Through the pulley lab, I used communication and collaboration skills when working with my partner. We worked together to follow the steps of the lab and carry out the experiment. After gathering our data, my partner and I collaborated to calculate our answers and ensure they were correct before both doing our own write-ups. We also collaborated on this aspect to ensure we were talking about the same things and made sure our answers were similar. I used communication skills to then reflect on the lab through the write-up, explaining the true purpose of the lab and how it pertains to what we were learning, as well as come up with a conclusion that shows our understanding of the lab and relevant topics.

               To fully understand characters within The Crucible and the intrinsic reasoning behind their decisions, one only must refer to Kohlberg’s moral precepts for explanation. This essay will examine several characters, all of whom are driven by values, whether their own or of a larger scale. It will explain their actions and the reasoning behind why they behave the way they do. Specifically, this essay will analyze pre-conventional, conventional, and post-conventional behaviour to unravel their personalities and understand their decisions.

               Within The Crucible, many characters act in a way that is categorized as pre-conventional. These characters are driven by the desire to obtain reward or avoid punishment. The first example of a character who is pre-conventional is Tituba. She is threatened by Reverend Parris and given the ultimatum of being “[whipped] to [her] death” if she does not confess to witchcraft. Tituba proceeds to confess to the crime, despite knowing that she was, in fact, innocent. This indicates that her fear of death was so great that she purposefully lied to avoid being punished. Similarly, Mary Warren acts in such as way as to avoid punishment. This is highlighted when she says, “Abby will kill me for saying that.” Like Tituba, Mary Warren’s fear of being punished was so severe that she intentionally avoided saying anything Abigail would not approve of. To avoid punishment so innately clearly indicates that she is a pre-conventional character. The final example of such a character is Abigail Williams. After stabbing herself with a needle, Abigail claimed it was “[Elizabeth Proctor’s] familiar spirit” that pushed it in. Although her behaviour may be seen as confusing and even concerning, it displays her intense reward drive and how far she is willing to go to achieve it. By framing Elizabeth Proctor as a witch and liquifying her competition, Abigail believes she will gain the reward of John Proctor in the end. Therefore, it is evident that there are many pre-conventional characters within The Crucible.

               However, just as there are pre-conventional characters within The Crucible, there are also conventional characters. These people are categorized as those who behave in a certain way to achieve group acceptance. An entire group of characters who display such behaviours are the girls. As Abby begins to repeat everything Mary Warren says, the girls are quick to follow as they cry out “Abby, you mustn’t!” Abigail is an older girl that many of the younger girls admire, so it is expected that they follow her lead to “fit in”. They want to be accepted by Abigail and thus, prove they are conventional characters. Another character who behaves in such a way to achieve group acceptance is Mary Warren. Although she did exhibit pre-conventional behaviour, she eventually decides to join the group as she proclaims to John that she’ll “not hang with [him]”. Mary Warren, having felt the immense pressure applied to her, subconsciously decided to go with the ways of the group as that is where she felt would be best. This desire for group acceptance is what also makes her a conventional character. Lastly, Ezekiel Cheever is another example of a character who displays similar behavior. After arresting Elizabeth Proctor, he states that he “must do as [he’s] told.” Cheever’s desire to be accepted by the court is so great that he’s willing to sacrifice his personal relationships, illustrating a conventional way of thinking. Considering all previous examples, many characters within The Crucible behave in both pre-conventional and conventional manners.

               Kohlberg’s final moral precept outlines the term post-conventional that some characters within The Crucible fall under. Post-conventional characters are those that have internalized their own system of values that remains uninfluenced by external sources. A major example of a post-conventional character within The Crucible is Giles Corey. Such behaviour is seen when he is being pressed for information, but instead of relenting and giving up, Giles Corey simply says, “more weight.” As an older individual who can be seen as “odd” or “quirky”, it is understandable that he has had many experiences that have shaped his values, in which he stands firm and unwavering. Another character who has also developed a strong foundation of values is Reverend John Hale. At the face of injustice, Reverend Hale announces that he would “quit this court”. Not wanting to take part in something so heinous that destroyed the lives of many, he steps back from his well-respected position as a member of court. This illustrates that he has internalized a strong sense of justice and is comfortable with going beyond what is socially acceptable if it does not fit his values. Similarly, a final example of someone who fits within this character type is John Proctor. This is shown near the end of the play when he proclaims that “God is dead”. Religion was incredibly important during the period in which The Crucible is set. He cannot accept that, if there were a God, he would allow such horrors to happen, thus his previous proclamation. This clearly illustrates how John Proctor has grown into a post-conventional character, comfortable standing behind his values and unafraid of the opinions of others. Therefore, it is evident that many characters within The Crucible fall under Kohlberg’s moral precept of post-conventional.

Kohlberg’s moral precepts are an excellent way to examine the characters within The Crucible and explain why they act in certain ways. Within his moral precepts, Kohlberg refers to three different character archetypes: the pre-conventional, conventional, and post-conventional. These are stages that everyone goes through as they grow up, beginning as a pre-conventional child to eventually developing into a conventional person. However, one does not lose the habit of making pre-conventional decisions once they have developed conventionality, instead fluctuating between the two based on circumstance. Post-conventional is special in how very few people reach this stage, and those that do very often develop the ability to be post-conventional well into their adult years. These stages have been clearly outlined previously through the dissection of specific characters, their personalities and the decisions that make them who they are, all with the purpose of further understanding human nature and the illogical situations that may occur.

Critical and Reflective Thinking

There are many qualities that I have that make me a leader. One example is collaboration, which I show through my work in the Cent Show, where I am often tasked with connecting and collaborating with various people throughout the school so that we can promote their endeavors. This involves a lot of messaging and emailing to ensure that we can give an ample amount of information that is correct and relevant. In a similar vein, a skill that I have developed due to this is strategic thinking. I often plan our scripts for the Cent Show ahead of time to minimize the amount of work while we’re filming. Together, we strategize new ideas to elevate the Cent Show to new heights and polish the rough edges so that we’re putting together a great show.

On the other hand, a quality that I would like to continue to develop is mentorship. Considering we are all graduating this year, we are planning on bringing in new people to mentor and guide so that their transition is a lot smoother when they are to take over the show. I believe that this will be a good opportunity for me to develop the quality of mentorship as I help the new recruits and give them the tips I’ve learned over the past year. This will come with a lot of changes, which goes in hand with a leadership skill that I want to develop: adaptability. I enjoy when things remain the same after having gotten into a routine and understand that things will change as we bring in more and more people. I want to develop this skill so that I won’t hinder any success as our routines change to accommodate for the new Cent Show members.

I believe that the Cent Show is a great example of my ability to work with others to achieve a goal. I wasn’t close with the other members of the Cent Show when we first started, but we all shared the common goal of continuing the legacy of the Cent Show and creating an entertaining news broadcast for the school. Despite the rough start, we learned alongside each other and took constructive criticism whenever it came, applying it to every episode to create the best show we could. Although it took a while, we achieved our initial goal, and now we want to continue to maintain our rhythm while elevating and evolving from what we already have.

My current inquiry question is “What studying method is most efficient for active recall and saving information into my long-term memory?” Previously, my inquiry question was focused around writing and presenting a speech. However, I didn’t qualify for the speech contest I applied to, so I decided to change my focus to Japan Bowl, which requires a great amount of memorization and active recall skills. This was related to my previous inquiry project, as I had to memorize a speech in a different language to be able to submit it.

My time management skills have been tested over the past few months as I’ve been preparing for the musical while balancing my academics. I usually use CENT time to work on my inquiry, but also have spent time at home to practice, especially due to the deadline for the speech.

Now, I have about three to four weeks to practice and study for Japan Bowl, so along the way I’ll be learning about how I can best memorize everything I need to know for the competition.

I’ve found that talking to my mentor teacher, as well as looking at articles online, have greatly helped with the development of my inquiry and my learning.

At the moment, my biggest challenge regarding my inquiry is the time restraint, as I only have about four weeks until the competition where my efforts will (hopefully) come to fruition. Even after the competition, I want to continue learning about how I learn best and trying out different studying techniques to help facts transfer into my long-term memory instead of being forgotten when I don’t need them anymore.

Through this inquiry process, I’ve had to rely on my communication skills heavily as I talked with my mentor teacher for my project. She greatly helped when it came to writing my speech, as well as giving me feedback, translating it and developing a new inquiry when I didn’t qualify for the competition.

The results of how well my inquiry worked will be shown during Japan Bowl, as that is when it is crucial for me to be able to remember everything I’ve learned. I’ll be putting in many hours to prepare for the contest.

I don’t believe that I’ll continue my inquiry or incorporate it into my Capstone as it is a very general inquiry that can apply to all of my classes.