More about John Proctor

Reading students' essays, I'm so fascinated by how they synthesize the material we read with their own experiences and corresponding points of view. This excerpt from a student essay on The Crucible by a student who is an English language learner (ELL/ESL) made me so proud of her. She understood and connected with the main character in a way that showed me not only how hard she'd worked to overcome language barriers, but also that she really made an effort to relate to him and understand the choices he made. I'm not saying this well--but yeah, her essay, and especially this line from her conclusion, made me very happy. “I admired John Proctor, because no one wants to die, because he didn’t maked the same mistake again with Abigail, because he preffered to save his name, and because after all, he had a stable family, and because he was the main character, and was a good man.”