Journal #10 - Vocabulary Argument

Dear Mr. Langley,

It seems only relevant to postpone the vocabulary assignment until Wednesday for a variety of factual reasons that I hope you think about long and hard. First of all, junior honors students are enrolled in American Literature English. Topics that revolve American Literature are taught to students on a daily basis. Seeing that we are taking in a good majority of new information in such a short time span, we need every minute of class that is available for us to focus on the more relevant subject matter, which is American Literature. Never before in an English class have we been taught about Puritan writing and the types of writing that follow. On the other hand, we have been fed vocabulary quiz after vocabulary quiz from a very young age every year in English. Therefore, it is apparent that vocabulary is easier to learn and not as difficult to catch on to like Puritan writing documents. Before we move on to doing something we are uniformly used to, it only makes sense that a large portion of our time should revolve around the new material that is being exposed to us on a daily basis. Also, if you take a look at grades, our vocabulary grades are exceeding our normal day to day historical-English topic grades. Students in your English class this year are able to learn the vocabulary on their own, whereas it is more difficult to fully grasp the concepts presented through Puritan writing and other such American Literature subject matters. We are only required to learn seven vocabulary words per unit, but we are expected to understand a whole entire document that before this class, we had never been exposed to. I hope you understand what argument I have proposed, and rethink our vocabulary assignment's previous due date. It would mean the most to me and countless other students who feel the same as I do. Thank you, and have a fantastic day.

Sincerely yours,

Krista Duncan

Speech to the Virginia Convention - Reflection Blog

I think that Patrick Henry's Speech to the Virginia Convention is a very interesting piece of literature for a variety of reasons. For one, it demonstrates a magnificent example of the Rationalism period that was developing during the time. Another reason I found the document very interesting was the fact that it was a different type of reading from the boring Puritan writing that we have been reading in English. The tone of the story is very persuasive. I find it interesting that the speaker of the story used his talent to talk to his audience about the changes they needed to undergo. During the Rationalism period, people began to forget about the idea that God was working daily in their lives and watching over them. Society began to rationalize themselves and seek answers to questions regarding nature, science, and other topics of interest. In his speech, Patrick Henry uses a popular technique many speakers used during the Rationalism period. He persuades his audience to follow his ideas and theories, but then also backs them up. In one example, Henry uses this rational technique to change the President's mind. Throughout his argument, the speaker also uses repetition to get his logical point across. "Give me liberty, or give me death," (Henry 118). Here, Henry's forceful statement, telling the audience to "give" him this or that really enforces his persuading attitude. Patrick Henry sort of portrays himself as a "my way or the highway" kind of guy. Overall, using a rational approach to presenting ideas, which include persuasion and a repetitive tone, Henry connects logically and efficiently with his audience. This tone is completely different from Puritan writing, seeing that in that style of writing, people looked up to God as their almighty Savior. The Rationalism period really helped in getting people to think outside of the box. It gave them an opportunity to step outside of their realm of religious thoughts and beliefs. They were able to hear an opinion other than that of traditional ideas and form their own concept of life. This time period highly influenced many people, including that of Patrick Henry. His speech to the people of the United States is one of the more interesting of Rationalism documents in my opinion. Going back to Henry's quote, "give me liberty, or give me death", I believe these infamous words from a very notorious man highly reflect what society began to stand for back in the late 1700's.

I think that Rationalism writing is interesting to read, especially the primary source documents. I think that the new ideas that began to form were outside of the box ideas and it was interesting to see how the public reacted to the new thoughts. I am looking forward to reading more in the future.

Henry, Patrick. "Speech to the Second Virginia Convention." Comp. Jeffrey D. Wilhelm, Ph.D. and Douglas Fisher, Ph.D. Glencoe Literature. American Literature ed. Columbus: McGraw-Hill Companies, 2009. 113-118. Print.

The Crucible Act IV - Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God

When I first heard Joseph Edwards Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God, I was very scared. It was basically one of the scariest stories we have heard all year, which ironically is what Edwards wanted to do to his audience listening to his sermon at the time. I found his Puritan ideas and thinking to be very interesting. Looking back at The Crucible, people back then really needed a sermon like Edwards to keep themselves in line. They were ultimately going crazy accusing everyone and anyone that they are witches (Miller 48). Joseph Edwards sermon is something that the people in The Crucible needed to hear because their religious ideals and manners are being swept away by the crazy witch hunts going on in Salem.

Specific characteristics of Puritan writing include short and simple, to the point writings that are boring and pretty much dull. Well, The Crucible is definitely short and sweet, but it is not very boring and dull, in my opinion. The whole entire story started because of the decisions of a few girls in the woods playing fun and games. In Joesph Edwards Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God, he states that people are losing their sense of religious ideas. By scaring the people back in to the church, hopefully the madness of the time would stop happening and people could go back to living their happy little lives like they did before. In Edwards sermon, the only way for people to survive from going into the fiery pits of hell was to save themselves basically and act like a good little Christian fellow. Even back in society then, people acted weird and very irrational in times of dispute and corruption. It is interesting to see how crazy the people in The Crucible went. They accused innocent people of witchcraft, like Giles (Miller 52) and slowly killed him in an agonizing and painful death. That seems a bit dramatic in my opinion. Even though Joesph Edwards sermon was somewhat harsh with its idea on hell and whatnot, at least he did not go crazy and tell people to murder others who are not following Jesus the way they should be.

I was very interested in The Crucible. It was a very weird yet oddly interesting story. I have heard a lot about it in the past so I am glad I put myself through the torture of reading it and getting that out of the way. Joesph Edwards sermon largely reflects what occurred in Arthur Miller's story, so the two somewhat explain each other in an odd way. Puritan writing is very boring I think, but overall The Crucible and Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God largely kept my attention and I was able to thoroughly enjoy what I was reading. I hope we are almost done with this nasty Puritan writing and get on to the good Rationalism stuff. That seems way more interesting than some weird witch hunt that probably never happened in the first place.

Miller, Arthur. The Crucible. New York, NY: Penguin, 1996. Print.

Journal #9 - Being Rational

This weekend, my friend Rachel was very stressed and emotional because of her classes at school. She did not know what to do seeing that she was very far behind with homework and projects. I too had the same issue going on in my life, so it was easy to understand the situation she was faced with. It was sad seeing Rachel crying over school because I could completely relate to her issues. Rachel and I talked things over about what she was dealing with. She me to do all of the homework she has assigned on a daily basis. Her biggest trouble was English class. The teacher made sure students were busy almost 24/7. It was hard to catch up from homework if you were to get behind, The teacher assigned so much homework, it was extremely overwhelming for Rachel, and I agreed. We talked about what we might be able to do to make her homework load a little less stressful. The rational thing to do seemed to be to take a breather and make a schedule so she had time to fit in every class's homework. I completely agree with where Rachel is coming from. It is hard to balance family, friends, extracurricular activities, school, and everything else on top of life. It is hard to just be rational about things because you do not know if being rational will help or not. I really think that people who do not go through what you are going through have a hard time grasping exactly how you feel. Overall, Rachel and I were able to talk things out and see where we could make things less stressful for both her and I. I think being rational about things sometimes helps, but contrary to many teachers' belief, it is not always the easiest nor logical thing to do in stressful and emotional situations. I hope in the future people will understand more about what kids have to do in life.

Journal # 8 - Fall/Autumn

The only reason I like autumn is because my birthday comes at the start of Fall. I am very self-conceited. I love my birthday. I suppose I could say that I like the weather during Fall also. Once Fall starts, everything from there is so fun. Homecoming comes, which this year it is on my birthday. After Halloween, Thanksgiving break comes. I think this time of year is nice because little breaks come here and there, which is nice to catch up on things in life. I hate school this year. I used to be very motivated to get stuff done, but this Autumn has been really bad. I do not like the classes I am taking. Teachers wonder why I am so negative, well that is the reason. Another thing I guess I like about Fall is having bonfires when the weather gets nice outside. It is so much fun to have bonfire cookouts at night and stay out late just hanging with friends and family. This blog is hard to write about because there is very little I can think about that is positive right now. I really wish Fall was year round. I guess it is pretty to see all of the leaves change colors and see all of the deer and turkey running rampant in the fields again. You know me, I always find something negative in everything right? Well I kind of hate how it gets dark really early in the Fall. It makes me really tired. I guess I like that I get more sleep. My all-time favorite thing about Fall is the fact that my birthday is around that time of year. I know I mentioned it previously, but I seriously love my birthday. This year I will be seventeen, which means I can legally drive with more than one person in the car. I miss being little and doing Fall projects in school. I remember doing a whole leave unit during Autumn. Anyway, I cannot wait until the season in its prime. It is going to be so much fun.

The Crucible - Act III Human Nature

Ah, human nature. This aspect of literature is something I feel as if I grasp very well. Human nature tends to pop up in ultimately every piece of literature we read in school. Studying, analyzing, and applying the knowledge I know is always interesting, because I feel as if I am simply scrutinizing myself. In The Crucible, human nature is most evident throughout the play itself.
When someone is forced to endure a certain situation that is very difficult, their true colors (reference to last blog) tend to show. The characters in Arthur Miller’s play seem to show their true colors when they are pressed constantly about the witchcraft running rampant in the village. When people started to accuse someone of witchcraft, it seemed the cycle never ended. Nobody wanted to be the one’s accused, so to avoid this, people began to blame everyone else to keep themselves safe. This is yet another example of human nature. Humans will go to a very outward extent to protect themselves. In The Crucible, the girls denied on some occasions that they had nothing to do with the witchcraft. Soon, the accusations became too much, and they caved. Now, whether they actually did it or not, human nature is demonstrated to a very high degree at this point. Step 1: blame others to avoid being blamed. Step 2: when being accused in the beginning, save yourself as much as possible. Step 3: when the blame becomes too much, just admit to anything you are accused of so the accusations will go away. These three steps are very common throughout the entire play. Human nature has a way of repeating itself, and this is shown through the characters that end up taking the blame for things that they were more than likely innocent of.
John Proctor ends up confessing to his affair with Abigail, something that in itself was very reputable (Miller 110). Elizabeth attempts to save herself from prosecution by claiming that she is pregnant (Miller 92). Abigail goes on a rampage of names of those who she says were involved with the devil (Miller 48). These are all examples of the “Steps to Human Nature” in The Crucible specifically. It is interesting how Miller demonstrated this throughout the play. I think that the witch trials were merely a result of human nature in itself. People became very gullible, lives were destroyed, and in the end reputation became important.
We as humans have a way of doing things in a similar way, hence the topic of human nature. It is our instinct to save ourselves in situations such as the witch trials in The Crucible. People did what in reality, they thought was best.

Miller, Arthur. The Crucible. New York, NY: Penguin, 1996. Print.

Journal #7 - Bullying and Its Effects

Bullying is very unfortunate. It affects the person being bullied very negatively, and you always hear about people committing suicide or taking others' lives for being bullied all of their lives. It usually starts as soon as someone enters school. Once they are around their peers, kids tend to begin the phase of bullying that hopefully goes away once they mature. For the victim, they are usually forced to endure the bullying because sometimes they are not strong enough to stand up to the harsh words or even physical torment. At some point in your life, you will have to deal with bullying. Everyone is judged for who they are in society today, which is not fair, but it is just one of those things that come with growing up nowadays. Another example of an effect of bullying for the victim is an overall isolation for them because of constant self-esteem degradation. There have been countless studies saying that the emotional effects of bullying usually stick with people up into middle-age. I am not exactly sure what kinds of effects are put on the one doing the bullying itself. Depending on how heartless they are, there could possibly be some extent of guilt on their part. I have bullied my sister time and time again, and usually I feel really bad afterwards. For the kind of people who bully because of the negative things going on in their lives, little to no guilt is probably felt at all. They seem like the type of individuals who enjoy being mean to make themselves feel better. It would be really nice if we could completely do away with bullying, but for now the problem still runs rampant throughout society. I blame our rude and sarcastic generation for the overall increase in things like this certain subject matter. People need to grow up, shut their mouths, and realize what they say before they go and act on being a bully.

Journal #6 - Blaming the Innocent

When I think of blaming someone for something they did not do, I automatically think of the death sentence that a jury sentences to people who are innocent, but are accused as guilty. I have always wondered what would happen if after they were killed, someone found out the true story. A repercussion like that cannot be undone, therefore the consequences are fatal. It would really stink to be the person who was sentenced to death, who was in reality innocent, and could not stick up for him or herself because everyone else was against them. I know this topic has been debated for years and years. It seems like if I were ever on a jury that had to decide whether or not to decide the death penalty, I would drop the case if I could and run away from it. I always blame my brother if something is missing at home. I have many reasons to conclude why it would be him taking my stuff, but sometimes I end up being wrong. It is hard to admit when I am wrong, but in the end I realize that I would be pretty irritated myself if he accused me of something I did not do. I think the repercussion in that case would be my brother feeling angry or upset that I tried to blame him for a crime in which he was completely guilty. I never want to be on the other end of the stick when it comes to blaming someone for something they did not do. Unfortunately, I have been left on that other end, and I can say that from experience it does not feel good. Putting myself in my brother's position, my mom always accuses me of things that I have not done (when in reality it was more than likely my brother who did it in the first place). Getting accused for those kinds of things really hurt in the end because sometimes it is hard to prove yourself to your accuser.

The Crucible Act II - Character True Color Swag

The whole "true colors" thing to me is kind of annoying. Because I feel a blog is a great way to vent my true feelings, I believe before I go into a very far fetched analysis of important characters and their true colors, I should briefly state my opinion. Although the true colors quiz is merely a game, like that of one's horoscope, I believe it labels a person to a degree in which the individual ends of scrutinizing themselves, or thinking too much of the matter. Completely my opinion, I know. And now for the main event.

When I read The Crucible and began searching for clues to what color John Proctor may be, I had a hard time looking, until I read about him selling out Abigail as a "whore" and basically confesses his affair with the young woman. I believe Proctor is gold. A gold person tends to represent value and strength. For the Proctor to publicly admit his wrongdoing, and ruin his reputation in the town, is something very admirable that I believe deserves gold credit.

I think Abigail is one of the most simple characters so far in The Crucible. She is very easy to understand (could it be, another example of Puritan writing...). From the beginning, I was able to grasp that Abigail is a very carefree kind of character. She acts mostly like a child, very energetic and sort of immature. Sorry to all of you orange's out there, but I think Abigail's character represents orange. I also believe she represents somewhat of a blue character too, though. Mainly because of her simplicity throughout the story.

Mary Warren is the Proctor's servant. She came off to me as being a very strong gold character because of her dedication to not back down and stick up for what she says. Despite the fact that she was basically bossed around all of the time because of her social status, she made the best of her situation by having a very headstrong personality. In one example, Mary states that she is going to court everyday despite what her master tells her. I think this is very brave on her part. For one, Proctor could have really been angry and punish Mary. Who knows what the outcome could have been, but even still Mary sticks up for her beliefs and does not let people walk over her. I think this strongly represents a gold personality.

Finally, I think a very obvious color for Reverend John Hale is green with a hint of gold. He acts like he knows it all when it comes to witchcraft and he wants to be somewhat of a hero when he rids the devil from Salem. Green people are those people who do all the research and have to be right in their mind, while the gold people are more strong and in my opinion, cocky, people. I believe Hale represents these characteristics very efficiently because of his dedication (especially in the beginning of the story) to aid in the supposed witchcraft suspicion.

Overall, each color was well represented throughout what I have read so far in the story. Although I do not have time to blog about every character, I believe each one plays a vital role in the story's overall personality diversity.

Miller, Arthur. The Crucible. New York, NY: Penguin, 1996. Print.

Journal # 5 - Discispline

In the twenty-first century, parents use a variety of contemporary techniques to discipline their children. Back in the day, like the 1970's, parents legitimately grounded their kids. This included locking children up in their room and not hanging out with friends. That was a severe punishment for kids back then. In order to be with friends, kids had to actually be with them. Kids would spend hours outside playing, whereas now, they spend time on their computer, texting, and watching television. In today's society, kids can talk to their friends all over the country without even seeing their face. Texting and social networks have become key components in the lives of children and teens across the world. It would make sense now that parents are taking away technological devices because those are how people connect with one another. I think it is fair that things like cell phones are being taken away. If a parent sent their kid to their room, it would be more of an incentive to be bad because in almost every child's room nowadays there are computers, cell phones, gaming devices, and televisions. There would be no point to do a typical punishment of the 1970's in today's society because it would not be efficient at all. Sometimes cell phones and gaming systems need to be taken away anyway just to bring kids back to the realm of reality. It would give them a chance to go play outside, do homework, or even spend time with their family without having a cell phone glued to their face. In my opinion, I actually find it hard to discipline kids today because it is so easy for them to find something (most of the time technological) to entertain themselves. I think it will become even more difficult in the future, but who knows what will happen. Overall, things have definitely changed when it comes to how parents raise their kids. Society is changing rapidly, so it will only be a matter of time before we as a generation decide how we will change up traditional discipline and make it fit our current lifestyle.

The Crucible - Act 1

So far in the reading, The Crucible has been about a supposed witchcraft practice in the town of Salem. The people of Salem are very religious. All of the top officials are religious leaders, and most of the citizens hold a high regard to the church. This demonstrates a Puritan lifestyle because society in Salem was extremely centered on God. The Crucible highly reflects Puritan writing for a number of reasons. First off, like all of the other literature we have read so far in English regarding Puritan writing, God is always the main focal point of the Puritans. In a somewhat ironic and different way, The Crucible portrays God as being the center of people’s lives in Salem, but also demonstrates how to devil plays a significant role in certain “witchcraft” worshipping lives. In the opening scene of the story, Parris is praying at the bedside of his ten-year old daughter’s bed. Witchcraft is seen as something very degrading and sinful to the people of Salem. They believe anyone who participates in such nonsense is a worshipper of the devil. This is a good example of the Puritan writing of the time period, because in society today, witchcraft is actually a very popular topic. Back then, anything that had to do with the devil was considered terrible and extreme. Today, more and more people are beginning to follow witchcraft ideas, along with other nonfiction beliefs like wizardry. It has become very accepted nowadays for someone to be accepting of the devil, whereas back then, it was nothing but nonsense. This is an important part of the story’s Puritan writing because it demonstrates how society has significantly changed over the years. Another example of the Puritan writing style portrayed in The Crucible is the fact that it is stressed how bad it is that the church is no longer as popular as it was before the girls of Salem involved themselves in witchcraft. People were so caught up in the idea that girls in Salem were practicing witchcraft that their attention was hardly focused on church at all. In Act I, the girls decide they will not tell anyone what they did in the woods (drinking blood), but only tell the adults that they danced and that Tituba tried to solve the mystery of Ruth’s babies. The girls do not want to tell anyone what actually happened. I think that Betty eventually caves from guilt which then results in Parris finding out the true confession from the girls. I believe they decided not to tell the whole story in the beginning of what happened out of fear. Because Salem’s society was so firmly based on religion, they were more than likely scared of what the adults, and more importantly, God, would do to them in return. Puritan writing is very simple and straightforward. In The Crucible, no extensive symbolism or metaphors are used to entice readers. Because the story is set up as a play, it is easy for readers to understand what is going on between the girls and the citizens of Salem.

Miller, Arthur. The Crucible. New York, NY: Penguin, 1996. Print.

Journal #4

I remember when I drove to New York City last June for vacation. It took about sixteen hours to get there because I rode on a tour bus. The trip itself was not as bad as I think I had expected it to be. The most annoying part about it was the sleeping situation. We stopped a few times the whole way there, but other than that we slept on the bus. There were other people going on the trip since it was a tour of New York. I swear, there was like fifty old people. I unfortunately had to sit in front of really annoying old people that would not let me put my seat back to seat comfortably. I remember stopping to get dinner and it felt so good to stretch my legs and walk around. It was interesting to see the new places we drove to. Each new area we came upon was new and different in so many ways. I began to see places I never before had set foot on. I think it is cool to see how different one city can be from another. The best part of the trip itself was finding a way to entertain myself for sixteen hours straight. I could only think about one thing, and that was what the Big Apple would be like. I could not wait to experience walking down Time Square and watching Broadway plays. Even though I was extremely bored most of the way there, it was well worth the trip when we actually got to New York City. That trip was by far the best of my life. It was really depressing on the last day we were there knowing that I had to make the trip back to Illinois again on a hot and boring tour bus. The trip back was even longer than the trip there because I honestly did not want to go home. Overall, New York City was the best trip I have ever went on in my life.

William Bradford- Of Plymouth Plantation

William Bradford’s “Of Plymouth Plantation” is a very good example of Puritan writing style. It is short and simple, yet gives detail in a straightforward kind of way the experiences the Pilgrims had coming to America on the Mayflower. Bradford speaks of a “very profane young man” who basically tells the Puritans he wishes the worst upon them. The young man is told to be “cursing them daily with grievous execrations, and did not let to tell them that he hoped to help cast half of them overboard before they came to their journey’s end, and to make merry with what they had,”. Despite the fact that this young man is talking about wanting to throw the Pilgrims overboard, none of them react in a harsh way. This kind of mindset was extremely popular among the Puritans. They believed in staying calm and collected in difficult situations because they believed God would ultimately protect them and knew what was best for each individual. William Bradford says that God takes care of the profane man by giving him a disease which ultimately kills him, and ironically he was the first to be thrown overboard. Bradford’s writing style reflects greatly typical Puritan writing of the time period. To the Puritans, they believed God would be with them no matter what and protect them even in the darkest of times. Bradford and the other Puritans did not need to do anything about the harsh comments from the young man, because in the end they believed that God had a plan to get rid of the man in His own way. Bradford says in the end of the journal, “for they noted it to be the just hand of God upon him,” Even though disease ran rampant during times of travel, especially by boat back then, the Pilgrims believed God had given the man a disease that took his life. This kind of outlook on life was very common for Bradford and Pilgrims alike. Bradford does not include any illustrious symbolism in his journal. He says that he would like to record events through his writing in “a plain style, with single regard unto the simple truth of all things (page 14).” Like most Puritan writing, Bradford’s account was very short and simple. This happened, God saved them, and in the end everything was okay. Nothing needed to be elaborated because the Puritans had an answer for everything, and that goes back to God being their ultimate protector.

Although very short and sweet, “Of Plymouth Plantation” is a very interesting example of a Puritan writing style during Colonial Times. William Bradford simple tells what happens not too in depth but at the same time very informative. Writing styles such as this were popular during the time period because of the wave of Puritan colonization popping up all throughout society, so it was easy to understand and highly relatable. It will forever be considered a classic example of Puritan writing because of its illustrious meaning and overall Colonial significance.

Bradford, William. "Of Plymouth Plantation" Glencoe Literature. Ed. Jeffrey D. Wilhelm. American Literature ed. Columbus: McGraw-Hill Co, 2009. 14-15. Print.