Crucible Debate

I think that both of the groups who debated which character was the true cause of the troubles in the book did phenomenal jobs. The first group had great presence, their confidence and volume were high and engaging to the audience. They also used outside information to make their points. However, they did not use very much evidence. The second group used a lot of evidence and adapted well to the rebuttals that went against them. Both groups analyzed the text well and made good points. The groups were sort of foil characters to one another because where one group lacked, the other group did well. Due to this, I would have to call it a tie.

Syllogism Blog

False Syllogisms:
1. Main premise: Those who are pure of heart tell the truth.
Minor premise: "The pure of heart need no lawyers" (93).
Conclusion: Those who tell the truth need no lawyers

This syllogism is false because as sadly proved through the text, the truth does not always prevail. Although telling the truth is part of having a pure heart, the pure of heart do need lawyers, which makes the conclusion false. In a utopia, the cries of the innocent would have been heard and the truth would have shone through the web of deceit woven by the accusers, but in 1692 Salem, this was regrettably not the case.

2. Main premise: Witches lie
Minor Premise: Abigail lies
Conclusion: Abigail is a witch

This syllogism is false because although lying may be a characteristic of a witch, it is not a trait limited solely to them. Everyone has at some point lied and not been considered a witch. Although both premises are true to a degree, the conclusion that is reached from them is false because it was made from an illogical jump in generalizations.

3. Main premise: Football teams will play in the superbowl this year.
Minor premise: The Houston Texans are a football team.
Conclusion: The Houston Texans will play in the superbowl.

This is false because although two teams will play in the superbowl, and the Texans are a team, they will not be in the superbowl. Both premises are true, but the conclusion is not because although football teams play in the superbowl, not all of them do every year, only two. This gives the Texans a 1 in 16 chance of making it there, odds that become slimmer with every loss. The Texans have a chance to be in the superbowl, just like every other NFL team, but obtaining that goal would be a result of their effort and game play rather than their simply being a team.


True Syllogisms:
1. Main Premise: Cars require gas to run.
Minor Premise: My mom's car is blue.
Conclusion: My mom's blue car requires gas in order to run.

This is true because both premises are true and lead to a true conclusion. Although the color of the car does not effect the fact that it needs gas, both statements are still true.

2. Major Premise: Dogs wag their tails when they are happy.
Minor Premise: My dog is wagging her tail.
Conclusion: My dog is happy.

This is true because a universal trait among dogs is wagging their tails when they are happy. Therefore when my dog wags her tail, it can be logically concluded that she is happy.

3. Major Premise: Water is made of hydrogen and oxygen.
Minor Premise: Water is a key component of lakes.
Conclusion: Lakes contain hydrogen and oxygen.

This is true because both premises are true and logically create the conclusion. Since lakes must be made of water and water must be made of hydrogen and oxygen, then lakes in turn have hydrogen and oxygen in them.

Crucible Blog 2

The trials in Salem were based entirely on here say and persuasion, lacking evidence, fact, and underlying truth. By targeting the societal outcasts first, Abigail and her motley crew of "afflicted" girls gain credibility which they will use down the road to victimize their true targets. Goody Osburn and Goody Good are not very highly regarded in Salem, so when the accusations against them arise, little fact is needed to persuade the public. With the public under this spell, judges and Reverend Parris, whose jobs depend on their approval ratings, have no qualms about making the lowly suffer. These people of power see no reason to attempt to bring out truth. In their eyes, no one substantial is suffering. The lies of the court have grown so large that it is hard for them to determine what is truth and what is not. Miller's portrayal of the trials and how the truth is lost depicts how he views truth as an easily manipulated and covered up ideal. He sees from his own life experiences, and those of the Salem Tragedy, that when power is in the right hands, truth can be put aside even in a life or death matter. Miller's message about truth is that it does not equate common consensus, truth should not be based on opinion or personal differences, rather facts, yet societies through history show one that this is not true. Societies claim to be so righteous, yet they turn a blind eye to their true flaws.

Crucible Blog 1

Accordig to Miller, the Salem tragedy was the horrifically epic, and unbeliveably inhumane series of events that were the Salem witch trials, but more so, the mentality that allowed them. People turned on their neighbors, using personal differences to accuse and prosecute innocent people. Society made those on its fringe into scape goats. The theocratic rule of Salem allowed for innocent people to be prosecuted. The paradox in it all is how an institution, like religion that is to be based upon vales, being good, and being fair, an institution whose early ancestors had fought needless prosecution back in their homelands and come here to a free land for rights could ultimately turn around and do the same. People whose ancestors lived through the pain of undeserved repression had turned on their neighbors and inflicted the same pain on them. In the modern era, situations similar to this arise to a lesser degree everyday, as Miller puts it "There is no prospect yet that we will discover its resolution"(7). As long as people find comfort in finding someone to blame for societal chaos, this mentality will exist. Today, discriminations against various races, groups, and sexual orientation exist promminently. Just because of one's appearance or choices, society finds it acceptable to assume that they are just like everyone else who looks or acts that way, and take the whole group to task on irrelevant issues. Society will always find it easier to blame problems on a peripheral unpopular group than to face its faults head on.