Trending in Literature  Browse all Study Guides »  The Crucible
by Arthur Miller  Using the historical subject of the Salem
Witch trials, Arthur Miller's play The Crucible (1953) presents
an allegory for events in contemporary America. The Salem Witch
Trials took place in Salem, Massachusetts in 1692, and were
based on the accusations of a twelve-year-old girl named Anne
Putnam. Putnam claimed that she had witnessed a number of
Salem's residents holding black sabbaths and consorting with
Satan. Based on these accusations, an English-American clergyman
named Samuel Parris spearheaded the prosecution of dozens of
alleged witches in the Massachusetts colony. Nineteen people
were hanged and one pressed to death over the following two
years.  Miller's play employs these historical events to
criticize the...      The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by
Rebecca Skloot      Grendel and the Zodiac    The orange
symbolizes young love.   The first time I walked  With a girl, I
was twelve,  Cold, and weighted down  With