Itzel Esparza

Ms. Storer
English 3H, block 5
Sept. 24, 2019
Socratic Circle Reflection on The Crucible
I think I did a pretty okay job with participating in the circle and sharing my ideas. I
didn’t talk a lot, but I felt that when I did talk, I contributed good ideas. I don’t know what
everyone else thought about my ideas, but I participated a lot more in this Socratic seminar than
any other ones I’ve been a part of. I think that I was able to respect all the opinions that went in
the circle. There were a lot of views I hadn’t thought of before and I was just really interested to
see how different people could interpret one question. When I was on the outside of the circle it
was easy to get distracted and not keep up with writing down the feedback because I was so
zoned into what everyone was saying. I think overall, I gave pretty good feedback, nothing super
crazy but just what I thought would be helpful. My biggest regret or disappointment with the
circle was not getting to talk about the question I was really looking forward to. I didn’t really
have the power to choose the question. I hope that next seminar I can be confident enough to
bring up the questions or points that I am passionate about.
I think my group did good, we were all respectful of each other and we were able to make
good and clear points about each question. The only thing I think could have been better was the
energy, we were all so scared to speak with intensity that it kind of slowed down the
conversations sometimes. I felt kind of comfortable with almost everyone in the group. It was
interesting to see what the people I didn’t know very well had to say. I liked how everyone was
able to make arguments respectfully and consider the other person’s point of view towards a
specific topic. I think the feedback I got from the outer circle was stuff I expected, I know im
usually a soft-spoken person when it comes to seminars like that so when they told me I needed
to speak a little louder it didn’t come as much of a shock. Overall though I think I got good
feedback and it helped me make my arguments and points clearer.
Mary Warren served as a mirror in The Crucible through her ability to reflect the way she
was being treated, her tendency to be manipulated and her ability to manipulate others. In the
play Mary Warren was one of the girls in Abigail’s little witch girl gang, she helped manipulate
the people into believing the story Abigail formed to get herself out of trouble. However, Mary
Warren was just as easy to manipulate as the rest of the town. Abigail had Mary do all the dirty
work, she manipulated Mary so that she herself wouldn’t get caught. The exact way Mary was
being treated was how she treated other people. She was good at manipulating and being
manipulated. She reflected Abigail’s manipulation onto the town which ended up creating an
even bigger mess that ended up working in Abigail’s favor. Mary was the perfect accomplice to
Abigail’s scheme because of how easy it was to use Mary. Every time she was questioned, she
said whatever Abigail told her to say, and she was able to make it seem real enough to convince
the town that her words were the absolute truth.
 I could connect my life the most with the sense of fear everyone felt throughout the play.
Throughout the who play there was always a sense of fear and anxiety. Everyone was thinking
“what if I’m accused next?” this made them feel guilty over nothing. I could really connect to
this sense of fear because that’s how I feel most of the time. My family relationship is really
strained, and I’m constantly scared of being blamed for anything. I start overthinking and I start
worrying about what I could be blamed for even though I know I haven’t done anything wrong,
it’s the sense of fear that just engulfs you and makes you feel guilty even when you’re not. It’s a
horrible sense of fear that just consumes you from the inside out. Throughout the play the
characters feared being accused and being forced to admitting to something they didn’t do.
Through the tone of the play it just reminded me of that fear I feel most of the time. That feeling
of stones in your chest and you feel like the fear is overwhelming and consuming you whole. Not
one of the characters knew what was going to happen next. This sense of uncertainty and a
continuous sense of precaution and fear really reminded me of my life and how sometimes I feel
like I’m constantly walking on eggshells and how at any point they could break and I’ll be
engulfed into the darkness below me.