Crucible Termonology

Question 1

Theocracy

Answer 1

A state that is governed by a government that derives its authority directly from a religion, usually invoking the authority of a religious deity and basing their laws on religious texts.

Question 2

Democracy

Answer 2

Government by the people.

Question 3

Autocracy

Answer 3

A government with one person as the supreme power over the people.

Question 4

Puritanism

Answer 4

Practices of the Puritans (English Protestants in the 16th and 17th centuries who sought to purify the Church of England of Roman Catholic practices) characterized by extreme or excessive strictness in matters of morals and religion.

Question 5

Crucible

Answer 5

a container that resists heat or the hollow at the bottom of an ore furnace. Also, its connotations include bearing of a cross and melting pot, in the symbolic sense.

Question 6

Blasphemy

Answer 6

profane talk; the act or offense of speaking sacrilegiously

Question 7

Hypocrisy

Answer 7

he practice of pretending to have moral standards or beliefs contradicted by one’s behavior

Question 8

Tragedy

Answer 8

a play dealing with tragic events and involving the downfall of a heroic but flawed character

Question 9

Pathos

Answer 9

a feeling of pity, sympathy, fear, sorrow

Question 10

Archetypes

Answer 10

a prototype; the original pattern or model of which all things of the same type are representations or copies

Question 11

Scapegoating

Answer 11

one that bears the blame for others; one that is the object or irrational hostility

Question 12

Herd Mentality

Answer 12

the tendency for people’s behavior or beliefs to conform to those of the group to which they belong.

Question 13

Ideology

Answer 13

a system of ideas and ideals, especially one which forms the basis of economic or political theory and policy.

Question 14

protagonist

Answer 14

the leading character or one of the major characters in a drama, movie, novel, or other fictional text.

Question 15

antagonist

Answer 15

the character who opposes the protagonist, or leading figure in a play or novel.

Question 16

foil

Answer 16

a character who serves by contrast to highlight or emphasize opposing traits in another character

Question 17

external conflict

Answer 17

opposition between two characters, between two groups of people, or between the protagonist and a larger problem such as forces of nature, ideas, social codes, and so on.

Question 18

internal conflict

Answer 18

opposition taking place within a single character, so that the character is struggling with two competing desires, or struggling with a desire that’s blocked by a belief or personal obligation that the character has to follow

Question 19

conceit

Answer 19

an extended metaphor

Question 20

metonymy

Answer 20

a closely related term substituted for an object or idea

Question 21

Exposition

Answer 21

introduction to characters and conflict

Question 22

Rising Action

Answer 22

An event, conflict or crisis or set of conflicts and crises that constitute the part of a play’s plot leading up to the climax

Question 23

Climax

Answer 23

The turning point of the action in the plot of a play and the point of greatest tension in the work.

Question 24

Falling Action

Answer 24

This is when the events and complications begin to resolve themselves and tension is released. We learn whether the conflict has or been resolved or not.

Question 25

Resolution / Denouement

Answer 25

Literally the action of untying.