KairosWikis | WikiResearch / Group Research Paper

All annotations appear in blue italics. Everything else on this page is copied from the three wiki pages this group of students created to develop a collaborative paper for Peggy and Suzanne's Fall 2007 class.

For this assignment, Peggy and Suzanne asked each group to pick a manager, editors and a quality control lead. These assigned roles seemed to help this group function, with the manager and quality control person particularly taking ownership of their roles. The two editors, however, did not do much editing. Michelle and Polly did not assign roles, and their students spent a considerable amount of class time figuring out what kinds of jobs they would need to do and who would need to do them. Peggy and Suzanne's scaffolding allowed their students to focus more quickly on the project rather than on figuring out project management.

The first posting is from the group manager. She uses her posting to put in print the roles and work plan the group has agreed upon in class. Thus, she is using the wiki to publish the group's commitments to each other and establish their initial procedures. Throughout this wiki, you will see the manger, L, using the wiki to summarize in writing what the group has agreed to and put this agreement into operation by defining a process and assigning tasks. When L drops out a bit toward the end of the project, M steps in to take over for her. As we discuss in Building Collaborative Learning Communities, this discussion and negotiation over process is ongoing as the students have to refine or revise their process once they get into the actual nitty gritty work of it and when they receive feedback from their teachers and peers.

Page created on 10/1 at 5:17 pm by Suzanne

Posted 10/2 at 1:56 pm by L:

GROUP ONE

MANAGER: LD

EDITOR 1: KK

EDITOR 2: AR

QUALITY CONTROL: MM

HEY GUYS THIS IS L, SO JUST TO GO OVER WHAT WE TALKED ABOUT IN CLASS, WE ALL AGREED THAT WE SHOULD STICK TO A 'CALENDAR' SO TO SAY.

SINCE THE PORPOSAL (WORKING THESIS AND LIST OF SOURCES) IS DUE MONDAY OCT.8 WE AGREED ON THE FOLLOWING:

BY 5:00PM TODAY LIST AS MANY IDEAS/THESIS YOU CAN COME UP WITH

BY THURSDAY WE ALL NEED TO AGREE ON ONE

BY FRIDAY WE SHOULD HAVE OUR THESIS AND EVERYONE SHOULD LIST AT LEAST ONE RELATED STORY WHICH IS CREDIBLE

*SUNDAY OCT. 7 AT 7:00PM WILL BE THE LAST DAY TO MAKE ANY COMMENTS OR REVISIONS TO THE THESIS STATEMENT STATED BELOW* -- Note that this bolded message was added by the manager after her initial posting in response to the failure of all of her team members to meet her initial Friday deadline. Thus, she is already revising her process in response to the behavior of the group.

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MY IDEAS:

1. IN THE CRUCIBLE, PEOPLE LOSE FAITH IN THE WITCH HUNTS AS TIME GOES ON. IN THE IRAQ WAR PEOPLE ARE LOSING FAITH IN THE WAR AND JUST WANT TO BRING THE TROOPS HOME

2...... ALRIGHT THATS ALL I GOT RIGHT NOW I'LL TRY TO GET MORE IN GOTTA GET BACK TO WORK

Having done her group management work, L added a horizontal line before adding to her first post. The bar separates her managerial work from her contribution to the group brainstorming exercise. The next student then adds the double bar before picking up on the brainstorming exercise.

Posted 10/2 at 2:42 pm by A:

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Hi guys : This is A.

L gave us a good idea.

I read an article in Time magazine. The title is : The Polygamy Paradox. I think we could find some similarities with The Crucible because they are mixing govenment and religion. Warren Jeffs, who is a prophet of the Fundamentalist Church of Latter Day Saints, is facing a rape trial.

Note how A works to create a good community by praising L's idea before offering his own.

Posted 10/2 at 3:07 pm by M:

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I guess it is my turn. My ideas.

1) Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas is back in the news. I just heard him interviewed recently on 60 minutes. The comparisons could be Clarence Thomas / John Putman, Anita Hill / Abigail, Salem Court / Senate hearings. It could be argued that the Thomas' confirmation hearings created a hysteria like atmosphere across the county, regardess of one's opinion on the subject. Contrast - Thomas was confirmed as justice / Proctor recieved the death sentence. I am sure we can find plenty credible information on this topic.

2) We could have some fun; Rex Grossman Bear's Quaterback could be equated to John Proctor, his teamates as Abigail, The fans as the hystrical town folk and the coaching staff as the court.

3) Although probably not fun to write about, but the thought occured to me, possibly some comaparisons could be made about the ongoing allegation of sexual abuse by priests.

4) War against terrosim, home and/or abroad

5) Iraq War

6) Jena Six

That is it for now.

Although L has explained brainstorming perfectly well, she and A each only give one idea--suggesting that they may not understand what brainstorming actually looks like. M's list of a number of ideas makes visible to the other members of the group a list that does give evidence of brainstorming. In addition, his commentary on his ideas ("I'm sure we can find plenty of credible information on this topic," "we could have some fun," "probably not fun") signals his preferences and demonstrates that brainstorming means including the weak and boring along with the strong and fun ideas.

Posted 10/4 at 8:44 am by M:

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Hey L,

Marc here. Sorry I am using the group page for direct communication via the group page but I left your email address at home. Have you heard from Kashif? And, any intial thoughts on a potential thesis? We originally set today as our deadline for coming up with one. No rush, just let me know when you have an opportunity.

Thanks,

Two days after he posted his post paper ideas, M steps in to check in with the group manager on the group's missing member and to nudge the process forward. Note that M feels the need to apologize for using the wiki for one-to-one communication, pointing to his sense that the wiki is the group's public meeting place. L replies to M's nudge just an hour later with what follows. She is caught between her desire for inclusion and her desire to stick to the group's timeline.

Posted 10/4 at 9:57 am by L:

Hey M,

well i havent heard from K, i was hopeing he had looked on the bliki for his name beacuse i posted all our members at the top. i tried finding his email address through this website but didnt get anything. as far as the thesis im still trying to vote on which would be the best for our group, i just wish we had ks' input, beacuse i'd hate to vote and not have his opinoin. however we have to meet our deadlines. i'll probably post a little later on, but im kinda leaning towards the iraq war and crucible, for the thesis.

-L

Immediately (20 seconds) after this reply to M, L revises the top of the wiki so that the missing student's name and role is bolded and in bigger text.

Both L and M demonstrate that they know how to and are willing to use the wiki to edit a previous posting. However, members of this group usually choose to make successive postings following the format of a discussion or comment section on a blog, on many media sites and in the discussion boards they have used in Blackboard. When they do revise, they almost always revise their own writing rather than someone else's text.

Posted 10/4 at 11:21 am by L:

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Hey guys L here,

so I’ve been thinking about our thesis and I really cant think of anything but the Iraq war theory. so I guess that’s my vote. I’ve been looking online for some creditable sources and there’s a lot on the war. so narrowing it down, I propose this theory:

Bush = Judge Danforth

Proposes war = proposes a witch hunt
great amount of support at first = great amount of support at first
troops are killed, its devastating = citizens are killed, its ‘just’
support weakens as initial intent is questioned = support weakens as more and more people don’t confess<
no progress, too many deaths, hysteria, bring troops home = doing the right thing? innocent dead? hysteria

here are some links supporting ideas 3-5. but couldn’t find anything that went back to 2003 when the war began

3. Two local soldiers killed in Iraq

http://www.suntimes.com/news/world/547713,CST-NWS-iraq08.article

4. Republican turns on Bush

http://www.suntimes.com/news/world/524291,CST-NWS-iraq24.article#

5. Support the troops, scorn the war? Why not?

http://www.suntimes.com/news/roeper/512591,CST-NWS-roep16.article

that’s all I got, gimmie your input guys YES NO MAYBE SO?

Here L pushes the process by giving her preference for a thesis, setting out the main points of her comparison, and offering some sources. L also points to the need to narrow the paper's focus--a challenge the group will struggle with throughout this project.

Posted 10/4 at 3:43 pm by missing student K:

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Hey Guys! This is K. I am sorry, I have been sick for past few days and I didn't know what was going on here.

Although, it is late for giving my idea, still, I think that the Idea Given by M is excellent: "The War on Terror" and The Crucible. L's idea also comes under War on Terror. The War on Afghanistan and Iraq started due to the same reason: The September 11 attack. The mass hyteria grew up against all Muslims and every muslim was questioned. The outside US concentration camps were formed i.e. the Guntanamo Bay and Abu Ghariab Prison as a result. People Supported the initial attack at first but later on now, more and more people started to question the intention of the war. There is also a possible future war planning going on against Pakistan and Iran. Also, the war on terror also increased the domestic violence in many other countries like Syria, Kashmir (India--Pakistan Border area), Baluchistan (a province of Pakistan) and many other parts of the world. This can be comapared with the affects of Salem witch trial on the neighboring towns which also began the witch trails after the Salem witch trail. Plus, I can have many resources to support what all I said. Also, the War on Terror made a devastating image of all Muslims around the world. Now, anywhere in the world, if there is an attack, the Muslims are the first one to blame without any solid evidence plus the people around the world have formed a viewpoint of muslims as terrorists.

Guys, you can make all the comparisons with the people in the Crucible with the current world affairs involved as I am not that good in making comparisons...

My Vote is up for the War on Terror (L's Iraq war can also be part of this whole topic).

Thanks and Sorry for the Late Response,

K seeks to manage the potential conflict caused by his lack of participation by explaining and apologizing for his absence and by situating his proposed topic as a blending of idea shared by M and L. The group's impulse to be inclusive and to find a way to combine each other's ideas clashes with the need L just articulated to focus their paper.

In Building Collaborative Learning Communities we argue that our students negotiated affective and procedural as well as substantive conflicts throughout their wiki projects. K's absence disrupts the groups process and sets up a potential affective conflict. K's lack of participation delays the group, causing L to have to revise the procedure she had proposed. L's bolding of his name can be an expression of her annoyance and could be interpreted by K as a public rebuke. Both work against the development of an affective conflict--K with his apology and inclusiveness, L with her moving forward and eventual unbolding of his name.

Posted 10/4 at 4:07 pm by L:

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10-4-2007

ALLRIGHT GUYS WE'VE GOT EVERYONE NOW, AND ITS VOTING DAY. RESPONSES?

On the heels of K's posting, L jumps in as manager to push the group to make a decision. When no one responds to this request for votes, she keeps things moving by summarizing what people have already said and floating a preliminary thesis.

Posted 10/5 at 11:05 am by L. At this time, L also revises the list of names at the top of the page so that K's name and position are no longer bolded and in bigger text than the others:

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10-5-2007

Ok guys, no one posted any other comments as to what their votes were yesterday. i think Ks vote is on the war on terrorism/Iraq and the crucible. i know m said he was fine with whatever we do. we need to work on our thesis today and i need help from all of you.

here is a vague thesis statement that i need you all to expand on:

~~"the war on terrorism has many similarties to the crucible. however they also have several differences that set them apart from each other."~~

Please let me know if you can reword it, or shift the focus on a different topic of war on terrorism.

-L

Note that the striking out of the proposed thesis sentence above is not on the original posting. The striking out shows up when L posts what follows at 11:14. L seems to be posting material from M, who then makes the same post at 11:17. This statement is then revised by M. I've indented and placed in gray the iterations that show up in the history as revisions but do not appear on the final version of the wiki. Note that in this case, when students are revising a text rather than brainstorming ideas or discussing their process, they use the wiki to edit without saving each iteration.

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Marc: very well stated.

Arthur Miller wrote the play “The Crucible”, a historical dramatization of the Salem witch trials. When the play first appeared in 1952, the general consensus was that Arthur Miller used the aspects of the Salem witch trails to spotlight the social injustices brought about on by Senator Joseph McCarthy and HUAC. Even though “The Crucible” was originally intended be Arthur Miller’s commentary on the McCarthy era, the same play and its themes can be used to highlight similar injustices occurring today in the war in Iraq

M then revises some wording, replacing the above with what follows on 10/7 at 9:52:

Group One's THESIS STATEMENT for 10/08/2007:

In his revisions, M narrows the thesis to the war in Iraq, rather the the war on terror, and to the link between the injustices explored in the play and those evident in the war, rather than to the unnamed similarities and differences of L's thesis. M also begins developing the introduction by adding some sentences to set up the thesis.

K adds to M's revised thesis statement on 10/7 at 10:04 pm. K's revisions move the focus back from the war in Iraq to the broader war on terror. K also adds a list of topics within the war on terror which the group might link to the play. The strikethroughs do not appear on the posting which follows until 10/8 at 8:18 pm (during class time) when Suzanne, an instructor, logs on and adds the strikethroughs in the context of her discussion with the group about their thesis.

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Group One's THESIS STATEMENT for 10/08/2007:

Arthur Miller wrote the play “The Crucible”, a historical dramatization of the Salem witch trials. When the play first premiered in 1952, several critics thought that Arthur Miller used the aspects of the Salem witch trails to spotlight the social injustices brought about by Senator Joseph McCarthy and House of Unamerican Activities. Even though “The Crucible” was originally intended to be Arthur Miller’s commentary on the McCarthy era, the play is still relevent today and its themes can be used to highlight similar injustices occurring today in the President Bush's war on terror. Many events such as the racial segregation occuring after the 9/11/01 in the US and its affects on the Muslims around the world, the formation of Guantanamo Bay Prison and the Abu Gharaib Prison, and the attack on Iraq after Afghanistan are all consistent with the chronology of events in the Arthur Miller's The Crucible.

I thought of adding the above sentence to further support our thesis for the possible body paragraphs. Please make changes if you like to or if you want delete the changes.

Posted by M on 10/8 at 8:40 am:

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Just to make you aware, I have submitted our thesis statement to Peggy and Suzanne to review. Please note that this statement is preliminary and presently serves as a starting point for the paper. We certainly can revise the statement as we continue to develop our ideas for the group project. See everyone in class tonight.

Thanks,

Note that M explicitly articulates the role of a preliminary thesis statement as a starting point for their developing paper and points out that the group can continue to revise the thesis.

Posted by L on 10/10 at 9:22 am:

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Hey guys sorry i didnt post yesterday i was really busy.

just to get everone up to speed. when going over our thesis statement with peggy, suzanne, and the class, we all agreed that we needed to narrow down the focus. we need to pick a certain story on the war and compare it to the crucible. towards the end of class peggy and suzanne gave out 'Reader' with an article about how prisoners in the war are supose to be free but are still in jail. i think this would be a great topic to compare and contras to the crucible.

not to seem like im rushing guys but we need to write our thesis TODAY, only because we have our 1st draft due MONDAY at the end of class.

tell me what you think about comparing the crucible to the article in the reader. I REALLY NEED EVERONE TO GIVE ME A YES OR NO. and if you say no please give another article. time is ticking!!!!

-L

L reminds the group about what they decided in class, suggests a way to narrow their focus and give the group some new deadlines. Note that the group's process is continuing to evolve here as they work to refine their focus.

Posted by M on 10/10 at 10:49 am:

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Sorry I have been very busy to and will be for the next couple of days. Due to the lack of time and the need to start working on the paper the reader article is fine with me. I read it and made a few notes which I will try to get out later today. I think the thesis statement is essentially written, we just need to alter the last sentence to narrow the focus.

M agrees to L's focus on the Reader article. While L calls for a new thesis statement, M suggests minor revisions.

Using the reader article, L does substantially narrow the paper's focus. She posts an earlier version of the following on 10/10 at 3:53 pm, then revises it at 3:55 and 4:17. These revisions are only to the wording in introducing the links at the end of her paragraph and to the order in which she gives these links. For example, she replaces "THESE ARE SOME LINKS THAT HELPED ME GET INFO ON THE YEAR 1952" with "LINKS ON INFO ABOUT HISTORY DURING 1952." Like M, L stresses that what she is posting is an early draft and continues his move from writing a thesis statement to drafting a complete introductory paragraph.

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-L 10-10-07

THESIS REVISED (THIS WILL MOST LIKELY BE OUR FIRST PARAGRAPH):

*STILL A WORK IN PROGRESS*

1952 was a year of tests and struggles for America. at a time when newspaper Headlines read ‘the First British atom bomb test’ and ‘US’ first Hydrogen bomb’ most Americans were in a state of shock . In and attempt to escape reality and be entertained at the same time many took refuge through the arts. Arthur Miller wrote the play “The Crucible”, a historical dramatization of the Salem witch trials. When the play first premiered in 1952, several critics thought that Arthur Miller used the Salem witch trails to spotlight the social injustices brought on by Senator Joseph McCarthy and House of Un-American Activities. Even though “The Crucible” was originally intended to be Arthur Miller’s commentary on the McCarthy era, the play is still relevant today and its themes can be used to highlight similar injustices occurring today in the President Bush's war on terror. In a recent article reported by Marc Falkoff of the Chicago Reader called ‘Growing old in Gitmo’ a prisoner, who two years ago was found innocent of terrorist activities, was being held for an excessive amount of time in Guantanamo prison. Within the article there are striking similarities to the Crucible. The article went on to describe how Pakistani police were raiding houses and turning over possible terrorist without any proof. One could compare president Bush to judge Danforth, the prisoners to the accused witches, the Pakistani police to the citizens of salaam, and Marc Falkoff to reverend John Hale.

THIS IS THE LINK TO THE ARTICLE WE ARE COMPARING

http://www.chicagoreader.com/features/stories/gitmo/

LINKS ON INFO ABOUT HISTORY DURING 1952

http://www.kennesaw.edu/pols/3380/pres/1952.html

http://www.easehistory.org/index2.html

Posted by A on 10/11 at 12:40 pm:

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HI GUYS : I AM SORRY ............ I HAD BEEN BUSY WITH MY SON THAT THANK GOD LEFT THE HOSPITAL LAST NIGHT. I THINK THE READER ARTICLE IS FINE WITH ME TOO. WILL READ IT AND GIVE MY IDEAS TOMORROW.... OKEY.

Posted by L on 10/12 at 10:22 am:

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10-12-07

A, its great to hear that your sons doing better and out of the hospital.

L and A manage another potential affective conflict with A explaining the reason for his absence and giving some feedback on L's suggestion. In turn, L expresses concern for A's situation before pushing the group forward. L also defines the next steps in the group's procedure by using an outline to structure and assign tasks.

All right guys its Friday and i really want to get this paper finished. so I’m putting up an outline with everyone’s assigned a paragraph and topic

Intro: L

thesis. Comparing Salaam witch trials to The Guantanamo bay prison article.

a. brief summery of salaam witch trials

b. brief summery of Guantanamo prison

c. John Procter is like Gitmo prisoner

Fist body paragraph: M

Salaam witch trials

a. How it started/mass hysteria

b. was everyone on board/supportive

c. the accused: John Procter

d Were there fair trails?

e. What evidence did they go off of?

f. end result

Second body paragraph: A

Guantanamo Bay prison

a. why does this prison exist?

b. is this imprisonment justified?

c. are the prisoners given a fair trial/innocent until proven guilty?

d. the accused: Muhammad

e. what evidence are the holding him on?

f. end result, if any?

Third body paragraph: K

John Procter vs Muhammad

a. describe both characters

-their morals/same/different?

-their family situation/same/different?

-sticking to what you know is the truth.

b. compare their imprisonment

-fair/unjust

-cruel and unusual punishment

this outline is just a path so to say. I want all of us to be on the same page as far as the topic goes. please feel free to add in or take out any suggestions that your not comfortable with.

I view the conclusion as a summery of the essay. so I think we should write the conclusion in class on Monday or if possible on the bliki before class that would be great! I want to spend the 1 1/2 hours putting together our paragraphs, finishing the conclusion and altering any transitions if needed.

L's articulation of the role of an outline and a conclusion are examples of how this assignment prompted metacognitive thinking about writing.

I WOULD LIKE EVERYONE’S FINISHED PARAGRAPHS POSTED ON THE BLIKI BY MONDAY 10-15-07 NO LATER THAN 11:00 AM

THANX GUYS!! GIMMIE AN EMAIL IF YOU GUYS HAVE ANY QUESTIONS OR CONCERNS.

Posted by A on 10/12 at 11:26 am:

========================================================================

hey guys :

I WILL WORK ON MY PART. I WILL TRY TO HAVE THE INFORMATION READY BEFORE 11:00 AM.

Posted by M on 10/12 at 4:42 pm:

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Thanks for the outline L

Posted initially by L on 10/15 on 11:09 am. At 11:15 am, M makes the first edit of another student's posting, by changing what L had written, "Miller's conception of the McCarthy era," to the highlighted "Miller's commentary on the McCarthy era." Highlight added.

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10-15-07

First paragraph: L

1952 was a year of test and struggles for America. At a time when newspaper Headlines read ‘The First British atom bomb test’ and ‘US’ first Hydrogen bomb’ most Americans were in a state of alarm . In an attempt to escape reality and be entertained at the same time many took refuge in the arts such as memorable play writes. Arthur Miller wrote the play “The Crucible”, which was a historical dramatization of the Salem witch trials. When the play first premiered in 1952, several critics thought that Arthur Miller used the Salem witch trails to spotlight many social injustices . Although “The Crucible” was originally intended to be Arthur Miller’s commentary on the McCarthy era in the 1950’s, the play and its themes are still relevant today. Now in 2007 many can relate to the social injustice brought on by the war on terror to those of The Crucible. In a recent article ‘Growing old in Gitmo’ reported by Marc Falkoff of the Chicago Reader, a prisoner, who two years ago was found not guilty of terrorist activities, was being held for an excessive amount of time in Guantanamo prison. Within the article there are striking similarities of social injustice between the prisoner, Odaini, and The crucible character John Procter.

Posted by M on 10/15 at 2:31 pm. In his headnote, M suggests the write more and cut later approach to drafting:

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Next paragraphs: M I know these are longwinded paragraph which can be edited down , but I figure it is easier to cut than add. I am sure we are going to need to morph in comparisons to Mohammed in Gitmo.

The Salem witch trials dramitized by Miller in The Cruccible, started because of the untruthful testimony presented by several young girls and a servant to figures of auhority in the town. The most damaging of the testimony coming from Abigail Williams, the niece of Reverend Parris. Abigail and the rest of the girls along with the servant Tituba accused four Salem town folk of conspiring with the devil. They did this to deflect blame themselves and to avoid being accused in conspiring with the devil; when they themselves had been caught by Parris, in the woods, dancing naked and conjuring sprits. At first, the citizens supported the trials and the convictions of those accused of witchery because they were the undesirables of the town. But as the trials caught momentum and began to instill fear in the community, the Salem townsfolk began to accuse each other of witchery. Some did this to create an excuse for their own for their own personal faults. They found it easier to blame others for their own badluck and shortcomings such as laziness. We see an example of this in the play when ……… is accused of killing …… livestock. Others accuse the townsfolk of witchery in order to benefit financially through the acquisition of land. This is clearly the issue when Thomas Putman’s daughter Ruth accuses Salem land owner Jacobs of sending his spirits upon her. If Jacobs is found guilty, his land is forfeited to the province and Putman being the only man of means in Salem to purchase the land will, certainly benefit from Jacobs’ downfall.

But things begin to change soon afterward when the Salem town folk began to fear the reach of the witch trials, when those accused were people much like themselves. One such town folk being John Proctor, an upstanding citizen in the community, a man of good character and moral fiber, family man, hard working farmer, and one who did not have a problem expressing his own opinion when he saw unjustness in the community. It is this trait that led to his eventual undoing. When he tried to make a logical defense against his wife’s imprisonment and provide the true insight behind the young girls accusations, going so far as to dishonor himself in the eyes of the court when he explained that he “had known” Abigail, it feel on death ears. Even though he provided a logical defense, making a valid agurment, the court, in Proctor’s case as well as in everyone else’s case, ignored the testimony of an upstanding pillar in the community and instead chose to side with the illogical uncorroborated testimony of the young girls, who continued to claim of witchery and spirits sent by others to harm them. Instead of promoting a proper discourse of defense of accused in the court, defenses were usually seen as an affront to the court by the judges. Those providing defenses would be arrested of detained for questioning to see if they were just. Because of this very fact, the townsfolk were afraid to speak out against the court. It is for these reasons that the trails were unfair, resulting in the deaths of many innocent town folk when they were sentenced to hang.

Posted by L on 10/15 at 3:38 pm. L agrees with M's drafting approach. This brief exchange about drafting is another example of how this assignment prompted students to discuss writing process:

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Great job M, definatly always better to cut down than add in.

ALLRIGHT GUYS HERES THE GAME PLAN FOR TODAY IN CLASS. I KNOW A AND K STILL NEED TO SUBMIT THEIR PARAGRAPHS, OR AT LEAST SAVE THEM TO YOUR EMAIL, TO MAKE IT EASY WHEN WE HAVE TO PUT EVERYTHING TOGETHER.

IMPORTANT *REMEMBER WE STILL NEED TO EDIT AND COME UP WITH A WORK CITED PAGE*

WITHIN THE 1ST HOUR= CONCLUSION SHOULD BE DONE AND EDITORS NEED TO EDIT FIRST DRAFT

THE LAST 30 MIN= WORKS CITED, FINAL TOUCHES ON PAPER, MLA FORMAT, GOOD TRANSITIONS, ECT.

THANX GUYS SEE YOU TONIGHT!

Posted by K on 10/15 at 3:53 pm. Notice that 10/15 is a class night with a deliverable due, as was 10/8. Despite L's efforts and the apparent good intentions of the group, their busy lives seem to mean they are deadline driven in their postings:

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Hello M and L,

Sorry, this is late but here is my paragraph.

I did everything I could to do this paragraph. I was confused of how to start my paragraph since I had no idea of the previous paragraphs structure. Here is my part. I am willing to change more of it based on the Previous paragraphs.

Mohammed Mohammed Hassan Odaini’s life and prison condition is strikingly similar to John Proctor. John Proctor was a wise man, known for his good reputation in and around Salem. He was not an extremist religious person and he understood what exactly was going on in Salem and how exactly the witch craft started. When he decided to confess of the witch craft, he was forced to accept that he saw someone else with the devil. If he denies that, his confession was put to question. Similarly, Hassan Odaini was interrogated several times with different allegations almost each time. He denied those all and he was never given an opportunity to prove his innocence. On one interrogation, he was blamed to be identified by one of the Al Qaeda Lieutenants, whose identity was not disclosed. He got a chance to prove his innocence when, in 2004, the Supreme Court ruled that the prisoners at the detention centers can challenge their detention in US courts. He was allowed to name the witnesses that would prove him innocence. He named about 14 out of which he was asked to choose only two and from those two the authorities brought only one witness and said other is not coming. He was a student in a university in Pakistan when he was arrested. He had decided to hang out with friends and sleep over in one of the friend’s house. Their residence was raided early in the morning and the Pakistan authorities handed him along with few others to the US authorities. When the authorities questioned his relatives, friends and neighbors about his character, there was similar answer and that was, he was a good person, who helped everyone around. This nature of his was evident when he convinced the seniors who do not know anything about the law to get a lawyer to help them. He was declared innocent two years ago and still, he is in jail suffering. Hassan’s nature and thinking is similar to John who always supported the good people of the town.

Posted by A on at 6:51 pm (during class time):

The military prision in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba is part of the U.S. naval base in that city. It first became a military prision in 2002, The Guantanamo Bay naval base had been used in the past to house Cuban and haitian refugees. Currently it holds men accused of conspiracy with al-Qaeda to commit terrorist attacks against the United States. Terrorism is an extreme outlook on religion, in this case Islam. Those who commit terrorist acts through al-quaeda do so in the name of Islam. Since the U.S. was on terror began the number of prisioners are isolated from their family and most do not have access to legal help. they are being held based on fears by the U.S. government of another terrorist attack. and since it is a military prison and there is a war under way, the U.S. government feels it can deep the prisoners without a trial for as long as it deems safe, even if the evidence on which they are being held is weak or non-existent.

In the case of the Salem witch trials, men and women were being accused of dealings with the devil and other supernatural events. Like the prisoners of Guantanamo, they too were isolated and excommunicated. In Salem, the prisoners were kept in seclusion and some were even chained to the walls. During the Salem witch trials, the accused were interrogated on how well they practiced their religion and how devoted they were. The number of accused during the witch trials increased dramatically. The people of Salem were terrified of being falsley accused and not being able to defend themselves creating a mass hysteria. To say the least, the Salem witch trials were highly unfair. Those on the Stand were being accused of abstract issues or things that were unreal.

Posted by M on 10/15 at 7:49 pm (during class time):

One does not have to look deep to see the similarities in both John Proctor’s and Mohammed Mohammed Hassan Odaini’s ordeal in dealing with an inflexible and unfair justice system, even though their stories takes place over 300 years apart. The insight gained from Proctor and Odaini’s experiences is invaluable and teaches us that injustices such as those inflicted on Proctor and Odaini will continue to happen in the future. More importantly, it is up to us as a society to learn to recognize the signs of an unjust system and to confront it when need be to make our country and the world a better place to live in.

Works Cited

Miller, Arthur. The Crucible. New York: Penguin, 1995

Marian, Tori. “Growing Old in Gitmo.” Chicago Reader 4 Oct. 2007

<http://www.chicago

reader.com/pdf/071004/>

On 10/17 at 8:47 am, L posts the following, all of which is deleted in her post of 10/22. The highlight has been added. This posting is presumably the result of the group's work in class on 10/15. The highlighted word is the one change made to this text from the posts above. It is a change made by L on one of her paragraphs. A quick read will indicate that the editors (A and K) did not proofread this text:

GROUP ONE'S PAPER (all together)

1952 was a year of test and struggles for America. At a time when newspaper Headlines read ‘The First British atom bomb test’ and ‘US’ first Hydrogen bomb’ most Americans were in a state of alarm . In an attempt to escape reality and be entertained at the same time many took refuge in the arts such as memorable play writes. Arthur Miller wrote the play “The Crucible”, which was a historical production of the Salem witch trials. When the play first premiered in 1952, several critics thought that Arthur Miller used the Salem witch trails to spotlight many social injustices . Although “The Crucible” was originally intended to be Arthur Miller’s commentary on the McCarthy era in the 1950’s, the play and its themes are still relevant today. Now in 2007 many can relate to the social injustice brought on by the war on terror to those of The Crucible. In a recent article ‘Growing old in Gitmo’ reported by Marc Falkoff of the Chicago Reader, a prisoner, who two years ago was found not guilty of terrorist activities, was being held for an excessive amount of time in Guantanamo prison. Within the article there are striking similarities of social injustice between the prisoner, Odaini, and The crucible character John Procter.

In the case of the Salem witch trials, men and women were being accused of dealings with the devil and other supernatural events. Like the prisoners ofGuantanamo, they too were isolated and excommunicated. In Salem, the prisoners were kept in seclusion and some were even chained to the walls. During the Salem witch trials, the accused were interrogated on how well they practiced their religion and how devoted they were. The number of accused during the witch trials increased dramatically. The people of Salem were terrified of being falsley accused and not being able to defend themselves creating a mass hysteria. To say the least, the Salem witch trials were highly unfair. Those on the Stand were being accused of abstract issues or things that were unreal.

Michelle and Polly provided their feedback to students directly on the student's pages. However, Peggy and Suzanne set up separate pages for their feedback to each group. Here is the feedback they provided to this group on 10/18:

Feedback for Group 1

You have been working really hard on this and it shows. You have some really good and solid ideas and lots of material to work with. Here is some feedback to help you refine your ideas and tighten the paper.

Remember, this is not a summary paper. You don’t need to summarize the play in order to make your case for injustice (which I believe is your thesis?). Consult the guide on the Compare/Contrast essay format to help you create the structure of your paper. Work on editing out any information that does not directly support your thesis.
In the introduction, in addition to your thesis, add an attention grabbing sentence or two to draw in your reader…make the paper and thesis compelling.
Paragraphs 2 and 4 – consult the Compare/Contrast guide and edit out information that is not directly relevant to the thesis. Stay focused on one topic (the topic in each paragraph is really just a main idea that directly relates to the thesis) and the evidence you have to support that one topic. Each paragraph in the body of the paper can follow this same general rule.
A short transition paragraph between paragraphs 3 and 4 would bridge events of The Crucible and current events.
Paragraphs 4, 5, 6 see comments above. Your challenge here is to 1) keep information relevant and; 2) edit for simple, direct sentences.
Paragraph 7 – I think the power of your thesis is in this paragraph (This paragraph begins with “One does not have to look deep to see the similarities…” Move this up to the introduction. The info you have here is powerful and attention grabbing.

As you write and edit remember to: consult MLA style for use of in text citations and works cited page; quote any/all information where you don’t use your own words; proofread carefully for sentence structure and clear organization and “flow” of ideas and concepts.

Hope this helps. Feel free to email me at pstjohn@depaul.edu if you have any questions or concerns. I’ll be out of town Friday through Monday afternoon but I will be checking email occasionally.

Peggy

Posted by L on 10/22 at 5:02 pm. 10/22 is another class day, but apparently L does not make it to class as is indicated below. With this post, she deletes the draft above. Although L has used the wiki to revise text, she proposes using e-mail for the next round of revisions. The highlights here are original. L. seems to be using them to propose revisions based upon the feedback the group has received:

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

Hey guys sorry i havent posted for a while i've been really busy.

First i would like to say that im very happy with the progress on our paper so far, great job to all of you.

also after peggy and suzannes feedback i think we only have a few minor tweaks to take care of.

i will be sending an email with the paper attached, along with my revisions. what i hope to do is send it to one person, have them make their revisions, and have them send it to the next person. a chain so to say. please be expecting an email soon, keep in mind the outline below with revisions. thanx guys!

Intro: L

thesis. Comparing Salaam witch trials to The Guantanamo bay prison article.

a. brief summery of salaam witch trials

b. brief summery of Guantanamo prison

c. John Procter is like Gitmo prisoner

*add attention grabber*

Fist body paragraph: M

Salaam witch trials

a. How it started/mass hysteria

b. was everyone on board/supportive

c. the accused: John Procter

d Were there fair trails?

e. What evidence did they go off of?

f. end result

Second body paragraph: A

Guantanamo Bay prison and salaam prisons

a. why does this prison exist?

b. is this imprisonment justified?

c. are the prisoners given a fair trial/innocent until proven guilty?

d. the accused: Muhammad

e. what evidence are the holding him on?

f. end result, if any?

*compare the two*

Third body paragraph: K

John Procter and Muhammad

a. describe both characters

-their morals/same/different?

-their family situation/same/different?

-sticking to what you know is the truth.

b. compare their imprisonment

-fair/unjust

-cruel and unusual punishment

*compare the two*

Conclusion: Everyone

-Great job everyone

Posted by M on 10/23 at 2:45 pm:

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

Hey L. Missed you in class yesterday. Hope you are doing well. We had to meet in our repective group yesterday and come up with a game plan for our group paper. Even though our paper had a lot of good information, it was felt that the thesis still lacked focus; a narrow focus. We discussed several aspects that were similar between John and Mohammed. We came up with the fact that neither John nor Mohammed were allowed to face their accusors in front of a Jury of their peers. Here are some initial thoughts I came up with if we as a group decided to to lean in this direction to complete the paper.

1) Alter our thesis to so it speaks of ones right to face their accuser.

2) Compare John and Mohammed

a) Their crimes

b) Their accusers

3) Why is it important for defendents to face their accusors

a) The US constitution gives US citiezens this right

b) According to the Gitmo article, the US Sumpreme coaurt ruled that prisoners should be afforded this same right.

c) Why is this important to face accusers. So one can have a fair trial.

4) What happened bBecause John and Mohammed were not allowed to face their accusers

a)John Proctor is hung

Posted by M on 10/23 at 2:50 pm:

b) mohammed still in prison even though somein the system believe he should not be.

5) Conclusion, shat can we draw from by one not being allowed to face their accuser.

Information that I found that may be os some use:

http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/news/article/0,1299,DRMN_3_3530232,00.html

"Dispensing with confrontation because testimony is obviously reliable is akin to dispensing with jury trial because a defendant is obviously guilty," Justice Antonin Scalia wrote in the opinion. "This is not what the Sixth Amendment prescribes."

Defense attorneys are hailing the decision, issued last year, saying it protects a core right.

"Without a confrontation clause, an individual could be convicted on what someone else told the police months or even years earlier without having a pesky defense lawyer do anything to establish whether there was any truth to what was said. It goes to the very heart of a right to a fair trial," said Scott Robinson, a defense attorney who provides legal analysis for the Rocky Mountain News.

Sixth Amendment

Confrontation of Opposing Witnesses

A part of this Sixth Amendment right is that the defendant is entitled to be present at his trial. This right can be waived, but it takes more than absence to establish a waiver, as when the defendant “had been expressly warned by the trial court not only that he had a right to be present but also that the trial would continue in his absence” (Taylor v. United States, 1973, p. 19). The right can also be forfeited, as when a defendant engages in disruptive behavior.

trier of fact would lack “a satisfactory basis for evaluating the truth of a prior statement” (California v. Green, 1970, p. 161).

Another aspect of this right of confrontation is that the defendant is entitled to cross‐examine the witnesses against him. This right, like the right to be present, can be overcome only for compelling reasons. In Smith v. Illinois (1968), the Court held that a desire to maintain the confidential status of a police informant was insufficient reason to permit the informant to testify without revealing his true name and address. The right of confrontation also affords the defendant protection against the use of hearsay when the

-----

Let me know what you think. Everbody else for that matter. If this is the direction you want to go in, please give each of us an assignment and deadline. IF we need to meet over the weekend to complete our project, I ma available all day Sunday.

Thanks,

Note that with this post, M proposes a substantial revision that would more narrowly focus the paper.

Posted by A on 10/24 at 1:36 pm:

**********************************************

HEY GUYS ;

L I HOPE YOU ARE OKEY.

IF IT IS FINE FOR YOU I CAN START WORKING ON THE FOUR POINT. I WILL POST IT BY FRIDAY.

**********************************************

Posted by M on 10/25 at 3:44 pm. Although his proposed revision of 10/23 looks like it would generate a stronger paper, M drops the suggestion when none of his group respond to his ideas. Instead, he steps into L's role as manager by reminding everyone of what they need to do and giving them a deadline:

Hey group, I heard no feedback to my earlier sugestions from a day ago, therefore I am assuming it is the status quo and we are going with the original paper. L has posted what she expects everyone to cover. Following is a copy of that post:

Intro: L

thesis. Comparing Salaam witch trials to The Guantanamo bay prison article.

a. brief summery of salaam witch trials

b. brief summery of Guantanamo prison

c. John Procter is like Gitmo prisoner

*add attention grabber*

Fist body paragraph: M

Salaam witch trials

a. How it started/mass hysteria

b. was everyone on board/supportive

c. the accused: John Procter

d Were there fair trails?

e. What evidence did they go off of?

f. end result

Second body paragraph: A

Guantanamo Bay prison and salaam prisons

a. why does this prison exist?

b. is this imprisonment justified?

c. are the prisoners given a fair trial/innocent until proven guilty?

d. the accused: Muhammad

e. what evidence are the holding him on?

f. end result, if any?

*compare the two*

Third body paragraph: K

John Procter and Muhammad

a. describe both characters

-their morals/same/different?

-their family situation/same/different?

-sticking to what you know is the truth.

b. compare their imprisonment

-fair/unjust

-cruel and unusual punishment

*compare the two*

Conclusion: Everyone

Please have you updates in no later that Sunday by noon. This will give me a chance to go over the final draft prior to submitting the finihed version for a grade. Your input will be greatly appreciated. Following is the latest version of the paper as it stood last week.

Thanks, M

1952 was a year of test and struggles for America. At a time when newspaper Headlines read ‘The First British atom bomb test’ and ‘US’ first Hydrogen bomb’ most Americans were in a state of alarm . In an attempt to escape reality and be entertained at the same time many took refuge in the arts such as memorable play writes. Arthur Miller wrote the play “The Crucible”, which was a historical production of the Salem witch trials. When the play first premiered in 1952, several critics thought that Arthur Miller used the Salem witch trails to spotlight many social injustices . Although “The Crucible” was originally intended to be Arthur Miller’s commentary on the McCarthy era in the 1950’s, the play and its themes are still relevant today. Now in 2007 many can relate to the social injustice brought on by the war on terror to those of The Crucible. In a recent article ‘Growing old in Gitmo’ reported by Marc Falkoff of the Chicago Reader, a prisoner, who two years ago was found not guilty of terrorist activities, was being held for an excessive amount of time in Guantanamo prison. Within the article there are striking similarities of social injustice between the prisoner, Odaini, and The crucible character John Procter.

Mohammed Mohammed Hassan Odaini’s life and prison condition is strikingly similar to John Proctor. John Proctor was a wise man, known for his good reputation in and around Salem. He was not an extremist religious person and he understood what exactly was going on inSalem and how exactly the witch craft started. When he decided to confess of the witch craft, he was forced to accept that he saw someone else with the devil. If he denies that, his confession was put to question. Similarly, Hassan Odaini was interrogated several times with different allegations almost each time. He denied those all and he was never given an opportunity to prove his innocence. On one interrogation, he was blamed to be identified by one of the Al Qaeda Lieutenants, whose identity was not disclosed. He got a chance to prove his innocence when, in 2004, the Supreme Court ruled that the prisoners at the detention centers can challenge their detention in US courts. He was allowed to name the witnesses that would prove him innocence. He named about 14 out of which he was asked to choose only two and from those two the authorities brought only one witness and said other is not coming. He was a student in a university in Pakistan when he was arrested. He had decided to hang out with friends and sleep over in one of the friend’s house. Their residence was raided early in the morning and the Pakistan authorities handed him along with few others to the US authorities. When the authorities questioned his relatives, friends and neighbors about his character, there was similar answer and that was, he was a good person, who helped everyone around. This nature of his was evident when he convinced the seniors who do not know anything about the law to get a lawyer to help them. He was declared innocent two years ago and still, he is in jail suffering. Hassan’s nature and thinking is similar to John who always supported the good people of the town.

Posted by L on 10/26 at 11:12 am:

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

HEY GUYS SORRY IVE BEEN OUT FOR A FEW DAYS, THANKS M FOR KEEPING UP WITH THE POSTINGS, IM GOING TO CREATE A NEW PAGE FOR OUR PAPER WITH MY REVISIONS.

Posted by A on 10/27 at 8:12:

HEY GROUP , PLEASE LET ME KNOW WHAT DO I HAVE TO DO.....

L creates a new wiki page, titled "Group 1s paper." On it, she posts the following on 10/26 at 3:47 pm. The yellow highlights, which have been added, indicate where L has made revisions from the text posted by M on 10/25. There are no other revisions or postings on this page. Unless they e-mailed L suggested revisions, A and K seem to have disappeared from the revision process.

Because a broken internet connection could result in lost work if edits were not saved, it is not surprising that L and then M decided not to revise the paper on the wiki. A new version of PBwiki addresses this problem, but was not available when the students worked on this paper.

[Students' last names]

Sanders, St. John

English 101

26 October, 2007

Hung Alive In Gitmo

1952 was a year of test and struggles for America. At a time when newspaper Headlines read ‘The First British atom bomb test’ and ‘US’ first Hydrogen bomb’ most Americans were in a state of alarm . In an attempt to escape reality and be entertained at the same time many took refuge in the arts such as memorable play writes. Arthur Miller wrote the play “The Crucible”, which was a historical production of the Salem witch trials. When the play first premiered in 1952, several critics thought that Arthur Miller used the Salem witch trails to spotlight many social injustices . Although “The Crucible” was originally intended to be Arthur Miller’s commentary on the McCarthy era in the 1950’s, the play and its themes are still relevant today. Now in 2007 many can relate to the social injustice brought on by the war on terror to those of The Crucible. In a recent article ‘Growing old in Gitmo’ reported by Marc Falkoff of the Chicago Reader, a prisoner, who two years ago was found not guilty of terrorist activities, was being held for an excessive amount of time in Guantanamo prison. Within the article there are striking similarities of social injustice between the prisoner, Odaini, and The crucible character John Procter.

The Salem witch trials dramatized by Miller in The Crucible, started because of the untruthful testimony presented by several young girls to the authority figures in the town. The most damaging of the testimony came from Abigail Williams, the niece of Reverend Parris. Abigail, the girls, and the servant Tituba accused four Salem town folk of conspiring with the devil. They did this to deflect blame from themselves and avoid being accused of conspiring with the devil. they were scared of being accused because reverend Parris caught them in the woods, dancing naked and practicing rituals. At first, the citizens supported the trials and the convictions of those accused of witchery because they were the undesirables of the town. as the trials caught momentum and began to instill fear in the community, the Salem townsfolk began to accuse each other of witchery. Some did this to create an excuse for their own for their own personal faults. They found it easier to blame others for their own shortcomings rather than accepting their own faults. We see an example of this in the play when Martha Giles is accused of killing Walcott’s livestock by putting a curse on the pigs. Others accuse the townsfolk of witchery in order to benefit financially through the acquisition of land. This is clearly the issue when Thomas Putman’s daughter Ruth accuses Salem land owner Jacobs of sending his spirits upon her. If Jacobs is found guilty, his land is forfeited to the province and Putman being the only man of means in Salem to purchase the land will, certainly benefit from Jacobs’ downfall.

however things begin to change soon afterward when the Salem town folk began to fear the reach of the witch trials, as the accused were people much like themselves. One such town folk being John Proctor, an upstanding citizen in the community, a man of good character and moral fiber. A family man and a hard working farmer who did not have a problem expressing his own opinion when he saw unjustness in the community. It is this trait that led to his eventual undoing. When he tried to make a logical defense against his wife’s imprisonment and provide the true insight behind the young girls accusations, he was accused of trying to overthrown the court. he even went so far as to dishonor himself in the eyes of the court when he explained that he “had known” Abigail, confessing to adultery. although he provided a logical defense to the court, Proctor’s case as well as the other accused witches were ignored. Instead of promoting proper defenses of the accused, defenses were usually seen as an affront to overthrow the court. Those providing defenses would be arrested and detained for questioning to see if they were “just”. As a result, the townsfolk were afraid to speak out against the court. It is for these reasons that the trails were unfair, resulting in the deaths of many innocent town folk who were sentenced to hang.

Unfair trials are extremely common on the military prison in Guantanamo Bay. It first became a military prison in 2002. The GuantanamoBay naval base had been used in the past to house Cuban and Haitian refugees. Currently it holds men accused of conspiracy with al-Qaeda to commit terrorist attacks against the United States. much like the citizens of salaam the Gitmo prisoners are given unfair trials Since the U.S. war on terror began the number of prisoners are isolated from their family and most do not have access to legal help. They are being held based on fears by the U.S. government of another terrorist attack. The U.S. government feels it can keep the prisoners without a trial for as long as it deems safe, even if the evidence on which they are being held is weak or non-existent, much like the officials of salaam.

In the case of the Salem witch trials, men and women were being accused of dealings with the devil and other supernatural events. Like the prisoners of Guantanamo, they too were isolated and excommunicated. In Salem, the prisoners were kept in seclusion and some were even chained to the walls. During the Salem witch trials, the accused were interrogated on how well they practiced their religion and how devoted they were. The number of accused during the witch trials increased dramatically. The people of Salem were terrified of being falsely accused and not being able to defend themselves, which created mass hysteria. To say the least, the Salem witch trials were highly unfair. Those on the Stand were being accused of abstract issues or things that were unreal.

Mohammed Mohammed Hassan Odaini’s life and prison condition is strikingly similar to John Proctor. John Proctor was a wise man, known for his good reputation in and around Salem. He was not an extremist religious person and he understood what was going on in Salem and how the witch hunt started. When he decided to falsely confess to witchery, he was coerced to say that he saw someone else with the devil. If he denies that, his confession was put to question. Similarly, Hassan Odaini was interrogated several times with different allegations almost each time. He denied all accounts of terrorist activities and was never given an opportunity to prove his innocence. during one of several interrogation, he was apparently identified by one of the Al Qaeda Lieutenants, whose identity was not disclosed. Unlike John Proctor Odaini was given a chance to prove his innocence when, in 2004, the Supreme Court ruled that the prisoners at the detention centers can challenge their imprisonment in US courts. He was allowed to name witnesses that would prove his innocence. He named 14 people out of which he was told to choose two to testify before the courts. however authorities only allowed one witness to testify in court. When authorities questioned Odaini’s relatives, neighbors and friends about his character, there were striking similarities to the character of John Proctor. All of them said that he was a good person, an intelligent man who helped everyone around him. . He was declared innocent two years ago yet he still is suffering in jail. Hassan’s nature and thinking is similar to John who always supported the good people of the town.

M creates a new wiki page for this final version of group one's paper. Like this group, Michelle and Polly's students created a new wiki page for their final products. We believe this was both to make sure that their teachers did not get confused about which version was their final draft and to present their final work as a discrete product, independent of the messiness of the process in which it was produced. This page is entitled "Group 1 Paper Final Version." M posts this final draft on 10/29 at 2:31 pm. The yellow highlights, which we have added, indicate where M has made revisions from the text posted by L on 10/26. There are no further revisions to this wiki page.

[students' last names]

Sanders, St. John

English 101

29 October 2007

Hung Alive In Gitmo

1952 was a year of test and struggles for America. A time when newspaper Headlines read ‘The First British Atom Bomb Test’ and ‘US First Hydrogen Bomb’ causing many Americans to be in constant state of alarm . In an attempt to escape reality and be entertained at the same time, many took refuge in the arts, such as plays created by memorable play writes. One of them being Arthur Miller, who wrote the play “The Crucible”, a historical production of the Salem witch trials. When the play first premiered in 1952, several critics thought that Arthur Miller used the Salem witch trails to spotlight many social injustices. Although Arthur Miller intended for “The Crucible” to be his commentary on the McCarthy era during the 1950’s, the play and its themes are still relevant today. A recent article “Growing old in Gitmo” reported by Marc Falkoff of the Chicago Reader, relates a very similar story in tone to that of “The Crucible”. It tells the story of Odaini, a prisoner whom two years ago was determined to be not guilty of terrorist activities, but continues to be held to this day in the Guantanamo prison. Today in 2007, many can relate to the social injustice brought on by the war on terror to those of “The Crucible” by comparing the plight of John Proctor to that of Mohamed Mohamed Hassan Odaini.

The Salem witch trials dramatized by Miller in “The Crucible”, started because of the untruthful testimony presented by several young girls to the authority figures in the town. The most damaging of the testimony came from Abigail Williams, the niece of Reverend Parris. Abigail, the girls, and a servant named Tituba, accused four Salem town folk of conspiring with the devil. They did this to deflect blame from themselves since many thought they had been conspiring with the devil because Reverend Parris caught them in the woods, dancing naked and practicing unholy rituals. At first, the citizens supported the trials and the convictions of those accused of witchery because they were the undesirables of the town. However, as the trials reach grew further, they began to instill fear in the community. This in turn led the Salem townsfolk to accuse each other of witchery. Some did this to create an excuse for their own for their own personal faults since they found it easier to blame others for their own shortcomings rather than accepting their own faults. We see an example of this in the play when Martha Giles is accused of killing Walcott’s livestock by putting a curse on the pigs. Others accuse the townsfolk of witchery in order to benefit financially through the acquisition of land. This is clearly the issue when Thomas Putman’s daughter Ruth accuses Salem landowner Jacobs of sending his spirits upon her. If Jacobs is found guilty, his land is then forfeited to the province and Putman being the only man of means in Salem to purchase the land, will certainly benefit from Jacobs’ downfall.

However, citizens of Salem began to question injustice of the witch trials when those accused are people much like themselves. One such town folk being John Proctor, an upstanding citizen in the community, a man of good character and moral fiber, a family man and a hard working farmer who did not have a problem expressing his own opinion when he saw unjustness in the community. This trait led to his eventual undoing. When he tried to make a logical defense against his wife’s imprisonment and provide the true insight behind the young girls accusations, he was accused of trying to overthrown the court. He even went so far as to dishonor himself in the eyes of the court when he explained that he “had known” Abigail, confessing to adultery. Although he provided a logical defense to the court, Proctor’s cases as well as the other accused witches were ignored. Defenses such as these were usually seen as an affront to overthrow the court. Those that provided a defense would be arrested and detained for questioning to see if they were “just”. As a result, the townsfolk were afraid to speak out against the court. It is for these reasons that the trails were unfair, resulting in the deaths of many innocent town folk who were sentenced to hang.

Like Salem, unfair trials are extremely common at the military prison in Guantanamo Bay, which was built in 2002 to house those accused of conspiracy with Al-Quaeda and terrorism against the United States. The Gitmo prisoners have received unfair trials. The U.S. detention system has isolated these prisoners from their family, and many do not have access to legal help. They are being held solely on the U.S. government’s fear of another terrorist attack. The U.S. government feels it can keep the prisoners without a trial for as long as it deems it keeps the country safe, even if the evidence on which they are being held is weak or non-existent, much like the officials of Salem did to its citizens.

In the case of the Salem witch trials, men and women were being accused of dealings with the devil and other supernatural events. Like the prisoners of Guantanamo, they too were isolated and excommunicated. In Salem, the prisoners were kept in seclusion and some were even chained to the walls. During the Salem witch trials, the accused were interrogated on how well they practiced their religion and how devoted they were. The number of accused during the witch trials increased dramatically. The people of Salem were terrified of being falsely accused and not being able to defend themselves, which created mass hysteria. To say the least, the Salem witch trials were highly unfair. Those on the stand were being accused of abstract issues or things that were unreal.

Mohammed Mohammed Hassan Odaini’s life and prison condition is strikingly similar to John Proctor. John Proctor was a wise man, known for his good reputation in and around Salem. He was not an extremist religious person and he understood what was going on in Salem and how the witch-hunt started. When he decides to falsely confess of witchery, he was coerced to say that he saw someone else with the devil. When he refuses to name other, his confession was put to question. Similarly, Hassan Odaini is interrogated several times with different allegations almost each time. He denied all accounts of terrorist activities and is never given the opportunity to prove his innocence. During one such interrogation, one of the Al Qaeda Lieutenants, whose identity is not disclosed, apparently identifies him. Unlike John Proctor, Odaini was given a chance to prove his innocence when, in 2004, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the prisoners at the detention centers can challenge their imprisonment in U.S. courts. He was allowed to name witnesses that could prove his innocence. He was told to reduce this list to only two, out the fourteen people that he named originally, to testify on his behalf in the courts. However, authorities only brought one of these witnesses, to testify. Furthermore, when authorities questioned Odaini’s relatives, neighbors and friends about his character, there were striking similarities to the character of John Proctor. All of them said that he was a good person, an intelligent man who helped everyone around him. His good nature was evident when he persuaded the elders in the Guantanamo prison to take the opportunity of attorneys who were willing to help and explained others the legal processes. He acted like a liaison between the attorneys and the prisoners. Given the mounting evidence, the system that has detained Odiani has begun to feel his innocence. Even with this admission he still suffers in jail.

Even though their stories takes place over 300 years apart, one does not have to look deep to see the similarities in both John Proctor’s and Mohammed Mohammed Hassan Odaini’s ordeal in dealing with an inflexible and unfair justice system. The insight gained from Proctor and Odaini’s experiences is invaluable and teaches us that injustices, such as those inflicted on Proctor and Odaini will continue to happen in the future. More importantly, it is up to us as a society to learn to recognize the signs of an unjust system and to confront it when need be, to make our country and the world a better place to live in.

Works Cited

Miller, Arthur. The Crucible. New York: Penguin, 1995

Marian, Tori. “Growing Old in Gitmo.” Chicago Reader 4 Oct. 2007 reader.com/pdf/071004/>