October 16, 2014 Tragic Heroes and Witch Hunts

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Learning Target:  I can make connections between literature and the world, assessing how themes from a particular work may be relevant to my life and world?

Bellringer:   October 16, 2014 Journal The Tragic Hero vs. Society in Arthur Miller’s work

Arthur Miller once argued that modern tragedy stems from a protagonist’s struggle against a stifling, strangling environment that has robbed him of his sense of dignity (Steinberg 84-85). The protagonist, Miller said, is any man willing to throw himself into the battle to regain his lost pride and self-respect. And thus is much of Miller’s work patterned; he evokes tragedy by setting the man against the system. What varies is the degree to which the protagonist is a hero, and the degree to which the work is a condemnation of societal flaws.


Prompt: How and why does John Proctor embody the tragic hero ,as defined above by Miller? Reference specific parts of the play as support for your position.   

First discuss this with your partner for 3 minutes.  Then begin drafting your response to the prompt. 

Homework: 

Tonight, please type, print, three-hole punch.and then place The Tragic Hero vs. Society journal response in your binder.   Remember that this quarter I will collect journal entries unannounced and I will use a rubric to grade them. (3/4 to 1 page double-spaced).  Please make sure you address the elements of a tragic hero as Miller described them.

Read the author's note and chapters 1 & 2 of Into The Wild

Rubric for Journal Entries

	Needs improvement	Satisfactory	Great
Focus on prompt What you are writing about	The entries do not talk about the prompts at all.	The entries address the prompts at times but lose focus at others.	The entries stay focused on the prompt throughout.
Length/detail Writing enough so the reader fully understands your perspective on the prompt	The entries are too brief to meaningfully answer prompts; little to no details or examples are present.	The entries are long enough to sufficiently answer the prompts, but could use more details or examples.	The entries fully answer the prompts with numerous details or examples.
Thoughtfulness of Response Writing from the heart that shows you truly thought about and have given personal insight about the prompt	The entries are too simplistic, basic or vague; they reveal no personal feelings or thoughts.	The entries show some feeling and thought. Could make more meaningful connections to prompts or provide more personal insight at times.	The entries show honest feeling and complex thought throughout.  Personal connections and insight are evident throughout.

Activity 1 : The Crucible and society’s fragility

Considering the myriad productions and cross-cultural power of “The Crucible,” Miller wrote:

I have wondered if one of the reasons the play continues like this is its symbolic unleashing of the specter of order’s fragility. When certainties evaporate with each dawn, the unknowable is always around the corner. We know how much depends on mere trust and good faith and a certain respect for the human person, and how easily breached these are. And we know as well how close to the edge we live and how weak we really are and how quickly swept by fear the mass of us can become when our panic button is pushed. It is also, I suppose, that the play reaffirms the ultimate power of courage and clarity of mind whose ultimate fruit is liberty.

Briefly write about (10 minutes) and discuss (10 mins)

• 1.    Could the Ebola outbreak, terrorism, or some other current issue lead to modern witch hunts which provoke false accusations and attacks on certain groups of people? Describe what how such hysteria and persecution might arise and who/what might be targets of it? What might that persecution look like in practice, and how likely do you think it is to happen?.
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• 2.       Why is doing the right thing so often the hardest thing? What is the true meaning of integrity?

Activity 2: Put one of the following into your own words.  Then write about and discuss 1) How might it apply to any of the characters we ave encountered in either The Scarlet Letter or The Crucible

Whenever a man separates from the world, and goes his own way...His solitary path acrross-lots will turn out the higher way of the two.

(He) who would be a man must be a nonconformist.  He who would gather immortal palms must not be hindered by the name of goodness, but must explore if it be goodness. Nothing is at last sacred but the integrity of your own mind.
What do you think this means?  Put it into your own words.