Bernard Rosenthal, Salem Story, Chs. 1, 2, 3, 4.

Rosenthal, "Tituba's Story," NE Quarterly, Download or read from Course Toolkit

http://toolkit.itc.virginia.edu/cgi-local/tk/UVa_CLAS_2002_Fall_RELG415-1/

login name: "student" password "relg415."

Answer questions 1 & 2 and either 3 or 4
 
 

1. Tituba and Bridget Bishop:

Following Rosenthal's analysis, identify and explain the main differences between Tituba as she appears in the court documents and Tituba as she is portrayed in later oral tradition and literature, as the Voodoo practicing, African slave whose teaching of fortune-telling in the Parris household  instigated the witchcraft accusations .  Similarly, contrast the Bridget Bishop of the court documents with Bridget Bishop, lusty tavern keeper, of later writings. Based on these two examples, Is historical memory largely a matter of how we want to view the past and make it meaningful to us?
 

2. "The Girls' Afflictions:"  Fake or Not

Rosenthal takes the view that the accusing girls were deliberately faking their afflictions. Why does he take this position instead of the view that the girls were suffering from some kind of psychotic condition? What do you think is the best way of handling this central issue -- is it possible to accept both views, that the girls' initially psychotic condition became transformed into deliberate courtroom performances -- is there any evidence for this?  Compare M. B. Norton's perspective on the same question, see handout, pp 305-308.  Which do you prefer, Rosenthal or Norton?  Explain.
 

3. Given Puritan doctrine about the Devil, just how much responsibility was Ann Putnam taking for her actions in her famous public confession of 1706? Rosenthal pp. 36 - 38.
 

4. Spectral evidence loomed large in the Salem trials, unlike any preceding witchcraft trials. Was Cotton Mather's cautionary statement, titled, The Return of Several Ministers," forceful enough? Look at the wording.  Rosenthal, pp. 69 - 70.