Crucible Act One Prompt

The Crucible Act I Response to Literature

Prompt After reading Act I of The Crucible, you have been introduced to many of the play’s major characters as well as the major themes of the play. With the information you now have, construct a complete SUTW paragraph introducing one of the major themes of the play based on the interactions you have seen between the characters, information given between scenes, and the actual thoughts, words, and actions of individual characters. You must follow the correct SUTW format for you paragraph, use proper mechanics, and have a quote from the text to support each concrete detail.

Topic Sentence (TS) Your topic sentence should mention (not list) the name of the play, the author, the act, and the theme that will be the focus of your paragraph. NO: I read The Crucible. It was written by Arthur Miller and I am writing about Act I. One of the themes of Act I was greed.

YES: In Act One of Arthur Miller’s “The Crucible,” greed is seen through the character of Mr. Putnam. Your topic sentence should be brief and to the point, but should give your reader the information needed in order to know what it is that you are writing about.

Concrete Detail 1 (CD) The second sentence in your paragraph is the first CD, which introduces the first example of your theme. You may use a quote from the text as your CD (if you choose) and move directly into commentary being that the example has already been given with actual evidence from the text. You may also give an example in your own words to provide the Concrete Detail and add a quotation to your commentary to add further support to your detail.

Commentary (CM) Your commentary needs to be at least two sentences supporting the detail that was introduced by your CD. You may add quotations from the text to support the example or simply elaborate on the detail to show how your given example supports the theme.

Concrete Detail 2 (CD) Just as you did with CD1, find a second example of how the theme is present within Act One and introduce this example. Again, you may do this by using a quotation from the text or by simply using your own words to introduce the character, event, or example that you will use to show the theme’s presence in the act.

Commentary After introducing your second detail, write at least two sentences of commentary supporting the fact that your detail shows the theme presenting itself in the play.

Closing Statement (CS) Your closing statement should mention the theme you have introduced and give a brief recap of how the theme has been seen in the play to this point.