Don’t make me throw this hummus, its spicy!

A unit plan text set based on The Crucible 

This weekend I was babysitting and took my young charges to see ParaNorman. As I sat in the theater with my contraband grocery store candy I found myself thinking back to my witchy blog posts, and the note I added about supplementary texts in my Minister’s Daughter entry. So, I decided to expand Why do we have to read this? to include the occasional blog solely about supplementary texts.

First of all, I realize I have yet to review a nonfiction book. That being said, I can’t knock the importance of them. This blog is meant to be a journey/reflection of my own literary experience through high school and college and how I feel it has shaped me as a reader and how this experience would shape other readers.

But, the fact of the matter is that the times they are a-changing.

The entire face of teaching is changing under new standards and teacher evaluations. 80% of what we read in the English classroom should be nonfiction. So, here is a sample set of texts I feel support a unit centered on the Miller’s classic The Crucible.

Let’s begin with some themes. The unit is not Arthur Miller’s The Crucible, the unit is a theme that is supported by the text. Some themes for this play are: Mass hysteria, abuse of power, and one’s reputation/place in society. There are more, but that should hold you over ‘til dinner.   

Moving on, The Crucible is a work of fiction but is based on true events. A good place to start is with some historical context. First of all, let us not forget this play isn’t just about Salem, The Crucible is a response to Joseph McCarthy’s communist witch hunt in America. Lucky for us, the transcripts of the McCarthy Senate Hearings are all available online. Find them here. Pick a section and make your classroom a courtroom! Have students act out a scene before you begin reading the play and then compare and contrast as the tale unravels.

 

For more historical background try; The Witchcraft of Salem Village by Shirley Jackson. Honestly, I have not read this but it comes highly recommended, is at a fair reading level and is supposed to present all the facts in an interesting and easy way. Plus, those of us who have read Jackson’s other work know how awesome she is. There are many other books and articles out there about Salem, so do some research and find the ones you like best for your classroom.  

As a fiction supplement, you all already know how I feel about The Minister’s Daughter by Julie Hearn. This would probably be better as an independent read but the themes of hysteria and the reputation of one in a closed society are still there. 

Any good English teacher knows that a “text” isn’t just a book. There are many things that can be read and interpreted. So let us not limit our list to books and add Witch Hunt by Rush. Take a listen here. Witch Hunt is an amazing song from an amazing album by an amazing band, but that is neither here nor there. The important thing is the song presents a lovely music representation of hysteria. The listener can hear the mob at the ready, and feel the escalating tension. Make sure to look at the lyrics too, because they’re awesome! This song lends itself to discussion not only about Salem and the McCarthy Senate Hearings, but also about modern-day witch hunts. This leads to the next nonfiction segment—send your students on a witch hunt!

Have students find articles/news stories/etc about “witch hunts” in more modern times. Think the terrorist witch hunt after 9/11. Is it an election year? Think about the attacks on candidates by the public, the media, and other candidates. Barack Obama is a communist who’s not actually an American citizen? May as well call him a witch. There are so many opportunities here to make connections, and talk about history and the society we live in today. Ask your students: Have we really, truly changed? How do rumors get spread nowadays? Would there have been more deaths in Salem if Abigail & Company had unlimited texting?

Finally, the inspiration for this whole thing—ParaNorman. The last thing I expected when I went to see this movie was to get a blog post out of it, yet here we are. The movie was entirely enjoyable and I loved the ode to old school horror films, though it was slightly more mature than I would have liked for the children I brought with me. ParaNorman brings in great elements of a town that is too quick to stir up history. There’s the hysteria and quick judgments we’ve all come to know and love so well. The movie is a great example of how fear changes people, and how quickly people turn on what they don’t understand. The lesson comes from Norman’s grandma, and it’s simple and beautiful: “There’s nothing wrong with being scared, Norman, as long as you don’t let it change who you are.”

This would be a great time to discuss with your students what the people of Salem were actually afraid of. Social disgrace? The devil? Being outcast? The fires of hell? That being said, what fears went along with the communist witch hunt? How are they similar/different from the Salem fears? Do people experience these fears nowadays?

 

So this is the beginning. There are obviously other texts to choose from, but these are some I feel are highlights. To the readers and teachers out there I’d love a comment on this post to let me know how this new branch of the blog is working out, and if it’s at all helpful. There is a lot changing in the realm of education right now and I think that a lot of people are fearful of the changes. But now is the time to be brave and face and accept all the newness head on. I believe this is an exciting time to be a teacher. There are going to be so many opportunities to become better, highly effective, teachers and the students have so much to gain from that. We expect our students to be prepared every day and for them to be 21^st Century Learners, but teachers also have to be constant learners. We need to be 21^st Century Learners ourselves. 

It’s getting to be that back to school time again. To the students: good luck, and remember, September means back to books! To the teachers: go get ‘em, tiger!