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English Literature Quiz - The Crucible - Extract 2 (Questions)

In this GCSE English Literature quiz you will analyse a prison-scene extract from The Crucible and explore imagery, dialogue and tension as characters face their final choices.

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Fascinating Fact:

The repeated references to birds and flight, such as “a pair of bluebirds wingin’ southerly”, link witchcraft stereotypes to the women’s wish to escape both prison and Salem.

In GCSE English Literature, extract questions on The Crucible often focus on how language and imagery convey fear, hope and pressure. You need to show close analysis of the passage and link it to wider themes and events in the play.

Key Terms

  • Imagery: Descriptive language that creates pictures in the audience’s mind, such as repeated references to birds and flight.
  • Symbolism: When an object, image or idea stands for something deeper, for example birds suggesting freedom or escape.
  • Motif: A repeating image, idea or pattern in a text that helps to develop themes and mood.

Frequently Asked Questions (Click to see answers)

How do I approach an extract question on The Crucible for GCSE?

Start by stating where the extract comes in the play and what is happening. Then zoom in on key words, images and stage directions, explaining how they reveal character, mood and theme.

Why are birds and flight mentioned in this Crucible extract?

References to birds and flight suggest freedom, escape and imagination. They contrast the harsh prison setting and hint at the characters’ wish to leave both their cell and the strict world of Salem behind.

How can I link this extract from The Crucible to the rest of the play?

Think about how ideas of guilt, confession and reputation appear earlier in the play, then show how this extract develops or challenges them. You can also link repeated images, such as fear, darkness or freedom.

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HERRICK: Sarah, wake up! Sarah Good! (He then crosses to the other bench.)

SARAH GOOD (rising in her rags): Oh, Majesty! Comin’, comin’! Tituba, he’s here, His Majesty’s come!

HERRICK: Go to the north cell; this place is wanted now. (He hangs his lantern on the wall. Tituba sits up.)

TITUBA: That don’t look to me like His Majesty; look to me like the marshal.

HERRICK (taking out a flask): Get along with you now, clear this place. (He drinks and Sarah Good comes and peers up into his face.)

SARAH GOOD: Oh, is it you, Marshal! I thought sure you be the devil comin’ for us. Could I have a sip of cider for me goin’-away?

HERRICK (handing her the flask): And where are you off to, Sarah?

TITUBA (as Sarah drinks): We goin’ to Barbados, soon the Devil gits here with the feathers and the wings.

HERRICK: Oh? A happy voyage to you.

SARAH GOOD: A pair of bluebirds wingin’ southerly, the two of us! Oh, it be a grand transformation, Marshal! (She raises the flask to drink again.)

HERRICK (taking the flask from her lips): You’d best give me that or you’ll never rise off the ground. Come along now.

TITUBA: I’ll speak to him for you, if you desires to come along, Marshal.

HERRICK: I’d not refuse it, Tituba; it’s the proper morning to fly into Hell.

TITUBA: Oh, it be no Hell in Barbados. Devil, him be pleasure-man in Barbados, him be singin’ and dancin’ in Barbados. It’s you folks - you riles him up ‘round here; it be too cold ‘ round here for that Old Boy. He freeze his soul in Massachusetts, but in Barbados he just as sweet and -- (A bellowing cow is heard, and Tituba leaps up and calls to the window): Aye, sir! That’s him, Sarah!

SARAH GOOD: I’m here, Majesty! (They hurriedly pick up their rags as Hopkins, a guard, enters.)

HOPKINS: The Deputy Governor’s arrived.

HERRICK (grabbing Tituba): Come along, come along.

TITUBA (resisting him): No, he comin’ for me. I goin’ home!

HERRICK (pulling her to the door): That’s not Satan, just a poor old cow with a hatful of milk. Come along now, out with you!

TITUBA (calling to the window): Take me home, Devil! Take me home!

SARAH GOOD (following the shouting Tituba out): Tell him I’m goin’, Tituba! Now you tell him Sarah Good is goin’ too!

Arthur Miller, The Crucible (The Cresset Press, 1961)
1. What is the immediate context for this passage?
[ ] Deputy Governor Danforth has just arrived in Salem
[ ] Abigail has just persuaded Mary Warren to deny that she and the other young women were pretending
[ ] John Proctor has been awaiting his hanging, along with several others condemned for witchcraft
[ ] John Proctor has just been arrested
2. What immediately follows this passage?
[ ] Elizabeth Proctor speaks with her husband for the final time
[ ] John Proctor refuses to sign his confession
[ ] Danforth, Judge Hathorne and Cheever enter the prison cell to begin legal preparations for the executions
[ ] Reverend Hale demands the release of all the prisoners
3. Sarah Good behaves as if Herrick is Satan. Which of the following does NOT convey her negative view of the marshal?
[ ] "Tituba, he's here, His Majesty's come!"
[ ] "Could I have a sip of that cider for me goin'-away?"
[ ] She "peers up into his face"
[ ] "Oh, is it you, Marshal!"
4. How might Herrick's attitude to the women best be described?
[ ] Jocular, but uncaring
[ ] Jocular, but quietly dismayed
[ ] Serious and fearful
[ ] Serious and dismayed
5. Which one of the following lines refers both to hanging and to flying, a stereotypical behaviour of witches?
[ ] "I thought sure you be the devil comin' for us"
[ ] "A pair of bluebirds wingin' southerly, the two of us!"
[ ] "You'd best give me that or you'll never rise off the ground"
[ ] "Take me home, Devil! Take me home!"
6. What is ironic about Hopkins's entry?
[ ] His entry is a surprise because it is unexpected
[ ] His entry makes Herrick appear guilty by association
[ ] He enters as if summoned by the two women, who have been calling the devil
[ ] All of the above
7. "It be too cold 'round here for that Old Boy. He freeze his soul in Massachusetts." What does Tituba's comment imply?
[ ] The harsh climate of Massachusetts protects people from the devil, and therefore from evil
[ ] The people of Massachusetts are more evil than Satan
[ ] Massachusetts is a godly place, where the devil is not welcome
[ ] Massachusetts cannot be hellish, because hell is meant to be hot
8. "That's not Satan, just a poor old cow with a hatful of milk." Herrick's comment can be seen as an analogy to which of the following?
[ ] The accused are not witches, but fairly unremarkable, ordinary people
[ ] The cows cause more disruption than the witchcraft trials
[ ] Those making accusations are relatively powerless in the community
[ ] The women talk of souls roaming to Barbados as a way of expressing their desire for freedom
9. Tituba shouts, "I goin' home!" The word "home" has several meanings in this context. Which one of the following is less likely to be one of those meanings?
[ ] Reverend Parris's house, Tituba's home before being imprisoned
[ ] Barbados
[ ] Hell
[ ] Heaven
10. Which of the following is true of the women's behaviour?
[ ] The women are merely amusing themselves to pass the time
[ ] The women have always behaved in this way, which explains why the community believed them to be witches
[ ] The irrational, contradictory and unpredictable treatment they have received has caused them to respond similarly
[ ] Their behaviour proves that Tituba and Sarah Good were indeed witches
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English Literature Quiz - The Crucible - Extract 2 (Answers)
1. What is the immediate context for this passage?
[ ] Deputy Governor Danforth has just arrived in Salem
[ ] Abigail has just persuaded Mary Warren to deny that she and the other young women were pretending
[x] John Proctor has been awaiting his hanging, along with several others condemned for witchcraft
[ ] John Proctor has just been arrested
Some time has elapsed between the end of Act III and the beginning of Act IV; the time spent waiting in prison is indicated by the state of the imprisoned characters, as well as by the stage directions, which begin: "A cell in Salem jail, that fall"
2. What immediately follows this passage?
[ ] Elizabeth Proctor speaks with her husband for the final time
[ ] John Proctor refuses to sign his confession
[x] Danforth, Judge Hathorne and Cheever enter the prison cell to begin legal preparations for the executions
[ ] Reverend Hale demands the release of all the prisoners
The men soon receive several visits: Parris brings news that Abigail and Mercy Lewis have stolen money and fled the town and Reverend Hale reveals that he has been asking the accused to lie and confess to save their lives
3. Sarah Good behaves as if Herrick is Satan. Which of the following does NOT convey her negative view of the marshal?
[ ] "Tituba, he's here, His Majesty's come!"
[x] "Could I have a sip of that cider for me goin'-away?"
[ ] She "peers up into his face"
[ ] "Oh, is it you, Marshal!"
Sarah Good makes the point that Herrick might as well be the devil himself. Sharing his cider with the condemned woman is the most humane action Herrick takes during this scene
4. How might Herrick's attitude to the women best be described?
[x] Jocular, but uncaring
[ ] Jocular, but quietly dismayed
[ ] Serious and fearful
[ ] Serious and dismayed
Herrick jokes with the women in a way that implies he does not truly believe them to be witches; he carries out his duties, however, with little care for their impending deaths
5. Which one of the following lines refers both to hanging and to flying, a stereotypical behaviour of witches?
[ ] "I thought sure you be the devil comin' for us"
[ ] "A pair of bluebirds wingin' southerly, the two of us!"
[x] "You'd best give me that or you'll never rise off the ground"
[ ] "Take me home, Devil! Take me home!"
Herrick's callous comment brings the women's consciousness back to the realities of hanging, in which they will "rise off the ground"
6. What is ironic about Hopkins's entry?
[ ] His entry is a surprise because it is unexpected
[ ] His entry makes Herrick appear guilty by association
[x] He enters as if summoned by the two women, who have been calling the devil
[ ] All of the above
Tituba and Sarah have just been speaking as if to the devil before Hopkins, an ordinary man, enters. He, like Herrick, is presented as an actual, tangible source of evil
7. "It be too cold 'round here for that Old Boy. He freeze his soul in Massachusetts." What does Tituba's comment imply?
[ ] The harsh climate of Massachusetts protects people from the devil, and therefore from evil
[x] The people of Massachusetts are more evil than Satan
[ ] Massachusetts is a godly place, where the devil is not welcome
[ ] Massachusetts cannot be hellish, because hell is meant to be hot
Even Satan would find Massachusetts a cold place. "Cold" is here contrasted with the warmth of Barbados, but is also used metaphorically to represent the cold, harsh attitudes of the people, who are more devilish than the devil
8. "That's not Satan, just a poor old cow with a hatful of milk." Herrick's comment can be seen as an analogy to which of the following?
[x] The accused are not witches, but fairly unremarkable, ordinary people
[ ] The cows cause more disruption than the witchcraft trials
[ ] Those making accusations are relatively powerless in the community
[ ] The women talk of souls roaming to Barbados as a way of expressing their desire for freedom
Herrick sees nothing supernatural in the bellowing of the cows, understanding the natural causes. This same rationality has not applied to the many townspeople condemned for witchcraft
9. Tituba shouts, "I goin' home!" The word "home" has several meanings in this context. Which one of the following is less likely to be one of those meanings?
[x] Reverend Parris's house, Tituba's home before being imprisoned
[ ] Barbados
[ ] Hell
[ ] Heaven
Tituba has been referring to the devil taking her home, meaning in this context hell. She has also been fantasising about returning to her old, beloved home in Barbados. In the context of Puritan Massachusetts, the cry of someone nearing death that she is "going home" would traditionally refer to heaven
10. Which of the following is true of the women's behaviour?
[ ] The women are merely amusing themselves to pass the time
[ ] The women have always behaved in this way, which explains why the community believed them to be witches
[x] The irrational, contradictory and unpredictable treatment they have received has caused them to respond similarly
[ ] Their behaviour proves that Tituba and Sarah Good were indeed witches
The women have apparently absorbed the madness of the community which betrayed them
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