美国文学考试The CrucibleArthur Miller中三第2学期美国文学考试25分得了21分，值得高兴一下，下面是考试题和我的写作。
最后是关于The Crucible的中文介绍。
Answer the following question:Abigail has manipulated the situation leading to the mass hysteria in The Crucible to her personal advantage. To what extent would you agree that this is true? Remember to substantiate your views by referring closely to the text.I agree to a large extent that Abigail manipulated the situation leading to the mass hysteria to her personal advantage.As the mass hysteria breaks out in Salem, Abigail cannot shake off her involvement in the incident as Parris caught her with other girls dancing the the forest over a fire in Act I. Abigail and the girls would be accused of witchcraft as they were said to be communicating with the Devil in the woods. People started to talk about witchcraft and started to be hysterical as Betty and Ann fell sick and they thought these incidents that occur was likely to be associated with the Devil. Thus, due to the fact that Abigail had been caught dancing in the forest and would most likely be accused of witchcrast as the mass hysteria started to break out in Act I, Abigail had to manipulate the situation to save herself from trouble.Abigail started to shift the blame of witchcraft over to other people in the village. In order to save herself, she had to manipulate the situation by first showing that she had not been practicing witchcraft. Abigail manipulated the situation to her own advantage so she would not be accused of witchcraft. She first manipulated the fear of the villagers as people feared of being accused. People feared the dark side of the unknown as they did not know what caused Betty to fall sick and Putnam’s childrento die and they were unsure about what would happen in the future. People feared that they would be involved and the trouble that they might be in. Thus, she manipulated this fear of the people to her own advantage as she started to do in Act I. She started to accuse and push the blame of witchcraft to the other girls like Tituba so they in their fear, will defend themselves and then push the blame to others. In this way Abigail manipulated the fear of the people in the situation of the mass hysteria so she gained the personal advantage as she would be saved from being accused of witchcraft.Abigail also mani pulated the Puritan Society’s values to her own advantage. At first, she was accused, but she pushed the blame to others. As according to Puritan values, “Witchcraft is a serious crime that will lead to hang”, as people are afraid of death, they will try at all costs to protect theselves by accusing others of witchcraft. Thus, Abigail gained advantage from the Puritan’s values.As the play moved on, Abigail gained great advantage by her manipulation. She was now able to accuse of anyone and they will be questioned and jailed. This greatly empowered Abigail as compared to the past; she was just a servant girl. She had no power at all and was discriminated by the society. Now, she gained so much power and advantages that she could just simply point at anyone and that person, no matter what social status, would be in trouble and jailed. Thus, Abigail manipulated the people’s fear and the Puritan values to her own advantage. As she gained the ultimate power of accusing anyone at anytime and to also “write the law”. Therefore, Abigail gained great advantage by manipulating the situation.However, her advantages were not long-term. She only achieved power for a short period of time. As the play ends and the whole incident is brought to a close, People realized that this mass hysteria was just the people’s own fear and it was ridiculous to young girls like Abigail to gain power like this. The hangings are over and most people have seen that the whole witch trial was caused by Abigail’s fraud and she had to leave town and be a prostitute in Boston. Thus, she did not really benefit as shegained advantage only for a short period of time. She did save herself from accusation and death, but did not gain real advantage as the whole incident ended.激情年代(The Crucible)剧情：1692年，在马萨诸塞州的一个清教徒社群里，一群女孩被指控对男子施以巫术，在宗教团体和当局的严刑威逼下，女孩们不得不撒谎陷害无辜。
最终有19人以“施巫术”的罪名被送上绞架。
村里有个女孩艾比借此机会煽风点火诬陷无辜，村民约翰因与其有外遇而保持缄默，但当艾比的迫害降临到自己妻子头上，约翰才向法官说出这一切……而法官为了判定谁有罪而大伤脑筋的同时，小镇上人人自危，不惜一切以求自保……名剧作家亚瑟·米勒在五十年代写成舞台剧《严酷的考验》，以十七世纪在美国麻州沙林村发生的女巫事件影射麦卡锡主义的恐共疑云。
四十多年后由他亲自改编此剧搬上银幕，主题却转向女主角艾比的复仇行动。
剧情描述牧师的侄女为人狡滑，她利用村中女孩假装中邪的事件煽中点火，藉以铲除异己。