Salem Witch Trials Webquest October 26th and 27th

Specific objectives: 

• to learn about this shameful event in our nation’s early history
• to understand the role that a theocracy can play
• To understand the role of hysteria, rumor, lies and gossip in ruining people’s lives then and now!

Instructions.  Use the websites here to answer the questions and reflect on the incidents that led to the hysteria surrounding the trials of those accused by the girls who started the mess in 1691.  Please put all answers on a piece of paper - be sure to put your name on it.

Turn to the site called

http://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/salem/SALEM.HTM

Read “An Account of Events in Salem” (begins under picture of “Examination of a Witch”) and answer the following questions

1. How many people were hanged as a result of the trials?  How else did they kill people accused of crimes in Salem?

2. What forces were in conflict the time of the start of the trials?  How did all the trouble begin?

3. What are some ideas about the reasons given for the girls’ afflictions (sicknesses)?

4. How did Cotton Mather’s book and Dr. Grigg’s opinion help to create the problem – and then make it worse?

5. Why do you think that people were willing to believe the girls who accused so many people of being involved in witchcraft?

Read the biography of Parris and answer the following questions.

1. What problems was Parris having with the people he was serving in his job as minister?

2. How did Parris react to his daughter and his niece’s signs of “illness”?

3. According to the article about him, how did he get his slave Tituba to confess to witchcraft?

4. What was his eventual attitude toward the trial?  Do you think he was sorry enough?  Why or why not?

Now, read the biography of John Proctor and answer the questions that follow.

1. How did John Proctor bring down some of his own trouble on himself?

2. What was his attitude toward all the craziness of the girls?

3. What did Proctor do when he was in jail to help end the hysteria?

4. Did his letter writing help HIM?  Why or why not?

Lastly, go to the left side of the homepage labeled “You’re Accused” – this is just for fun.  Follow the choices it gives you.   Then, after you have explored every option, write down which course of action you would have taken  -- and explain why! 

  

Snapshot Autobiography

Below is a link for the Snapshot Autobiography


Snapshot Autobiography

Part 2 of Unsung Heroes

First Hand Account

Writing first-person fiction stimulates the creative imagination, helps us relate to the story, and aids retention of material because we put ourselves in a particular situation.  We are all familiar with writing in the first person – some of us keep diaries, some write letters, and others keep journals.  Almost all of us know something about historical fiction from watching movies.  This familiarity can translate into big opportunities for learning.

Your Assignment

You will be writing a historical fiction story.  Your story should be about your “Unsung Hero” and be written in FIRST PERSON.  Your story should include multiple events that shaped their social/racial/gender commitment.  It is important your story is believable and show an accurate understanding of the life of your person.  Some suggestions on how this part of the project can be done include – but are not limited to:

·         It could be an interview between the historical figure and yourself

·         It could be a letter from the character to a loved one

·         It could be written like a journal of the historical figure

Rubric for Historical First Hand Account Essay

Criteria	3	2	1	0
Ideas and Content	The story brings the time and place of the historical figure alive; vividly describes his/her experiences and values; refers to relevant, historically accurate details	The time and place of the historical figure is clear, but his/her experiences are more like a list than a story; some details may be historically inaccurate	The setting is murky, and the characters experiences and/or values are often historically inaccurate	Not enough was written to judge the ideas or content.
Voice and Tone	1st person is used.  The voice sounds like a real person.  The paper has personality and shows how the historical figure thinks and feels	The tone is OK but the paper could have been written by anyone.  It needed to reveal more about how the writer felt about the topic	The writing is bland, mechanical or pretentious.  It sounds like the voice was lost.  It uses 2nd or 3rd person.	Not enough written to judge.
Conventions	Correct grammar, capitals, spelling and punctuation is used. A cover page and a reference page are included.	Spelling is correct on common words.  Some errors in grammar and punctuation.  A cover page and/or reference page are not included.	Many errors in grammar, capitalization, spelling, and punctuation make the paper hard to read.  A cover page and reference page are not included.	Not enough was written to judge.
Total				/9