Unit Test

The Crucible

Part I. Multiple Choice

1. The best definition of the word “crucible” as it applies to the play is
a. the hollow at the bottom of an ore furnace where molten lead collects
b. a container made of a substance that can resist great heat
c. a lamp burning before a cross
d. a severe test or trial

2. Before the action of the play begins, Betty Parris and her friends
a. have been chasing boys and flirting with them
b. have had affairs with some of the men in town
c. have been caught dancing in the woods
d. have been guilty of blasphemy and witchcraft themselves

3. Which of the following statements best describes Tituba?

a. She leads the girls astray.
b. She is from Boston, and Reverend Parris distrusts her.
c. She commonly performs minor acts of witchcraft.
d. She is a slave from Barbados who is devoted to Betty.

4. Who is Reverend Parris’s niece?

a. Susanna Wolcott
b. Abigail Williams
c. Mary Warren
d. Mercy Lewis

5. What does Abigail Williams believe about her dismissal from the Proctor’s
service?
a. Elizabeth Proctor was hard to please.
b. Elizabeth Proctor drank and blamed Abigail for her drinking.
c. John Proctor did not fire her, but Elizabeth Proctor did.
d. John Proctor liked her and did not want her to work.

6. What is Ann Putnam’s greatest grief?

a. Her daughter Ruth is about to die.
b. Seven of her children died in infancy.
c. She is worried about Ruth’s bad behavior.
d. She knows her husband is unfaithful.

7. Elizabeth urges John to go to Salem to

a. Protect Mary Warren
b. Tell the court that Abigail’s story is a hoax
c. Announce publicly that he believes in witchcraft
d. Ask the court for forgiveness
8. At first, Mary Warren enjoys her role in the court because she
a. thinks she has been chosen by God
b. likes the power and status she has in the village
c. knows she can destroy Elizabeth Proctor
d. plans to accuse Abigail of witchcraft

9. What does Mary Warren give to Elizabeth?

a. bread
b. cider
c. six pounds of lumber
d. a poppet

10. Ironically, John Proctor forgets which commandment?

a. Thou shalt not kill
b. Thou shalt not bear false witness
c. Thou shalt not steal
d. Thou shalt not commit adultery

11. What shocking news did Mary Warren deliver to Elizabeth and John Proctor?
a. that she demands a raise in her pay for her services
b. that she, herself, has been accused of witchcraft
c. Abigail is in love with John Proctor
d. Elizabeth has been accused of witchcraft

12. What cause does Elizabeth immediately suspect for such an accusation?
a. Tituba cast a spell on her
b. Reverend Parris accused her and wants to seek revenge on her for firing
his niece
c. she suspects the accusation was an attempt made by Abigail to eventually
marry John
d. Reverend Hale said he has proof.

13. In Act Three, the details for the setting create a mood that is
a. Gloomy and forbidding
b. Airy and hopeful
c. Sad and dispirited
d. Strange and mysterious

14. When Abigail says to Danforth, “Think you be so mighty that the power of Hell
may not turn on your wits? Beware of it!” she is
a. asking Danforth to help her
b. saying that she regrets accusing innocent people
c. asking Danforth for forgiveness
d. using her power to threaten him
15. Which line best expresses the real truth behind the trials?
a. “Is every defense an attack upon the court?”
b. “I have evidence for the court!”
c. “But it does not follow that everyone accused is part of it.”
d. “…private vengeance is working through this testimony!”

16. What can you conclude about Parris from Act Three?
a. He truly fears for his life.
b. He is a tremendous help to the proceedings.
c. He is a wretched, cowardly person.
d. He is fighting hard to get at the truth

17. Hale begins seriously to doubt the morality and motivations of the trials when he
a. hears John Proctor’s story
b. talks to Giles Corey
c. signs Rebecca’s death sentence
d. read Giles’s deposition

18. Elizabeth Proctor did not tell Danforth that Abigail was a harlot because she
a. wanted John to be arrested
b. feared that John might be hanged for adultery
c. wanted to save John’s reputation
d. did not want to hurt Abigail’s reputation

19. At the opening of Act Four Ezekial Cheever reveals that

a. Mr. Herrick is too often drunk
b. there is much confusion and disagreement in the town
c. Tituba and Sarah Good are about to be hanged
d. Reverend Parris wanders about because he has lost his mind

20. What news does Reverand Parris give the court in Act Four?
a. The women accused of witchcraft are about to confess.
b. Mercy Lewis and Abigail Williams have stolen Parris’s money and
disappeared.
c. Tituba and Sarah Good have cast a spell on Marshal Herrick.
d. None of the accused have conversed or associated with the Devil

21. Which two men urge Deputy Governor Danforth to postpone the witch trials
because a rebellion in the town seems possible?
a. Ezekial Cheever and John Hale
b. John Proctor and John Hale
c. John Hale and Reverend Parris
d. Reverend Parris and Judge Hathorne
22. What does John Hale urge Elizabeth Proctor to do?
a. persuade her husband to confess to witchcraft
b. admit that she lied about Abigail and John
c. promis to get the other women to confess
d. plead her own case because she is pregnant

23. How does Giles Corey die?

a. He refuses to confess, and finally he is hanged as a witch.
b. He dies of a broken heart when he hears that his wife is dead.
c. He dies of guilt because he accused his wife of reading strange books.
d. He is not hanged, but instead is crushed with stones.

24. John tells Elizabeth that he has not confessed to being a witch because
a. he says that he has confessed to too many lies
b. Danforth and Parris want to use him as an example
c. he does not want to confess a lie to contemptible people
d. he is afraid that Danforth will hang Elizabeth for spite

25. Elizabeth blames herself

a. for Mary Warren’s lies
b. for John’s affair with Abigail
c. for John’s reluctance to confess
d. John’s imprisonment

26. Elizabeth tells John that “kept a cold house.” Keeping “a cold house” means that
she
a. never invited anyone to visit them
b. frequently let the fire go out
c. was not a loving or proper wife
d. refused to keep flowers or pretty things in the house

II. Who Said It? What does it mean?

27. “I’ll tell you what’s walking Salem—vengeance is walking Salem. We are what we
always were in Salem, but not the little crazy children are jangling the keys of the
kingdom, and common vengeance writes the law!”

28. “He has his goodness now. God forbid I take it from him!”

29. “There is blood on my head! Can you not see the blood on my head!”
30. “I never sold myself! I’m a good girl! I’m a proper girl!”

Part III. Essay

1. What was The Crucible a reaction to? Explain your answer with examples.