Cimmino 1

Louis Cimmino
Mrs. Storer
English III Honors
September 20, 2019
Socratic Circle Reflection on The Crucible
I feel that although I was not as prepared as I could have been, I was prepared enough to
have an opinion on each prompt provided. I could not cite any concrete details off the top of my
head, but I believe my arguments made sense within the context of the story. I would rate my
contributions highly, considering this is only our first seminar. I can recall three times in which I
contributed, and each time I felt confident that my argument was strong and reasonable. I gave tips
to my partner which I believed would help them form stronger arguments. I told them to piggy-
back off the other participants to either reinforce their point or disagree and develop their own
argument. I would not say my critiques were top-notch, but I did the best with what I was given.
My partner did not speak, nor did they express any strong feelings about any of the given
arguments. Thus, I was left with very little to work with or help them improve on. I gave them a
general idea—speak up, project, be confident—but nothing seemed to stick. I do not think I could
have improved the seminar much more than I did. When a question arose that I felt passionate
about, I spoke my peace and invited others to either support or combat it if they felt so inclined. I
would have asked other, shyer students to speak up, but I didn’t feel it was m place to do so since
I wasn’t facilitator. I don’t exactly want to be facilitator, though, as I would rather focus on
contributing to the discussion than the responsibilities of facilitating. I will give more thought to
all the prompts next time, as I only half-heartedly answered the prompts I didn’t feel strongly
about. I will also find more concrete details in advance so that I do not have to make my case
without them during the seminar.
Overall, I would say we were not prepared for this—not enough, anyway. Although I had
strong arguments for some of the prompts, I had little to say about the others. Even then, I could
not find any concrete details to support the arguments, so maybe I shouldn’t even call them strong.
I still feel alright about my contributions, though. Similarly, my partner had little prepared in terms
of arguments and supporting CDs. I think the conversation could have been much stronger overall.
A classmate said of our conversation that it was generally just a few of the students sharing their
points, and that they wished others had spoken up. I agree. I wish others had spoken up and shared
their opinions. In a similar vein, I wish there was more variety in the opinions of the participants.
It seemed as though the opinions in my inner circle group were similar, so not much came from
the conversation after a few contributions. In that sense, once one student had shared, it felt like
all of them had. I don’t mean to say it’s a bad thing we all agreed, but maybe if the kids who hadn’t
shared had spoken up, we could have started a more in-depth dialogue or debate. I think we did a
mostly good job as a team. Our facilitator could have done a better job in pulling shyer kids into
the discussion, but other than that, I don’t recall many issues. The students who did speak bounced
off each other well and reinforced the previous points made by other students. I can’t say much for
the quality of the feedback other than my own; I didn’t hear any of it. However, I did notice that
some previously quiet students spoke up a bit more after receiving critiques, so I suppose there’s
something to be said about that.
Here is my thesis: Abigail Williams’s actions, though misguided, were brought about by
feelings of worthlessness, betrayal and abandonment, instilled in her by those whom she cared
deeply for; she is thus a victim of familial neglect and hopeless romanticism.
 Cimmino 2

In an essay centered around this thesis, I would argue that Abigail, contrary to what most
of my classmates believe, is a victim. Firstly, I would talk about how authorities in her life such as
Parris (her own uncle) and Proctor (whom she loved dearly) made her feel worthless, and how her
actions were justified in her own mind because she wanted to get back at them. I would also argue
that she is a victim of hopeless romanticism in that she is young and deeply in love with Proctor.
It is often said that young lovers tend to grow tightly attached to their partner(s), and so I might
find a way to argue that this is true for Abigail as well. I would then make a case for the fact that
Proctor essentially cut off the relationship without much warning and had her immediately
removed from his estate. This, I would say, caused Abigail to feel betrayed and abandoned by the
man whom she loved. Still attached to him, she tried to win him back through witchery.
Disclaimer: this is very personal. I, like many of the characters in The Crucible, have felt
during certain stages of my life that I was not in a position to speak up for or defend myself. In my
middle school years, bullying was a severe issue I faced. Those people made me feel small and
insignificant, and it almost seemed that they forgot I had feelings. Although I did not believe what
my bullies said about me at first, the insults soon began to wear away at my self-esteem and I
began to believe that I was those things. In this way, I can relate to the characters who betrayed
their integrity and confessed to witchery to save their lives; admittance to the crime seemed to be
the only way to save their lives. Eventually, though, I got out of that situation when I moved to the
west coast, and I began to feel healthy again. I promised myself that I would never let anyone’s
insults bother me, as only I know the truth about my self-worth and strength. I see myself in Proctor
in that regard, as he was unwilling to compromise his integrity to please others. He would not let
Danforth or Parris tell him he was a witch; nor would he admit to it. He knew the truth, and he
didn’t care if anyone else believed him.
I loved this story a lot.