Monday, October 24, 2011

Act III- The Crucible

Are the court proceedings fair?  Which parts of the court proceedings mirror current day courtroom proceedings?  What is the purpose of the Witch Trials?  Justice or something else?

38 comments:

  1. Cindi Strong
    The court proceedings are unfair; they‘re accusing innocent people with false accusations. In current day courtroom proceedings we have judges just like the Salem courthouse, but we don’t use spectral evidence. You have to have physical evidence that’s backs up your statement. The witch trials were scapegoats for people’s problems so when someone couldn’t get their neighbors land they pointed there finger and screamed “witch”. So many poor innocent people were killed because of greedy self centered people. It wasn’t justice; it was mostly revenge and selflessness.

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  2. Firstt comment ohhh yeahhhh...
    The court proceedings are not in any reaosn fair because, there is no factual evidence or anything to back up the accusations against the people getting accused. Some things of their court is similar to our present court, such as, having a judge, a prosector andsome kind of a jury. The purpose of the Witch Trials is, in my opinion, is to get rid of a perosn or person's that you feel you dont like. But the purpose is to get everyone in the town to bleieve in the same kinds of things. And make one persons beliefs somebody elses. It's deffinitly not justice.. It's selfishness. BRENDON

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  3. No, the court proceedings are not fair. People are not allowed to defend accused witches, and spectral evidence is commonly accepted. The officiality of the proceedings mirror our court procedures today, such as all of the paperwork that goes into everything. The purpose of the Witch Trials is to weed out people associated with the Devil and to make their town and around their town good, Godly places. None of it is justice because the court procedures are not fair. Accusing someone is as easy as saying "she did it". There's no physical proof necessary, anything goes because they don't want to be caught questioning their faith in God.

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  4. The court proceedings are no were near fair at many points in the play. This is shown when Giles, a man who has prosecuted at many trials and proceedings and understands the court system quite well, brings in evidence that can disprove some of the said accusations. But it is turned down because he is not telling where he got the evidence from which in the rules of the court you do not have to do so. Some current proceeding can be relevant to the just stated information about Giles. Many people bring in evidence and if they do not bring in that source of it then trial winning evidence will not be see as it was intended. The purpose of the witch trails where for the scare of witches in the town of Salem. But then people like Abigale turned it in to a personal gain of her love and also some are just doing this for greed of land ownership and just the hatred of there neighbors.

    Posted by Jordan Cheeseman

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  5. The court proceedings are absolutely not fair because they are using unfair evidence that is not even real evedence -spectral- to unjustly accuse and murder over petty indifferences and superstition. An example of those proceedings mirroring current day's, is when Giles was "held in contempt" for not giving the name of his sources. Giles-"I mentioned my wife's name once and I'll burn in hell long enough for that". The main purpose of the witch trials is for people with grudges or superstitious fears to just get rid of people... Not for justice.

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  6. No the court proceedings are not fair because they mainly use spectral evidence. Meaning that someone could just say they seen someone doing this or saying that, and use it against them. Things that are the same as current day courtroom proceedings is that they question people. They have judges and prosecutor. To see if that person really is a witch or not by using spectral evidence and asking questions. And something else definitely not justice.
    -sabrina friant

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  7. the court proceedings in act three too me arent fair at all. the only evidence present in the court is spectral evidence which cant be proven anyway. the judges are listening to little girls who follow abigail williams who really just wants to seek revenge on goody proctor. at the end of act three rev. hale leaves the court. He says he is tired of signing the death certificates and he already signed something like 73.
    - keith friel

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  8. The court proceedings are not fair because they only use evidence that somebody says. There's no physical evidence to prove anything. And they can just use what they make up against them. These days these question people, get REAL evidence, that is proven to be actual facts. Cannot just make stuff up, and then the person your accusing of something thats not real gets in trouble for. That's not how it works these days because people actually got smarter. They were dumb back then. Idk, what the purpose of the Witch Trials are. There pointless.
    - Garrett Buckalew

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  9. the court proceedings deff are not fair. the evidence during the cases are not accurate at times. they as some of the same questions as they do today in modern day court hearings. both have a judge and a prosecuter. over all the evidence is not complete <3
    -jon

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  10. Adam McAllister
    The proceedings are fair because they were set right. I thought they were because the people who knew more about witchcraft was being arrested. When they ask about who is guily or not guilty. That determines if you are convicted or not. The purpose is to learn more about witchcraft. Also learn who does witchcraft and who does not.

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  11. I do not beleave that the courts rulings are fair because they are just using events that people dont realy have evidence for. The original purpose of the witch trials was to seek out witches because practicing witchcraft is against their religion. They are realy just using mild acount to acuse peope for there own atvantage. Sanderst50

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  12. The court proceedings are definitely not fair. The judges only go on accusations and listen to the girls who lie out of jealousy and vengeance. Basically, you are guilty until proven innocent. They don't even require evidence to check before they hang people or send them to jail. Part of the court proceedings that mirror current day proceedings is questioning the accused about the crime they are being accused of. The purpose of the witch trials is to rid their village of the Devil and evil, so if anyone is said to be a witch or to use witchcraft, everyone is very quick to believe it. I also think that another purpose of the witch trials is to give people a reason to accuse others that they don't like so they can get rid of them and not have to deal with them.

    -Autumn Bobb-

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  13. In no way are the court proceeding fair. The huge factor of evidence is absent. In the court room today you will hear this has turned into a whitch hunt in that matters is compared to the salem witch trials. when a person claiming they saw something comes in how can you belive there word with no proof. the salem witch trials were really used as revenge. with no justice people could do whatever they wanted to by using unprovable lies.
    Patrick Adams

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  14. The court proceedings are unfair.People could just say something and it is evidence. You dont have to really see it. The proceedings of the courts mirror todays because you still need evidence to put them in jail.The purpose of the witch trials was to get the outcast out of salem. There was no justice in it.
    Brendan Slape

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  15. Tyler Tomlin:

    The court proceedings are not fair at all because most of the people cant even accuse people of witchcraft. When you speak you have to have supported eveidence for what u say. The purpose of the witchtrails is to get rid of the people that are associated with the devil. At the same time they want everyone in the town to believe in the same king. Alot of inocsent people were killed because they were accused but at the same time they weren't. Also they wanted to scare the witches that were in salem.

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  16. The court proceedings were totaly unfair. The people running the court were out of their minds. The evidence was brought out of anywhere. If someone wanted anothers persons land they would take them to court. They had the court set up right but they didnt have the right laws to run it. Someone could say they saw their freind flying just to get them in trouble. People went crazy in salem.

    Anthony Rullo

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  17. The court system in the Salem Witch Trials would be conciderd unethical in todays courts. these courts were unfair because of the fact that they used spectral evidence over phicical proff. the courts in the Salem Witch Trials were considerd scapgoats for people to sove there problems for instance when people had fights over land they could say people were witches and they would hang for it. the Witchs Trails were not for justice it was for something else-michael curcio

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  18. I feel as if the court proceedings are not fair. It falsly accused people. One of the main reasons for some one to convict you for the witch trials were to try to gain your land or if the straight out didnt like you. They would say they have spectral evedence on you and the only way to get out of it was to confess, if you did not you were sentenced to be hung. This was not justice at all, just a way to get rid of someone. In court now a days you innocent untill proven guilty. Back then you were guilty untill proven innocent.

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  19. The court proceedings are not fair in the least. People are accusing people just to serve the own personal agendas. The court system is almost exactly the same, except for the leading questions,spectral evidence, and being guilty until proven innocent. The purpose of the witch trials was not justice. It was hysteria blown out of porportion by selfish people geting rid of personal threats by accusing each other of witchcraft.
    Lisa Williams

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  20. No, i dont think they are fair. The court proceedings arent no fair because people can just accuse other people with out any real evidence. Or just useing sperical evidence or they could simply just make something up. However, its the sam as now but less fair. Also more strict. They need to change it sence so many people are getting killed

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  21. 17

    I do not think the court proceedings were very fair. People were getting accused of witchcraft without any physical evidence. Also, once you were accused there was really no way of convincing the court you were not a witch. The Salem court was much like the ones today because they had judges just like we do. The whole purpose of the witch trials were to get jealousy. Abigail was jealous that Elizabeth was married to John and she wasnt and Putnam was jealous of everyone elses land so he accused his neighbors so he could get their land.

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  22. The court proceedings in the Crucible are not fair. Anyone can be accused of witchcraft with any physical evidence. If one didn't like another, they can simply accuse them of witchcraft and they will be tried. Spectral evidence would be used sometimes, and that was very unfair. Current day in courts we have actually judges that will sentence if they have enough evidence to accuse someone of the crime. Though some trials today are unfair, most are. There was no positive purpose in the witch trials. If I didn't like a person, I'll just accuse them of a witch so they can die and be out of my life.



    just kidding.

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  23. I think the court proceedings are unfair. People are making evidence up out of nowhere. They claim that someone is attacking them when really the person is standing right in front of them. The whole town is caught up in the trials and everyone is framing their enemy so that they can have someone they hate killed or to gain more land and money. Spectral evidence should not be used as a type of evidence in a courtroom. Evidence that nobody can see is not really evidence.

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  24. The court proceedings aren't fair. The judges will believe anything without any physical type of evidence. If someone accuses you of witch craft, you're basically already guilty. The rules of the court seem to be the same as they are today. For example, Giles Corey is put in contempt of court for not following the judge's orders. I don't think these witch trials are being used for justice. They're used for revenge. If you don't like someone you can pretty much get them killed just by saying they're a witch.
    -Chelsea Abhau

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  25. The court proceedings aren't fair. Somebody could be more innocent than a newborn baby, yet they'll still be accused. A lot of parts of the court proceedings mirror the ones of today. We still have witnesses, experts, a jury, a judge and they have the same roles as back then. There were regulations, however, there aren't as many as there are now. The purpose of the witch trials isn't justice, but vengeance. Innocent people are accused of crimes they never committed based on false evidence.

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  26. The court proceedings are a little bit fair. Danforth will listen to the defense but he mostly believes the girls and their lying. When Giles is on trial, Danforth doesn't really listen to reason of Mr. Putnam wanting to get land Danforth just listens to what the girls are telling him. All anyone has to say is that someone is a witch and Danforth will believe it. The only way to survive around this time is to not get in anyone's way and stay with your faith to god. Danforth was just a pawn of Abigail and Putnam. They used him to get what they wanted.

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  27. The court room is filled with stubid people. They all believe in witches and spectral evidence. They didn't have the kind of rights like we have in todays society. These trials are nothing more than a way to wreak havoc. People are really just doing it for their own personal gain. The house of justice is a house of vengenance.

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  28. No, the court proceedings are not fair at all. Just someone mentioning your name you get accused of witchcraft no evidence or anything. The way that the court is the same as it is today is because of the judge and the prosecutor and witness. The court sees it as bringing the witches to justice but really the people that are accusing other people are doing it for their own will. Such as, killing neighbors for their land, and killing a wife for their husband. But the courts do not know that they are lying so they think they are doing the right thing and killing all the "witches".

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  29. The court proceedings are not fair at all. Nobody has any real evidence of anyone using witchcraft. It's like court proceedings today in many ways. They have a judge and a prosecutor and a jury. The main reason why the Witch Trials even existed was because of jealousy and revenge. So many people wanted revenge against other people. For example, Ann Putnam accusing Rebecca Nurse for killing her seven babies because of the land dispute between the Nurses and the Putnams.

    -Lauren Kiger

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  30. The court proceedings during act III are not fair at all. The court is trying on unfair evidence and using spectral evidence; which is relying on someone else to tell what they see and they could be lying because you can't see the specter yourself. The court room scene does depict real life court scenario. Though they break a lot of the rules. Danforth asks leading questions which could be objected in a real court. The purpose of the Salem Witch trails was to gain land from enemies and jealousies. There was absolutely no justice involved in the Trails.

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  31. The court proceedings are completely unfair. In some ways, the court proceedings mirror the current day courtroom proceedings. The Salem Courthouse had a prosecutor, judge and the girls, who either accused or said someone was innocent for practicing witchcraft. In current day courtroom proceedings, there is also a prosecutor, judge and a jury. The jury for the Salem Courthouse would be Abigail and the other girls. The Witch Trials were supposed to be for justice and to get the witches out of Salem, and that's what everyone said the purpose was. But in reality, people used the Witch Trials for personal reasons. Everyone got so caught up in the hysteria of the Witch Trials, and they were just accusing innocent people.

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  32. The court is not fair to those who are being accused. The evidence that is being used in the court is spectral evidence. Nothing has to be fact; all that is needed is the words of the victims or bystanders. The way that the court is the same as court today is the set up of a judge and questioning of the witnesses. The purpose of the trials is to calm down the hysteria going on about witch craft. Justice is not coming out of these trials, revenge and plotting has been the main thing out of the trials.

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  33. I think that the cases are completely unfair. the cases of the salem witch trials are based off of completely crazy accusations. they have no real evidence of witchcraft in the trials. The courts are still the same now as they were then. we had judges just like the salem trials. the only difference is that we have to have real evidence to accuse someone of something. we cant just say they did it and take them to trial. i think that the purpose of the witch trials were more to blame things on other people out of jelously or something else becuase you could have just said anyones name and then they would be convicted of witchcraft.\
    Tyler Dubois

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  34. I believe that the proceeding are totally unfair. Anyone could be blamed in the court of Salem for really anything. You could blame the person next to you just for looking at you wrong and say he/she is a witch. There are similar things that happen in current day courtroom proceedings and Salem day courtroom proceedings. For example, judges are involved and executions are involved. Also, witnesses were involved and even an oath to tell that you are telling the truth. The purpose of witch trials was basically to get what you want when you want. You didn't need any evidence except for spectral evidence which is basically made up. It was so easy to take peoples land and een their lives then. Now a days you need a lot of evidence that is physical and true. The purpose of witch trials definitely wasn't justice it was more revenage than anything.
    Jordan Brank

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  35. The court in Salem is not fair. People that are accused can not defend themselves our else they are trying to over throw the court. This is not fair because then if you end up in court you are guilty. The court resembles a modern day court in the basic aspect there is a judge, prosecutor, and a defenddent, but that is were the simalarties stop. The purpose of the court is not justice it is for personal gain and revenge.

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  36. No i dont think the salem witch trial court proceedings are fair. They are not fair because they are accusing innocent people of being involved in witchcraft because of jealousy. They used spectral evidence which is if someone says i see abird over you that really isnt there, its there because i said it was. Even if noone else sees it. People are making stuff up and being unreasonable. Today in court you need to have physical evidence to prove if someone is guilty or innocent. so no i dont think the salem witch trials were fair.

    jessica Irwin

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  37. The court proceedings are unfair they‘re accusing innocent people with false accusations. In current day courtroom proceedings we have judges just the same as they do, but we don’t use the same evidence. You have to actually have a physicall proff for the evidence that people can see. The witch trials were for people’s problems so when someone couldn’t get their neighbors land they got screamed at, witch they said was "witch" Alot of people got killed for the things they didnt even do and that they were blamed for flase doing,. It deffinitly wasn’t justice, it was karma , that people just wanted to get even with one another.

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  38. They are not fair at all. You can clearly see this when Giles brings in evidence that makes the people who made the accusations wrong.They don't allow him to use the evidence because the court said your not allowed to use evidence, but there is no suck rule.The whole thing with Giles is current day proccedings. The purpose of the witch trails where to scare the witches in the town of Salem. But then, Abigal turned it in to her love and some people did it just becuase they hated their neighbors.
    Bomba.........

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