Act IV has both Ben and I rivetted as we read on to see if John Proctor would hang, as Ben predicts. In this final act, Proctor asks his wife if she thinks that he should confess. He says that he's not holding out, like others, because of religious conviction but rather does so out of spite; he wants his persecutors to feel the weight of guilt for seeing him hanged when they know he is innocent. We analyzed the quote "How may I live without my name?" I have given you my soul; leave me my name!" After wrestling with his conscience for a long time, Proctor agrees to confess, but as the magistrates insist his confession be written, Proctor questions why and is told that it is to be hung on the church door. A lot of this act deals with Proctor's hesitation as he wrestles with his conscience, and we discussed what significance this bears. Finally, under pressure, we read how Proctor signs his name but snatches the sheet from the magistrate and refuses to allow him to nail the paper with his name on the church door. We ended today's session with Proctor tearing the confession in two and renouncing it. Ben asked to have the final one or two pages left unread until tomorrow, but he was sitting at the edge of his seat listening attentively as I read the climax of the scene out loud and waiting for the resolution. As Proctor tears up his confession, we noted that he finally decides he does have some decency within him, and it will be manifested in this final sacrifice. It was an interesting and engaging session and I was delighted to see Ben so readily engaged in the ways the author magnifies the play's suspense and the different ways the characters deal with the themes of righteousness, principle, honoring one's name, and willingness to sell one's soul to the devil in a fashion other than by witchcraft. We had a productive dialogue while examining how the structure of Act IV contributed to the play's climax.