Wednesday, September 5, 2007

Salem Interactive Game

After playing the interactive game to find out what it was like to be accused of witchcraft in Salem, please answer the following questions with thoughtful responses:

a. Which of the trial questions struck you as the most ridiculous? Explain.

b. Did you confess? Why or why not?

c. How could this relate to a modern situation?

23 comments:

Tyler H. said...

a. Why won’t you confess? Did you make a compact with the DEVIL? These questions are rediculous because he did not make a compact with the devil.
b. No, because when i first heard the story in eighth grade it told it as the girls were making it all up. They were also under the influence of LSD.
c. When people are asked questions in court some of the questions are just as ridiculous.

Ariel K. said...

A. "How do I know your not a witch" This was the most ridiculous to me because there is no answer, its just as bad as "prove it" Cause you cant at that moment at all.

B. I did not confess because if that were really me, I wouldn’t because I know I’m not a witch and I wouldn’t give up in hopes that maybe they might believe my determination in convincing them I’m right.

C. I would relate this to modern day court for murders. Plenty of innocent men get put on death row for something they didn’t do.

Phil E. said...

The question that struck me as the most rediculous was how long has the devil been controlling you? That was actually really funny.

No I did not confess because i honestly thought i could win. But I was wrong and I was hung like everyone else.

I relate this to middle school. In middle school rumors were huge. if a rumor was spread about you you couldn't stop it. the rumors got worse and worse and no matter what you said no body believed you.

Unknown said...

A.
How long have you been an witch? because it just like they are edgeing on to makes sure so you're guilty.
B.
No i did not confess because if you confess they will kill but if you dont you have a fighting chance.
C.
telling the truch is a good thing and is the right thing to do even if it means trouble.

Heather K. said...

A.Do you work with the devil? i didn't like that question becuase she didn't work with devil it was all witchcraft.
B.yes i did confess becuase i did want to be hung i'd rather go to jail.
C.People are being killed every day and the person who thinks they didn't really didn't if that makes sences really

Matt D. said...

a. How do you know you are not a WITCH? This question is stupid because you know you are not a with you would know if you were and you would say yes because then you don't get executed.

b. No, because i am not a with so why would I say that I was.

c. Some questions that could be asked in court are meant to trick you into something or they are just stupid.

Michael G. said...

a. The question stating "Why didn't you confess? Did you make a pact with the devil?" The way they say this question strikes me as rediculous because the judges are making crazy assumptions about this "witch".

b. I confessed. I confessed because I thought that if I confessed unlike many others I wouldnt be punished.

c. This could relate to a modern situation because being smart noticing that the people denying it are getting in trouble could spare your own life.

Maureen K. said...

a. Why wont you confess? These questions are designed to scare the person into answering quickly.

b. I didn't confess because confessing would be a lie. And if I WERE a witch, I probably wouldn't want people to know.

c. This relates directly to the Grisham article that we just read, in that we use scapegoats to place the fault away from ourselves.

Paul D. said...

A. The question I found the most ridiculous was when the people found me drinking blood in honor of satan. This struck me as the most ridiculous because I first entered town and walked into a friends house and was accused of being a witch, then sent to jail. When would I have time to drink blood.
B. No, because in the end innocence will overcome all evil in the world.
C. In the end only God can judge if one is guilty or innocent not the accusers.

Chris F said...

A) How long have you been a witch? This was the most rediculous question becasue how do you know that you are a witch.
B)I didn't confess becasue if I did they would kill me. It seemed better to keep my mouth shut.
C)It reminds me of modern day trials. They can plead the fifth and the evidence will prove them gulty or not.

Kelsi. K said...

a. Which of the trial questions struck you as the most rediculous?

"how do you know you are not a witch" I think that is stupid becuase i could just reverse the question and ask you "how do you know that i am".

b. Did you confess?

yes, i did, becuase as i was reading it said that "a simple confession would save their lives but not thier soul" well if i confess and i didn't do it, and i'm set free, ok, so the townpeople think i'm a witch, but it all the puritans care about is saving their souls, then God would know the truth, and if they really wern't practicing witchcraft, then ultimatly their souls should be saved

c. A lot of people are accused of things they didn't do, or are framed, or are used as scapegoats, and sometimes the evidence is so rediculous that the jury really has no other option than to convict people.

Natalie H. said...

a. How do you know you are not a witch? This question was extremely ridiculous because he knows he is not a witch. They are almost just trying to convince him to believe that he himself is a witch and he didnt know it. PLus you cant prove it all you can say is that you are not and they wont believe it.

b. No i did not confess to being a withc. I know that i am not and all the crazy questions they asked just made me more mad and want to laugh becuase i know for a fact i am not a witch. They were just trying to persuade me into thinking im a witch and confessing is the only way to stop all the nonsense. But that is not true.

c. This is very similar to a modern situation such as peer pressure or someone trying to convince you to believe something or admit something you are not or didnt do. Just like in court people get asked twisted questions that make it look like they are guilty just by the way the question is phrased and there is no right answer. Any answer you give makes you look bad.

Amanda G. said...

a. The question that struck me was "How long have you been in the S N A R E of the devil?" It was so ridiculous because the devil can not control people.

b. No, because I would know what would happen if I were to confess to being a with. Even though I am not a witch.


c. This could be realted to modern day trials because some people get convicted even if they did not do the crime just like some people got convicted of being witches when they were not really witches.

HannahG said...

a. The trail question that most definitely struck me as the most ridiculous was when they asked "How do you know you are not a witch?" It seemed ridiculous to me because it's the same thing as me asking them "How do you know I am a witch?"

b. I did not confess because I thought they were going to kill me no matter what I said, and if I would've given into them I would've died with absolutley no dignity.

c. This could relate to a modern situation because in court these days a lot of innocent people are put on trial for crimes that they didn't commit. A lot of the times the lawyers are asking them ridiculous questions that they are forced to answer to prove that they aren't guilty.

Spencer B said...

a. how do you know your are not a witch? There is no other answer for this except these people are using lsd and they are in a total freak out
trip.
b. No, i did not confess because all the things that happened in salem is dumb drama caused by illness and acid trips turned into some "Scary" scenario.
c. This could relate to a situation today when someone accuses you of something you really never took part in like, someone accusing you of stealing personal belongings.

Kaitlyn H. said...

a. I thought "Why wont you confess?" was the most ridiculous question because no one has anything to confess too. They are assuming your a witch and you cant fight back because they answer for you.

b. No, I did not confess because I know I am not a witch and i am not about to tell others something different because I know its what they want to hear. If I know the truth, thats all that matters.

c. This could be related to court hearings that happen everyday. Some cases are more extreme than others but judges can put anyone on the spot and ask them questions they know they can't answer so they have a reason to punish them.

Tara.G said...

A. "How do I know you're not a witch?" I personally thought that this one was the most rediculous out of all of them because well first of all, you could just say you were a witch without being one and noone would know and second of all, you can't always prove that you really are a witch.

B. I didn't confess to this because I won't fall for that stupid game. They just wanted me to sit there and think that I am a witch and it makes me laugh considering I know for a fact that I am not a witch. Some questions aren't going to make me think twice about what I already know.

C. This situation reminds me of the real world now adays in a couple ways. This is because when you are in a situation with the law or anyone they want you to think twice about what you are about to say. They want you to say the answer they want to hear instead of the truth. Also in ways this does remind me of peer pressure into somebody wanting someone else to do or say something that they want to hear. Even if you know you are right they don't want to hear the truth, they want to hear what they believe.

KatieM2009 said...

A. “How long have you been a witch?" That question was the most ridiculous because if the person was a witch for a long time, the people of the town would have known before that happened.

B. No, I did not confess because I knew I was innocent. I don’t care what other people think about me. Besides, either way I would have been hung so it didn’t really matter.

C. I relate this to modern times because people all over the world find little things to obsess over so they don’t have to focus on their own lives. They just want something interesting to do and will do anything to find it.

Loraine F. said...

I felt the most ridiculous trial question was "why won't you confess?" They repeated that same question over and over. They obviously were just pushing the answer they wanted out of the suspect, which was that the person being accused was indeed a witch. The trial isn't at all fair. No matter what the person would say, they would loose. I confessed because I felt like no matter what my character could have said, they would have still been executed. With everyone screaming out so called "evidence," you had no chance to escape. If you were accused to be a witch during the Salem hysteria, you had no way out unless you blamed someone else for bewitching you. This could relate to modern times because there are certain cases where no matter how innocent a person can be evidence proves them guilty. Sometimes there is really nothing you can do to defend yourself.

Liz S. said...

a. The question that struck me as the most ridiculous was number 4. It’s not that it was completely absurd it just wasn’t too relevant to the entire class as a whole coming together and comparing things because there were numerous different dots that could be clicked on, so it was ridiculous for us to do because most people won’t have the same or similar answers.

b. I did not confess because I put myself in that situation and I personally would never confess to something I didn’t do because that’s absurd. Weather you confessed or not you were going to die, so I knew that I wouldn’t give the people that are falsely charging me with being a witch the satisfaction of my confession.

c. The modern situation this relates to is people everywhere being said they’re a terrorist.

Margaux L said...

A. Why won't you confess? How long has the devil been controlling you? All these questions are not even questions that one could answer they are questions that just frustrate people and make them confess to something that they never did.
B. No i did not confess because it is a lose lose situation if you confess you die for being a witch but if you don't confess you die for not telling the truth so you might as well die with what you believe in.
C. This relates a lot to modern day court trials and cases in that many times lawyers,detectives and such ask people the same question ten times just in different ways and start playing mind games so you eventually say something that is not true after being in a deliberation room for hours you just want to get out and say what they want you to say even though its not the truth.

brian h. said...

The most ridiculous question to me was "Did you make a compact with the devil?" because it is so random. How would anyone be able to make a compact with the devil? And why would someone want to do that?

I didn't confess because I know I was innocent. The hint of a smile almost gave it away and showed that they were making it up.

It could relate to a modern situation because sometimes our government goes on a killing spree and accuses anybody just to be a scapegoat because they couldn't catch the real person.

David.H said...

A. I thought the most ridiculous question was: Are you a witch? If I were a witch would I say yes?
B. I confessed because I was pretty sure I’d be killed either way so best to make it quick.
C. This relates to the article we just read about artist becoming scapegoats for killers.