Nolan Morrison

Mrs. Hunt
Crucible Essay
December 9, 2016
The Crucible and the Digital Age
The Crucible is a play about the Salem Witch Trials. The Salem Witch Trials was a time
in Massachusetts in 1692 where people were accused of being involved with witchcraft. In the
play, a lead character, John Proctor, gets his wife taken away because she was accused by another
woman Abigail. Lies upon lies lead to the end result of hundreds of people in jail and many
others executed. The Crucible is a play that is becoming more relevant in todays digital age
because technology makes it easier to obtain information, persuade people, and connect people.
New technology connects people from all over the world. New phones and evolving
internet have connected virtually all regions of the world. Besides the larger scale, this relates to
The Crucible because in the play the entire town was aware of the witch accusations. With these
new connections in the digital world, what used to be personal problems will most likely become
public. The Crucible becomes more relevant due to this because the whole witch scare started
with a little girl Betty and her family being worried about her being possessed. If this problem
was contained to only their knowledge than the whole witch trial could possibly be avoided.
Another strong point in the play that becomes relevant in todays society is how rumors were
spread and every person passed the blame onto another. Today, rumors can be an epidemic that
causes unnecessary problems by falsely accusing somebody of something that may not be true.
Once a rumor is posted online, the number of people that see it can grow at an exponential rate.
When large groups of people obtain information on a problem, there tends to be a separation

from the minorities and then these minorities are targeted. With regards to the play, the town
distances themselves against anybody who was accused of being a witch, then the courts targeted
them by trying them and either throwing them in jail or executing them.
In the digital age and with mass media, information is sent and obtained very easily. Due
to the fact that information is increasingly easy to obtain in todays society, more people become
aware of what is going on in the world around them. News on the TV, newspapers, online
articles, and social media all provide a vast amount of multiple types of information. The spread
of news is seen in The Crucible when the talk about witchcraft travels from house to house
within the town, until everybody is losing their minds over the situation. Another danger about
how information is gained and shared easily is that a small issue can be transformed into a large
scale problem. The play becomes relevant regarding this matter in our age because a small
problem such as being sick or dancing in the woods developed into a series of trials where
innocent people were thrown in jail or executed.
The internet makes it easier to persuade people or get them to believe false information.
Mass hysteria is when a large group of people all believe something even though it is not proven
to be true. It is a problem arising from the fact that many individuals are naive or simply cant
voice the truth because their opinions are shadowed by the group as a whole. The Crucible and
the Salem Witch Trials in general are examples of mass hysteria because the whole town just
agreed upon the fact that the Devil is taking over their citizens. In modern day, an example of
this is the Charlie Charlie Challenge where you supposedly could talk to a spirit names
Charlie. The challenge went viral in 2015 when four kids from Colombia were sent to the
hospital after believing they were possessed. The challenge going viral made everybody freak
out and try it themselves, only making the scare even more popular. On the internet, it is

relatively easy to gather a following for a certain topic due to the number of people that will
believe anything they read. The ignorance is shown by all the people in The Crucible because
everybody immediately believed the insane accusations, which is relevant to todays digital age
where technology clouds our sight on reality.
The Crucible is a play that is becoming more relevant in todays digital age because
technology makes it easier to obtain information, persuade people, and connect people. This is
proven by using modern day examples and evidence from the play. Living in an age where
technology influences peoples beliefs makes The Crucible relevant, and it will continue to
remain relevant for years to come.

Nolan Morrison
F Block

Highlights
1. What did you hope to accomplish with this writing?
In this essay, I hope to support the point that The Crucible is becoming more relevant in todays
society due to new technology and mass media. I tried using modern day evidence and evidence
from the play to prove my stance on the topic.
2. What do you think you did well in this writing?
I think I did a good job connecting real life evidence and evidence from the book to show how
the play is still relevant in todays society. I think the connections, and my word choice are the
strengths of the essay.
3. What are areas of weakness in this essay?
I think an area of weakness in this essay is being too repetitive throughout. It is hard for me to
use a large variety of words in my writing. Another weakness is how the sentences are structured.
Whether it is a run-on or it just doesnt make sense, there is definitely some examples of that in
my writing.
4. After the peer review and self revision, what are changes that you made?
The only changes I made after the peer review is making the opening sentence to the introduction
stronger.
5. What would you specifically like me to look for in this essay?
I would like you to look at my connections between the modern day and The Crucible
throughout the essay. I would also like you to look at the word choice I used.
Rubric:
4 = exemplary

3=proficient

2=developing

1=insufficient

Purpose: writing clearly communicates an insightful or original point or purpose

Development: writing supports purpose with sound thoughts, ideas, and arguments that
reference and explain specific details or facts

Organization: writing is well organized and features logical progression, effective

transitions, and coherence within and among paragraphs

Style: writing creates reader's interest through accurate, varied and creative use of words,
sentence types, and sentence patterns

Grammar: writing follows conventions of standard written English about literature

(includes: spelling, punctuation, capitalization, syntax, MLA format, etc.