The play opens in Reverend Parris’s home, where his daughter Betty lies unresponsive in bed after being caught dancing in the woods with other girls, including his niece Abigail Williams. Rumors of witchcraft begin to swirl in Salem, and Parris is more concerned with how this scandal will affect his reputation than with his daughter’s health.

Abigail insists they were just dancing, but when questioned further, it's revealed that Tituba, Parris’s slave from Barbados, may have been involved in conjuring spirits. Abigail becomes defensive and shifts the blame, especially when Thomas and Ann Putnam arrive. The Putnams have lost many children and are quick to believe supernatural forces are at play. Ann Putnam admits she sent her daughter Ruth to Tituba to contact the spirits of her dead babies.

As the pressure builds, Abigail threatens the other girls to stay silent about what really happened in the woods, hinting that they may have done more than just dance. Eventually, when Reverend Hale (a minister experienced in identifying witchcraft) arrives to investigate, the pressure causes Tituba to confess, likely to avoid punishment. She names others in the town as witches, and soon after, Abigail and Betty join in, accusing more people, launching the witch hunt that drives the rest of the play.

Prompt: In Act 1, Scene 2 of The Crucible, what does the play suggest about the nature of truth and/or manipulation?

Possible routes

• Focus on how a character uses particular language, emotion, or memory to shape the truth to their advantage

• Focus on the interactions between Abigail and John Proctor

• Focus on how Reverend Hale and John Proctor define "proof"

• Focus on how Mary's newfound power in the court adds to how she sees truth or fuels her

• Focus on John Proctor's criticism of the church or Hale

• Focus on how the church or citizens of Salem determine guilt or truth

Criteria: Use at least one quote or moment from the scene to support your answer. Be sure to set up your claim, situate the evidence, explain it thoroughly, then speak to what Arthur Miller may be suggesting through this interaction, dialogue, or character.

Optional sentence starters

• In Act 1, Scene 2 of The Crucible, Abigail manipulates the truth by...

• John Proctor’s struggle with telling the full truth reveals...

• This interaction between (Character 1) and (Character 2) shows that truth in Salem is often shaped by...