Read the excerpt and answer the question.
abigail rises, staring as though inspired, and cries out. abigail: i want to open myself! they turn to her, startled. she is enraptured, as though in a pearly light. i want the light of god, i want the sweet love of jesus! i danced for the devil; i saw him; i wrote in his book; i go back to jesus; i kiss his hand. i saw sarah good with the devil! i saw goody osburn with the devil! i saw bridget bishop with the devil! as she is speaking, betty is rising from the bed, a fever in her eyes, and picks up the chant – the chant is echoed in the distant music of the dance in the forest – there is wind in the trees. betty, staring too: i saw george jacobs with the devil! i saw goody howe with the devil! parris: she speaks! he rushes to embrace betty. she speaks!
how does this interaction develop the later events of the play?
a. by inciting further hysteria
b. by involving more characters
c. by inciting joy in the characters
d. by involving the minister of the town

It is important to understand the context of the play itself when answering this question. Since this is an excerpt from "The Crucible," we know that it is a play about the Salem Witch Trials and it shows the hysteria that surrounded these events in US history. We should also make sure we understand that the stories of the girls here are fiction as the girls made up their afflictions because they did not agree with things that others were doing. By acting as if they were possessed and overtaken by a sickness, they were able to accuse others of being a witch and consorting with the devil, which was a crime in this time period.

With this in mind, we can use process of elimination to work through the answer choices to see which answer is best. A is a definite possibility as more characters become involved and create more hysteria throughout the town.

B is true, but doesn't make much sense overall. It doesn't prove anything about what the inclusion of more characters will accomplish.

C doesn't make much sense as the characters are not being joyful and what they are doing is not to incite joy. C is not an option.

D, much like C, is not a good option as it is not obvious that the minister is or is not involved.

Because of the breakdown we've just done, A is the best option because the more people that are involved in the farce, the more hysterical the entire town will become.