Blog #4: AP English Literature Benchmark Open Question Essay & Reflection/3x3, Revisions & Reflection

Blog #4: Open Question Essay

                     In The Crucible, the cruel acts of Abigail and her followers are the driving force for the social unrest of the Salem Witch Trials that the plot centers around although Abigail's love for John Proctor is also a motivating factor for her cruel actions.

                     The novel is set in Salem, Massachusetts in the early 1700's where religion was a key aspect of life. The mere suspicion of being a witch or consorting with the devil could put one's life at risk. Out of curiosity, Abigail and her friends go to the woods with Tituba, a family servant, to perform rituals. When they are caught, Abigail pretends to be a victim, possessed by the devil, and bewitched by Tituba. This cowardous act to save face sets off a domino effect in other accusations, except these new accusations have a malicious intent. Innocent women are being targeted by Abigail and her band of followers. As the number of accusations rise, panic grows and fear is sown in the hearts of many. The townspeople are given a choice: either accuse or be accused. What started as a small series of cruel acts becomes a catalyst for major upheaval.

                     While this novel is set in Salem in the 1700's, it was written in the mid-1900's during the time of the red scare, but there are many parallels that can be drawn between these two time periods. In Salem, there is panic springing from many witch accusations and the unfair trial and conviction of every witch accused. In the U.S., there is a similar chaos in the accusations of being a communist. The suspicion of sympathizing with communists could get you fired from your job and the communist trials were just as unfair as the Salem Witch Trials. These parallels allow the author to emphasize the tragedy that can be caused by cruel acts done out of fear, whether that be fear of witches or fear of communists or the fear of being accused of being a witch or a communist. By denouncing these cruel acts, the author is able to subtly express his opinion on the Red Scare without being accused of being a communist himself.

                    Much like the author had many motivations in writing the plot of his book, the characters in his story had varying motivations in their actions, mainly Abigail. While she had Tituba accused out of fear, she accused John Proctor's wife, Elizabeth, out of jealousy. Knowing that she could easily get rid of Elizabeth through an accusation, Abigail plans to reunite with John, whom she has had an affair with. This act reflects how selfish of a girl Abigail is, willing to do anything to get what she wants. It also demonstrates how much of an attention-seeker she is. Meanwhile, her cruel acts bring out the noble side of the protagonist, John Proctor. After defending his wife and thus being accused of consorting with the devil, John Proctor is given a decision: confess his sins and be jailed or don't confess and die. Proctor chooses the latter, refusing to confess something he hasn't done, and dying a noble death with his honor intact.

Reflection:
 I would give myself a 6 on my first attempt at a Lit open response essay. My analysis was reasonable as I addressed how cruelty functioned in the work (as a catalyst for social upheaval, and a way for the author to make social commentary) and what it revealed about the antagonist (Abigail's selfishness); however it is less specific than an 8-9 essay. I failed to mention the author (Arthur Miller) of the work and I was also wrong in my assessment of the time period. The Salem Witch Trials occurred in the late 1600's not the early 1700's. Furthermore, some of my plot summary was inaccurate as I forgot some details about the plot, My essay could be improved by focusing less on plot summary and more on the analysis. I also realize that I need to review important pieces of literature in preparation for writing this essay. A goal to help improve my essays would be to memorize a significant quote from at least five worthy pieces of literature before the AP exam.

Comment on Madison's Open Response:

I agree that your essay scores in the 3-4 range. Your analysis could have been better if you had focused on the reasons behind the character’s actions and motivation of the author in writing the story. You could have also improved your analysis by making it longer. If you had maintained the same depth of analysis but written more of it, then your essay could score much higher. There were also some minor surface errors including syntax and plot summary inaccuracies. Overall, I think your problem lies in the fact that you didn’t remember the text, which is understandable since we read it in class almost a year ago; however, this could also be an area of improvement for you to focus on. Try to read more books that have literary significance and review their plots before the AP exam.

Essay Revision

3X3

• John has affair (Call to Adventure)
• Abigail accuses Elizabeth (Road of Trials)
• John pleads innocent (Master of Two Worlds)

Revision

                     In The Crucible, written by Arthur Miller, the cruel acts of Abigail and her followers are the driving force for the social unrest of the Salem Witch Trials that the plot centers around although Abigail's love for John Proctor is also a motivating factor for her cruel actions which the author parallels to the Red Scare to make social commentary. The trials also test the honor of John Proctor when it is revealed he had an affair with Abigail.

                     The novel play is set in Salem, Massachusetts in the early 1700's late 1600's where religion was a key aspect of life. The mere suspicion of being a witch or consorting with the devil could put one's life at risk. Out of curiosity, Abigail and her friends go to the woods with Tituba, a family servant, to perform rituals. When they are caught, Abigail pretends to be a victim, possessed by the devil, and bewitched by Tituba. What started as a cowardous accusation against Tituba to save face, sets off a domino effect in other accusations, except these new accusations have a malicious intent. Innocent women are being targeted by Abigail and her band of followers as Abigail realizes that pretending to be bewitched allows her power that she had previously not had as an orphaned servant girl. As the number of accusations rise, panic grows and fear is sown in the hearts of many. The townspeople are given a choice: either accuse or be accused. What started as a small series of cruel acts becomes a catalyst for major upheaval.

                     While this novel is set in Salem in the 1700's 1600's, it was written in the mid-1900's during the time of the red scare, but there are many parallels that can be drawn between these two time periods. In Salem, there is panic springing from many witch accusations and the unfair trial and conviction of every witch accused. In the U.S., there is a similar chaos in the accusations of being a communist. The suspicion of sympathizing with communists could get you fired from your job and the communist trials were just as unfair as the Salem Witch Trials. These parallels allow the author to emphasize the tragedy that can be caused by cruel acts done out of fear, whether that be fear of witches or fear of communists or the fear of being accused of being a witch or a communist. By denouncing these cruel acts, the author is able to subtly express his opinion on the Red Scare without being accused of being a communist himself.

                    Much like the author had many motivations in writing the plot of his book, the characters in his story had varying motivations in their actions, mainly Abigail. While she had Tituba accused out of fear, she accused John Proctor's wife, Elizabeth, out of jealousy. Knowing that she could easily get rid of Elizabeth through an accusation, Abigail plans to reunite with John, whom she has had an affair with. This act reflects how selfish of a girl Abigail is, willing to do anything to get what she wants; however, it is also understandable as Abigail previously occupied a very low rung on Salem's social ladder, and her accusations empower her status. While she was once accused of adultery, she is now able to accuse others, such as the virtuous Elizabeth Proctor, of witchcraft, a  much worse sin. It also demonstrates how much of an attention-seeker she is. Meanwhile, her cruel acts bring out the noble side of the protagonist, John Proctor. After defending his wife and thus revealing his adulterous acts, John tarnishes his once respected name. He is further accused of consorting with the devil, John Proctor is given a decision: confess his sins and be jailed or don't confess and die. Proctor chooses the latter, refusing to confess something he hasn't done, and dying a noble death with his honor intact. By refusing to confess, Proctor saves his soul even though he could not save his name.

Reflection:
In my revision of the Open Response Essay, I tried to incorporate aspects of the Hero's journey, although I'm not sure how well I succeeded. This is mainly because my 3x3 centered around John Proctor's journey and I didn't want to limit my essay to just discussing John as I felt there were other noteworthy themes in the book worthy of discussion. While I see the merits of using a 3x3 to provide insightful analysis, it didn't really help me for this essay just because I already knew what I wanted too say and I couldn't reconcile it with the 3x3 that I had written. What helped me more with my analysis was refreshing my memory on the plot and realizing that plot summary wasn't necessary, Certainly, the 3x3 will be very helpful in developing analysis and realizing key themes of pieces of literature for future essays, it just wasn't helpful for an essay that I had already written in which I knew what  I wanted to say about the book and just had to go more in depth with it.