Ben Dondero

Engl 112B

Warner

11-30-05

Unit Plan � From Persecution to Tolerance

Persecution is a recurring theme throughout United States history. From the institution of slavery to the Holocaust people have been persecuted. In order for students to internalize the notion of tolerance, they must first understand the nature of persecution. Arthur Miller�s play, The Crucible, is an excellent example of persecution. Innocent women are being accused of witchcraft for prejudiced and fickle reasons. During the time it was originally published, 1954, McCarthyism was sweeping the nation. The desire to purge the nation of Communists is similar to the desire to purge Salem of witches. By studying the Salem Witch Trials as a parallel to McCarthyism the teacher is able to �teach across the curriculum� combining History with English. Likewise, the two poems in the unit �teach across the curriculum� because they inherently require knowledge of World History and African American History.

In Regards to teaching methods, I strongly agree with Martha Tuck Rozett in allowing readers to have their own initial response to a work without the teacher introducing biases. This allows them to feel good about themselves because their opinion becomes validated. Plus, student interpretations are an excellent starting point to bring the discussion to persecution and tolerance. In addition to students feeling good about themselves, the idea that the more fun students have while learning, the more they will retain is something I also strongly believe in because it is true for me. I lose interest quickly if a class is boring and dull, as do most teens and adults alike.

As we move to the other works we begin to see various forms of persecution based on race, politics, and class. Hughes poem is about a black person finding their place in a white society. Students can relate to this because in high school they are trying to find their place in an adult society. Niem�ller�s poem is about understanding one�s prejudices and how they affect others from all walks of life. The last poem also shows that complacency is just as bad as outright persecution. If you are not willing to stand up for other people, it is difficult to stand up for yourself.

As the unit concludes, students will come to understand that the need for tolerance is essential to our wellbeing as a society. As a society, we cannot move from persecution to tolerance without the cooperation of the younger generation. They are the future and they need to realize it. I think Niem�ller�s poem epitomizes the idea that we must help others now if we wish to be helped in the future. Thus, helping others removes persecution and paves the way for tolerance.

1. Introducing the Unit:

• �Make a 3 column grid on the board (with the columns headed: (1) Group (2) Reasons (3) Result) which students copy. Individually, get them to list under "Group" those sections of society�who are the subject of prejudice or who tend to be blamed for social, economic and moral ills.
• List the groups nominated by the students on the board under "Group".
• Now in small groups, students select from the class list, one of the nominated groups (which preferably appears more than once).
• Students complete the grid for that group ie. under "Reasons", they list their understanding of the reasons why that group is subject to blame or prejudice and then the under "Results", list some of the ways that the prejudice/blame is expressed socially.
• Share findings across the class, completing the grid on the board with students saving a copy.� (Coogan)

2. Reading the Play

� Have students read one act each night for homework. Assign students roles for the next day. They will read each act together in class. Allow discussion after but do not give your own insights. Let the students discover and understand on their own and help them tie in persecution.

� After they are finished reading, devote a day for reactions to the play as a whole. Let the students respond any way they feel.

� Have them write a response to the play commenting on their initial reactions. Since your reactions and interpretations remain hidden to the students they will think on their own and the teacher will have �clues to the values they [students] bring into the classroom.� �We need to acknowledge�and make positive use of [their responses] by encouraging the students to examine and interrogate the critical assumptions that lie behind their assessments of dramatic characters.� (Rozett)

3. Background to the Play

After the initial reading, �students need to explore the background of the play and its author, specifically:

• Arthur Miller and why he wrote the play
• Witchcraft
• The Salem Witchhunts of the 1690s
• McCarthyism and the crack-down on communists in the 1950s

Book the library (including Internet access) for two research periods in which students are allocated one of the research topics.Students then report back their findings in two minute mini seminars.� (Coogan)

4. View the Film

� Have students watch the movie, The Crucible (directed by Nicholas Hytner).

� After the film, have students discuss differences and the reasons why they feel the movie differs from the play.

5. Act Out Scenes

� Put students into groups. Have them choose a scene which they felt emotionally strong about. They will direct the scene and change it to deal with issues they discussed in the grid. They will rewrite the script, as needed, to suit their grid choice and act it out in front of the class. (Memorization is optional)

6. Other works

� Have students read poem �I, Too� by Langston Hughes.

� Give background information on the Harlem Renaissance

� Discuss how the plight of the African American is a form of persecution.

� Ask if they see persecution of African Americans today? If so, where and in what circumstances?

� Give background information on the Holocaust in order to fully grasp the despair in the next poem and the universality of persecution.

� Have them also read Pastor Martin Niem�ller�s untitled poem:

They came for the communists, and I did not speak up because I wasn't a communist;

They came for the socialists, and I did not speak up because I was not a socialist;

They came for the union leaders, and I did not speak up because I wasn't a union leader;

They came for the Jews, and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Jew.

Then they came for me, and there was no one left to speak up for me ....

7. Extending the Unit

� �The Need For Social Responsibility, A 'Human Bond', Integrity.
We all have an obligation to combat perceived evil in society yet characters like Parris, the Putnams, the judges and Abigail shirk this responsibility in favour of promoting personal ends. Show how they do this and contrast their behaviour with that of John Proctor who, in placing the well-being of his fellows above his own interests show Miller's belief in a need for personal integrity.

� Societal Problems Can Often Be Traced To Individual Human Failings.
Though the trial has religious and super-natural implications Miller tends to show the troubles as stemming from recognisable human failings. Discuss how the following failings are manifested in the play - greed, vengeance, jealousy, ambition, fear, hysteria.

� Often People Tend to Think in 'Black and White'.
(eg. good or evil, god-like or devilish, capitalist or communist). The upholders of the social order like Danforth are forced into this sort of thinking. How? Even Elizabeth Proctor associates John's sexual transgression with evil but what does she come to see.� (Coogan)

� Have the students choose one theme from the three above to focus on and write an essay. For each question, refer back to the original grid and link the contemporary examples they came up with to Miller�s play and Hughes� and Niem�ller�s poems. The essay will combine the three works and the grid under the heading of one of the themes and show how they link together and the implications for the students in their lives.

� End the unit with a discussion of ways in which students themselves can promote tolerance at school, home, work, and play.

Additional Reading Titles:

Whale Talk by Chris Crutcher: deals with contemporary incidents of racism.

First Crossing edited by Donald R. Gallo: deals with persecution of teen immigrants.

The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne: deals with persecution based on action rather than race.

A Break With Charity by Ann Rinaldi: is a book about the Salem Witch Trials. This book can enhance the understanding of The Crucible.

Works Cited

Coogan, Phil. �The Crucible Unit Plan.� English Online. 25 Oct. 2005. Ministry of Education,

New Zealand. 29 Nov. 2005. <http://english.unitecnology.ac.nz/resources/units/crucible/

home.html>.

Coogan, Phil. �The Crucible Themes.� English Online. 25 Mar. 2004. Ministry of Education,

New Zealand. 29 Nov. 2005. < http://english.unitecnology.ac.nz/resources/units/crucible/

themes.html>.

The Crucible. Screenplay by Arthur Miller. Dir. Nicholas Hytner. 20^th Century Fox, 1996.

Crutcher, Chris. Whale Talk. New York: Dell Laurel-Leaf, 2001.

Gallo, Donald R., ed. First Crossing. Cambridge: Candlewick Press, 2004.

Hughes, Langston. �I,Too.� The Norton Anthology of American Literature. Ed. Nina Baym.

New York: WW Norton & Company, 2003.

Niem�ller, Martin. Holocaust Poetry In Memorium. 2005. 29 Nov. 2005.

<http://www.auschwitz.dk/id6.htm>.

Rinaldi, Ann. A Break With Charity. San Diego: Harcourt Brace, 1992.

Rozett, Martha Tuck. �Holding Mirrors Up To Nature: First Readers as Moralists�. Shakespeare

Quarterly 41(1990): 211-21.