Purpose and Tone Exercise 4

Read each selection to determine the purpose and tone the writer conveys.

Witchcraft has a place in American history, and the New England seaport of Salem, Massachusetts, will forever be marked in history as the location of the Salem Witchcraft Trials. In the early 1690s, two young girls persuaded the local authorities that many of the townspeople were witches. Through bizarre behavior, they tried to prove the witches' power over them. Reports stated that blood spilled from the mouths of those cursed and that their bodies were twisted and contorted. A "witch hunt" literally began, and the outcome proved to be tragic. Nineteen people were hanged, and several others died after being imprisoned. Even the governor's wife was accused of practicing witchcraft before the hysteria came to an end. The New England community of Puritans had been convinced by young girls that the devil had come into their presence, and they believed it was their duty to eliminate those possessed of evil.