Refrences to help answer the worksheet question:- read the worksheet questions carefully. Students are required to view the designated History Channel film as well as read the instructor-created do
Must be the Season of the Witch
THE SALEM WITCH TRIALS, 1692
To answer these questions, students must draw from the film and its transcript; the hand outs on hermeneutics, exegesis, the “Salem Phenomenon” PDF and other referenced resources contained in the worksheet.
As we have seen, the Puritans identified with the Children of Israel’s dramatic exit out of Egypt guided by Moses. They paralleled the biblical narrative “Exodus” with their own journey sailing across the Atlantic from England to the New World—their own promised land. Then in 1692 paranoia, fear, hysteria, superstition, and suspicion and rampant accusations visited a backwater village called Salem. Call it “WitchMania.” In this crisis of the Devil being alive and well in the New World, the Puritans applied to their dire circumstances one particular Bible verse whose original (intended) audience was the Children of Israel—a directive from antiquity composed some 3,000 years ago!
QT1: What was the above-referenced (primary) biblical passage the Puritans used to justify the arrest, condemnation and execution of “witches”?
QT2: Paraphrase (put in your own words) and build from your understanding of the assigned materials a definition of hermeneutics.
QT3: Read the brief PDF on exegesis. Define and summarize the difference between these two different approaches to textual analysis—exegesis and eisegesis. Be sure to provide one example of each approach.
QT4: Look up and then define in your own words the following concepts: biblical literalism, “cherry picking,” and “proof-texting” (or quoting out of context). Show how these approaches are fallacious (faulty, inexact, erroneous).
QT5: If you were a reporter interviewing the author of a religious text, what are some basic questions you would ask to avoid misinterpretation and misapplication of the text’s meaning? Provide a list of questions, and then show how context matters to the task of “exegeting” religious texts.
QT6: In the PDF “Salem Phenomenon” on pages 3-4 anthropologist, theologian, and professor Robert Priest discusses a mistranslation of an obscure Hebrew word of contestable meaning –kashaph. First summarize his concerns about Bible translators’ interpretation and their choice of the Latin word maleficos—commonly understood in medieval Europe as “witch.” Next, what would you recommend translators and readers alike do to address evolving ideas and shifting perceptions?
QT7: FAKE NEWS! To quell or at least mitigate the rising hysteria, you are summoned to be a public presenter at a Salem Village “town hall” assembly. Your task is to briefly but substantively present a cogent argument for critical thinking to combat witch hunting. Be sure to specifically direct people how to use clear reasoning to counter hearsay, wild rumors, superstitious beliefs, and (mis)interpretations of the Bible.
QT8: According to the film, “In Search of History: Salem Witch Trials,” what did Pope Gregory IX institute in 1231 CE?
We also learn from the film that Pope Innocent VIII in 1484 declared witchcraft a heresy punishable by death, uncovering a papal impetus to medieval witch hunting. These mob-incited purges and executions in Europe were carried out over 200 years.
QT9: Define heresy. In doing so, consider that in 1633 Galileo was found “vehemently suspect(ed) of heresy.” What was the alleged heresy that led to the 69-year old Galileo’s trial and subsequent house arrest for 8 years until his death?
READ: Let’s consider power dynamics and potential abuses of power, looking at four factors: (1) the afflicted –the supposedly “bewitched” young girls turned accusers; (2) the accused, primarily women; noting the diverse backgrounds and personalities, dispositions, and positions in the community of some of the victims; (3) persons of higher social status contrasted with the village marginalized. (How might economics, property, and opportunity to confiscate the property of some of the incarcerated influence attitudes and behaviors?) and (4) religious and legal authorities. Consider their influence (good, bad, ineffectual) and evaluate if and why their leadership failed. Here is a helpful reference to some of the “actors” http://salem.lib.virginia.edu/people/?group.num=all&mbio.num=mb5
QT10: Write 2 paragraphs in which you briefly evaluate Salem’s power dynamics, incorporating any or all of the above four sets of “actors”/factors. (One interesting question is why would women so readily accuse and attack other women?)
QT11: TWEET in 140 characters a comment to Domincan monk/German Inquisitor Heinrich Kramer who wrote the Malleus Maleficarum (“Hammer of Witches”). (You will need to do a background check on this monk and his 1487 text, the Church’s view of it, and the like). Also, what #hashtag would you give him (for example, #HerrHammer or #TakeAHammer”)? Feel free to be creative and funny as you make a clear point in your TWEET to this author. (No expletives, please! =)
QT12: Why do you suppose the Puritans feared the Devil to the degree they displayed? Speak to the Salem context in terms of their physical environment and any imminent dangers (real or perceived). What about the spiritual dimension, for instance, Puritan theological teaching of “Calvinism”—striving to be one of the “elect,” longing for eternal salvation and simultaneously fearing eternal damnation? Explain how this belief system might have fueled the hysteria.
QT 13: You are sitting in a rustic kitchen talking with a Salem neighbor—just the two of you. Write a short conversation/dialogue that includes a cautious response about the mounting hysteria. For instance, you can incorporate ideas, raise questions, critique superstitions, emphasize religious teachings (such as being charitable), warn about the harm of faulty thinking, the poison of gossip, problems with the early colonies’ legal system and its inadequate or nonexistent form of defense counsel, etc., etc.
QT14: What is misogyny? Assuming there are some elements of misogyny in witch hunting, why do you think more women than men were targeted as witches?
QT15: What is “swimming a witch”?
QT16: According to the film, who was Margaret Jones, and what three specific things was this midwife accused of manifesting?
QT17: You are in the dock in the court of Oyer & Terminer (“Hear and Determine”) and are charged with witchcraft. How do you plead? If you plead guilty, and confess, even though you were not a “witch” but lied, more than likely what would have happened to you? If you plead not guilty, then craft your own defense. For instance, construct an argument about the court’s usage of leading questions (like Have you been a witch for a long time?—just answer yes or no!!), the admissibility of spectral evidence, and the disruptive hysterical girls’ courtroom “sideshow” thwarting any attempt to make an orderly defense on behalf of the accused, the court’s presumption of guilt, etc.
QT18: What were some of the themes highlighted in Cotton Mather’s text, Remarkable (or Memorable) Providences (written in 1684)? What would you TWEET to Reverend Cotton, and what #hashtag would you give him? (#CottonInMyEars! =) See the “Cotton Mather” entry at http://salem.lib.virginia.edu/people?group.num=all&mbio.num=mb5
Arthur Miller wrote a creative, fictionalized play called The Crucible. But Miller had in mind a more recent scapegoat than Salem “witches.”
QT19: Who was Joseph McCarthy, and what was the “hysteria” prompting the accusations of the notorious HUAC Senate hearings in the early 1950’s? Define a scapegoat/ scapegoating. Name some individuals or communities who have been or continue to be marginalized, identified, targeted, blamed, and vilified for any number of problems in contemporary society.
QT20: THE BRITISH INVASION! The early 1960’s in America witnessed a phenomenon called “Beatlemania”—mostly girls, but boys as well “went nuts” over the fab four musicians from Liverpool: Beatles John, Paul, George, and Ringo. They toured the United States, but eventually things went south—literally and figuratively—when Beatle John Lennon made some offhand remark (actually a quote from a British news report) about the Beatles being “more popular than Jesus.” What followed, especially in the American South?
The mass hysteria and adulation in part resembles intense religious fervor. While this emotional meltdown seemed inexplicable, offer a few possible explanations of Beatlemania. For instance, see https://www.thedailybeast.com/what-made-the-beatles-so-big-diagnosing-beatlemania and http://ultimateclassicrock.com/john-lennon-beatles-jesus-protest/
QT21: In conclusion, name 2-3 lessons to be learned from the Salem Witch Trials that we can apply not only to our own generation, and ourselves, but also to our contemporary context.
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