related texts for the crucible - conformity and social status (1 Viewer)

[strawbinnie]

i need some related texts for the crucible. my thesis is along the lines of: the consequential implications of the excessive prioritisation of social status and the effect of this on increasing pressure to conform within the society.
so basically something that links social status to conformity. preferably a poem or a short story..
thanks guys

 

[jimmysmith560]

I would suggest checking out the following related material as I believe you may be able to link some of it to your thesis:

• Ozmandias - a poem by Percy Bysshe Shelley
• Caged Bird - a poem by Maya Angelou
• The Scarlet Letter - novel by Nathaniel Hawthorne
• House of Cards - TV series (media) by Beau Willimon
• Nose Dive - an episode from the television series Black Mirror, by Joe Wright

I hope this helps!

 

[Jojofelyx]

i need some related texts for the crucible. my thesis is along the lines of: the consequential implications of the excessive prioritisation of social status and the effect of this on increasing pressure to conform within the society.
so basically something that links social status to conformity. preferably a poem or a short story..
thanks guys

Although not related to your question, that thesis sounds clunky, I'm not really understanding too much, and if a marker is skimming that, good luck getting the message across.

Try something like: The detrimental repercussions of societal conformity, promulgated through a restrictive/obsessive/excessive prioritisation of personal status touted forth by immense external pressures, results in the exploitation of individuals within the collective.

Idk thats just a quick suggestion, im sure you can mould that into whatever u need to say, but up to you

 

[jimmysmith560]

how do you relate nose dive to the crucible?

In Nose Dive, self-destruction as a human experience has the potential to occur because of how technology cumulatively affects everyone's socioeconomic status, meaning that the ability of individuals to perform and achieve crucial goals (which can be basic goals) is dependent on technology, as seen with the following:

• Lacie has her flight cancelled and receives double damage with a full point deducted.
• The consequence of this was that she could only rent an older car to drive to the wedding, which she cannot recharge when it runs out of power.
• At the wedding, she is rated negatively by the guests, resulting in her being arrested and imprisoned.

This shows the potential that excessive reliance on technology has to cause self-destruction, as seen with the fate of Lacie.

The concept of self-destruction is what you can establish as an individual human experience, which is evidenced by Lacie's story.

Regarding conformity within Nose Dive, it is linked to excessive dependence on technology, with conformity being present as everyone is using the same rating system without question (except for Lacie who opposes this). You may be able to contrast society's conformity and Lacie's individuality and subsequently use specific evidence from the text to support those notions.

I hope this helps!

 

[jimmysmith560]

are there specific scenes from the crucible that relate to the episode for conformity

The collective human experience in The Crucible is that of mass hysteria, related to the human emotion of fear. For instance, the people of Salem become irrationally afraid of witches among them, resulting in false accusations and subsequent executions of several people in the town. You may perhaps choose to cover the "society" aspect as part of the experience of mass hysteria. You may have noticed that this can be directly linked to Nose Dive, as seen with the case of Lacie.

Mass hysteria is also perceived through instances of mob psychology, which is a process through which people are deprived of their individuality and their perspectives and beliefs are altered by a crowd. This is seen in Act 3, when Abigail convinces the girls in the courtroom that there is a yellow bird above them preparing to attack. We are told that all the girls scream and cover their eyes, although the audience would be aware that the bird is imagined as it is something evident to them. Mass hysteria and mob psychology are described as dangerous human emotions and experiences because they obstruct the truth. You may therefore wish to explore individuality under the concept of mob psychology and examples thereof, which can be subsequently related to Nose Dive. Consider the wedding that Lacie attends in Nose Dive and the following incident, i.e. Lacie getting arrested and imprisoned as a result of her being rated negatively by the guests.

 

[jimmysmith560]

can you say that when she was in the prison cell, she embraced her individuality, much like Proctor tearing up his confession paper

I think that is a very good idea. Being imprisoned has finally given Lacie the ability to express herself freely without the need to worry about being rated negatively, which allows her to truly embrace her individuality.

In The Crucible, as he is being questioned, Proctor realises that by confessing, he is leaving a bad example for his sons. He realises that it is better to die an honest man than to live as a fraud. Taking ownership of his sins and his name, he rips the confession knowing that he will be hung which also demonstrates a high sense of embracing his individuality.

 

[vtrinh05]

I think that is a very good idea. Being imprisoned has finally given Lacie the ability to express herself freely without the need to worry about being rated negatively, which allows her to truly embrace her individuality.

In The Crucible, as he is being questioned, Proctor realises that by confessing, he is leaving a bad example for his sons. He realises that it is better to die an honest man than to live as a fraud. Taking ownership of his sins and his name, he rips the confession knowing that he will be hung which also demonstrates a high sense of embracing his individuality.

is there a specific argument i could talk about for conformity within both text?
- something to do with fear or power

 

[jimmysmith560]

is there a specific argument i could talk about for conformity within both text?
- something to do with fear or power

I am not very familiar with The Crucible as I did not study this text (nor take English Advanced) unfortunately. However, In Nose Dive, the basis for your argument is evident in terms of conformity: The fear of being rated negatively is present due to the repercussions that unfavourable ratings can have on different individuals. The power of rating, in addition to the aforementioned fear, lead to conformity from society, i.e. all people (with the exception of Lacie end up following the system). This consequently represents a collective human experience.

 

[jimmysmith560]

hey would u recommend Fahrenheit 451 as a related text?

Fahrenheit 451 is a good related text to use with The Crucible. It shares similar individual and collective human experiences, such as:

• Isolation (individuality) - Individual human experience
• Conformity (same as Nose Dive) - Collective human experience

Isolation:

Isolation is seen in Chapter 1. Consider the following quote as an example:

“Fascinated as always with the dead beast, the living beast.”
​

Here, the juxtaposition between the two conflicting statements of the "dead" and the "living", coupled with the animalistic imagery of equipment highlight this notion of isolation.

Conformity:

Conformity is also seen in Chapter 1. Consider the following quote as an example:

“It was a special pleasure to see things eaten, to see things blackened and changed."
​

Here, strong imagery is used to highlight Guy Montag’s love for burning books; an illicit item, demonstrating his conformity to the government, portrayed through the "special pleasure" of seeing things "blackened" and "changed". It demonstrates his love for destruction using fire. This is contrasted at the end of the book where he is standing around a glowing campfire, in which his respect and use for fire has changed from destroying things to keeping himself warm and happy.

 

[jimmysmith560]

hey do you have an idea of individuality in nosedive?

Consider the events of Nosedive:

Individuality was lightly introduced when Lacie's rating dropped below 4.2 on the day of her flight. The subsequent events leading to her being penalised and her rating dropping further, restrict her options, which is manifested as she is forced to hitchhike with Susan.

Individuality is reinforced when Lacie is told not to attend the wedding (as her negative rating may negatively impact Naomi's own ratings, which renders Lacie furious. The individual nature of Lacie's experience is then demonstrated through her reaction, as she sneaks into the wedding, grabbing a knife and threatening to behead Mr Rags. As a result, the guests rate her negatively, causing her rating to fall below one star, all of which leads to her imprisonment. This is perhaps where the culmination of Lacie's individuality is emphasised, as she and the man in the cell opposite hers realise that they can now speak without worrying about being rated, and insult each other.

Overall, the individuality of Lacie can be seen through her strong dislike of this rating system, as evidenced by the series of events and set of circumstances that she was subject to.