Author: Clive Rogers

Analyzing the Text

They show what a dark and lonely place this town has become. The setting in act one is homey and fairly comforting, even as Parris is worried for his daughter. In contrast, the stage directions for act four show how irrevocably life has changed for the residents of Salem.

Danforth doesn’t want his authority to be undermined and knows that having the prisoners “prove” their guilt by confessing will make him look good in the eyes of the town. Parris feels guilty for the role he played in instigating this whole situation. Hale is sorry that he may have played a part in condemning Proctor to die.

Her words portray him as a determined and principled man who skillfully evades Danforth by never confessing one way or another. To Miller, Giles represents someone who is faithful to his own principles until the very end and refuses to, as the saying goes, “throw others under the bus” in order to save himself.

All the characters in this play find their courage, loyalty, faith, et cetera tested under such extreme conditions. Titling this play The Crucible alludes to and foreshadows the fact that all the characters undergo immense pressure and reshaping.

The central paradox is that if the accused don’t confess to witchcraft, they will be hanged for something. But if they confess to witchcraft, they are living a lie and must face the judgement of the town. Here, Miller stresses the point that these situations can quickly spiral out of control and may be used for neighbors to enact old grudges.

Proctor’s conflict is one many other characters face: Do they die knowing they have stayed true to what they know is right or do they capitulate to the wishes of others? Proctor’s determination is, apart from Giles’, probably the strongest in this play.

It hints at how the condemned, including Proctor, will indeed hang. It is also hinted that the nearby town of Andover was more sensible in their handling of the situation and that residents of Salem are beginning to suspect Danforth & his cronies.

Analyzing the Text

Mary, in contrast to Abigail, is lonely, naive, and plain-looking. She wants to fit in and so is easily swayed by Abigail.

Danforth is extremely condescending to Giles and uses his authority to threaten the other man into shutting up.

She doesn’t know that he has already confessed and doesn’t want to get him in any more trouble.

Sunday is a day of rest in this society, so they believe that if he occasionally plows on those days it “proves” that he does not believe in God and is in league with the devil.

He has become increasingly bold, as well as more worried. He no longer hides his indiscretion with Abigail. His actions in this act reveal the lengths to which he will go to protect his wife and expose injustice for what it is.

Analyzing the Text

In act 2, the stakes are raised and readers begin to realize the danger that various characters are in – and who has put them there.

Ever since his affair with Abigail, Elizabeth has mistrusted John. Meanwhile, he is frustrated because he is trying his best to prove his loyalty but she still doesn’t believe him. They have a very tense relationship.

The “secret blasphemy” refers to Abigail’s part in this situation and the way in which she is taking revenge against those who have hurt her. Proctor feels guilty for his part in this and resolves to take Abigail down with him.

She has collaborated with Abigail and so will not testify against her. She will, however, likely testify against Elizabeth Proctor and John Proctor

Analyzing the Text

It provides historical and cultural background for the events of 1692. In particular, it discusses their intensely repressive and pious society, as well as the deep-seated disagreements and even hatred between neighbors that eventually bubbled over into accusations of outright witchcraft.

In a conversation without any of the adults around, the girls are revealed to be frightened and secretive about what they asked Tituba to do. They made a big mistake and aren’t quite sure how to talk their way out of it.

Putnam holds numerous grudges because he feels that, as a wealthy man, his opinion should have more weight than others’. Therefore, he resents those who challenge his authority and seeks to ruin their lives. Parris is convinced that everyone else is out to get him and, additionally, doesn’t know how to handle children – so he is especially ill-equipped to deal with this scenario.

He isn’t as religious as most of the others in Salem and so feels that he doesn’t fit in. Additionally, his relationship with Abigail makes him feel very guilty.

Analyzing the Text

Nature doesn’t love a wall, since the thawing of the ground after winter dislodges the carefully-constructed wall and sends stones falling down. Besides the natural world, the speaker himself isn’t too fond of walls.

“Spring is the mischief in me,” he says, wanting to have a little fun and attribute the wall falling down to elves and not to natural forces.

Rather than directly saying that he doesn’t like walls, the speaker presents more than one interpretation of his lines. Evidence supporting the idea that he believes good walls make good neighbors include the lines when he companionably works alongside his neighbor to rebuild their mutual wall each spring. Evidence against that is the tense relationship revealed toward the end of the poem, which leads the reader to realize that without a wall to divide their property the two neighbors would end up squabbling.

Mary is kind-hearted, while Silas is exhausted and lonely. This information foreshadows Mary’s worries about Silas and Silas’ eventual fate.

It reveals a pensive, sad side of her character.

He sees it as a refuge and a familiar place. Mary understands what the place truly means to him, while Warren is initially frustrated because he doesn’t think Silas is much good at anything and wishes he worked harder.

In the first poem, two men are speaking. In the second, it is a husband and wife. The plot is much more mundane in the first, while the second is a little more dramatic and sad since it contains a death. The first poem shows that the narrator has a sense of humor, while the second is much more serious and includes elements such as pity and frustration. The setting of both poems is a farm.

Analyzing the Text

Literally, he is describing a scene in the forest as the sun sets. Figuratively, he is describing the end of an era – one by one, the formerly enslaved are dying off. Some of the themes conveyed include respect for the elderly and the passing down of history/memory.

The speaker was never a slave himself, but is descended from them. He represents the poet’s own generation, which watched as those who came before them and had once been enslaved one by one disappeared and are now preserved only through memory and history.

It refers to the profits earned by white people on the food grown by slaves.

The first eight lines describe slavery, and in particular how the slaves weep and toil for no profit of their own. The last six lines reassure the reader that being black is nothing to be ashamed of and that one day this people will rise.

“My brother” does not refer to his biological brother, but to the white man, who owned his people in the past. Therefore, this line refers to how the white man’s children prosper while his own do not, or find it much more difficult to. “Bitter fruit” refers to the fact that the labor of his ancestors was not rewarded; his people are still downtrodden.

The extended metaphor in “Song of the Son” is the “everlasting song.” In “From The Dark Tower,” it is flowers. In “A Black Man Talks of Reaping,” it is planting.

It pulls the somewhat lengthy poem into one cohesive unit and drives his point home by making sure the reader understands it 100%.

They describe slaves – as well as their descendants – as shrouded in darkness, with the promise that someday the sun will rise and black people will not suffer.

All three are mournful. The first is reverential of the narrator’s ancestors, while the last two express frustration for the narrator’s lot in life.

“Song of the Son” seems more interested in looking backward and musing about the experience of slaves. “From The Dark Tower” is hopeful. “A Black Man Talks of Reaping” focuses on the fate of the speaker’s children.

Vocabulary Strategy: Precise Usage

blatantly: brazenly, plainly, unabashedly; precarious: risky, uncertain, unreliable; flux: change. fluidity, motion; precipitate: trigger, dispatch, fling; petulance: bitterness; mundane: banal, everyday, commonplace; turbulence: turmoil, commotion, frenzy; plaintive: sorrowful, melancholy, sad

She blatantly ignored him. The bird perched precariously on the branch. The constant flux of dancers made her dizzy. The food precipitated them into a food coma. Her petulance annoyed him. The mundane conversation bored him. The turbulent waters made them sick. The plaintive lullaby made him cry.

She brazenly ignored him. The bird perched riskily on the branch. The constant motion of the dancers made her dizzy. The food dispatched them into a food coma. Her bitterness annoyed him. The banal conversation bored him. The water’s frenzy made them sick. The melancholy lullaby made him cry.

Analyzing the Text

Dexter’s family, while not the richest in the area, is still fairly well-to-do.

Dexter dreams of a better and more exciting life among the rich. This choice on the part of Fitzgerald foreshadows what will happen in Dexter’s adult life.

He is shocked by how much he is attracted to the young Judy and wants to be her equal, rather than serving her.

His winter dreams are about beauty, success, and wealth. They shape Dexter’s decision to pursue Judy and eventually move to the East Coast.

She is used to getting her way through beauty and charm and has a bunch of male admirers/suitors. Although she is beautiful on the outside, internally she is troubled.

He probably suspected as much. The clues can be found on lines 660-664, when he feels a mixture of emotions including anger and hatred at his complicated relationship with Judy.

He laughs when with Devlin, but as soon as the other man leaves he begins to weep. “There was something in me, but now that thing is gone” means that he could cling to the image of Judy’s beauty but now that it no longer exists, it is only a memory. That era of his life is gone.

He is motivated to succeed by the promise of money and the possibility of a future with a beautiful woman such as Judy. He deserves some sympathy, since Judy broke his heart numerous times, but also merits criticism since it would seem that he doesn’t care about her personality but only her beauty. He loved her, but it was a shallow love.

He has lost the reason for his motivation to succeed. Ever since he was a young boy and saw Judy for the first time, he wanted to be part of that beautiful and wealthy life. He worked hard to succeed and make a lot of money, which allowed him to socialize with a higher class than the one he was born into. Now that her beauty is no more, though, his primary motivation to reach and maintain that way of life is gone.

Analyzing the Text

She describes “his sullen face” and what she supposes is his lip. She revises her initial statement after further observing and thinking about the fish.

The fish hooks are trophies from his past victories against other fishers who tried to catch him.

It is the fish’s victory. The enemies are the fishers, including the narrator.

The references to “medals” and “a five-haired beard of wisdom” depict the fish as a symbol of longevity and cunning intelligence. The rainbow at the end symbolizes the beauty of nature.

The narrator feels respect for the fish after realizing how much he has endured. The fish, like the dog, is expertly adapted for survival.

Vocabulary Strategy: Word Collocations

Unsolved mystery Adjective. +. Noun. A situation or occurrence that there is no explanation for at this point. “Whether or not Bigfoot actually exists is an unsolved mystery.”

Piercing cry. Adjective. +. Noun. A sudden, sharp wailing, as if in pain.”I gav a piercing cry when I hit my shin on the table .”

Critical Vocabulary

Abandonment because they both mean acting without care.

Illumination because they both mean that something is becoming clear.

Vacant because they both mean that’s there is empty space or nothing “there.”

Composed because they both mean in control of the situation.

Analyzing the Text

The narrator is omniscient. Throughout the story, readers learn that the narrator knows the thoughts and feelings of Richards, Louise, and Brently. The story does, however, mostly focus on Louise.

Josephine and Richards think Louise will be devastated. Her initial reaction is not intended to be ironic.

She is relieved to have the rest of her life to herself and celebrates all alone in that room. The other characters would be shocked, appalled, and confused.

It suggests that she felt trapped in the confines and expectations of marriage.

These images include treetops and clouds – a nature scene. Such calm and familiar imagery makes the reader feel sympathetic to Louise’s situation.

It characterizes her as a woman satisfied with the outcome of that day, euphoric about life’s new possibilities and freedom.

Louise expects him to be dead, but he is in fact not dead. It would not be ironic if he were actually dead because that is what the characters and readers already expect.

It is an example of dramatic irony because, while the other characters (particularly the doctors who examined her) believe her joy was caused by the sight of her still-living husband, the readers know that “joy” refers to her elation at his supposed death and her resultant freedom.

Analyzing the Text and Media

He describes them as metaphorically cursed and in such a poor condition as would have horrified their original owners and residents. His descriptive, solemn rhetoric lays out what tenement life was like in a calm but devastating manner.

He could have used graphs.

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They died at much higher rates than did children living in single tenements. Unfortunately, a photograph of a single sick child probably would not have had as much impact as tables filled with numbers related to dead children would. Numbers may be thought to offer more solid “proof.”

They offer visual proof of how dirty and crowded the tenements were. Additionally, the faces of their inhabitants look absolutely exhausted and even sad, reflecting their hard lives.

Here he is saying that Americans should focus on their own people first, rather than spending so much time, effort, and money trying to improve life for inhabitants of faraway places while their own cities are in deplorable condition.

One pro is that it provides multiple points of view. One con is that the vast amount of information presented may feel overwhelming or difficult to sift through effectively.

Vocabulary Strategy: Nuance in Word Meaning

Cold, Frosty, Freezing, Frigid, Bitter

Hot, Sweltering, Blistering, Searing, Scorched

Happy, Elated, Overjoyed, Ecstatic, Jubilant

Whiff, Aroma, Smell, Stink, Stench

Cute, Pretty, Beautiful, Gorgeous, Exquisite

Analyzing the Text

He makes outlandish, sweeping statements such as “for it obliges me to renounce my allegiance to the Darwinian theory” and proposes a new idea instead. This paragraph reveals that he holds animals in greater esteem than humans.

It depends! Some of his experiments could have realistically happened, such as the one with the anaconda and the calves. However, the one at the end with people of various religious beliefs is quite obviously fictional.

It shows how disgusted Twain finds the earl’s wanton cruelty.

Most animals refuse the opportunity altogether, and even those that take advantage of it do not accumulate any more than is needed to survive through the winter. These examples serve to show that, unlike humans, animals aren’t greedy.

These examples show not only how ridiculous our disputes have been, but how uncommon such fights are in the wider animal kingdom. After all, other animals don’t wage war or torture each other. Those acts are unique to humans, unfortunately.

Animals don’t have a concept of immodesty or humiliation, so they have no reason to blush. Mankind has essentially invented scenarios it deems improper and becomes embarrassed when those situations occur.

With “man is the only patriot,” he shows the bloody battles that have occurred throughout history – as well as the supposed wishes of peace and goodwill that follow. In terms of “man is the religious animal,” he describes the hypocrisy of people killing each other in order to prove that only their own beliefs will assure them a happy afterlife.

His purpose is to not only get people thinking about the ways in which animals are more intelligent and sensible than humans, but also the irrational and often cruel actions of humans that we take for granted.

Analyzing the Text

The Jungle is set in a slaughterhouse and cannery, while Fast Food Nation is set in a flavoring lab. Sinclair aimed to expose the unsanitary and unsafe working conditions, while Schlosser wants to educate his readers as to the various ways in which man-made flavorings deceive our taste buds without us even knowing.

His description of the IFF’s work shows that it is indeed possible for them to manufacture the taste and smell of chicken in a flavor lab.

In The Jungle, the passages describing the methods of producing food and the injuries the workers suffered provide vivid examples of what really happened in that factory. In Fast Food Nation, Schlosser’s descriptions of how smoke flavoring is created and what smells were inside Grainger’s glass bottles provide sensory details to help the readers understand what it would be like to visit IFF or a similar lab.

Both selections address food – in particular, what’s in it. Both writers write in a journalistic style, but one difference is that Sinclair’s piece is actually a fictionalized version of what really happened, while Schlosser’s is a completely true account.