle. Abigail is concerned with keeping her “good” name because she doesn’t want to be considered to be involved in witchcraft. Interestingly enough she does admit to dancing with the devil, however she puts the blame on the servant Tituba and doesn’t take responsibility herself she blows the whole witchcraft situation out of hand to make herself look good in accusing others of being involved in witchcraft. Her actions affect the behavior of the other girls, John Proctor, Reverend Hale, Elizabeth, and the towns’ people; she has taken power and control in their actions. The decisions are based on her power over them, for example she feared Abigail would kill her. This furthers the conflict at hand because more and more people are being accused of witchcraft, many of whom she has given word that they are witches.

3. Some of the reasons for the hysteria: *hysteria equals reactions and actions to witches, witchcraft and the Devil, *it all stared with the girls dancing in the forest and Reverend Paris discovering them, *his own daughter made her self sick knowing that dancing went against the Puritan religion, *it was when Paris questioned Abigail about that night that the situation got blown out of proportion, *one question led to another and before we know it Abigail blames Tituba making them dance with the Devil, *Reverend Hale comes to Salem to investigate the Devils in town as he is an authority on witchcraft, * he believes that there are Demons in town, * now the girls start accusing different town people for taking part in witchcraft, * the hysteria continues with good Christian being accused

HannaR said...

Normally I would say that my reputation does not matter to me. Although when I think about it I want to protect it. I want people to feel comfertable talking to me no matter the situation. I like my reputation right now, and I do not want it to change. My friends like me and my family is proud of me. One charactor in The Crucible whos' reputation is falling is Abigail Williams. Alot has happened to her so far in the story and she is slowly losing trust by the people of the town. the reason for this is because more and more people are finding out about her relations with John Proctor and therefore focusing on how she does not get along with Elizabeth very well. Abigail acused Elizabeth of witchcraft. Another charactor who is suffering from losing a good reputation is Sara Good. She is acused of witchcraft as well. This causes a riot in the town. Even though she confessed, a hangin' might still happen soon.

HannaR said...

3)
Witchcraft is a very broad topic. It is interesting to think about how they came up with the idea. It seems like alot of people new about witchcraft and how it worked. This is very pecular!