History and Mass Hysteria

... throughout the whole society. The Salem witch trials are often thought of as a simple case of epidemic hysteria, yet this was not the case. The witchcraft trials of Salem village were perpetuated because of other circumstances rather than hysteria. In order for mass hysteria to be proven and indicated, most if not all of the people of a certain area should be in fact "hysterical". However ... a common form of stress release. The witchcraft trials of Salem village were perpetuated because of other circumstances rather than hysteria. These circumstances support the idea that people were w...

• Word Count: 559
• Approx Pages: 2
• Grade Level: High School

... of "歇斯底里" in Chinese was in the translated version of "The Electrician and electrical engineer" v.06(Electrical Pub. Co., 1887). It said, "在此过程中, 集体尿床,或集体歇斯底里,虽然不可以原谅,但却可以理解/In this process, group bedwetting, or mass hysteria, although unforgivable, it is understandable". In this context, the word "hysteria" is more likely to represent the meaning of morbid excitement. Since the only ... further reference, what happened in this period was still a mystery. Since it is known that the history of "hysteria" in Chinese starts f...

• Word Count: 1679
• Approx Pages: 7
• Grade Level: High School

... The Communist "witch hunts" of the 1950s prompted Arthur Miller to write about the mass hysteria of the Salem Witch Trials in his play, The Crucible. Miller captured the paranoia and hatred of the 1692 Salem Witch Trials and made a controversial reference to his own society's Witch Hunts during the 1950s. Miller told us the stories of the lives of John Proctor, Elizabeth ... three years later, just 48 years old (196). The McCarthy era came to be known as a troubled time in our history. Many historians wonder what cause this mass hysteria. Growing Soviet nuclear capabilities and the par...

• Word Count: 2143
• Approx Pages: 9
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

... admit that he has found witchcraft, his willingness to attempt to discredit Proctor, Giles and Francis Nurse, and his abandonment of his morals when threatened with death and the executions of John Proctor and Rebecca Nurse. Reverend Parris holds off on declaring that witchcraft has been found, not to stop the mass hysteria that will engulf the town, but because he believes that the "faction that ... before the execution, she leaves Salem with Mercy Lewis. It is rumored that she turned up in Boston as a prostitute, having let her lust and sexual desire completely consume her. Mass hyste...

• Word Count: 2562
• Approx Pages: 10
• Grade Level: High School

... the American mass hysteria against communism in the 1950s. There are parallels between McCarthyism and the Salem witch trials in The Crucible; by examining the circumstances and details of both events they become evident. The cause of the mass hysteria in the play and in 1950 was an underlying foundation of uncertainty and a threat ... to their way of life. It led to the lapse of truth, rationalization, and justice. In 1950, Senator Joseph ... the town to believe that the devil has possessed the girls. The fact that the girls were practicing witchcraft throws the town into hysteria. Whe...

• Word Count: 1398
• Approx Pages: 6
• Grade Level: High School

... to tell us, without a frame of reference, without a setting based in history and social relations, they do not satisfy one who wants to understand China. For that one needs an understanding of Chinese history and society. The focus here is on the historical roots of the system, tracing the ... was needed. Under the KMT this stable situation was not achieved; if anything the decay in centralized control worsened. D. The Communist Achievement This chaotic history makes the accomplishments of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP; in Chinese: Zhongguo Gongchandang 中國共産黨) especially imp...

• Word Count: 9567
• Approx Pages: 38
• Has Bibliography

... of witchcraft. In a fifteen month period between 1691 and 1692 nearly twelve dozen people were accused of witchcraft in or near Salem (Norton, p8). Although witch trials were not uncommon in Puritanical New England, none had reached such epidemic proportions as Salem. In 1691 the mass hysteria began when several young girls dabbled in witchcraft and began acting strange. When villagers took notice the ... girls were seriously questioned and so they began naming people, mainly woman, who had supposedly bewitched them (Boyer, p66). Several other who had been accused ... deaths for the le...

• Word Count: 511
• Approx Pages: 2
• Has Bibliography

... be the beginning in anti-Asian sentiment. American miners in California felt that the overwhelming numbers of low-paid Chinese were reducing their wages. "Numerous mass meeting in the mining districts passed resolutions of protest against "unfair" competition"(Daniels 33). Not only did white laborers complain of "unfair" competition, they ... be able to return because of the Act of October 1, 1888 (Chan 60). The Exclusion Act lead to violence and mass expulsion which reached a peak in 1885. It caused many anti-Chinese mob riots, such as the one in November of 1885, anti-Chinese mobs rio...

• Word Count: 7032
• Approx Pages: 28

... newspaper under this view, it would view reading a newspaper as "attending a mass or a situation in which nothing new is learned but in which a particular view of the world is portrayed and confirmed." News is a historic reality, a form of culture that was invented by a particular class at a particular point of history. It was created largely by the middle class in the eighteenth century ... extremist Islamic terrorist. The Koran is quiet clear about the need for Muslim omen to dress modestly, covering their legs and arms and revealing only their hands and faces. ITS EFFECT UPON THE ISLAM...

• Word Count: 1545
• Approx Pages: 6
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: Undergraduate