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As we read and understand Arthur Miller's The Crucible we will have a few side discussions about herd mentality and argumentum ad populum decision making. The discussion will be taken into a modern context because there is always this sense with modern people that "people were really dumb and superstitious back then and I am so glad that we don't live in that world." We will open up the class to wider world view and discuss modern "witch hunts."
If you forgot your playbook today, load up this electronic copy of The Crucible.
Play: The Crucible (1953) by Arthur Miller (best I can find on the internet)
Audiobook: The Crucible (1953) by Arthur Miller - (Last link went down. Need a new one.)
Reference: The Crucible Study Questions
Handout: The Crucible Reading Group Organizer
Choose a Prompt Option and decide which question you would like as your focus. Your essay is the answer to that question.
Assignment: Modern Witch Hunts Synthesis Essay (At this time the website is more developed, this document will catch up soon)
Prompt Option 1 Focus Questions
How do fear and greed motivate modern-day witch hunts? What quality is the decision making of large groups of people who are afraid and greedy? Give examples of fear-based and greed-based decision making in The Crucible and two other sources from two different topic groups.
Prompt Option 2 Focus Questions
Practicality and Pragmatism are important traits of Puritan life. How useful is it to have a culture seek to eliminate the “undesirable” elements in their own society? What are the gains? What are the costs? Are these "witch hunts" useful and pragmatic, or are they side effects of a cultural flaw? Give examples from the witch hunt in The Crucible, and the "witch hunts" from two other sources from two different topic groups.
To create a synthesis essay, we will use many sources. Each source will individually support our thesis statement and together create a stronger case than any individual source could explain.Each essay must include a body paragraph connecting an article from a topic group connected to our thesis statement. Each essay must include a body paragraph connecting an article from a second topic group connected to our thesis statement.
Each essay must include a body paragraph connecting The Crucible to our thesis statement.
Evidence Gathering Handout: Source Sheet
Source Sheet #1: Evidence Collected from your first selected topic group article.
Source Sheet #2: Evidence Collected from a second and different topic group article.
Source Sheet #3: Evidence Collected from your reading of The Crucible.
Topic Group 1: The Persecution of Women and Children in India and Africa
The Economist – “Toil and Trouble” – April 2, 2012 – Nick Owen
http://www.economist.com/blogs/banyan/2012/04/witchcraft-assam
Newsweek – “Aftrica’s [sic] Modern Day Witch Hunt” – September 12, 2011 – Sophie Grove
http://www.newsweek.com/aftricas-modern-day-witch-hunt-67309
The Times of India – “Want to grab land? Label the woman a witch!” – August 6, 2010 – Radha Sharma
TheGuardian – “Protecting child ‘witches’ in Africa” – July 29, 2010 – Joachim Theis
Deutsche Welle - "Ghana: witchcraft accusations put lives at risk" - July 10, 2016 - Maxwell Suuk
http://www.dw.com/en/ghana-witchcraft-accusations-put-lives-at-risk/a-35988061
CNN - "Woman who rescues 'witch children' voted world's most inspirational person" - December 9, 2016 - Stephanie Busarl
http://www.cnn.com/2016/02/16/africa/child-witchcraft-nigeria/
Calcutta Telegraph - "Buried witch-hunt victims rescued" - April 12, 2017 - Vinod Kumar Singh
https://www.telegraphindia.com/1170413/jsp/northeast/story_146071.jsp#.WPpVMhArLrc
Youth Ki Awaaz - "How Women In India Are Branded Witch To Settle Legal Disputes" - March 21, 2017
https://www.youthkiawaaz.com/2017/03/witch-hunting-a-dark-spell-on-india/
Topic Group 2: The Persecution of Muslims in America
The Washington Post – “Peter King’s modern-day witch hunt” – March 10, 2011 - Eugene Robinson
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2011/03/10/AR2011031004680.html
The Huffington Post – “Islamophobic Bullying in Our Schools” – October 24, 2011 – Engy Abdelkader
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/engy-abdelkader/islamophobia-in-schools_b_1002293.html
CNN – “Muslims in America, it’s time to demand justice” – June 6, 2012 – Farhana Khera
National Geographic – “Muslim Bashing in the Wake of Boston Bombing” – April 26, 2013 – Lacey Gray
Pew Research - "Anti-Muslim assaults reach 9/11-era levels, FBI data show" - November 21, 2016 - Katayoun Kishi
Vox - "Survey: Muslim kids are more frequently bullied, often by teachers and school officials" - March 22, 2017 - German Lopez
http://www.vox.com/identities/2017/3/22/15022582/muslim-bullying-schools-survey
Aljazeera - "Anti-Muslim violence spiraling out of control in America" - December 31, 2012 - Murtaza Hussain
http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/2012/12/20121230135815198642.html
The Huffington Post - "Muslims Are Not Terrorists: A Factual Look at Terrorism and Islam" - December 9, 2015 - Omar Alnatour
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/omar-alnatour/muslims-are-not-terrorist_b_8718000.html
Topic Group 3: The Persecution of LGBT Individuals in Russia
The Daily Beast – “Homophobia in Russia Is Taking a Kafkaesque Turn” – June 9, 2014 - Jay Michaelson
New York Times – “Russia’s Anti-Gay Crackdown” – July 21, 2013 – Harvey Fierstein
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/07/22/opinion/russias-anti-gay-crackdown.html
TheGuardian – “Russia passes law banning gay ‘propaganda’” – June 11, 2013 – Miriam Elder
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/jun/11/russia-law-banning-gay-propaganda
Reuters – “Russia’s gays fear more violence after brutal murder” – May 13, 2013 – Thomas Grove
http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/05/13/us-russia-gay-idUSBRE94C0AX20130513
BBC News - "Russia says drivers must not have 'sex disorders'" - January 8, 2015
USA Today - "Rights groups: Gays being rounded up in Chechnya detention centers" - April 20, 2017 - Anna Arutunyan
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2017/04/20/russia-chechnya-lgbt-gay-men/100689962/
The Moscow Times - "Four More Secret Jails Illegally Holding Gay Men Discovered In Chechnya–Reports" - April 24, 2017
Vocativ - "'No LGBT People' Signs Crop Up In Russian Businesses" - April 12, 2017 - Tanya Bekker
http://www.vocativ.com/420379/no-lgbt-people-signs-russian-businesses/
NPR - "After Coming Out As Gay, A Russian Violinist's New Reality" - April 17, 2017 - Anastasia Tsioulcas
Topic Group 4: The Persecution of Atheists in America
The Atlantic – “If You Serve Your Country, Do You Have to Serve God?” – May 30, 2014 – Emma Green
The Huffington Post – “Boy Scouts Rule on Atheists Unchanged as BSA Reconsiders Ban on Gays” – January 29, 2013 – Brian Shane and Mike Chalmers
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/01/29/boy-scouts-atheists-policy_n_2576493.html
Alternet – “High School Student Stands Up Against Prayer at Public School and Is Ostracized, Demeaned, and Threatened” – May 25, 2011 – Greta Christina
New York Times - "In Seven States, Atheists Push to End Largely Forgotten Ban" - December 6, 2014 - Laurie Goodstein
Pew Research - "So, you married an atheist..." - June 16, 2014 - Michael Lipka and Jessica Martinez
http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2014/06/16/so-you-married-an-atheist/
Twin Cities Pioneer Press - "Vandal leaves message for northern Minnesota atheist: "If you don't like God, go!"" - April 17, 2017 - April Baumgarten
New York Times - "Student Faces Town's Wrath in Protest Against a Prayer" - January 26, 2012 - Abby Goodnough
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/27/us/rhode-island-city-enraged-over-school-prayer-lawsuit.html
Students are encouraged to submit articles that are as good or better examples than those listed here.
If you are aware of a witch-hunt level persecution that is happening in the world and think another topic group should be created, please bring your topic, arguments, and evidence in the media and we will discuss. Through this submission process it is acceptable (with approval) that the student generate their own "witch hunt" thematic connection and use their own source. This is permitted only for one of their two topic groups.
Mixed Articles
Scientific American - "Witchcraft Trade, Skin Cancer Pose Serious Threats to Albinos in Tanzania" - October 11, 2013 - Dina Fine Maron
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/witchcraft-trade-skin/
Video: 4m40s
New York Times - "Fighting Modern-Day Witch Hunts in India's Remote Northeast" - February 24, 2016 - Vikram Singh
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/02/25/world/asia/india-assam-state-witch-hunts.html
US LGBT statistics: might be good as support information for intro paragraphs.
The Williams Institute - UCLA School of Law - "Same Sex Couple and LGBT Data Interactive" - May 2016
https://williamsinstitute.law.ucla.edu/visualization/lgbt-stats/?topic=LGBT#density
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-10-29/png-upsurge-in-sorcery-related-violence/9095894
Topic 2 New Finds
CNN - "Pig's Head Left at Philadelphia Mosque" - December 9, 2015 - Dana Ford
https://www.cnn.com/2015/12/08/politics/philadelphia-mosque-pigs-head/index.html
New York Daily News - "'Hero' Muslim Cop, Her Son Harassed by Bigot in Brooklyn Who Shouted 'I Will Cut Your Throat'" - December 4, 2016 - Rocco Parascandola and Ben Kochman
Newsweek - "Quran Immersed in Pork Lard Sent to California Islamic Group as Anti-Muslim Incidents Spike" - July 21, 2017 - Conor Gaffey
CNN - "Burned Quran, Cut Up Pages Left Outside California Mosques - June 25, 2017 - Nicole Chavez and Joe Sutton
https://edition.cnn.com/2017/06/25/us/california-islamic-centers/index.html
NBC - "Investigation into Possible Hate Crime Against Muslim Woman in Downtown Los Angeles" - April 8, 2017 - Rick Montanez
https://www.newamerica.org/in-depth/anti-muslim-activity/
Disconnected Links
American Humanist.org – “Unelectable Atheists: US States That Prohibit Godless Americans from Holding Public Office” – May 2005 - Matthew Bulger - http://www.americanhumanist.org/HNN/details/2012-05-unelectable-atheists-us-states-that-prohibit-godless
Support Material: Malleus Maleficarum
Text: Malleus Maleficarum [translated: The Hammer of Witches] (1486) by Heinrich Kramer and Jacob Sprenger
"Its main purpose was to challenge all arguments against the existence of witchcraft and to instruct magistrates on how to identify, interrogate and convict witches.
"For nearly three centuries Malleus Maleficarum (The Witches' Hammer) was the professional manual for witch hunters. This work by two of the most famous Inquisitors of the age is still a document of the forces of that era's beliefs. Under a Bull of Pope Innocent VIII, Kramer and Sprenger exposed the heresy of those who did not believe in witches and set forth the proper order of the world with devils, witches, and the will of God. Even if you do not believe in witchcraft, the world of 1484 did.
Contemporary cases illustrate methods by which witches attempt to control and subvert the world: How and why women roast their first-born male child; the confession of how to raise a tempest by a washwoman suspended "hardly clear of the ground" by her thumbs; methods of making a formal pact with the Devil; how witches deprive men of their vital member; and many others. Methods of destroying and curing witchcraft, such as remedies against incubus and succubus devils, are exemplified and weighed by the authors.
Formal rules for initiating a process of justice are set down: how it should be conducted and the method of pronouncing sentence; when to use the trial by the red-hot-iron; how the prosecutor should protect himself; how the body is to be shaved and searched for tokens and amulets, including those sewn under the skin. As Summers says, it was the casebook on every magistrate's desk."
Support Material: McCarthyism
Transcript: "They Want to Muzzle Public Opinion" - Testimony of John Howard Lawson to the House Committee on Un-American Activities - October 27, 1947
Transcript: "Communists are Second to None in Our Devotion to Our People and Our Country" - Eugene Dennis - 1949 Trial of American Communist Party Leaders
Speech: "Enemies from Within" - Senator Joseph McCarthy - Wheeling, West Virginia - February 9, 1950
Site: Telegram from Senator Joseph McCarthy to President Harry S. Truman - sent February 11, 1950 - National Archives
Telegram Only [Image 1-6] and President Truman's Reply (probably unsent)
Video: A Report on Senator Joseph R. McCarthy - CBS - See It Now - Edgar R. Murrow - March 9, 1954
Video: Joseph McCarthy Responds to Edgar R. Murrow - CBS - See It Now - Edgar R. Murrow - April 6, 1954
Video: Edgar R. Murrow's Final Reply to Joseph McCarthy's See It Now Appearance - CBS - See It Now - Edgar R. Murrow - April 13, 1954
Transcript: "You are the Un-Americans, and You Ought to be Ashamed of Yourselves" - Testimony of Paul Robeson to the House Committee on Un-American Activities - June 12, 1956
Unit Design Credit Shared:
When I taught English 11 for the first time I received some unit ideas from my colleague Ms. Bigelow (http://www.msbigelow.net/colonial-america). Since 2012 when I adapted her work for my class, we've been taking turns improving it for our own style and goals.
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