The works listed will allow your students to further explore the theme
of When Fear Drives Mass Hysteria and other themes related to The
Bradbury, Ray. Exorcism, from The Collected Works of Ray Bradbury.
New York: Knopf, 1970. A short story about witches and magic in contemporary
Hawthorne, Nathaniel. The Scarlet Letter. New York: Viking, 1983.
The story of an adulterous woman ostracized by her Puritan neighbors
in colonial Massachusetts. (challenge)
Kafka, Franz. The Trial. New York: Schocken, 1971. The hero of
this story becomes the victim of unseen forces and is accused of unnamed
crimes. Kafka's book is a nighmarish look at the judicial process and
the mechanistic character of modern society. (challenge)
Hansen, Chadwick. The Salem Witch Trials. New York: Braziller,
1969. Scholarly examination of the phenomenon of persecution. (challenge)
Mather, Cotton. Wonders of the Invisible World. Amherst, WI:
Amherst, 1862. Cotton Mather is considered the leading theologian of
his era and was a central figure in witch trials throughout New England.
This particular book deals almost exclusively with supernatural matters,
and provides insight into the thought processes of those who sat in
judgment of Salem's "witches." (challenge)
Starkley, Marion. The Devil in Massachusetts: A Modern Inquiry into
the Salem Witch Trials. New York: Time, 1949. This book relates
the events of the Salem witch trials as a historical narrative. Starkley's
exploration of the psychological and political undercurrents in Salem
Village is particularly insightful. (average)