Reflection- Analyzing Two Poems

The two poems that I chose to do were "Autumn" by Longfellow, and "April" by John Greenleaf Whittier. These two stories are both about seasons and I thought to myself that it would be easier to do a blog about two things that have the same meaning rather than do two completely different things. Also I found out that it would be easier to compare and contrast.

I will start with the comparing part. So for "Autumn" it was about the season and how the harvest moon would shine and how the farmers are getting ready for their crops. Here is an example, "Upon thy bridge of gold; thy royal hand Outstretched with benedictions o'er the land, Blessing the farms through all thy vast domain" (Longfellow 6-9). The other poem "April" looks like this, "In the wind-shaken elm or the maple is heard; For green meadow-grasses wide levels of snow, And blowing of drifts where the crocus should blow; Where wind-flower and violet, amber and white, On south-sloping brooksides should smile in the light, O'er the cold winter-beds of their late-waking roots The frosty flake eddies, the ice-crystal shoots; And, longing for light, under wind-driven heaps; Round the boles of the pine-wood the ground-laurel creeps," (Whittier). As you can probably see in both these poems they are both going into detail about nature. The Romanticism was a period of description and nature. Most of the poems in the Romanticism period had to do with nature and it being very descriptive. I find that one poem is definately more descriptive then the other. Anyway, another comparison between these two poems is the fact that they were in the Romanticism period. I know that that comparison is obvious, but it is one and it should be noted. The last comparison between these two is that they are both about seasons. One is about Autumn and the other is about April. Both go into great detail about each season and both were enjoyable to read.

Next is the contrasting part. Obviously the poem "Autumn" is about the season Autumn and "April" is more about the season April. The main differenc between these two is that "April" has more of a description with it and "Autumn" is more short and sweet. In the poem "April" it talks about how it can snow and how nice it can be like when it says, "Raw and chill, as if winnowed through ices and snow, All the way from the land of the wild Esquimau, Until all our dreams of the land of the blest, Like that red hunter's, turn to the sunny southwest. O soul of the spring-time, its light and its breath, Bring warmth to this coldness, bring life to this death;" (Whittier). The part that I would like to look at in this part of the poem is the last line. When he says, "Bring warmth to this coldness, bring life to this death;" (Whittier) he is basically saying April is the season that the weather changes, and it brings the life out of people, when they are not so cold. I look at both these poems and they show great similarities and the differences are that one poem seems to have a lot more description than the other, but yet they are still in the same period of writing.

When I was reading this literary criticism about John Greenleaf Whittier I found this, "The chief inconvenience of the isolation imposed by blizzards like the one made famous by his poem Snow-Bound was that it kept his parents from their 16 mile round ride to the meetinghouse in Amesbury and back on Sundays" (Huff). I found this important because I think that where he lived had an impact on his writing style. With all the blizzards that he had during his life in Boston, he must have done his poetry on the weather he had had when he was a young boy. Overall these two poems have a lot of similarities and a lot of differences but altogther they are both good pieces of poetry for the Romanticism period.

Bibliography

Greenleaf, John. "April by John Greenleaf Whittier." Poem Hunter.Com-Thousands of Poems and Poets. Poetry Search Engine. Web. 12 Dec. 2011.

Longfellow, Henry. "Sonnets. Autumn. The Belfry of Bruges and Other Poems. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. 1893. Complete Poetical Works." Bartleby.com: Great Books Online -- Quotes, Poems, Novels, Classics and Hundreds More. Web. 12 Dec. 2011.

Huff, Randall. "Whittier, John Greenleaf." The Facts On File Companion to American Poetry, vol. 1. New York: Facts On File, Inc., 2007. Bloom's Literary Reference Online. Facts On File, Inc.

Journal 20

I find that the poem Autumn that I just read basically the title speaks for itself. While reading this I was also putting into consideration the Romanticism period. While reading this I realized that he put a lot of description into this and the description was about nature and the farmers that are getting ready to get there crops. At one point in the poem he talks about the red sun which in my family and probably everyone else thinks it is also called the Harvest moon. I can relate to this poem because during Autumn there are farmers around my house all the time. It gets really annoying because when I head to school there are big farming equipment on the road and I get stuck behind them and for me it gets very annoying because I see it everyday. In the story it talks about farmers and them getting ready to farm there crop. The author talks how much of a beautiful time it is and how farmers are gearing up there oxes and getting ready to farm there crops. Like I said before during Autumn there are a lot of farmers out on the road and it can get really noisy. I actually have a friend that his dad is a farmer and whenever I go over there he is never there because during Autumn he is busy with getting his crops and making sure that he gets his field in shape for the coming winter. It said something in the poem that the farmers prayers attended, it is talking about or how I am interpreting this is that the farmers are praying for good weather and hope for a good season of growing crops. Overall this poem really does represent Romanticism with its very detailed and good coping with nature. It really does relate to my life and even though I do not like poetry that much I did enjoy reading this one.

Reflection- The Chambered Nautilus

The poem I read was "The Chambered Nautilus" by Oliver Wendell Holmes. At first I looked at this story as a shipwreck because I read the word Nautilus and thought Nautical which means out in the sea. Then I looked up Nautilus and it is "a shelled mollusk whose growth is only stopped by death" (Love). When I finally figured this out and I could understand this story. Also this story could be interpreted in so many different ways that not one person could be wrong. Which is very true while writing poetry.

In the first stanza of this story the author talks about how beautiful this nautilus shell is. He refers is to "This is the ship of pearl, which, poets feign/The venturous bark that flings, On the sweet summer wind its purpled wings" (Holmes 1-4). This is an example as to how Holmes described this beautiful shell. Especially when he said "This is the ship of pearl, which, poets feign," (Holmes 1), it's talking about the inside of the shell and how it is all shiny and how it is pretty. Which brings me to how this poem relates to Romanticism. Romanticism was a time of nature, and very good details. In this poem it shows a great example of description and nature. Like the lines I just showed you, they are talking about how beautiful this nautilus shell is. They are talking about how beautiful life can be just like the nautilus that used to live in this shell. Also I liked how Holmes went into a lot of detail about this shell.

I think that this poem also has a meaningful theme too it. That would be that just like this nautical shell, life will grow and change. People will change, nature will change, overall life will change. This shell according to the finder of it talks about different journey's that it went on. Like when he says that "Than ever Triton blew from wreathed horn! While on mine ear it rings, Through the deep caves of thought I hear a voice that sings:" (Holmes 26-28). This is basically saying that Triton, who was a mythology character, blew into this shell. Stuff like this is what makes Holmes a great example as to what the Romanticism period was all about. In my lines above which are located in the first stanza he puts in a lot of creativity into those first words which also makes him a writer of the Romanticism period because the period had a lot of creativity put into it.

In Huff's criticism he wrote, "The specimen before him has had its shell "rent" and "its sunsless crypt unsealed;" a metaphor inviting comparison with human architecture" (Huff). I find it interesting that he said that the metaphor in this poem was like human architecture. Which is true because of all the detail Holmes put in. Another important quote from Huff's criticism was "The moral is to keep growing spiritually"(Huff). To end this blog I find it interesting to see on how other people interpreted this poem.

Bibliography

Huff, Randall. "'The Chambered Nautilus'." The Facts On File Companion to American Poetry, vol. 1. New York: Facts On File, Inc., 2007. Bloom's Literary Reference Online. Facts On File, Inc.

Love, C. "'The Chambered Nautilus'." In Barney, Brett, and Lisa Paddock, eds. Encyclopedia of American Literature: The Age of Romanticism and Realism, 1816–1895, vol. 2, Revised Edition. New York: Facts On File, Inc., 2008. Bloom's Literary Reference Online. Facts On File, Inc.

Holmes, Oliver W. "801. The Chambered Nautilus. Oliver Wendell Holmes. 1909-14. English Poetry III: From Tennyson to Whitman. The Harvard Classics." Bartleby.com: Great Books Online -- Quotes, Poems, Novels, Classics and Hundreds More. Web. 07 Dec. 2011.

Reflection-Irving

I just read the stories Rip Van Winkle and The Devil and Tom Walker. Both these stories had to deal a lot with the Romanticism period and nature. Just like Irving wrote in The Devil and Tom Walker, "On one side of this inlet is a beautiful dark grove; on the opposite side the land rises, on which grow a few scattered oaks of great age and immense size" (Irving 242). This shows how a great deal of his story he threw in a lot of detail about nature. When I was reading The Devil and Tom Walker I realized that Tom Walker is a greedy man. His reputation around town is that he is a greedy man. His wife is nothing but the same from him. They seem perfect for each other, but it's everything but love. They keep secrets from each other and do not tell each other anything. When Irving wrote, "The house and its inmates had altogether a bad name. Tom's wife was a tall termagant, fierce of temper, loud of tongue, and strong of arm. Her voice was often heard in wordy warfare with her husband, and his face sometimes showed signs that their conflicts were not confined to words" (Irving 242). This just shows how much they do not like each other throughout this first part of the story. It turns out that the wife sells her soul for nothing and now Tom does not even care that she is gone. All Tom cares about is finding the treasures and valuables that his wife took with her. To find out about the treasures and valuables that his wife took with her he decides to make a deal with the devil. So he basically scams people his whole life and then in his twilight years he tries to beat the devil, but loses and gets taken away. Overall this books theme is about greedy. People being greedy these modern times are skyrocketing. People want more and more of something even if they have enough to satisfy themselves. That is what it seems like with Tom Walker. He and his wife are very greedy and they both get taken by the devil. Being greedy never gets you anywhere in life. Anyway, you can tell that this story was written in the Romanticism period because of all the great detail that was put in it. When Irving wrote in The Devil and Tom Walker, "It was full of pits and quagmires, partly covered with weeds and mosses, where the green surface often betrayed the traveler into a gulf of black, smothering mud; there were also dark and stagnant pools, the abodes of the tadpole, the bullfrog, and the water snake, where the trunks of pines and hemlocks lay half drowned, half rotting, looking like alligators sleeping in the mire" (Irving 243). He is talking about the swamp that he passed and goes into great detail about it.

In reading D'Ammassa's literary criticism he says that, "despite his [or Rip Van Winkle's] willingness to work hard without pay to help others, he has never been able to make a financial success of his small farm or any other job" (D'Ammassa). This is completely different from Tom Walker because Tom Walker scams people and does not work basically. Rip Van Winkle on the other hand does work hard unlike Walker. Both these themes have to do with letting life go and live carefree. Rip Van Winkle brings in nature a lot better in the story because he has to get away from where he lives and get away from his wife in order to head into nature (Rip Van Winkle). I find that both these stories have some differences and then they have some similarities also.

Bibliography

D'Ammassa, Don. "Rip Van Winkle." Encyclopedia of Fantasy and Horror Fiction. New York: Facts on File, Inc., 2006. Bloom's Literary Reference Online. Facts On File, Inc.

Irving, Washington. "The Devil and Tom Walker." Comp. Jeffrey D. Wilhelm, Ph.D. and Douglas Fisher, Ph.D. Glencoe Literature. American Literature ed. Columbus: McGraw-Hill Companies, 2009. 242-250. Print.

Matthews, Washington Irving. "4. Rip Van Winkle By Washington Irving. Matthews, Brander. 1907. The Short-Story." Bartleby.com: Great Books Online -- Quotes, Poems, Novels, Classics and Hundreds More. Web. 06 Dec. 2011.

Reflection- Thanatopsis

When I first started to read this poem, it kind of made me sad. Just from the first couple lines it made me think about death. I hate thinking about death. Like when Bryant wrote, "She has a voice of gladness, and a smile And eloquence of beauty, and she glides Into his darker musings, with a mild And healing sympathy, that steals away Their sharpness, ere he is aware. When thoughts Of the last bitter hour come like a blight Over thy spirit, and sad images Of the stern agony, and shroud, and pall, And breathless darkness, and the narrow house, Make thee to shudder, and grow sick at heart;(Bryant 4-13). This made me cringe when I first read it because I haven't read a lot of stories having to do with death, but this had kept me interested. I looked up what Thanatopsis really meant and I read that it meant "View of Death" (Huff). That title when you translate it in English it really does make sense because he does talk about death and what his view was.

In his poem he talks about death and how we should not be afraid of having to die. I can see now why we did a journal on the cycle of life and death because he makes said it in his poem. He basically said that when you die you become a part of nature. And that is what the cycle of life and death is, when you die you become a part of the earth. Huff had a great quote on it and this is what he said, "once dead you eventually will be on terms of total equality with the richest, wisest, and most beautiful people who ever lived, and the whole earth in all its glory can be viewed as your collective crypt" (Huff). This is saying what I just said up before the quote. He is talking about death and how you become a part of nature and the world. Basically throughout Bryant's poem he is saying dying does not have to be a sad occasion, but not a happy occasion either, it is just supposed to have some attention and understanding. Also throughout his poem he says that people were created from the Earth and that once they die they become part of the earth. So that relates to the whole cycle of life and death theme.

Another great quote I found from the poem, "The golden sun, The planets, all the infinite host of heaven, Are shining on the sad abodes of death, Through the still lapse of ages. All that tread The globe are but a handful to the tribes That slumber in its bosom" (Bryant 45-50). This is just another example as to how Bryant compared the nature of the world to death. He made me think of death in a different way that I thought of it before. It really did not change my view of death, but it made me think about it. This poem really went through the cycle of life and death.

Bibliography

Bryant, William Cullen. "16. Thanatopsis." Bartleby.com. Web. 28 Nov. 2011

Huff, Randall. "Thanatopsis." The Facts On File Companion to American Poetry, vol. 1. New York: Facts On File, Inc., 2007. Bloom's Literary Reference Online. Facts On File, Inc.

Journal 19

When I think of the cycle of life and death I always think back to the Lion King. The Lion King is a great example of this because there was a song called the circle of life in the movie. The circle of life is basically you are born, then you live your life, and then you die, and you decompose into the earth. The nature of all this is that when you die you become part of the earth. You are a part of the grass that cows and other animals eat. You are also a part of the soil that farmers plant their crops on or just any person who likes to have a garden. Although what I think as to what I just wrote it seems like its gross. The thing is though that it is true. When you die you get buried into the ground no matter if you are cremated or just put into a coffin and put in a hole. No matter what, after you die you will be a part of the earth. Unless you are frozen in some kind of way and kept in a freezer which would be weird. The spirituality of the cycle of life and death goes like this. When you die, you will never be forgotten by the people that loved you. Your spirit will always be with them no matter where they go. I always remember when my grandfather died I was at his funeral and someone said his spirit will never be forgotten. That means that whatever he left with him will never be forgotten at any point of that person's life. My grandfather had taught me a lot of things throughout my life and even though I did not see him a lot my dad had a lot of stories about him. These are the things that I think of when people ask me about the nature and spirituality of life and death. Whenever someone dies there body becomes a part of the earth. Whether they help us with the oil or the grass that is growing in our backyard. This is the nature and spirituality of life and death.

Reflection- Fireside Poets

The Fireside poets seem to be completely different from the other writers that we have encountered. This could be because they are all from completely different time periods. The first time period that we came upon was the Puritan/Pilgram period, then the Rationalism period, and finally now we are on the Romanticism period.

All of these different periods have there own kind of writing style. I will start with the Puritan/Pilgram writing style. The Purtian/Pilgram writing style was basically all about religion. Everything that consisted in each story had to do with religion. Just like Bradstreet, "Thou hast an house on high erect, Framed by that mighty Architect, With glory richly furnished, Stands permanent though this be fled" (Bradstreet 91). As you can see, Bradstreet just like all the other Puritan/Pilgram writers basically talked about God and religion. Like she says here, she is talking about God in her story. This could somewhat be taken as a part of the Romanticism period because it is poetry, but there is one key aspect as to why this should not be a part of the Romanticism period. The reason being is that they are talking about religion and God and the Romanticism period talked about nature, and love.

The next period was the Rationalism period. The Rationalism period was a time of inventors, writing, and logic and reasoning. One key person of this period was Benjamin Franklin. Benjamin Franklin played a big part in all of the aspects of the Rationalism period. He was the guy who came up with the thirteen virtues, tested them on himself, and then let them out to the world. He was a big inventor of the Rationalism period. During the Rationalism period people were accepting the fact of other religions. Franklin wanted to learn as you can tell in his autobiography. When Franklin said, "...they had reason to wish and pray for a return of the theocracy, or government of God. Christians in these times have other ideas, when they speak of the kingdom of God..." (Franklin 112). This is just showing the religions starting to be accepted during this period. The Rationalism period is different from the Romanticism period because the Rationalism period based everything on logic and reasoning while the Romanticism period focused more on inner feelings.

The last period is the Romanticism period. I have basically already talked about what the Romanticism period was about. One of the poets from the Romanticism period was Ralph Waldo Emerson. It showed a great amount of nature and love in the story. It seemed like it was his inner feelings speaking and that's what the Romanticism writing style was like. So just to give an overview as to what this blog was about was that the Puritan/Pilgram era was soley based on God and religion. The Rationalism period was based on logic and reasoning, and the Romanticism period was about nature and love. Anyway, these are the three time periods as to what we have studied in class and how each and every one has been different from the other.

Bibliography

Franklin, Benjamin. The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin. Henry Altemus. 1895. Print.

Bradstreet, Anne. "Upon the Burning of Our House." Comp. Jeffrey D. Wilhelm, Ph.D. and Douglas Fisher, Ph.D. Glencoe Literature. American Literature ed. Columbus: McGraw-Hill Companies, 2009. 91. Print.

Journal 18

Autumn for me is probably my favorite season. We have summer which has no school, but could get really hot and winter which is really cold. And then we have Spring which in my opinion could be my second favorite season, but yet it is still cold in the beginning. In autumn one day it could be hot and then the next day it could be cold. Yet being hot could be around seventy degrees and cold could be sixty degrees. Autumn is by far the best season for me. Plus the NFL during autumn is going on. I love watching football. Especially when it is Thanksgiving because Thanksgiving is a day to lay around and eat all day. That is why it is my favorite holiday also. We all know a lot of kids and men and women love Christmas because we all get presents. Well I love Thanksgiving because it gives me a chance to eat a lot and lay around a lot. Anyway that is just another thing I love about autumn. When it is autumn it starts to get cold, when it gets cold you can tell that winter is right around the corner. Then you can tell that it is going to start snowing soon and the holiday season is about to begin. Autumn for me is a great time over the year. You are starting to see family a lot more because of Thanksgiving and Christmas and the holiday season is about under way. This year my family is not having any other family come over. Except for my grandma who lives literally in my backyard. Thanksgiving is a great holiday in a great season. This time of the year is a great year for me and it makes me in such a good mood and can not wait till Thanksgiving comes around. Autumn is a fantastic time of year and I can not wait till the holiday season comes around.

Journal 17

One time when I was looking for Christmas trees, I was really looking forward to picking one. I wanted a really big tree and I was really looking forward to finding the biggest one there. We were going to Greenview to go and pick out a tree. Anyway, I was really excited to see what was in store for me at the Christmas tree place. When we were going around trying to pick out a tree, we ended up finding one, but that was not the one that I wanted. I had found a tree that I do not even think that would of been able to fit in our house. So we had a little argument over which tree we should get. Of course, me and my family waited until the last second to find a tree and it was really cold outside. This incident happened about a five years ago, and it was the dead of winter. There was snow on the ground and it felt like it was negative ten degrees outside. My mom does not do well in the cold weather. She loves the warm weather but she hates the cold weather. So my mom is getting very angry with me because everyone else wanted to get the other tree. For me it felt I had feelings for it. I do not know why it was not a very special tree. It was just like all the other trees there. I look back at this situation and I see how stupid it was of me to go and try to get this tree. It ended up that we did not get my tree and I was crying the home way home. I do not know if I was crying, but I was whimpering. I hated my parents at the time but then I realized that it was not a big deal at all. I do not know if I had gotten enough sleep the night before but I do not know what was going on throughout my day.

Journal 16

Alright this is basically going to be like my last blog, but I thought of a couple new ideas that we could communicate with the other people from Farmington. One other way that I would be able to communicate with the people from Farmington is by email. I know that last time I forgot to say this in my last blog, but email is probably one of the best ways to get a hold of the people from Farmington. Emailing for me is pretty easy as long as my Internet holds up and it does not shut down. That has happened to me in the past and I hope it does not happen during this project. Last time I said that texting and Facebook were a really good choice, but then I realized that emailing was a better choice to go with since people usually check on their email more then facebook. Well for me I check Facebook a little bit more than my email, but email is a much better way to help out everybody in my group. It is sad that we are unable to see these people in real life because we would be able to get a lot more done with just seeing them and being able to work together. I think we should take a field trip to be able to see them so we could work with them and get things done. It would be good for us and the other people because we could finish our project and get to know them. I really do want to meet the people from my group because I do not just want to skype them. Emailing is a great way to be able to send them messages and helping them out. Especially with all the things we are going to be typing and posting its good to be able to email them all the stuff that you have done and be able to show them what you have done. Facebook is a good source to figure out questions that you have for your group, but overall I think emailing is the better way to go.

Journal 15

The question of this journal is how do we overcome the challenges of the situation that we are in right now. We can overcome this project by not only doing Skype, but we could also text the people that are in our group. I know that in our school we do not allow kids to text during class or any other time during school except for lunch. I think that texting could really help us with our study and being able to connect to the kids at Farmington High School. Another thing we could do is that we could be able to get a hold of them by Twitter or Facebook. There is another thing that our school is doing which is not letting us be able to get on Twitter or Facebook. They blocked them so I do not know how we are going to settle that. I think that being able to be get on Facebook and Twitter is a great way of getting a hold of them. Especially what we just learned about them, how they love to get on Facebook and Twitter a lot during their day. I just do not know how else we are supposed to get a hold of them. Those three ways are basically the only way of getting a hold of them. That is how we would overcome the challenges of meeting with these people from Farmington. The only bad thing about this project is the fact that they live about 20 miles past Peoria so that would be about a hour in a half drive if we wanted to meet them in person. That is the only bad thing about this project. So we need to find a way to get a hold of them not only by Skyping but also just texting them or Twitter and Facebook. Overall I am really excited about starting this project. I do not know how this is going to turn out though. It could turn out really good or it could turn out badly. Overall this is just all the things that we could do to overcome the problems of this problems.

Reflection-Franklin's Success

Benjamin Franklin had done a lot throughout his life. If you think about it, he really helped out mankind. He was the man that wrote the thirteen virtues to help mankind realize that you have to take life piece by piece. Tuckerman's critisism really talked about how much he liked Benjamin Franklin and for what he did. Just think about it, trying to think about ideas and trying to apply them to the world is a pretty big job. Benjamin really did think about what was happening around him and tried to piece that together in his virtues. Benjamin Franklin not only applied the virtues to people around his time, but he also applied them to some of the people in our time. Franklin was a hero in his time. The virtues he wrote were not supposed to be used all at once. You were supposed to aquire them through time. Just like it took time to make these virtues. Now the virtues that he made, he wanted to make sure that they were going to work so he tested them upon him starting with the first virtue. He tested one virtue a week so that would have thirteen weeks of his time to test out these virtues. After he got to the last virtue, he started over again. He completed this cycle three times, for a span of one year (Franklin 154). You talk about dedication, this man went above and beyond with these virtues.
Here is one of Tuckerman's quotes, "Its fame, however, had become so thoroughly identified with American institutions and life, that an artistic memorial is far more important as a tribute of gratitude and reverence, than as a method of keeping his example before our minds or his image in our hearts. Yet it is, on all accounts, a subject of congratulation, that at length we have, in the city of Franklin's birth, and from the hands of one of her own sons, a statue of the patriot and philospher worthy of the man and the place" (1). This just shows how much Tuckerman enjoys reading about Franklin and what he had done to society. Tuckerman throughout his critisism I noticed that he had a lot of information as to what he had thought of Benjamin Franklin. This is his opinion about Benjamin Franklin. Frankly, to me and probably everybody else it seems as though his opinion is quite high of Benjamin Franklin. Now there are some people out there that have no respect for Benjamin Franklin, but Franklin was a man with intelligence and had strong opinions on a lot of things. As you read Tuckerman's review you can see that he gives out his opinion a lot of the time, but then he backs it up with logic reasoning. Benjamin Franklin as I have said many times during this blog has done so much for society. I see Franklin as a man that will be remembered for a long time to come. Benjamin Franklin's virtues have been a big part of today's society and will be for some time.

Bibliography

Franklin, Benjamin, and Leonard Woods Labaree. The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin. New Haven: Yale UP, 1964. Print.

Tuckerman, Henry T. "The Character of Franklin." Facts on File. Web. 30 Oct. 2011.

Benjamin Franklin and Deism

I know that we have used Deism in class a lot, but for some reason my brain can not think as to what that really means. I know that it has to do with God, but I do not know the full definition. Here is the definition of Deism, Deism is the knowledge of God based on the application of our reason on the designs/laws found throughout nature. Deism is therefore a natural religion and is not a "revealed religion." Deism also explains God through facts and evidence. I find this interesting because it is true that people believe that they believe in God just because they think he is always there."This library afforded me the means of improvement by constant study, for which I set apart an hour or two each day and thus repaired in some degree the loss of the learned education my father once intended for me" (Franklin 143). This shows that Franklin, where the library he worked at, gave him so much intellectual thought and he said that "it repaired in some degree the loss of the learned education my father once intended for me" (Franklin 143). This is big because Franklin said that his father was the one that made him want to learn. He said that his father pushed him to learn new things. Here is another quote as to when he was a Presbyterian, "...appeared to me unintelligible, others doubtful, and I early absented myself from the public assemblies of the sect..." (Franklin 144). This just shows that Benjamin really was a part of God, but then it was just to much for him and he decided to leave and study God in his own way. Another way that his writing was different to Pilgrim writing and similar to Deism was that he took Sunday to honor the Lord and still set to study about him and try to learn more about him. He wanted more facts about God. (Franklin 144-145). Deism shows in this part of the story because it shows that he wanted to learn about God and what he did. He did not want to not learn about the Lord especially on a Sunday. One of these quotes that Benjamin had said during this story would go against any Puritan writing because he basically said he would not attend worship (Franklin 145). During this time and age you did not have to go to church to say you were a believer of God. Just like Franklin you could just research stuff about God and still be a believer in him. People were all about the right and wrongs at this time and Benjamin really did not care at all as to what people thought about him which is how he got so far in his life because he did every invention in a unique way. Anyway, the thirteen virtues that Benjamin Franklin wrote up was a big part in striving towards excellence and learning about God. Deism is a great example as to why Benjamin made these up. It helped him along with everyone else with learning about God. It was a good way to strive towards excellence. Also these virtues took Benjamin a long time to think about. Just think that you were trying to start something up like Benjamin did back during his time. He was the first to try this and it took him a long time to try and come up with at least thirteen virtues.

Bibliography

"Deism Defined, Welcome to Deism, Deist Glossary and Frequently Asked Questions." Welcome To The Deism Site! Web. 25 Oct. 2011. http://www.deism.com/deism_defined.htm.

Franklin, Benjamin, and Leonard Woods Labaree. The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin. New Haven: Yale UP, 1964. Print.

Journal 14

If I was an apprentice of Benjamin Franklin I would definitely love being a part of his life. Learning new things and ideas from a man who was so inspirational during his time could be a life long dream for a lot of people. Especially if I was his apprentice I would of been able to help him out with his thirteen virtues and everything else he did during his time. Anyway, if Benjamin Franklin was part of my job, I would enjoy waking up and being able to go and see this man work. I find his ideas so interesting that if I was a part of his life then I would love to be his apprentice. Here is an example when I was an apprentice of the one and only Benjamin Franklin. It was a sunny afternoon, but little did we know there was going to be a very bad storm coming our way. We were busy with other inventions and we had a feeling that a storm was coming. Ben (Benjamin Franklin) wanted to know what the electricity from the sky was. So when the storm came in we tied a key to a kite and we started setting up shop. When we were getting ready the lightning started and we were getting excited. Anyways, we let the kite start to fly and after waiting their for a while the lightning finally hit our kite and electricity shot through the whole kite and the key. It was a great experience for me and it was one of many experiences that me and Benjamin had together. I found it a great experience and one of the best inventions that Benjamin ever made. That is one of my experiences that I had during my time with Benjamin Franklin. That is a story that I made up that Benjamin Franklin really did do during one of his great experiences. Benjamin Franklin was a man of many talents and he was a great man of what he did with society.

Journal 13

I think that today’s American Dream has a lot of factors that go with it. First, I would say that the American Dream could consist of a lot of money, having a job, and having a family that loves you very much. I think that people would have that American Dream because they have a job that could pay for them and they would make good money. Another advantage to that is they would be able to go out on vacations to new countries or just somewhere nice in the United States. I think that the American Dream is basically the definition of a good life. If everybody had their American Dream then everybody would be that much happier. The definition of a good life is maybe that a person could have a nice car, a lot of money, a huge house, being able to have free time off of their job and basically everything else I had said before. The reason I had said that a person would love having a great family is because people do not want to have a family that has a problem with getting in trouble.

Another part of the American Dream is living in a good part of the world. With everything happening today I think that people would love to not worry about having a burglar coming into their house during the night or just getting shot at. I think that if people would live in maybe the better part of towns they would grow up to maybe not be one of those people who robs houses or kills innocent people just because they grew up in the wrong part of town.

Anyway my American Dream would definitely be like this. When I grow up I would love to have a loving family, a lot of money, a job that could pay for me and my family, and having a big house for me and my family. That is what I think the American Dream is today.

Journal 12

If I was to make up my own rules by myself I think I would have it like everybody would be able to have their own opinion. I mean we could have our different opinions and one person could be right and could be wrong. But anyway, I would let everybody have their own opinions. I would not like everybody blurting out answers and thinking that they are always right. So in my defense I would have everybody have their own opinions and then that would end some of the arguments that people have to this day. So if Jenny and Kim are in an argument about who is better at baseball, they could have their own opinion and stop the argument and think you can like who you like and I can like who I like. Also, I would have like war would be unacceptable. If war would be unacceptable then we would lose a lot less people and we would have a lot more allies and a lot more respect for other countries. I think that my rules are acceptable because they do make sense and they are fair in every way possible. Like everybody has their own opinions, it is kind of what we have today, but it is a lot different because I did not say this before, but if I found people fighting then I would put them in jail for a day. I know that would be a ton of people because their are a ton of people that fight every single day of their life. But if I could at least stop it a little bit and have people think before what they say then the world would be that much better overall and for other people. Overall, I think that my rules are very acceptable because of the fact that they make sense and it let's other people have their own opinions rather than people who maybe aren't very outspoken, but they still have a little bit of say in the society.

Reflection- Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin

I am going to differentiate and compare Bradford and Rowlandson to Franklin because all of their stories have so much differences in each other. Alright well the first different thing that I am going to point out is that Rowlandson and Bradford were definately Puritan writers. Basically everything they were talking about had to be around God. Just like in Mary Rowlandson's story she was talking about how she was carrying her dying baby and how God was with her the whole time on the trip that they got taken (Rowlandson 83). She was just sitting their with her baby speaking to God saying that he would do the right thing and he would help her in any way shape or form (Rowlandson 84). Just to give you and idea here is what she said, "but God was with me in a wonderful manner, carrying me along, and bearing up my spirit, that it did not quite fail. One of the Indians carried my poor wounded babe upon a horse: it went moaning all along, I shall die, I shall die! I went on foot after it, with sorrow that cannot be expressed. At length I took it off the horse, and carried it in my arms, till my strength failed, and I fell down with it" (Rowlandson 83). There were many other instances like that one where Rowlandson talked about how God's strength helped her through this tough time. The other story was William Bradford's story which was another Puritan writing style. Just like Rowlandson's style except he did not speak of God that much as to what Rowlandson had done. There was an instance where he talked about how his men prayed to God once they got to the harbor (Bradford 65). Here is that instince, "Being thus arrived in a good harbor, and brought safe to land, they fell upon their knees and blessed the God of Heaven who had brought them over the vast and furious ocean, and delivered them from all the perils and miseries thereof, again to set their feet on the firm adn stable earth, their proper element" (Bradford 65). This is just another instince with Bradford talking about how his men were praying that they came to a good harbor. The Puritan writing was based on God and the Rationalist writing was based on logic and scientific reasoning which shows there is a big difference between the two writing styles. The last author I am going to talk about is Benjamin Franklin. He is a definite pick for a Rationlaist writer because he would use logical thinking and he made no relation to God in his story at all. Not one word was talked about with God in his autobiography. Here is an example of his Rationalist writing style, "passing by the door of Mr. Read, my future wife's father; when she, standing at the door, saw me, and thought I made, as I certainly did, a most awkward, ridiculous appearance" (Franklin 108). This is what Rationalist writing looks like. This is how Franklin wrote his stories, which was having to do with logical thinking and what not. Anyway this is how different the Puritan style of writing and the Rationalist style of writing could be.

Bibliography

Bradford, William. "from of Plymouth Plantation." Comp. Jeffrey D. Wilhelm, Ph.D. and Douglas Fisher, Ph.D. Glencoe Literature. American Literature ed. Columbus: McGraw-Hill Companies, 2009. 15, 62-67. Print.

Franklin, Benjamin. "from The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin." Comp. Jeffrey D. Wilhelm, Ph.D. and Douglas Fisher, Ph.D. Glencoe Literature. American Literature ed. Columbus: McGraw-Hill Companies, 2009. 104-108. Print.

Rowlandson, Mary. "A Narrative of Captivity and Restoration of Mrs. Mary Rowlandson." Comp. Jeffrey D. Wilhelm, Ph.D. and Douglas Fisher, Ph.D. Glencoe Literature. American Literature ed. Columbus: McGraw-Hill Companies, 2009. 82-85. Print.

Journal 11

The aphorism that I am going to use is "it's not over until the fat lady sings". Which means in the opera if you have ever seen one, the fat lady basically always comes last to sing. Sports newscasters and in a lot of movies they always use this saying. This saying basically it is not over until it is over. I use this saying a lot to because in the past my teams whether it was for baseball, basketball, or soccer we would sometimes be down by two runs in the seventh inning or down by ten points with a minute left or down two goals with fifteen minutes left and sometimes we would come back to win and I would always say it is not over until the fat lady sings. I'm not really sure as to who had said this but I would think it would be anonymous because a ton of people have said this saying and I have heard my whole life. I really enjoy saying it because it really is true and it is kind of funny thinking a fat lady singing. Anyway, my life experiences with this have really shown me what this meaning really means. Like last year, we were in our super sectional game for baseball and we were playing Teutopolis. We were up by one with the last inning coming up and we were about ready to explode because we thought we were going to head to state. Anyway we were up by one and the first batter came in and our pitcher was throwing a gem the whole game. The first batter hits a double. I got scared because then I knew that they were going to attack because the top of their lineup was up. They ended up scoring four runs in that inning and we lost four to one. A perfect example it is not over until it is over. That aphorism really has been key throughout my life, and it will always be a big saying in my life.

Reflection- Thomas Paine

First of all I would like to point out that I am not much of a reading type. So these kind of stories do not really appeal to me, but I guess that is what I get for being in Honors English. Anyway back to the story, I find that Paine is trying to make a statement/argument throughout the story. I noticed throughout the story that he would always talk about I know God would not give up on us and leave us with the devils (Paine 135). One of the quotes I had highlighted in the text of the story was, "Heaven knows how to put a proper price upon its goods; and it would be strange indeed if so celestial an article as freedom should not be highly rated. Britain, with an army to enforce her tyranny, has declared that she has a right (not only to tax) but to bind us in all cases whatsoever; and if being bound in that manner is not slavery, then is there not such a thing as slavery upon earth (Paine 134). He is talking about all the taxes that Britain has put on them and that it would be like slavery. This brings up another part of his argument that he has done throughout this story. It seems to me that in the story he always brings up God and what he should do and should not do. He said that like I already said before he would not leave us to be with the devils (Paine 135), which shows that he believes that God had done this for a reason. Another quote by Paine that helps him with his argument, "Whether the independence of the continent was declared too soon, or delayed too long, I will not now enter into as an argument; my own simple opinion is, that had it been eight months earlier it would have been much better. We did not make a proper use of last winter; neither could we, while we were in dependent state. However, the fault, if it were one, was all our own; we have none to blame but ourselves. But no great deal is lost yet (135). This is just another example of how the Rationalism period was portrayed in this story. He is says that it is nobody else's fault except for his own. He is excepting the fact that the British did everything to them for a reason and it was him and his people's fault for not doing anything to help them. The quote is another example of how the Rationalism Period was portrayed in this story. I find the reason Paine wrote the piece was to make an argument out of all the things that were happening to him and other people around him. He wanted to make a statement as to what he was going through and wanted people to know what it was like for him and other people around him. This story shows a great deal of the Rationalism Period.

Bibliography

Paine, Thomas. "The Crisis, No 1." Comp. Jeffrey D. Wilhelm, Ph.D. and Douglas Fisher, Ph.D. Glencoe Literature. American Literature ed. Columbus: McGraw-Hill Companies, 2009. 134-136. Print.

Reflection Blog- Declaration of Independence

First of all I would like to say that I could not really understand what this speech was saying. I had gotten most of it, but I do not know if it was just the words they used or just to many things going on at once. Anyway, Jefferson had used a lot of Propaganda and faulty logic throughout this speech. One of the big things that had to do with faulty logic was the fact that he would always blame the king. This would definitely fall under the "Name Calling" (Recognizing Propaganda) technique that that website used. The name calling technique is used a lot in this passage. Throughout the whole story he is trying to tell people that the King of Britain is a bad man and is not worthy of helping out the United States. Jefferson had wrote when he was talking about the king, "He is at this time transporting large armies of foreign mercenaries to complete the works of death, desolation, and tyranny already begun with circumstances of cruelty and perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and totally unworthy the head of a civilized nation" (Jefferson 124). This part can bring in two parts which one of them could say that Jefferson has no respect for the king and does not like what he is doing at all with them. The other part to this one is that he is saying that he would make a much better leader than the King of Britain. He is just showing no respect for the king and is just destroying his life piece by piece. Which is bad because people think that the King is bad now so they do not want to have to do anything with him anymore and want him gone. They only were able to see one side of him and was unable to maybe see the good things that he had done for them. But no Jefferson just looked at the negative side of things and that is an error of faulty logic. There was another part to this story that made me think a little bit. When Jefferson wrote, "We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness; that to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men..." (Jefferson 122). I found this ironic because of the fact that they said all men are created equal and if men were created equal than why do they treat the King like he is nothing. They keep bringing him up and destroying him and if they said that all men were created equal than they should treat everybody with the same respect. The last technique that I am going to talk about is the bandwagon technique. It seems that the "Bandwagon Technique" (Recognizing Propaganda) is used to have other people get each other on that persons side. Like when Jefferson is talking about all the damage the King has done, he is trying to get people to be on his side which would be an error of faulty logic. Overall, it seems that the Declaration of Independence is a great speech to find errors of faulty logic and propaganda use, but also it makes a good argument.

Bibliography

Jefferson, Thomas. "The Declaration of Independence." Comp. Jeffrey D. Wilhelm, Ph.D. and Douglas Fisher, Ph.D. Glencoe Literature. American Literature ed. Columbus: McGraw-Hill Companies, 2009. 120-124. Print.

"Recognizing Propaganda--Guide to Critical Thinking--Academic Support." 3 June 2011. Web. 27 Sept. 2011.

Journal 10

I think that we should not have our vocabulary for homework today because of a lot of reasons. One main reason that we should not have our vocab due next time is the fact that some people might not have internet. Caleb is in my class and he does not have internet, so he would not be able to do his homework at home for the vocab which could possibly effect his grade in this class. Another reason is that people in my class have a lot of homework especially because it is senior year so it would be hard to do the vocab on top of all the other homework which could also effect the grade of that person. Just like me, I am in a lot of hard classes this year and it would just be another homework assignment for me to do at home. Also I have test in one of my classes next time and I would sure not like to have any other more in anymore of my classes. I know for a fact that other people in my English class have the same class as me and they have that same test next time also. The vocab just seems to be like busy work for me and just putting that on top of other homework would not be good for me. Also I have sports like soccer that I am playing playing right now and I do not want to have a test and some vocab on top of that for night. I really just want to study for my test and not to have any homework for next time. As you can see there are a lot people that do not want to have this vocab for homework next time. Overall, there are some people that do not have internet and have stacks of homework that they do not want to have anymore to do and I think that people would enjoy no homework and I think that people would have better grades and would be a lot better off with no homework this week.

Reflection Blog- Speech

Throughout the night I read Speech to the Second Virginia Convention and I must say I did not like this story very much. I really did not understand most of it, but I will try and describe it with the Rationalism period tied into it. The speech that Patrick Henry read was very moving during this time because of the fact that they were having a hard time trying to figure out what to do about their society. Whether to go and have war or do what they were doing at the time which was not working out for them. When Henry said, "It is only in this way that we can hope to arrive at truth, and fulfill the great responsibility which we hold to God and our country. Should I keep back my opinions at such a time, through fear of giving offense, I should consider myself as guilty of treason toward my country, and of an act of disloyalty toward the Majesty of Heaven, which I revere above all earthly kings" (Henry 117). In this part of the story, Patrick is trying to get to the emotional side of the president, which shows a part of this rationalism period. He tries to get on the emotional side of things and then he hits them with a bunch of facts and stuff about what it is going on with everything around them. When Henry wrote, "Mr. President, it is natural for man to indulge in the illusions of hope. We are apt to shut our eyes against a painful truth, and listen to the song of that siren, till she transforms us into beasts. Is this the part of wise men, engaged in a great and arduous struggle for liberty? Are we disposed to be of the number of those who, having ears, hear not, the things which so nearly concern their temporal salvation? For my part, whatever anguish of spirit it may cost, I am willing to know the whole truth; to know the worst and to provide for it" (Henry 117). This is just another showing as to how Patrick got to people is by emotional influences. Just like I said before he would say emotional things and then hit them with hard facts. Like when he was talking about having war or to not have war. He told them that whatever they were doing it was not working for them and he said that they should start war without reasoning. He was fed up with what was happening to them and that is why he had said, "Give my liberty, or give me death" (Henry 118). He was done with all that was happening to them and he wanted to do something for them and he wanted to change things. That is why this story is so timeless to these times. It was a big speech for Henry and his companions. It also helped out with society and the hard times that they were having when he had made out his speech. This is how the story went and how it had the Rationalism Period tied with it.

Bibliography

Henry, Patrick. "Speech to the Second Virginia Convention." Glencoe Literature. Ed. Jeffery D. Whilliam Ph,D. Columbus: McGraw-Hill, 2009. 15, 116-118. Print.

Journal 9

Last year when we lost in the super-sectional in soccer, everybody was sad because we had such high hopes for the coming year and then it was over. We were so good because we had not lost a game the whole year and it was sad when the game that we needed to get into state. After we had not been losing the whole season it was weird losing the game that was the most important to us. It was not a good day for all of us because we were so excited for state and then we lose and we did not know what to do. I really did not know what to do when we lost. We were down one to zero for most of the game and we had a lot of chances but we were never able to put one away. We had had such a good season and after our game everybody was coming over and congratulating us on our great season. Some of the seniors that we had I had never seen them sad at all and it was weird to see all of them cry. It was a very sad day for all of us and I hope we are able to go all the way this year. I thought after the game as to what I would of done better, but I did not play that game. I just felt bad for all the seniors who were so close to winning, but ended up on the short end of the stick. Anyway it was one zero most of the game and at the last two minutes of the game, we fouled in the box and they had gotten a penalty kick and then when the whistle blew they scored again and that's when we knew that it was over. It was a very sad moment for all of us and I hope it does not happen to us again. Over the course of this year we are doing pretty well. I find that we have another chance this year to do something special. I think that last years team is pretty hard to beat. I think that we have a pretty good chance this year.

Journal 8

When I think about Autumn I think about all the leaves falling off the trees and it being very hot. This year during autumn it was very hot compared to what we had in the summer. Over the summer our temperature was around 80 to 90 degrees, but when autumn hit we have had temperatures up to about 100 degrees! Also when I think about autumn I think about Thanksgiving because I realize that Thanksgiving is only a little ways away and Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday out of every holiday because of all the food. Autumn for me can be a very good season with me, but I do not like all the hotness that goes along with it. In autumn, I always have played soccer. Autumn for me is probably my second favorite season. My first favorite season is summer because we get out of school and we have no homework. In autumn for me also shows me that the warm weather is about over with and all the cold weather is about to come. I am not ready for cold weather because I am not a cold weather kind of guy. I hate the cold weather. Just the thought of me being out in the cold gives me shivers. Cold weather in my family is not very popular at all. We live in Illinois out of all places and we hate cold weather. Then again though in the summer there is a lot of hot weather and my family loves hot weather. If we had a choice between hot and cold my family would of definitely have picked warm weather. Autumn for me is a great season because it reminds me of all the seasons to come and all of the holiday's are coming like Christmas, Thanksgiving, Halloween, and New Years. Autumn to me is a very relaxing season and I really do not mind it at all except for the fact that it could be very cold at certain times. I really love autumn, but it is not my favorite season.

Reflection- Act Four

From both stories that I am going to talk about, Sinners in the Hand of an Angry God and The Crucible, they both were very alike in the stories that were told. They both in these stories talked about Hell and God. In the Crucible they would speak about witchcraft and how bad it was and people would get hung. In the Sinners in the Hand of an Angry God, they also talked about Hell and God. When Giles was not cooperating with the "officials" he was tortured. This way was a very shameful way of doing things and it was not very logical which brings us back to Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God because they were not logical about humanity and the church. In both these stories they talk about Hell a lot and how people are going to be going there after death. Like in Sinners in the Hand of an Angry God the church tries to scare the people and says that they are all sinners and are all going to burn in Hell. The only way they could survive is that if they plead guilty and are put into jail for the rest of their lives. If they do not plea than they are either tortured and crushed until they die. If they plea not guilty, then they are just hanged. Either way it is not going to be a good outing for these people. I find this not very logical at all because if somebody pleas they are not guilty than they should not be hung. Just like in The Crucible when all of those people are getting hung because of the fact that they are called to be guilty of being with the devil so they are all to be hung. When it comes down to religion and law, it never seems to be good. I find it very unpleasant when Giles is being tortured because of the fact that he did not do anything wrong, they just thought he did something wrong. When he said put more weight on, when they were crushing him with rocks, that showed courage and bravery because it showed that he had a lot of love for his friends and his family. He died a good man in the story. Anyway, it seems like everybody in Salem has been accused of witch-craft, and there is side-effects that come with that just like the cows just roaming around out of nowhere because nobody is home to take care of them because they were accused of witch-craft. Also their homes have became trash because nobody is home to take care of it because of the fact that again everybody was accused of witch-craft. Come to think of it, this whole witch-craft idea came into play when three girls were playing in the forest. When one gets accused of witch-craft it seems like everybody was accused of that. Also to add to that, all the farming that these farmers did has gone down the drain because nobody was at the farm helping the crops grow. Even if they do get out of jail, they will have nowhere to start. Overall, The Crucible and Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God have become very alike.

Journal 7

Bullying has been a big issue overall, and especially in school. There has been a couple of fights that I have seen throughout my lifetime. Bullying really does not result in anything except for somebodies on the ground and crying and the other person will make sure that that person will have the worse life because now he will be scared of him. For the victim in this situation, the victim will be scared of that person for the rest of their high school or middle school years. High school is supposed to be a good time and make sure you have a good time. You are not supposed to be scared of certain person. Also what the victim gets out of being bullied is their self-esteem goes down so much. It is not worth just getting bullied and having your supposed to be good self-esteem and now that person could be permanently damaged for the rest of his life. The bully gets nothing out of the situation also, all he gets is the satisfaction of being the bully and the person not to mess with. Bullying as you can see gets you nowhere in life. The bully only gets the satisfaction of bullying somebody and the victim gets his self-esteem lowered and a lot of bruises. Now like the punching bullying is what most people think of but there is another kind of bullying which is talking. This relates mostly to the girls side because this is about drama. Some girls are talkers and they talk about every little detail on somebody. Like if someone is not very pretty and a girl came up to her and said your not pretty at all, that girls self-esteem is going to go down to a very low standpoint. Bullying can come in all sizes and in both genders. Nothing comes out of bullying somebody, mostly the bully's only do it because it satisfies them.

Reflection- The Crucible Act Three

Over the course of Act Three there was a lot of blaming going on between the wives and the husbands. Which is what I talked about the last blog I did. All of the wives of these men are getting acused of witch-craft which some of them are doing that, but others are being accused just because they were at the wrong place at the wrong time. Human nature is greatly portrayed throught Act Three because there was so much going on in the courtroom. The main part of Human Nature that was being portrayed was the difference between evil and good. In the courtroom the whole time everybody is arguing about who did what and they are not worrying about the big picture which is quit blaming everyone else and think about yourself. The evil side of Human Nature is all the witch-craft that is going on between these people and their wives and husbands. Everybody is accusing each other of doing witch-craft and need to have actual evidence as to what is going on. The courtroom right now is a mess because of all the people arguing and just massive chaos. Witch-craft is a very bad thing to do. It has to do with basically selling your soul to the devil and making others do it also or just making themselves kill each other. That is what everybody is making chaos about which is witch-craft and who and who does not do it. When Miller wrote, "You saw her scream, she howled, she swore familiar spirits choked her; she even testified that Satan, in the form of women now in jail, tried to win her soul away, and then when she refused-" (Miller 99). This shows what witch-craft would do to you. Danforth, the judge basically, is trying to make Mary confess to witch-craft which Mary is trying to stop herself from saying important things to the judge. The other part of Human Nature was the good side. The good side of this was everybody trying to figure out who did what. Who did all the witch-craft and made everybody go insane. When Miller says, "Parris: Excellency, she were under Tituba's power at that time, but she is solemn now" (Miller 104). When Abigail was in church with Tituba, who is accused of doing witch-craft, was seen laughing while people were praying. Now after Tituba was put away in jail, Abagail has not done that since and they say Tituba made her laugh. As you can see people are blaming other people for that person's behavior. Another reason I put this quote into this blog is that it shows what people thought witch-craft could do to other people. Abigail could also very well be a part of the witch-craft which people of the court suspect that. As you can see in this play various characters show different traits and characteristics throughout the whole play. In this play many people were blamed for something they did not do and Human Nature was greatly displayed throughout various parts of it.

Bibliography

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

Journal 6

The possible repercussions of blaming somebody of something he/she did not do is the possible revenge. Revenge is a bad thing to do especially if you get caught bleming somebody else. In revenge you could do anything. Revenge could be from just hitting somebody in the arm or even killing somebody. That is why you should never blame anybody for something they never did. If, in trial, somebody was blamed for murder and they found them not guilty, that person is probably a little mad at the person who blamed them in the first place. If I was that person for blaming that murderer, I would be a little scared if it really was a murder from that man and they found them not guilty. I would be scared to be around that man. Overall, you can say things that are not true and it could come back to haunt you. You have to make sure that you are right before you say things because if you are wrong, it could be very bad between that person and you. The way to prevent this trouble, is that do not start rumors or anything that you know that is not true or that it is true you do not need to blurt it out to everyone. Blaming something that somebody did not do is something that is happening a lot these days. It could happen between anything or anybody like brother and sister, mom and dad, friends, etc. Blaming somebody for something is not the right thing to do. For example, if I dropped a glass of milk and my mom did not see it, then I would blame my sister for it. Even though I did it, I got my sister in trouble instead of myself. Then after that incident my sister will not be to happy with me so the next time she does something wrong she will blame me for it. Blaming is an ongoing problem in today's world and people just need to own up for what they did.

The Crucible Act Two- Reflection

There are many characters in the play of The Crucible. There are a lot of parts that have to go into making this play. One of the characters in this story is Paris. Paris is a man who likes to take charge and make sure everything is right. In Act One he is one of the main guys who takes charge in helping Betty wake up from her "sleep." I would put him as a gold on the True Color scale because he seems to be the man in charge in Act One. When Miller wrote, "Then why can she not move herself since midnight? This child is desperate! It must come out-my enemies will bring it out. Let me know what you done there. Abigail, do you understand that I have many enemies" (Miller 10). Even from the beginning of the book you can tell that Paris is the man in charge of the situation. Another character in this play is Proctor. Proctor and his wife are main character's throughout Act Two of the play. Proctor's wife ends up getting called on being a part of the devil. Proctor knows she is not, but he does not have any proof for her, but the other men do have proof which they think is true. Really, I do not know how to classify Proctor as one of the True Color themes because he could be a couple. One is that he is a gold. A gold wants to take charge and is very organizational. Also I find Proctor a blue. I would classify him as a blue because he is very sentimental towards his wife. He loves his family very much and would do anything for them. Just like when the men came to take his wife. He said you can do anything to him, but you are not going to take her. When Miller wrote, "I like it not that Mr. Parris should lay his hand upon my baby. I see no light of God in that man. I'll not conceal it" (Miller 65). This is talking about how Mr. Proctor's boys have all been baptised except for one which Mr. Proctor does not trust Mr. Parris to hold his baby in his arms. This is just another showing of how careful Mr. Proctor is about his children and family. The last character I am going to talk about is Hale. Hale is a minister who helps out Betty with her condition and comes in during Act Two to tell Proctor and Elizabeth that Elizabeth has been accused to be with the devil. I would claim Hale as a gold also because of the fact that he wants to take charge in the situations that happen with the devil and all these families. He is very helpful when it comes to Elizabeth and all the accusations that happened with her. Unfortuately, he was unable to stop the men from taking her unless he wanted to be a part of the accusations with her. When Miller wrote, "Hale: Proctor, if she is innocent, the court-" (Miller 77). When Proctor is getting all riled up because they are taking away Elizabeth, Hale is trying to calm him down by saying it will be alright if they find her not guilty she can come right back home. Hale was a good friend of Mr. Proctor and Elizabeth. All of these characters have different personalities and different traits that make them unique to this play. All of them play an important role throughout Act One and Two.

Bibliography

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