English Literature notes

The Crucible

Arthur Miller

“Man must shape his tools lest they shape him”.

Arthur Miller

Quiz#1

Arthur Miller-Life and works

1-Arthur Miller was born in Harlem, New York City on October 17, 1915. T F

2-Miller’s father, Isidore Miller, was an illiterate Jewish immigrant from Poland.

3-Augusta Barnett, Miller's mother, was born in Washington, but her father came from the same Polish town as the Millers. T F

4-Miller spent his boyhood playing football and baseball, reading adventure stories,

and appearing generally as a nonintellectual. T F

5-After graduating from a high school in1933, Miller worked in automobile parts warehouse to earn money for college. T F

6-To study journalism Miller entered the University of Michigan in 1934, where he won awards for playwriting. T F

7-After graduating in English in 1938, Miller returned to New York. T F

8-In 1940 Miller married a Jewish girl, Mary Slattery, his college sweetheart, with whom he had two children. T F

9-Miller's first play to appear on Broadway was The Crucible (1944). T F

10-Three years later Miller produced ALL MY SONS; it was about a factory owner who sells faulty aircraft parts during World War II. T F

11-Miller’s THE MAN WHO HAD ALL THE THE LUCK won the New York Drama Critics Circle award and two Tony Awards. T F

12-In 1944 Miller toured Army camps to collect background material for the screenplay THE STORY OF GI JOE (1945). T F

13-Miller's first novel, FOCUS (1945), was about anti-Socialism. T F

14-DEATH OF A SALESMAN (1949) brought Miller international fame. T F

15-DEATH OF A SALESMAN relates the tragic story of a salesman named Willy Loman, whose past and present are mingled in expressionistic scenes. T F

16-In 1950 Miller was named an "Outstanding Father of the Year", which manifested his success as a famous writer. T F

17-“All my sons”, which received Antoinette Perry Award, was an allegory for the McCarthy era and mass hysteria. T F

18-Although “All my sons’ ‘first Broadway production flopped, it become one of Miller's most-produced play. T F

19-In 1956 Miller was awarded honorary degree at the University of Michigan. T F

20-Miller married Marilyn Monroe in 1956; they divorced in 1961. T F

21-Miller's last play, FINISHING THE PICTURE, produced in2000. T F

22-In the 1990s Miller wrote such plays as THE RIDE DOWN MOUNT MORGAN (produced in 1991) and THE LAST YANKEE (produced in 1993). T F

23-In 2002 Miller was honored with Spain's prestigious Principe de Asturias Prize for Literature, making him the first U.S. recipient of the award. T F

24-Miller died of heart failure at home in Roxbury, Connecticut, on February 10,2006. T F

Quiz#2

The Crucible

The first act of crucible is subtitled as ______________.

(a) An Overtone

(b) An Overture

The first act is set in a bedroom at______ house in Salem in the year 1692.

(a) Reverend Samuel Parris

(b) Reverend Samuel Thomas

(d) Reverend Samuel Richard

“The crucible opens with Reverend Samuel Parris bending on his knees while Betty lie inert. T F

Tituba is a Negro slave who is bought from Barbados by Parris. T F

Abigail is a 17 year old niece of Parris. T F

Abigail tells ________ that Susana Walcott has arrived with the message of Dr. Griggs.

(a) Betty

(b) Parris

(d) Proctor

According to Susana the doctor has been unable to find any clue about the ailment of ________.

(a) Tituba

(b) Proctor

(d) Elizabeth

The doctor suggested to Parris that he should look to _________.

(a) Another doctor

(b) Herbal doctor

(d) Un-natural things

____________ tells her uncle that the rumor of witchcraft is sweeping Salem.

(a) Betty

(b) Abigail

(d) Liz

Abigail tells Parris that his house is packed with people who are waiting down stairs for his denial that his daughter is __________.

(a) Sick

(b) Not a good grip

(d) Bewitched

Parris tells ________ that he had seen her and Betty dancing in moonlight “ like heathen in the forest”.

(a) Tituba

(b) Abigail

(d) Catherine

Parris tells Abigail that while you and Betty were dancing, _________ was watching.

(a) Susana

(b) Liz

(d) Tituba

Parris presses______ to admit that you, Betty and Tituba were trafficking with the spirits.

(a) Liz

(b) Susana

(d) Abigail

Parris asked Abigail, why she was discharged from service at _________ home.

(a) William’s

(b) Elizabeth’s

(d) David

Elizabeth Proctor attends church so infrequently because she refuses to sit next to________.

(a) A bad girl

(b) A good girl

(d) Something soiled

Mrs. Putnam tells Parris and whispers that not she but Ruth and ________ had conjured spirits.

(a) Betty

(b) Catherine

(d) Susana

___________ is a tailor.

(a) John smith

(b) Ezekiel Cheever

(d) Giles

Ezekiel Cheever is made _________.

(a) Tailor

(b) Driver

(d) Court clerk

Giles Corey is a bent but still powerful man of ________.

(a) 81

(b) 82

(d) 84

Deputy Governor Danforth is a grave, stern man in his ________.

(a) Fifties

(b) Sixties

(d) Eighties

_________ is an old beggar woman.

(a) Betty

(b) Catherine

(d) Mercy Lewis

Reverend John Hale is an intellectual, self-searching man of________.

(a) Thirty

(b) Forty

(d) Sixty

Reverend John Hale is concerned with the power of the_____________.

(a) Man

(b) Woman

(d) Eunuch

___________ is a typical Salem Judge, bitter and remorseless.

(a) Hathorne

(b) Marshal Herrick

(d) John Proctor

Quiz#3

The Crucible

1. Abigail Williams lives with Reverend Parris because-----------?

(a) She is having an affair with him.

(b) She is his servant.

(d) She is his illegitimate daughter.

2. ____________is not condemned for witchery?

(a) Rebecca Nurse

(b) Giles Corey

(d) John Proctor

3. Reverend Parris wishes to spare Proctor because_______?

(a)He fears for his life if a respected man is hanged.

(b)He is convinced that Proctor is innocent.

(d)He wants to have revenge against Abigail.

4. "The Devil is precise; the marks of his presence are definite as stone." What is the significance of this line?

(a)It is a veiled threat that Reverend Parris uses against Proctor for opposing him.

(b) It is ironic, for Reverend Hale is using ambiguous marks to define the devil's presence.

(d) It foreshadows Giles Corey's death by stoning.

5. Which of the following did not occur during the dancing?

(a)Tituba attempted to conjure Ruth Putnam's sisters.

(b)Tituba attempted to conjure Ruth Putnam's sisters.

(d)Susanna Walcott murdered a frog and a rabbit for Tituba's spell.

6. "More weight." What of the following is not significant about this line?

(a)Elizabeth mentions this to John as he decides whether or not to admit to witchcraft,

serving as an example of a friend who sacrificed himself for a greater good.

(b)Giles chooses his death, sacrificing himself to spare others.

(c)Danforth erroneously believes that Giles will admit to witchery if placed under greater torture.

(d) Because Giles dies by refusing to answer questions, he is not excommunicated and dies a Christian.

7. Which of the following characters does not support John Proctor's decision to falsely admit to witchcraft?

(a) Reverend Hale

(b) Elizabeth Proctor

(d) Reverend Parris

8. Why do many of the accused admit to witchcraft?

(a)By admitting to witchcraft they guarantee that they will not be executed.

(b)By admitting to witchcraft they can accuse others of the same crime.

They are actually witches.

9. Which of the following is not a complaint that Proctor has against Reverend Parris?

(a) Parris wastes the church money on extravagant items.

(b) Parris demands too much compensation, such as the right to his house.

(d) Parris focuses on hell and damnation in his services.

10. "Your justice would freeze beer." To whom does this line refer?

(a) Thomas Putnam

(b) Elizabeth Proctor

(d) Reverend Parris

11. What grudge do the Putnams not have against the Nurses?

(a) The Nurses opposed the Putnams' choice for minister.

(b) Rebecca Nurse has never lost a child nor grandchild, while Mrs. Putnam has lost all but one of her children.

(d) The Nurses own land that the Putnams covet.

12. What does the commandment that Proctor forgets concern?

(a) Murder

(b) Blasphemy

(d) Adultery

13. "What victory would the Devil have to win a soul already bad?" What is the significance of this line?

(a) It shows that Reverend Parris suspects everybody of witchcraft.

(b) It foreshadows the eventual charges against respectable citizens such as Rebecca Nurse.

(d) It is ironic, for the speaker is a lost soul charging others with villainy.

14. What is the likely reason that Old Giles cannot say his prayers?

(a) He is easily frightened.

(b) He is forgetful and barely knows his prayers.

(d) His wife's reading blocks him from saying his prayers.

15. "Theology, sir, is a fortress; no crack in a fortress may be accounted small." What is the significance of this line?

(a) It shows the arrogance of the court in believing itself infallible

(b) It shows that Reverend Hale is invariably fixed on minor details.

(d) It shows the hypocrisy of Reverend Parris, who himself has major flaws.

16. "The Crucible" is an allegorical tale that relates most strongly to which contemporary event for Arthur Miller?

(a) The Holocaust

(b) The Nuremberg trials

(d) The Starr report

17. Which of the following is not evidence used by Hale against the Proctors?

(a) The failure of their children to be baptized.

(b) Mary Warren's poppet

(d) The Proctor's absence from church.

18. Which of the following is not matched to the person whom he/she accuses of witchcraft?

(a) Tituba: Sarah Good

(b) Ann Putnam: Rebecca Nurse

(d) Betty Parris: George Jacobs

19. Which character in the play is compared to Pontius Pilate?

(a)Thomas Putnam

(b) Reverend John Hale

(d)Reverend Samuel Parris

20. Which of the following is not matched to their motive for promoting the witchcraft trials?

(a) John Hathorne: superstition

(b) Abigail Williams: lust

(d) Samuel Parris: paranoia

21. What is the significant about Danforth's support for Proctor's confession?

(a)It shows that he will bend the rules whenever it suits him.

(b)It shows that he knows that there are no witches in Salem.

(c)It shows that he has turned against Putnam and Parris.

(d)It shows that his interest is in preserving the court and not in actual justice.

22. Which character proclaims that Abigail Williams should be "ripped out of the world"?

(a) Samuel Parris

(b) Elizabeth Proctor

(d) John Proctor

23. Which line best represents Elizabeth Proctor's view in the trials?

(a)"I cannot think the Devil may own a woman's soul when she keeps an upright way."

(b)"The shining sun is up, and them that fear not light will surely praise it."

(c)"If Rebecca Nurse be tainted, then nothing's left to stop the whole green world from burning."

(d) "Remember, until an hour before the Devil fell, God thought him beautiful in Heaven."

24. What is significant about Giles Corey's charge against Thomas Putnam?

(a) It illustrates the theme of the obscure division between public and private.

(b) It illustrates the theme of the novel of passing blame from one character to another.

(c) It is ironic, for Giles Corey is condemned for giving evidence that is hearsay, while equally invalid evidence is used to condemn persons for witchcraft.

(d) It is ironic, for Giles Corey charges Thomas Putnam with a crime for which Corey is guilty.

25. What is the significance of the line "before the laws of God we are as swine! We cannot read his will."

(a) This demonstrates Proctor's contempt for the intellectual abilities of men.

(b) This is ironic, for Danforth believes that we can read God's will, or else he would not condemn people for witchcraft.

(c) This demonstrates the change in Reverend Hale, for at the beginning of the play he believed that he could ascertain any supernatural phenomenon.

(d) When Elizabeth argues this, it shows that she does not want John to confess.

Quiz#4
The Crucible
1. What kind of government does Salem have in The Crucible?

(A) Democracy

(B) Theocracy

(D) Kleptocracy

2. What is Parris’s position in Salem?

(A) Governor

(B) Judge

(D) Bailiff

3. Before the play begins, what did Parris catch his daughter and other girls doing?

(A) Trying to run away from home

(B) Dancing in the forest

(D) Conducting a black mass in the church

4. Why did Elizabeth Proctor fire Abigail?

(A) Abigail was too proud.

(B) Abigail didn’t work hard enough.

(D) Abigail was having an affair with John Proctor.

5. As the play opens, whom has Parris asked to come to Salem?

(A) Judge Danforth

(B) Reverend Hale

(D) John Proctor

6. What is John Proctor’s chief complaint against Parris’s sermons?

(A) They focus too much on fire and brimstone.

(B) They are too long.

(D) They are too short.

7. What does Mrs. Putnam blame on witchcraft?

(A) Her husband’s cancer

(B) The death of seven of her children in infancy

(D) Raids by natives

8. Who is the first person that Abigail claims practiced witchcraft?

(A) Tituba

(B) John Proctor

(D) Mary Warren

9. In Act II, what does Mary Warren give to Elizabeth Proctor when she returns home from the trials?

(A) A cake

(B) A bonnet

(D) A little doll

10. What news does Mary Warren bring from Salem?

(A) That someone accused Elizabeth of witchcraft

(B) That the witch trials have ended

(D) That Reverend Hale is ill

11. Which commandment does John Proctor forget when Reverend Hale quizzes him?

(A) Thou shalt not kill.

(B) Thou shalt not commit adultery.

(D) Thou shalt not covet.

12. Whom do Ezekiel Cheever and Herrick, the marshal, come to the Proctor home to arrest?

(A) John Proctor

(B) Reverend Hale

(D) Elizabeth Proctor

13. To what does John Proctor convince Mary Warren to testify?

(A) That the girls are only pretending to be possessed

(B) That Abigail is a witch

(D) That he and Abigail slept together

14. Who is in charge of the court?

(A) Giles Corey

(B) Danforth

(D) Parris

15. Why will Elizabeth not be hanged if she is found guilty?

(A) Because she is a woman

(B) Because the Puritans do not allow capital punishment

(D) Because John Proctor is well respected

16. On what charge is Giles Corey arrested?

(A) Witchcraft

(B) Murder

(D) Slander

17. When Mary Warren testifies against them, what do Abigail and her troop of girls do?

(A) They all confess.

(B) They attack her.

(D) They claim that John Proctor has bewitched Mary.

18. What does John Proctor do, in a desperate attempt to foil Abigail?

(A) He tells the court about his affair with her.

(B) He accuses her of witchcraft.

(D) He tells the court that Abigail is a man dressed as a woman.

19. Who is brought in to corroborate John Proctor’s claims about Abigail?

(A) Elizabeth Proctor

(B) Rebecca Nurse

(D) Parris

20. What does Elizabeth do when called upon to testify?

(A) Keeps silent

(B) Tells a lie

(D) Kills herself

21. What does the court do with John Proctor?

(A) It frees him and sends him home.

(B) It orders him stoned to death.

(D) It arrests and tries him for witchcraft.

22. When John Proctor is facing death, what does Hale urge him to do?

(A) Kill himself

(B) Blame someone else

(D) Refuse to confess

23. Why does Proctor retract his confession?

(A) Because the officials demand that he sign his name to it

(B) Because Hale asks him to

(D) Because Abigail confesses

24. What does Abigail do at the end of the play?

(A) She kills herself.

(B) She flees Salem, after robbing her uncle.

(D) She is revealed as a witch.

25. What ultimately happens to John Proctor?

(A) He is freed.

(B) He kills himself.

(D) He is hanged.

Quiz# 5

The Crucible

_____________ is the incharge of arresting all of the accused witches.

a. Hathorne

b. Hopkins

c. Marshal Herrick

d. John Proctor

__________ is a jail guard.

Samuel Parris
John Proctor
Lewis
Hopkins

Mercy Lewis is ___________ servant, a fat shy girl of eighteen.

Hathorne’s servant
John Proctor’s
Abigail’s
Putnam’s

__________ is the kindly and wise wife of Francis Nurse.

Rebecca
Abigail
Mercy Lewis
Tituba

_____ is the ten year old daughter of Reverend Parris.

Betty
Abigail
Mercy Lewis
Tituba

_________ is hard stern man I his mid-fifties.

John Proctor
Reverend Samuel Parris
Judge Hathorne
Francis Nurse

Elizabeth is _________ wife, a good woman, straightforward and honest.

John Proctor’s wife
Reverend Parris’
Samuel Parris’
John Hale’s

__________ is a farmer in his mid-thirties.

Thomas Putnam
John Hale
John Proctor
Francis Nurse

________ is 45 year old vicious woman.

Mrs. Ann Putnam
Tituba
Betty
Elizabeth

Thomas Putnam is _____ husband.

Elizabeth’s
Tituba’s
Susana’s
Ann’s

________ is a Negro slave of Reverend Parris.

Susana
Abigail
Tituba
Elizabeth

Tituba is a native of _____________.

London
New York
Barbados
Antigua

_________ is a nervous and harried girl of about 16.

Betty
Susana Walcott
Abigail
Elizabeth

________ is servant of the Proctors.

Mary Warren
Elizabeth
Mercy Lewis
Tituba

__________ is orphaned, and a niece of Parris.

Elizabeth
Abigail
Tituba
Ann Putnam

In what year did the Salem witch trials take place?

a- 1692

b- 1693

c- 1694

d- 1695

What were Giles Corey's last words before he died?

a- More weight

b-Less weight

c- Right weight

d- Left weight

Years after the Salem witch trials, what did Abigail end up doing for a career?

a- Taxi driving

b- Prostitution

c- Cooking

d- Ticketing

How many people were executed as witches during the Salem witch trials?

a- 16

b- 17

c- 18

d- 19

Which convicted witch had sisters named Mary Easty and Sarah Towne Cloyse, who were also convicted?

a- Abigail

b- Rebecca Nurse

c- Tituba

d- Liz

Which famous author is a descendant of one of the judges in the Salem witchcraft trials?

a- T.S. Eliot

b- Nathaniel Hawthorne

c- Ezra Pond

d- Sylvia

Where is Tituba originally from?

a- India

b- Barbados

c- Nigeria

d- England

In what decade was The Crucible written?

a- 1940’s

b- 1950's

c- 1960’s

d- 1970’s

Who were the “witches” in the author’s time that he was writing about?

a- Fascists

b- Communists

c- Jews

d- Indians

________________________________________________________________________

Quiz#1

Answer Key

1-True

2-True

3-false

4-True

5-False

6-True

7-True

8-False

9-False

10-True

11-False

12-True

13-False

14-True

15-True

16-False

17-False

18-False

19-True

20-True

21-False

22-True

23-True

24-False

Correct answers

3-New York

5-1932

8- Catholic

9- THE MAN WHO HAD ALL THE LUCK

11-All my sons

13- Semitism

16-1949

17- The Crucible

18- The Crucible’s

21-2004

24-2005

Answer Key

Quiz#2

The Crucible

1- An Overture

2- Reverend Samuel Parris

3-T

4-T

5-T

6- (b) Parris

7-(c) Betty

8-(d) Un-natural things

9- (b)Abigail

10-(d) Bewitched

11-(b) Abigail

12- (d)Tituba

13-(d) Abigail

14- (c) Proctor’s

15- (d) Something soiled

16- (c) Tituba

17- (b) Ezekiel Cheever

18- (d) Court clerk

19- (c) 83

20-(b) Sixties

21-(c) Sarah Good

22-(b) Forty

23- (c) Devil

24- (a) Hathorne

Answer Key

Quiz#3

The Crucible

1-(c) She is his niece

2-(b) Giles Corey

3-(a)He fears for his life if a respected man is hanged

4-(b) It is ironic, for Reverend Hale is using ambiguous marks to define the devil's presence

5-(d)Susanna Walcott murdered a frog and a rabbit for Tituba's spell

6-(c)Danforth erroneously believes that Giles will admit to witchery if placed under greater torture

7-(b) Elizabeth Proctor

8-(b)By admitting to witchcraft they can accuse others of the same crime

9-(c) Parris reaches out for land at the expense of his neighbors

10-(b) Elizabeth Proctor

11-(d) The Nurses own land that the Putnams covet

12-(d) Adultery

13-(b) It foreshadows the eventual charges against respectable citizens such as Rebecca Nurse

14-(b) He is forgetful and barely knows his prayers

15-(c) It shows that any person may be suspected of witchcraft for any small fault.

16-(c) The McCarthy hearings

17-(c) John's affair with Abigail Williams

18-(d) Betty Parris: George Jacobs

19-(b) Reverend John Hale

20-(a) John Hathorne: superstition

21-(d)It shows that his interest is in preserving the court and not in actual justice

22-(b) Elizabeth Proctor

23-(a)"I cannot think the Devil may own a woman's soul when she keeps an upright way

24-(c) It is ironic, for Giles Corey is condemned for giving evidence that is hearsay, while equally invalid evidence is used to condemn persons for witchcraft

25-(c) This demonstrates the change in Reverend Hale, for at the beginning of the play he believed that he could ascertain any supernatural phenomenon

Answer Key

Quiz#4

The Crucible

1-(B) Theocracy

2-(C) Minister

3-(B) Dancing in the forest

4-(D) Abigail was having an affair with John Proctor

5-(B) Reverend Hale

6-(A) They focus too much on fire and brimstone

7-(B) The death of seven of her children in infancy

8-(A) Tituba

9-(D) A little doll

10-(A) That someone accused Elizabeth of witchcraft

11-(B) Thou shalt not commit adultery

12-(D) Elizabeth Proctor

13-(A) That the girls are only pretending to be possessed

14-(B) Danforth

15-(C) Because she is pregnant

16-(C) Contempt of court

17-(C) They claim that Mary is bewitching them

18-(A) He tells the court about his affair with her

19-(A) Elizabeth Proctor

20-(B) Tells a lie

21-(D) It arrests and tries him for witchcraft

22-(C) Confess, even though he is innocent

23-(A) Because the officials demand that he sign his name to it

24-(B) She flees Salem, after robbing her uncle

25-(D) He is hanged

Answer Key

Quiz#5

The Crucible

1-c-Marshal Herrick

2-d-Hopkins

3-d-Putnam’s

4-a-Rebecca

5-a-Betty

6-b-Reverend Samuel Parris

7-a-John Proctor’s wife

8-c-John Proctor

9-a-Mrs. Ann Putnam

10-d-Ann’s

11-c-Tituba

12-c-Barbados

13-b-Susana Walcott

14-a-Mary Warren

15-b-Abigail

16-a-1692

17-a-More weight

18-a-Prostitution

19-d-19

20-b-Rebecca Nurse

21-b-Nathaniel Hawthorne

22-b-Barbados

23-b-1950's

24-b-Communists

Miller’s Major Publications

HONORS AT DAWN, 1936
NO VILLAIN, / THEY TOO ARISE, 1937
THE PUSSYCAT AND THE EXPERT PLUMBER WHO WAS A MAN, 1941
WILLIAM IRELAND'S CONFESSION, 1941
THE MAN WHO HAD ALL THE LUCK, 1944
THAT THEY MAY WIN, 1944
SITUATION NORMAL, 1944
GRANDPA AND THE STATUE, 1945
The Story of G.I. Joe, 1945
FOCUS, 1945
The Guardsman, 1947
Three Men on a Horse, 1947
ALL MY SONS, 1947
DEATH OF A SALESMAN, 1949 (Pulitzer Prize)
An Enemy of the People
THE CRUCIBLE, 1953
A VIEW FROM THE BRIDGE, 1955
A MEMORY OF TWO MONDAYS, 1955
The Misfits (screenplay)
JANE'S BLANKET, 1963
AFTER THE FALL, 1964
INCIDENT AT VICHY, 1964
I DON'T NEED YOU ANY MORE, 1967
THE PRICE, 1968
IN RUSSIA, 1969 (with Inge Morath)
FAME AND THE REASON WHY, 1970
THE CREATION OF THE WORLD AND OTHER BUSINESS, 1972
THE ARCHBISHOP'S CEILING, 1977
IN THE COUNTRY, 1977
THE THEATRE ESSAYS OF ARTHUR MILLER, 1978
FAME, 1978
CHINESE ENCOUNTERS, 1979 (with Inge Morath)
THE AMERICAN CLOCK, 1980 (inspired by Stud Terkel's Hard Times)
Playing For Time, 1980
ELEGY FOR A LADY, 1982
SALESMAN IN BEIJING, 1984
SOME KIND OF LOVE STORY / EVERYBODY WINS, 1982
DANGER! MEMORY!, 1987
CLARA, 1987
I CAN'T REMEMBER ANYTHING, 1987
TIMEBENDS: A LIFE, 1987 (autobiography)
THE GOLDEN YEARS, 1987
'THE MISFITS' AND OTHER STORIES, 1987
Everybody Wins (screenplay)
THE LAST YANKEE, 1990
THE RIDE DOWN MOUNT MORGAN, 1991
GILLBURY, 1993
BROKEN GLASS, 1994
ECHOES DOWN THE CORRIDOR: COLLECTED ESSAYS 1944-2000, 2000 RESURRECTION BLUES, 2002
FINISHING THE PICTURE, 2004
PRESENCE: COLLECTED STORIES, 2009

                            Timeline Arthur Miller
1915 Arthur Aster Miller was born on October 17th in New York City; family lives at 45 West 110th Street.
1920-28 Attends Public School #24 in Harlem.
1923 Sees first play--a melodrama at the Schubert Theater.
1928 Bar-mitzvah at the Avenue M temple.   Father's business struggling and family move to Brooklyn. Attends James Madison HIgh School.
1930 Reassigned to the newly built Abraham Lincoln High School. Plays on football team.
1931 Delivery boy for local bakery before school, and works for father's business over summer vacation.
1933 Graduates from Abraham Lincoln High School. Registers for night school at City College, but quits after two weeks.
1933-34 Clerked in an auto-parts warehouse, where he was the only Jew employed and had his first real, personal experiences of American anti-semitism.
1934 Enters University of Michigan in the Fall to study journalism. Reporter and night editor on student paper, The Michigan Daily.
1936 Writes No Villain in six days and receives Hopwood Award in Drama. Transfers to an English major.
1937 Takes playwrighting class with Professor Kenneth T. Rowe. Rewrite of No Villain, titled, They Too Arise, receives a major award from the Bureau of New Plays and is produced in Ann Arbor and Detroit. Honors at Dawn receives Hopwood Award in Drama. Drives Ralph Neaphus East to join the Abraham Lincoln Brigade in Spain during their Civil War, and decides not to go with him.
1938 The Great Disobedience receives second place in the Hopwood contest. They Too Arise is revised and titled The Grass Still Grows for anticipated production in New York City (never materializes). Graduates with a B.A. in English. Joins the Federal Theater Project in New York City to write radio plays and scripts, having turned down a much better paying offer to work as a scriptwriter for Twentieth Century Fox, in Hollywood.
1939 Writes Listen My Children, and You're Next with Norman Rosten. Federal Theater is shut down and has to go on relief. William Ireland's Confession airs on Colimbia Workshop.
1940 Travels to North Carolina to collect dialect speech for the folk division of the Library of Congress. Marries Mary Grace Slattery. Writes The Golden Years. Meets Clifford Odets in a second-hand bookstore.   The Pussycat and the Plumber Who Was a Man, a radio play airs on Columbia Workshop (CBS)
1941 Takes extra job working nightshift as a shipfitter's helper at the Brooklyn Naval Yard. Writes other radio plays, Joel Chandler Harris, and Captain Paul.
1942 Writes radio plays The Battle of the Ovens, Thunder from the Mountains, I Was Married in Bataan, Toward a Farther Star, The Eagle's Nest, and The Four Freedoms.
1943 Writes The Half-Bridge, and one-act, That They May Win, produced in New York City. Writes Listen for the Sound of Wings (radio play).
1944 Daughter, Jane, is born. Writes radio plays Bernadine, I Love You, Grandpa and t he Statue, and The Phillipines Never Surrendered. Adapts Ferenc Molnar's The Guardsman and Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice for the radio. Having toured army camps to research for The Story of G.I. Joe (a film for which he wrote the initial draft screenplay, but later withdrew from project when he saw they would not let him write it his way), he publishes book about experience, Situation Normal. The Man Who Had All The Luck premiers on Broadway but closes after six performances (including 2 previews), though receives the Theater Guild National Award.
1945 Focus (novel) published. Writes Listen for the Sound of Wings (radio play). Writes "Should Ezra Pound Be Shot?" for New Masses (article).
1946 Adapts George Abbott's and John C. Holm's Three Men on a Horse for radio.
1947 All My Sons premiers and receives the New York Drama Critics' Circle Award, and the Donaldson Award. Son, Robert, is born. Writes The Story of Gus (radio play). Writes "Subsidized Theatre" for The New York Times (article). Goes to work for a short time in an inner city factory assembling beer boxes for minimum wage to stay in touch with his audience. Gives first interview to John K. Hutchens, for The New York Times. Explores the Red Hook area and tries to get into the world of the longshoremen there, and find out about Pete Panto, whose story would form the nucleus of his screenplay The Hook. Buys farmhouse in Roxbury Connecticut as a vacation home, and 31 Grace Court in the city.
1948 Built himself the small Connecticut studio in which he wrote Death of a Salesman. Trip to Europe with Vinny Longhi where got sense of the Italian background he would use for the Carbones and their relatives, also met some Jewish deathcamp survivors held captive in a post-war tangle of bureaucracy.
1949 Death of a Salesman premiers and receives the Pulitzer Prize, the New York Drama Critics' Circle Award, the Antoinette Perry Award, the Donaldson Award, and the Theater Club Award, among others. New York Times publishes "Tragedy and the Common Man" (essay). Attends the pro-Soviet Cultural and Scientific Conference for World Peace at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel to chair an arts panel with Odets and Dmitri Shostakovich.
1950 Adaption of Henrik Ibsen'sAn Enemy of the People premiers. The Hook fails to reach production due to pressure from HUAC. First sound recording of Death of a Salesman.
1951 Meets Marilyn Monroe for the first time. Yiddish production of Death of a Salesman, translated by Joseph Buloff. First film production of Death of a Salesman, with Frederic March, for Columbia Pictures. Inge Morath comes to America.
1952 Visits the Historical Society "Witch Museum" in Salem, to research for The Crucible.
1953 The Crucible premiers and receives the Antoinette Perry Award, and the Donaldson Award. Tried his hand at directing, a production of All My Sons for the Arden, Delaware, summer theatre.
1954 Asked to attend the Belgian premier of The Crucible, but unable to attend as denied passport by the US. First radio production of Death of a Salesman, on NBC.
1955 The one-act A View From the Bridge premiers in a joint bill with A Memory of Two Mondays. HUAC pressured city officials to withdraw permission for Miller to make a film he'd been planning about New York juvenile delinquency.
1956 Lives in Nevada for six weeks in order to divorce Mary Slattery and gets the material for The Misfits. Marries Marilyn Monroe. Subpoenaed to appear before HUAC. Receives honorary Doctor of Human Letters (L.H.D.) from the University of Michigan. Goes to England with Monroe and meets Laurence Olivier. Revises A View From the Bridge into two acts for Peter Brook to produce in London, England.
1957 Arthur Miller's Collected Plays published. Convicted of contempt of Congress for refusing to name names to the House Un-American Activities Committee. Short story "The Misfits" is published in Esquire. First television production of Death of a Salesman, on ITA, England.
1958 United States Court of Appeals overturns his contempt conviction. Elected to the National Institute of Arts and Letters.
1959 Receives the Gold Medal for Drama from the National Institute of Arts and Letters.
1961 Divorces Marilyn Monroe. Misfits (film) premiers. Recorded The Crucible: An Opera in Four Acts by Robert Ward and Bernard Stambler. Sidney Lumet directs a movie version of View From a Bridge. Mother, Augusta Miller dies.
1962 Marries Inge Morath. Marilyn Monroe dies.
1963 Daughter, Rebecca, is born. Jane's Blanket (children's book) published.
1964 After visiting the Mauthausen death camp with Inge, covered the Nazi trials in Frankfurt, Germany for the New York Herald Tribune. After the Fall and Incident at Vichy premier.
1965 Elected president of International P.E.N., the international literary organization, and went to Yugoslavian conference. Ulu Grosbard's Off-Broadway production of A View from the Bridge.
1966 First sound recording of A View From the Bridge. Father, Isidore Miller dies.
1967 I Don't Need You Anymore (short stories) published. Sound recording of Incident at Vichy. Television production of The Crucible, on CBS. Visited Moscow to persuade Soviet writers to join P.E.N. Son Daniel born.
1968 The Price premiers. Attends the Democratic National Convention in Chicago as the delegate from Roxbury. Sound recording of After the Fall.
1969 In Russia published (reportage with photographs by Inge Morath). Visited Czechoslovakia to show support for writers there and briefly met Václav Havel. Retired as President of P.E.N.
1970 One acts Fame and The Reason Why produced, the latter also filmed on his estate. Miller's works are banned in the Soviet Union as a result of his work to free dissident writers.
1971 Sound recording of An Enemy of the People. Television productions of A Memory of Two Mondays, on PBS and The Price, on NBC. The Portable Arthur Miller is published.
1972 The Creation of the World and Other Business premiers. Attends the Democratic National Convention in Miami as a delegate. First sound recording of The Crucible.
1973 Television production of Incident at Vichy, on PBS.
1974 Up From Paradise (musical version of The Creation of the World and Other Business ) premiers at the University of Michigan. Television production of After the Fall, on NBC.
1977 In the Country published (reportage with Inge Morath). Miller petitions the Czech government to halt arrests of dissident writers. The Archbishop's Ceiling premiers in Washington, D.C.
1978 The Theater Essays of Arthur Miller, edited by Robert A. Martin published. Fame (film) appears on NBC. Belgian National Theatre does 25th anniversary production of The Crucible, and this time Miller can attend.
1979 Chinese Encounters published (reportage with Inge Morath).
1980 Playing for Time (film) appears on CBS. The American Clock premiers at the Spoleto Festical in South Carolina, then opens later in New York City. TV film Arthur Miller on Home Ground ahown on PBS.
1981 The second volume of Arthur Miller's Collected Plays published.
1982 One acts Elegy for a Lady and Some Kind of Love Story are produced under the title 2 by A.M. in Connecticut.
1983 Directs Death of a Salesman at the People's Art Theater in Beijing, the People's Republic of China.
1984 Salesman in Beijing is published. Elegy and Some Kind are published under the new title Two-Way Mirror. Miller receives Kennedy Center Honors for his lifetime achievement.
1985 Death of a Salesman with Dustin Hoffman airs on CBS to an audience of 25 million. Miller goes to Turkey with Harold Pinter for International PEN. A delegate at a meeting of Soviet and American writers in Vilnius, Lithuania, where tried to persuade the Soviets to stop persecuting writers.
1986 I Think About You a Great Deal is published (monologue). One of fifteen writers and scientists invited to the Soviet Union to conference with Mikhail Gorbachov and discuss Soviet policies. British production of The Archbishop's Ceiling, with a restored script.
1987 One acts I Can't Remember Anything and Clara are produced under the titleDanger: Memory! Publishes Timebends: A Life (autobiography), which appeared as a Book -of the-Month Club popular selection. University of East Anglia names its centre for American studies, the Arthur Miller Centre. The Golden Years is premiered on BBC Radio. Television production of All My Sons, on PBS.
1990 Everybody Wins, a film based on Some Kind, is released. Television production of An Enemy of the People, on PBS.
1991 The one-act The Last Yankee is produced. The Ride Down Mt. Morgan is premiered in London, England. Receives Mellon Bank Award for lifetime achievement in the humanities. Television production of Clara, and an interview on A&E. South Bank Show television special on Miller.
1992 Homely Girl is published (novella).
1993 Expanded version of The Last Yankee premiers. Television production of The American Clock, on TNT.
1994 Broken Glass premiers. Interviewed on The Charley Rose Show, PBS.
1995 Receives William Inge Festival Award for distinguished achievement in American theater. Tributes to the playwright on the occasion of his eightieth birthday are held in England and America. Homely Girl, A Life and Other Stories is published (novella and short stories).
1996 Receives the Edward Albee Last Frontier Playwright Award. Revised and expanded book of Theater Essays, edited by Steven R. Centola is published.
1997 Revised version of The Ride Down Mt. Morgan is given its American Premier in Williamstown, MA. The Crucible (film with Daniel Day Lewis) opens. BBC television production of Broken Glass.
1998 Mr. Peter's Connections premiers. Major revival of A View From the Bridge wins two Tony Awards. Is named as the Distinguished Inaugural Senior Fellow of the American Academy in Berlin. Revised version of The Ride Down Mt. Morgan appears on Broadway.
1999 Death of a Salesman revived on Broadway for the play's 50th anniversary, and wins Tony for Best Revival of a Play.
2000 The Ride Down Mount Morgan appears again on Broadway, also a revival of The Price. There are major 85th birthday celebrations for Miller held at University of Michigan and at the Arthur Miller Center at UEA, England. Echoes Down the Corridor is published (collected essays from 1944-2000).
2001 Untitled, a previously unpublished one act written for Vaclav Havel appears in New York. Williamstown Theater Festival revives The Man Who Had All the Luck. Focus, a film based on the book, is released. Miller is awarded a NEH Fellowship and the John H. Finley Award for Exemplary Service to New York City. On Politics and the Art of Acting is published (essay).
2002 New York City revivals of The Man Who Had All the Luck and The Crucible. Inge Morath dies. Premier of Resurrection Blues. Awarded the International Spanish Award: Premio PrÌncipe de Asturias de las Letras
2003 Awarded the Jerusalem Prize. Brother, Kermit Miller dies on October 17th.
2004 New York City revival of After the Fall. Premier of Finishing the Picture.
2005 Miller dies of heart failure in his Connecticut home on 10th February. Memorial Services held in Roxbury and NY.