Collection 6: The Crucible

Salem's witch trials form the famous backdrop of Arthur Miller's play - terror seizes the local community and someone needs to be held responsible.

Make sure to check out these lists for texts in Grade 11's Collection 6: Winter Dreams, poems of the Harlem Renaissance, poems by Robert Frost, The Crucible, Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School District, The Coming Merging of Mind and Machine, Reality Check, The Ends of the World as We Know Them, The Universe as Primal Scream
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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. shovelboard
    a game in which players use long sticks to shove wooden disks onto the scoring area marked on a smooth surface
  2. junta
    a group of officers who rule a country after seizing power
  3. traffic
    social or verbal interchange (usually followed by 'with')
  4. clamor
    utter or proclaim insistently and noisily
  5. intimation
    a slight suggestion or vague understanding
  6. calumny
    an abusive attack on a person's character or good name
  7. covenant
    a signed written agreement between two or more parties
  8. delusion
    deception by creating illusory ideas
  9. warden
    the chief official in charge of a prison
  10. Quaker
    a member of the Religious Society of Friends founded by George Fox (the Friends have never called themselves Quakers)
  11. charity
    a kindly and lenient attitude toward people
  12. defamation
    an abusive attack on a person's character or good name
  13. cosmology
    metaphysical study of the origin and nature of the universe
  14. Inquisition
    a former tribunal of the Roman Catholic Church (1232-1820) created to discover and suppress heresy
  15. Martin Luther
    German theologian who led the Reformation
  16. Erasmus
    Dutch humanist and theologian who was the leading Renaissance scholar of northern Europe; although his criticisms of the Roman Catholic Church led to the Reformation, he opposed violence and condemned Martin Luther (1466-1536)
  17. succubus
    female demon believed to have intercourse with sleeping men
  18. Dionysus
    god of wine and fertility and drama
  19. Slav
    any member of the people of eastern Europe or Asian Russia who speak a Slavonic language
  20. Ten Commandments
    the biblical commandments of Moses
  21. rebel
    break with established customs
  22. lief
    in a willing manner
  23. familiar spirit
    a spirit that acts as an assistant to a witch or wizard
  24. Pontius Pilate
    the Roman procurator of Judea who ordered that Jesus be crucified (died in AD 36)
  25. vestry
    a room in a church where sacred vessels and vestments are kept or meetings are held
  26. anteroom
    a large entrance or reception area
  27. contemptuous
    expressing extreme scorn
  28. Cain
    (Old Testament) Cain and Abel were the first children of Adam and Eve born after the Fall of Man; Cain killed Abel out of jealousy and was exiled by God
  29. hearty
    endowed with or exhibiting great bodily or mental health
  30. ipso facto
    by the fact itself
  31. doubt
    lack confidence in
  32. probity
    complete and confirmed integrity
  33. auger
    a hand tool used to bore holes
  34. tittle
    a tiny or scarcely detectable amount
  35. harlot
    a woman who engages in sexual intercourse for money
  36. black art
    the belief in magical spells that harness occult forces or evil spirits to produce unnatural effects in the world
  37. gull
    make a fool or dupe of
  38. Antichrist
    the adversary of Christ mentioned in the New Testament
  39. dispatch case
    case consisting of an oblong container (usually having a lock) for carrying dispatches or other valuables
  40. excommunication
    cutting a person off from a religious society
  41. strive
    exert much effort or energy
  42. Joshua
    (Old Testament) Moses' successor who led the Israelites into the Promised Land; best remembered for his destruction of Jericho
  43. fearsome
    causing fear or dread or terror
  44. efficiency
    skillfulness in avoiding wasted time and effort
  45. penitence
    remorse for your past conduct
Created on July 18, 2014 (updated July 30, 2014)

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