Monday, September 12, 2011
Journal #6 Blaming
Blaming someone for something they did not do is really never a good thing. If I accuse someone of taking my pencil when they did not then they will be quick to defend them self. I would keep assuming that they stole it and think that they are a liar until I found the pencil. Then I would have to apologize for it, and they would probably accept the apology. That is probably the most typical situation of blaming someone for something that they did not do. It is much more problematic if someone blames someone else for something more serious. An example could be something like a bank is robbed and the police question a person. This person points to a guy, and says that it was him. This guy, in this situation, is completely innocent. Then it is possible that this guy has to go to court and be put on trial. He could then proceed to go to jail if he was the only suspect and there was more evidence of it. Just because one person hastily blamed this guy for robbing a bank he could be going to prison. Then the person who accused him would always have it on his conscience that he was the main reason that this guy is in jail. Whether the person thought the guy did it or not, he has made him a prisoner. This guy could possibly hold a grudge against his accuser also, and many more events could transpire from this. It is pretty easy to say that blaming someone for something they did not do is not a good thing to do. It could possibly ruin their life or at least give them some troubles. It could also change people's opinions about the person. I think everyone should do their best to refrain from wrongfully blaming people. It does not help anything, and it works completely against the justice system. People should never blame others for what they did not do.
Sunday, September 11, 2011
Reflection Blog: Crucible act 2
There are few characters in the second act of "The Crucible". Many of them are also of similar character and motives. As far as their true colors go most of them are similar, but just because they have the same color does not necessarily mean they have the same personality.
Mary Warren would probably have to be classified as a blue (Kalil). She acts in a way of emotion and drama (Kalil). This is also how her decisions are made. When she is asked a question she appears to reason with it based entirely on her feelings (Miller). After Proctor’s wife Elizabeth is accused of putting a needle in Abigail with the doll Proctor quickly tries to tell that it was Mary. Mary shows up and Proctor is accusing her in an almost angry manner. Mary is taken over by defensiveness and really just emotion. She does not want anything to happen to herself. At first she answers honestly, but later she seems to just be thinking of herself. When she is accused about the poppet she is very emotional, mostly frightened and bewildered, and she does not appear logical in any way (Miller).
John Hale is almost definitely a gold (Kalil). He is the expert on witchcraft, a subject that nobody else has much information on, so he thinks he knows everything (Kalil). Proctor and his wife are thinking more that there probably are not witches in Salem, but Hale says that there are definitely witches (Miller). It is almost like it does not even cross his mind that there is a possibility that there are not witches. If someone admits to being a witch he takes it as truth, not that they are simply confessing so they do not get hanged. He believes also that the court and the judicial system will handle everything, and that it will be the one to decide the witches. Because of this he thinks that they should not bother with trying to figure out who the witches are themselves, but the court can figure it out and they should just testify what they know. He is also not the most logical man, but he is not emotional. He just thinks there are certain things he knows to be factual (Miller).
Proctor is the man of logic. He is a green (Kalil). He gets angry at times, but he retains an intellectual opinion on most things that makes sense (Miller). This really makes him a typical green person. They are prone to react in an emotional way when under stress or something like the situation he is in (Kalil). It seems to be apparent that he does not believe in witches, but he will not admit it like his wife (Miller). He does not admit it because he is more logical. He knows that if he admits that he will be considered a non-Christian by Hale. He also cannot see how these people will so easily be influenced by others to believe that someone as Christian as Rebecca is a witch. Proctor is almost the voice of reason in this time of rampant accusations based on vengeance (Miller).
Kalil, Carolyn. "Carolyn Kalil's Personality Quiz." Follow Your True Colors. Web. 11 Sept. 2011.
Miller, Arthur. "The Crucible". New York, NY: Penguin, 1996. Print.
Mary Warren would probably have to be classified as a blue (Kalil). She acts in a way of emotion and drama (Kalil). This is also how her decisions are made. When she is asked a question she appears to reason with it based entirely on her feelings (Miller). After Proctor’s wife Elizabeth is accused of putting a needle in Abigail with the doll Proctor quickly tries to tell that it was Mary. Mary shows up and Proctor is accusing her in an almost angry manner. Mary is taken over by defensiveness and really just emotion. She does not want anything to happen to herself. At first she answers honestly, but later she seems to just be thinking of herself. When she is accused about the poppet she is very emotional, mostly frightened and bewildered, and she does not appear logical in any way (Miller).
John Hale is almost definitely a gold (Kalil). He is the expert on witchcraft, a subject that nobody else has much information on, so he thinks he knows everything (Kalil). Proctor and his wife are thinking more that there probably are not witches in Salem, but Hale says that there are definitely witches (Miller). It is almost like it does not even cross his mind that there is a possibility that there are not witches. If someone admits to being a witch he takes it as truth, not that they are simply confessing so they do not get hanged. He believes also that the court and the judicial system will handle everything, and that it will be the one to decide the witches. Because of this he thinks that they should not bother with trying to figure out who the witches are themselves, but the court can figure it out and they should just testify what they know. He is also not the most logical man, but he is not emotional. He just thinks there are certain things he knows to be factual (Miller).
Proctor is the man of logic. He is a green (Kalil). He gets angry at times, but he retains an intellectual opinion on most things that makes sense (Miller). This really makes him a typical green person. They are prone to react in an emotional way when under stress or something like the situation he is in (Kalil). It seems to be apparent that he does not believe in witches, but he will not admit it like his wife (Miller). He does not admit it because he is more logical. He knows that if he admits that he will be considered a non-Christian by Hale. He also cannot see how these people will so easily be influenced by others to believe that someone as Christian as Rebecca is a witch. Proctor is almost the voice of reason in this time of rampant accusations based on vengeance (Miller).
Kalil, Carolyn. "Carolyn Kalil's Personality Quiz." Follow Your True Colors. Web. 11 Sept. 2011.
Miller, Arthur. "The Crucible". New York, NY: Penguin, 1996. Print.
Thursday, September 8, 2011
Journal 5
I think it is a difficult task for parents to find a way to punish their kids these days. They cannot just simply hit their child like they used to, so they have to do something else. Children these days are kind of spoiled throughout a lot of the country, so one thing they do is take away privileged technologies that they have been given. They can take away their cell phone; they can take the computer; they can take video games; they can take TV; they can take anything, but it does not always work. A good punishment for me would be taking away my cell phone or something similar, but I can easily live without it. My cell phone is not a necessity. I will use it when I am bored or need to talk to someone, so I guess it would be an inconvenience not to have. I still do not think it is a harsh enough punishment if I did something that was really bad. At this point in my life there is really nothing my parents could do that would provide a proper punishment. I am more independent than a child and I could almost live on my own if I had an income of some sort. I am not sure what would make the best punishment for a child except for taking away something important to them. The problem with taking away something from someone my age is that they could have possibly been the one to buy the thing. The parent would not have the right to take it away in that case. I think that parents are kind of losing their power over their children. They really can't get away with making their kids do something in a lot of cases. The prime reason they have to make them do something is that they are living under the parents roof. This is hard to apply to someone older than me because they could move out of the house. Parents really need to come up with whatever punishment they can that will work.
Wednesday, September 7, 2011
Reflection Blog: Crucible act 1
Puritans established their religion to purify the Church of England (Divine). They had a strong belief in God; the providence of God; predestination in the form of the elect and the damned; and established this in the Massachusetts Bay Colony. Even though they came to the colony to get away from religious persecution they continued to persecute other religions. They exiled Roger Williams after he proposed radical ideas. One of his ideas was that man should not punish people for what they believe because that is the work of God. This is really the prime reason that he was exiled, but in "The Crucible" Mrs. Putnam provides the same idea while in Salem, Massachusetts (Divine). She says that she sent her child to learn from the slave Tituba (Miller). Rebecca is immediately horrified and questions Mrs. Putnam for sending her child to conjure up the dead. She replies by saying that God is the only one who should blame her (Miller). This is almost exactly why Roger Williams was exiled to Rhode Island. This is a sign that Puritanism is breaking down in the first act. Another representation of this denomination dissipating comes at the end. Abigail and Betty repetitively denounce multiple Bay Staters as people who worship, or were at least seen with, the Devil. This is probably going to lead to many problems with
Puritanism, and cause a large dishevelment between the people.
"The Crucible" is riddled with a display of Puritanism. It is basically correlated with religion in every single page. Juxtaposing Puritanism with "The Crucible" is very easy because of this speculation. The founding of Massachusetts was established by Puritans to be “the city on the hill,” where it would entail perfection for all people of this monotheistic society (Divine). Because of this everyone in Massachusetts, or more importantly Salem, was of the same religion and the same beliefs (Divine). The most interesting thing about this was that this made the society based more upon religious beliefs than logical beliefs. So when the idea that people were witches under the spell of the Devil came up, people simply took this as fact. It made sense to the people even though it seems like something that does not abide to anything that holds true today. They also cannot explain the phenomenon that is the illness coming about. Betty, the daughter of Parris, is stricken with some sort of affliction that the doctor can’t explain (Miller). She is bedridden and is in a sort of in a continually reawaking coma. She wakes up occasionally and performs weird acts such as trying to climb out the window. The cause of this illness is passed off as the Devil’s work. Betty and many other girls were out with Tituba, and they are dancing around while, for a reason that is not exactly clear, they drink chicken blood. Word of this got around, and everyone is filled with the idea that they are witches. With this idea and no medical diagnosis for Betty, they called in an expert on witchcraft. This man, Reverend Hale, tries to figure it all out. It finishes off with Abigail and Betty, at this point completely awake, slandering several others as people who are in cahoots with the Devil (Miller). This all appears to be a problem with the Puritan society because it should have some sort of logical basis instead of declaring everything that can’t be explained as the work of God or the Devil.
Divine, Robert A., T. H. Breen, George M. Fredrickson, R. Hal Williams, H. W. Brands, and Ariela J. Gross. America Past and Present AP Edition. Boston: Longman, 2011. Print.
Miller, Arthur. "The Crucible". New York, NY: Penguin, 1996. Print.
Puritanism, and cause a large dishevelment between the people.
"The Crucible" is riddled with a display of Puritanism. It is basically correlated with religion in every single page. Juxtaposing Puritanism with "The Crucible" is very easy because of this speculation. The founding of Massachusetts was established by Puritans to be “the city on the hill,” where it would entail perfection for all people of this monotheistic society (Divine). Because of this everyone in Massachusetts, or more importantly Salem, was of the same religion and the same beliefs (Divine). The most interesting thing about this was that this made the society based more upon religious beliefs than logical beliefs. So when the idea that people were witches under the spell of the Devil came up, people simply took this as fact. It made sense to the people even though it seems like something that does not abide to anything that holds true today. They also cannot explain the phenomenon that is the illness coming about. Betty, the daughter of Parris, is stricken with some sort of affliction that the doctor can’t explain (Miller). She is bedridden and is in a sort of in a continually reawaking coma. She wakes up occasionally and performs weird acts such as trying to climb out the window. The cause of this illness is passed off as the Devil’s work. Betty and many other girls were out with Tituba, and they are dancing around while, for a reason that is not exactly clear, they drink chicken blood. Word of this got around, and everyone is filled with the idea that they are witches. With this idea and no medical diagnosis for Betty, they called in an expert on witchcraft. This man, Reverend Hale, tries to figure it all out. It finishes off with Abigail and Betty, at this point completely awake, slandering several others as people who are in cahoots with the Devil (Miller). This all appears to be a problem with the Puritan society because it should have some sort of logical basis instead of declaring everything that can’t be explained as the work of God or the Devil.
Divine, Robert A., T. H. Breen, George M. Fredrickson, R. Hal Williams, H. W. Brands, and Ariela J. Gross. America Past and Present AP Edition. Boston: Longman, 2011. Print.
Miller, Arthur. "The Crucible". New York, NY: Penguin, 1996. Print.
Tuesday, September 6, 2011
Journal 4: Traveling
I have not done very much traveling in my life. It is mostly just visiting family members once or twice in a year. I have really never been out of the state without going to one of my family member's house. The only impact it could have on me is the impact that my family members have on me. I do not visit them very often. As I said I maybe see the rest of my relatives once or twice a year. My grandparents and one of my uncles live in Arizona; another uncle lives in Florida; and the rest of my family is pretty much just located in Chicago. I usually go to see the family in Chicago because it is closest and we will usually do our family reunions there. My travel experience is pretty weak compared to many people. I have been on a plane once in my life, and I have never left the country. I would like to visit other places around the world and absorb some culture, but there are many problems. I do not have the finances to take a plane and go somewhere foreign. I really do not have the time to do that either. I have school, so the only convenient time for travel would be a time we do not have school. I think the only time I would be able to travel to different countries would be in my older years. For now travel has had a minuscule impact on my life, but I would like to change that somehow. Hopefully in the near future I will see someplace that I have never been too. I have only been to Iowa, Minnesota, Arizona, and Wisconsin. That is something that I would like to change because one thing I am missing in my life's experience is that I have not seen many different cultures. I am used to the typical lifestyle that is the United States.
Monday, September 5, 2011
Reflection Blog: Bradford
The Pilgrims had many problems in their history, but they remained faithful to their Puritan beliefs (Divine). They originally had to migrate to the Netherlands because of religious persecution, and then they had to go to America because they did not want their children adopting the Dutch culture. They were headed for Virginia where they had the right to land, but they landed in Massachusetts. Before they even knew it they were already facing many problems. They had even lost roughly half of their people to disease. After settling in Massachusetts the Pilgrims would experience a harsh winter leading into what would be called the Starving Times. The Starving Times would be a horrific moment in Pilgrim history where some people would even resort to cannibalism. Even with all of these troubles the people remained true to what they believed (Divine).
Both passages from William Bradford are good representations of Puritan writing. In his first passage it tells of a man who is constantly swearing and cursing at others. He wanted to get rid of half of the passengers, and eventually he was stricken with a disease that would soon take his life. Bradford and the others would believe that he died by the hand of God. They believe that He took his life because he was not following the laws of God, and he was shaming the Puritan ideals.
The second passage is a more upbeat view on Puritanism. It deals more with thanking God for things than with God making others suffer for wrongdoings. From the time that they land near Cape Cod they are already thanking the Providence of God (Bradford 64). It is a strange thing because they have lost many companions and landed in the completely wrong place, but they still manage to thank their God. They are thanking Him because he has allowed them to reach land, but I think many people today would upset with their god if they were placed in a similar situation. Soon after this they are subjected to a unrelenting winter, and even in times of immense difficulty there are people who simply try to work to help others. These people are said to never receive the sickness that is tormenting many, and it is assumed by the people that it was the act of God. They think that because these people were helping others and doing what God would want them to do that this is why they do not get sick. After this they interact with the Native Americans. Squanto provides the Pilgrims with many services and teaches them many things, so he is considered to have been sent by God. Squanto acted as an interpreter to the Pilgrims, and along with this he also taught them to cultivate corn and where to fish. Almost everything that happened to the Pilgrims was just thought of as an act of God. They had made God out to be someone that could do nothing wrong. When something bad happened they were optimistic about it, and thanked God for even the smallest goodness that came out of it. Whenever there was something good it was a gift given by God for them being good followers (Bradford 64-67). It is amazing the impact that religion had on not just the Pilgrims, but on all peoples throughout history.
Bradford, William. "Of Plymouth Plantation." Comp. Jeffrey D. Wilhelm, Ph.D. and Douglas Fisher, Ph.D. Glencoe Literature. American Literature ed. Columbus: McGraw-Hill Companies, 2009. 64-67. Print.
Divine, Robert A., T. H. Breen, George M. Fredrickson, R. Hal Williams, H. W. Brands, and Ariela J. Gross. America Past and Present AP Edition. Boston: Longman, 2011. Print.
Both passages from William Bradford are good representations of Puritan writing. In his first passage it tells of a man who is constantly swearing and cursing at others. He wanted to get rid of half of the passengers, and eventually he was stricken with a disease that would soon take his life. Bradford and the others would believe that he died by the hand of God. They believe that He took his life because he was not following the laws of God, and he was shaming the Puritan ideals.
The second passage is a more upbeat view on Puritanism. It deals more with thanking God for things than with God making others suffer for wrongdoings. From the time that they land near Cape Cod they are already thanking the Providence of God (Bradford 64). It is a strange thing because they have lost many companions and landed in the completely wrong place, but they still manage to thank their God. They are thanking Him because he has allowed them to reach land, but I think many people today would upset with their god if they were placed in a similar situation. Soon after this they are subjected to a unrelenting winter, and even in times of immense difficulty there are people who simply try to work to help others. These people are said to never receive the sickness that is tormenting many, and it is assumed by the people that it was the act of God. They think that because these people were helping others and doing what God would want them to do that this is why they do not get sick. After this they interact with the Native Americans. Squanto provides the Pilgrims with many services and teaches them many things, so he is considered to have been sent by God. Squanto acted as an interpreter to the Pilgrims, and along with this he also taught them to cultivate corn and where to fish. Almost everything that happened to the Pilgrims was just thought of as an act of God. They had made God out to be someone that could do nothing wrong. When something bad happened they were optimistic about it, and thanked God for even the smallest goodness that came out of it. Whenever there was something good it was a gift given by God for them being good followers (Bradford 64-67). It is amazing the impact that religion had on not just the Pilgrims, but on all peoples throughout history.
Bradford, William. "Of Plymouth Plantation." Comp. Jeffrey D. Wilhelm, Ph.D. and Douglas Fisher, Ph.D. Glencoe Literature. American Literature ed. Columbus: McGraw-Hill Companies, 2009. 64-67. Print.
Divine, Robert A., T. H. Breen, George M. Fredrickson, R. Hal Williams, H. W. Brands, and Ariela J. Gross. America Past and Present AP Edition. Boston: Longman, 2011. Print.
Thursday, September 1, 2011
Journal 3
I think I would cope very well if I was in a hostage situation. I would probably try to do something that would be considered heroic to get out of it. I would try my best to fight my way out of it. I think I would be able to win a fight with my captor and win without much problem. I am of pretty good size, and I could most likely win a fight with someone close to my size. I am also pretty smart, and I should not have much of a problem thinking of a way out of a sticky situation such as this. I think it would be a very odd thing if I was held hostage in the first place. There is no reason that someone would want me as a hostage in the first place. I am sixteen year old male, so the only reason I would be a hostage is if I was maybe the nearest person if someone was trying to rob a place. But then I would try to fight off the person. The trouble would come if there was more than one person. I do not know how well I could fend for myself if I had to fight more than one person that is armed. I think I would try to put up a fight and do my best to win, but in all honesty that would most likely not work out very well. Two people are better than one especially if they have weapons. I think I would put my life at risk to attempt to save the others, but it really would not be worth it unless I could stop at least one of the captors. I think I could take one person out, but then the other would stop me. Hopefully another person could help, and we could stop the robbers. This is really all just a hypothetical situation, so I will not know what would happen unless I was actually in the situation.
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