Heinrichs Meets ​The Crucible 

Blog Assignment 

By now, you should have a working knowledge of Act I of ​The Crucible​ and the “Offense” section of ​Thank You
for Arguing​.

1. Create a new blog entry entitled “Heinrichs Meets T​ he Crucible​ by ______ (your name)”
2. Review the following in Act I:
a. The initial exchange between Rev. Parris and Abigail regarding the effect of Abigail’s actions on
Parris’s reputation
b. The conversation between Mrs. Putnam and Rev. Parris regarding the loss of her seven
children
c. The private conversation between John Proctor and Abigail in Betty’s bedroom
d. The conversation among Tituba, Abigail, Rev. Parris, Mrs. Putnam, and Rev. Hale regarding the
interaction between the girls and Tituba in the woods
3. Choose one of the above conversations for this activity.
4. Select one character from the exchange and determine his/her desired outcome for the conversation.
5. Rewrite the conversation, formatted as a script, in which you apply ​at least three​ of the strategies
Heinrichs outlines in the text to help your chosen character achieve his/her goal. Consider adding
stage directions to reveal character reactions. Your conversation should be at least ​300 words​.
6. After composing your script, identify the strategies you employed and ​label them​: underline each
strategy and write the strategy in parentheses after each example.
7. Proofread and post your blog.
8. Return to your teacher’s blog, and select “Discourse.”
9. Find your teacher’s blog post for this topic.
10. Leave a new comment. In your comment, post the link to your own blog (not your Weebly account
page, but the actual blog post. Example: h​ ttp://vanbo.weebly.com/ap-lang---discourse/heinrichs-meets-the-crucible​)
11. Choose another student’s blog post by browsing the other comments on your teacher’s discourse
page. If you are the first to post, simply wait until others finish. Follow a peer’s link, read his/her
response, and leave a comment. There may be only ONE COMMENT PER STUDENT. If someone else has
commented on this person’s post, choose a new peer whose post has not been commented on. (See
the sample comment on the following page.)
a. Write your comment like you would a letter. Include a greeting, your commentary, and a
closing/signature.
b. Evaluate your friend’s script for use of Heinrichs’ strategies. Identify any fallacies you find in
the characters’ argument(s).
c. Proofread and post comment.

Sample comment:
Hi there, Dorothy Jr.!

WOW -- I am so impressed by your use of rhetorical strategies in this conversation. I also chose to
rewrite the interaction between John Proctor and Abigail Williams. It’s scandalous and so fascinating!
I appreciate that you changed the mood when you rewrote this scene; in the original scene, John
resorts to anger to deter Abigail’s seductive advances, but in your scene, you focus on Abigail’s appeal
to nostalgia. Instead of Abigail using desire or lust to “move [John] from decision to action” (Heinrichs
100), your script has Abigail focus on the romantic f​ eelings ​they share, not just their lust for one
another. This could potentially convince John to side with Abigail by appealing to his intellect rather
than diminishing his character to that of a lecher, and it would certainly defuse his anger. By changing
the tense, John would no longer feel the need to _accost_ Abigail; his mood would change. Abigail
could potentially convince him to consider leaving his wife to be with her.

While I believe appealing to a man’s intellect is a smart move in the year 2019, I do worry that John
Proctor may not be convinced by Abigail’s use of nostalgia because the relationship between John and
Abigail was never built on mutual respect. Massachusetts Bay Colony was a male-dominated society,
and although John was not a church-going man, he likely still held some belief that women were used
as instruments for the Devil, at least to some degree, and would be weary of Abigail’s advances,
regardless of how masterfully she orchestrated them. The only potential fallacy I recognize in your
conversation is that Abigail’s argument is built upon a faulty premise: mutual respect between men
and women in this Puritan society.

I thoroughly enjoyed reviewing your conversation and learning how to implement new rhetorical
strategies. Have a great evening!

Cheers,
George