Persuasion
This persuasive device asks a question that doesn’t require an answer but prompts the audience to think.
What is a rhetorical question?
This symbolic meaning of the title refers to a vessel in which substances are heated to extreme temperatures, mirroring the pressure placed on Salem’s citizens.
What is a crucible?
This character tries to uphold his moral standards despite a previous affair.
Who is John Proctor?
This character’s continued attraction to John Proctor becomes one of the key driving forces behind the events of the play.
Who is Abigail Williams?
This animal became linked to Easter through European folklore and is now a staple of Australian Easter imagery.
What is the Easter Bunny?
This persuasive device uses light‑hearted jokes to engage an audience and make ideas more memorable.
What is humour?
This form of government, central to Salem in 1692, was ruled by religious leaders.
What is a theocracy?
Reverend Parris fears that Betty’s illness will damage this aspect of his life more than anything else.
What is his reputation?
This enslaved woman from Barbados becomes a target of accusations and is pressured into confessing.
Who is Tituba?
This symbol of new life appears in both Christian and secular Easter traditions, often in chocolate form.
What is the egg?
This technique appeals to shared identity by using words like “we” and “our.”
What is inclusive language?
Arthur Miller wrote The Crucible in this decade, paralleling McCarthyism.
What are the 1950s?
This type of misinformation spreads early in Act I, including claims of someone running naked through the trees.
What are false accusations or rumours?
This minister is called to Salem because he believes fully in the Devil and the underworld.
Who is Reverend Hale?
This period of 40 days leading up to Easter is traditionally associated with fasting and reflection.
What is Lent?
This device strengthens an argument by citing a specialist with recognised knowledge.
What is expert opinion?
This term describes evidence based on claims of seeing an accused person’s spirit committing acts of witchcraft.
What is spectral evidence?
This girl is described as having become “a secret child…this year,” hinting at a non‑supernatural cause for her behaviour.
Who is Ruth Putnam?
This respected woman is admired by many but resented by the Putnams.
Who is Rebecca Nurse?
This Australian tradition, held on Easter Monday, features a major sporting event between Sydney and Brisbane.
What is the NRL Easter Monday match?
This persuasive strategy exaggerates for dramatic effect, often stretching the truth to emphasise a point.
What is hyperbole?
This Cold War figure led the anti‑communist “Red Scare,” inspiring Miller’s allegory.
Who is Joseph McCarthy?
This piece of evidence to convict a woman of witchcraft is put forward by Mary Warren described as a curse.
What is mumbling?
This character is known for being familiar with the law and indifferent to others’ opinions.
Who is Giles Corey?
This concept explains why Easter’s date changes each year — it is determined by the first Sunday after the first full moon following this event.
What is the March equinox?