Literary+Terms+in+The+Crucible

Literary Terms and How they Relate to "The Crucible"

Feel free to edit this page to add definitions and examples from the play!

can give hints about future events to come in a story || When John Procter says "God is dead!" this foreshadowed that he was too be hung || //(He looks at her incredulously)// Proctor: When were he hanged?" page 235 || Describe the setting, suggest the use of props, lighting, scenery, sound effects and costumes. || Miller identifies when each character enters so you get an idea of who is on the stage and who isn’t. For example- “(//Susanna Walcott, a little younger than Abigail, a nervous, hurried girl, enters//)” || They try to protect themselves by blaming Witch Craft on others. People are convicted. John and Elizabeth are two of the convicted. John gets hung and dies. || narritive work through verbal/dramatic representation. || John Proctor, Abigail Williams, Rev. Hale etc. are characters because they are represented by actions and thoughts. ||
 * **Literary Term** || **Definition** || **How it Relates to "The Crucible"** ||
 * foreshadowing || something a character or narrator says that
 * dialogue || The lines spoken by characters in drama or fiction || "Elizabeth: Giles is dead.
 * playwright || author or composer of a play or piece of literature || Miller is the writer of __**The Crucible**__. ||
 * stage directions || The italicized instructions in a play.
 * setting || TIme, place, and where the story takes place. || The Crucible takes place in Salem, Mass. A puritan settlement in the 1600's. ||
 * monologue || A long, uninterrupted speech that is spoken in the presence of other characters || This could relate to John Proctors words after he has ripped the paper in half. He talks about himself gaining some goodness before he is hanged.  ||
 * soliloquy || The act of a character speaking to himself so as to reveal his thoughts to the audience ||  ||
 * aside || A part of an actor's or character's lines not intended for the other characters, but for the audience/reader ||  ||
 * plot || is the sequence of actions and events in a literary work || The girls danced in the woods.
 * exposition || discourse or an example of it designed to convey information or explain what is difficult to understand ||  ||
 * rising action || The sequence of events that lead to the climax of the story. || Abigail accuses John Proctor's wife named Elizabeth for being a witch. Proctor threatnened Elizabeth and she took actions to revolt against him. ||
 * climax || is the moment when reader's interest and emotional intensity reach a peak ||  ||
 * falling action || is the part of a literary work that provides the background information necessary to understand character of their actions ||  ||
 * resolution || A formal expression of opinon or intention made ||  ||
 * character || Any representation of a individual in a dramatic or
 * characterization || the techniques a writer uses to develop characters. || the act of describing distinctive characteristics or essential features ||
 * theme || a subject of discourse, discussion, meditation, or composition; topic ||  ||
 * act || Act- a major unit in a play, similar to a chapter in a book  || The first act of "The Crucible" set the stage for what would happen in the rest of the play. ||
 * scene || a division of a play or of an act of a play, usually representing what passes between certain of the actors in one place. || There are many scenes that take place within the acts of The Crucible ||
 * foil || A character whose traits contrast with those of another character. || Example: Abigail Williams is the foil of Elizabeth because Abigail lies about the accusations while Elizabeth is an “honest woman” who “cannot lie” (221). ||
 * internal conflict || A conflict between two forces within a character. || John Proctor is trying to forgive himself for his infidelity. ||
 * external conflict || A struggle between a character and a outside force. Like man vs man or man vs nature. || John is trying to prove to his wife that she can trust him again. ||
 * protagonist || Is the central character of the play. || John Proctor is a protagonist. ||
 * antagonist ||  a person who is opposed to, struggles against, or competes with another; opponent; adversary.; the adversary of the hero or protagonist of a drama or other literary work || The antagonist in The Crucible would be Reverend Parris, since he is opposing John Proctor. ||
 * drama || literature in which plot and character are developed through dialouge and action. Literature in play form. || This would fall under the crucible itself being turned into a full length motion picture. ||
 * comedy || A dramatic work that is light and often humorous in tone, and normally ends happily or peaceful with the main conflict. || In "The Crucible" when people get hung, the girls find it amusing and are cheering along with the crowd. They appear to be more happy though, for they are the ones that accused them to begin with. ||
 * tragedy || A dramatic work that presents the downfall of a dignified character who is involved in historically, morally or socially significant events. || "The Crucible" can be seen as a tragedy because John Proctor is portrayed as a dignified character who in the end as a downfall. ||
 * mood || a prevailing emotional tone or general attitude || "It is a formidale sin to conjure up the dead!! " ||
 * tone || The attitude a writer has towards their piece of writing, the voice that comes through their words. || The tone for "The Crucible" is set in the prologue and tells of how the characters in the play act. They are portrayed as skeptical of their neighbors and they keep to themselves and think that anything outside of their culture is going to hell. ||
 * irony || a technique of indicating, as through character or plot development, an intention or attitude opposite to that which is actually or ostensibly stated. || There is much irony in "The Crucible" because it is an allegory and directly relates to the communism scare aka the Red Scare that was happening in the 1950's. || a wide ranginig technique of detachment that draws awareness to the descrepancy between words and their meanings,between expectation and fufillment,or,most generally,between what is and what seems to be. ||  ||   ||   ||