English Classes Online

Axis 1

Lesson 1 

Have a look at the picture and figure out the title of the unit.

Now, answer the questions:

  1. Memory challenge: look at the picture for one minute then describe it to your partner. See who can remember the most elements. 
  2. Focus on the characters and say what they are doing. Then make a connection with the title "Scottish witch hunt".
  3. Describe and analyse the colours.

=> In the foreground, two men wearing blue are holding a long fire spike and stocking the fire. On the left, 3 beings who look like women are aflame. They are wearing red and orange clothes. One is being seized by a monster which looks like a dragon. On the right, two children wearing white are entering a burning building. In the background, there is a group of three men who are visiting the place as if it were completely normal. And in the back, there is another blue man raising a sword to an orange-wearing, kneeling woman. 

The colours are contrasted: the cold colours (blue and grey) are attached to the men committing the atrocities whereas the persecuted are surrounded by warm colours. Only the children are wearing white, usually attached to innocence, but as they are girls, they are walking towards the fire. 

4. In your own words, give the definition of what a witch hunt is. 

Now, have a look at the vocabulary of the unit and the Unit Goals. 

Lesson 2

Read the text and answer the questions.

KING JAMES I AND THE WITCH HUNT LEGACY

Few monarchs have had the kind of dual legacy as King James VI if Scotland, who also became James I of England. Known for uniting the crowns, his reign is also notorious for an almost fanatical obsession with witchcraft. This wasn't just about fear it was personal, born from the storms of his childhood and societal unrest, leading to some of the darkest witch hunts history has seen. By the end, James had woven superstition and persecution so tightly into the cultural tapestry of his kingdoms that they're still felt today. [...]

The North Berwick witch trials from 1590-91 were a nightmare. Over 70 people were accused, with Agnes Sampson, a local healer, becoming the poster child for witchcraft. Under torture, she spun tales of meeting the devil and casting spells on the royal ship. James didn't just sit back; he got his hands dirty, interrogating the accused directly. His involvement was more than just governance; it was an obsession. [...]

James wrote Daemonologie, a kind of witch hunter's handbook, in 1597. [...] He claimed that women, because they were "weaker", were more easily drawn into Satan's snare, with Eve the biblical culprit he cited most. More than just a mirror of his beliefs, this book influenced how witches were hunted and punished, and it went on to inform not just Scotland but also England, instilling a culture of fear.

The Archives, Richar Clements, 2025

  1. Highlight the different events that took place during the reign of King James. 
  2. Underline the ways in which the king lastingly influenced the beliefs and laws of his country.
  3. What role did King James I play in the witch trials?
  4. What was the reason given for targeting mostly women?
  5. Read the Cultural Fact and explain why this witch hunt still has consequences today.

CULTURAL FACT

In 2022, the first minister of Scotland (Nicola Sturgeon) apologised posthumously to the people persecuted as witches in the case. As part of a current campaign to rehabilitate and commemorate the 500 women victims of the Witchcraft Act, a "Witches of Scotland" tartan was made in 2025.

6. Recap orally: how did the private beliefs of a king lead to a public witch hunt?

To help you, make a list of keywords you want to use in your recap. 

Now watch the video below and answer the questions.

  1. Say how the mass hysteria started. Then explain how Reverend Parris and Governor Phips contributed to the paranoia.
  2. Explain how Massachusetts compensated those accused of witchcraft in the past as well as more recently. 

=>

Lesson 3

Read the text, do the activity and answer the questions.

THE WITCH HUNT EQUATION

"Fear + trigger = scapegoat"

This compelling equation is displayed across an entire wall inside the Salem Witch Museum, a popular tourist attraction in Massachusetts, where I found more similarities than expected between 1692 and 2025.

The museum's mission is to be the voice of innocent victims of the historic witch hunt of 1692 in Salem, while also bringing awareness to the root cause of witch hunts and how they continue to impact our society today.

The age-old formula of fear-trigger-scapegoat is hardwired into our human DNA, dating back much longer than the late 17th century. It continues to play out today in our political landscape as perceived scapegoats get hanged, figuratively, by a torch-carrying mob of puritanical lunatics. 

"It is important to understand that witchcraft was a crime created and imposed on innocent people", the museum's website states. "No individual had the power to cause hailstorms, spread mass disease, or fly through the night to a gathering of evil beings. This was a crime imposed on innocent people during times of mass fear and hysteria".

Mass fear and hysteria. Sound familiar in 2025? Has the Salem Witch Trials taught us anything? Not enough, obviously. [...]

The museum's second exhibit, "Witches: Evolving Perceptions", explores the formula that describes the pattern of behavior responsible for sparking witch hunts, with examples from 1692 through the 20th century.

www.nwitimes.com, June 2025

  1. Place the correct elements given by your teacher in the table below.
 FEAR
TRIGGER 
SCAPEGOAT 
   
  1. Explain the witch hunt equation in your own words. 
  2. Identify the following information about the exhibits: location, purpose, recurring elements of witch hunts.

Have a look at the grammar point below.

Read the text and answer the questions.

JAPANESE INTERNMENT CAMPS

With the Japanese-initiated attack on Pearl Harbor, the United States was plunged into the midst of World War II. Nearly two months after the attack, President Franklin D. Roosevelt issued Executive Order 9066.

In an effort to curb potential Japanese espionage, Executive Order 9066 approved the relocation of Japanese-Americans into internment camps. At first the relocations were completed on a voluntary basis. Volunteers to relocate were minimal, so the Executive Order paved the way for forced relocation of Japanese-Americans living on the west coast. During the six months following the issue of EO 9066, over 100,000 Japanese-Americans found themselves placed into concentration camps within the United States. These concentration camps were called "relocation camps". [...]

EO 9066 was widely controversial. This order stayed in place until President Harry S. Truman signed Executive Order 9742 on June 25, 1946. EO 9742 ordered the liquidation of the War Relocation Authority and allowed Japanese-Americans to return to their homes. Many of the newly released Japanese-Americans returned home to find their belongings stolen or their property sold. 

Japanese-Americans who were returning home faced discrimination and prejudice from the civilian population. President Harry S. Truman, who was ashamed of these acts, paid tribute to the Japanese-Americans soldiers of the 442nd Regimental Combat Team. 

In 1988, President Ronal Reagan signed the Civil Liberties Act. The remaining survivors of the relocation caps were sent formal letters of apology and were awarded $20,000 in restitution from the United States government. Despite the actions taken by various presidents after the liquidation of the War Relocation Authority, many Japanese-Americans never felt closure. 

trumanlibrary.gov

  1. Highlight the sentences showing that:
    - the decision to forcibly relocate Japanese-American citizens did not get widespread support
    - a number of Japanese-American citizens fought the war alongside Americans
    - the problems did not end with the closing of internment camps
    - it took a long time for the Japanese-American citizens to get a form of compensation for their losses
  2. Would you say that an official letter of apology was a necessary gesture? Why (not)?

To finish, compare the illustration of the comic book Is this tomorrow by Charles M Schulz, 1942 and the painting from Lesson 2. 

Listen to the audio EN ATTENTE DE LA VERSION NATHAN and answer the questions.

  1. Pick out information about the historical context of the Red Scare. 
  2. Identify what people were mostly afraid of during the Red Scare. 
  3. Comment on what role fear played during the Red Scare.

Lesson 4 

Have a look at the cartoon below. Describe it and link it to the unit. 

Divide the class into two groups. Each group will read their text and answer the first question individually. Then, you will partner up with someone from the other group and answer the last questions together.

TEXT 1

Political terms tell us something about society and language. Words like "witch-hunt" take us on an illustrative - and sometimes illusory - journey through metaphor. [...]

"Witch-hunt" has had metaphorical and political currency for more than a hundred years. [...] In the 21st century, "with-hunt" has become the go-to metaphor for powerful people, especially men, evading scrutiny. The persecution of Harvey Weinstein led some, like Woody Allen, to claim a witch-hunt of Hollywood men was afoot. And, perhaps, most famously, Donald Trump - by his own account - is a prolific victim of with-hunts - wether through investigations of his business practices, his nominees to government positions or his practices as president. In short, there's a bit of blatant, moral inversion at work here. Witch-hunts left many thousands of victims in their wake - usually the less powerful at the hands of the powerful. Now, the powerful are invoking "witch-hunt" as a metaphorical and moral shield, and to claim victimhood.

theconversation.com

Howard Manns and Kate Burridge, 2023

  1. What key concept is defined in your text? Highlight relevant element. 

TEXT 2

We may have thrown away the pitchforks and replaced them with keyboards, but witch hunts are still very much as alive as they were hundreds of years ago.

[...] Dubbed "Trial by Social Media", online witch hunts work in very much the same way. The accused is identified, judged and condemned for an alleged transgression, ans subsequently exposed to the angry, accusing townsfolk. There is no fair trial. No chance to hear both sides of a story. No critical analysis and no following the evidence. Once the bandwagon has started, it is very difficult to stop. 

But online, where information can be disseminated across the globe in seconds, social media witch hunts put their offline equivalents to shame. To put it in colloquial terms, social medial witch hunts are witch hunts on steroids. They go quicker, bigger and reach more people than their namesake witch hunts ever could. Instead of having dozens of angry voices baying for your blood, you may have tens of thousands. And the noise can be deafening. For those on the business end, duck and cover is often the only reasonable response. 

While the accused is no longer burnt at the stake or drowned, the consequences can still be devastating.

thatsnonsense, Craig Haley, 2017

  1. What key concept is defined in your text? Highlight relevant element. 

2. Explain in your own word what you have learnt to your partner.
3. Together, discuss:
- Are these texts complementary or fo they oppose each other?
- Which text is best illustrated by the cartoon? Why?
- Read the Culture Spot below and explain the similarities and differences between a witch-hunt and cancel culture.

CULTURE SPOT

Cancel culture refers to the mass withdrawal of support from public figures or celebrities because of behaviour or statements considered offensive or unacceptable. 

To finish, do the vocabulary exercices.

Lesson 5 - Final Task

Write an article for Time Magazine presenting the portrait of an individual who was the target of a witch hunt.

In groups of 4, choose a number below and then follow the method.

  1. Joan of Arc

2. Dalton Trumbo

3. Sacco and Vanzetti

4. Yoko Ono

5. Jimmy Kennel

6. Stephen Colbert

7. The Lavender Scare