Reflection Blog- Thanatopsis

According to my literary criticism, Thanatopsis translates from Greek to mean "view of death" (Huff 1). When I began reading this poem and saw that it was about death, I kind of became more interested in it than I originally was. I thought it was interesting that William Cullen Bryant was bold enough to write a poem about the one thing that is guaranteed in our lives: death. I know that this is not true for everyone, but I think that it is safe to say that most people fear death and what happens after your final breath. I know that for me at least, death is kind of scary to think about. Its not something most people want to think about, so that is one reason I thought it was pretty cool that William Cullen Bryant wrote a poem all about death. In the beginning of this poem, it seems that the author thinks that death will not happen to him, but throughout the poem we see him come to terms with death and in the end he not only accepts death, but also he does not fear it. At one point in this poem, Bryant writes about the "narrow houses" that we are buried in after we die. Right after I read this, I thought that it was kind of creepy that he mentioned coffins in his poem, but eventually I saw the point he was trying to make. I think he was calling them narrow houses instead of coffins simply because narrow houses sounds a lot more inviting and less scary than what it is in reality. One of the big themes in this poem is that nature will always enforce the rule of mortality, and there is nothing you can do about it. One of the main things I took from this poem is that death happens to everything, plants, animals, humans, and that we are all part of the circle of life. Nature has a way of making things work out, and in order for everything to stay balanced things will always have to die. After reading this poem, I looked at things a little differently than I did before because this poem kind of makes you realize that everyone is going to die. No matter how much money you have, no matter how healthy you are, one day you are going to die and be buried on the same earth as everyone else. A few lines from this poem represent this point very well:

Thou shalt lie down with patriarchs of the infant world, -- with kings, the powerful of the earth, - the wise, the good, fair forms, and hoary seers of ages past... (Bryant 33-36).

I think that this poem is one of the best poems I have ever read, which really does not say much since I do not read poems but you get the point. I think that William Cullen Bryant is awesome for creating such a positive outlook on such a depressing topic. I think that this poem represents the Romanticism period because of the amount of description used in throughout the poem, and also because the topic of death is not something we ever looked at in the other periods.

Bibliography

Bryant, William Cullen. "16. Thanatopsis." Bartleby.com. Web. 12 Dec. 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.

Reflection Blog- Comparing Fireside Poems

I chose to compare Autumn and Flower-de-Luce for my reflection blog. I chose to compare these two poems because we did a journal about Autumn and we went through Flower-de-Luce in class and I thought it would be easier to compare two poems that I was already familiar with rather than picking two random poems. First of all, the poem Autumn is about a a man who is talking about how he is ready for autumn to come and also about all of the things that come along with this season. One of the key things that shows that this poem was written in the Romanticism period was how descriptive the author was throughout this poem. Many authors during the Romanticism were very descriptive in their writing, which I think is really cool because I like to imagine what the author is writing about as I am reading. For example, in Autumn the author says many descriptive things, such as "upon thy bridge of gold" and "brighter than the brightest silks of Samarcand" (Longfellow 6, 3). Also, in Flower-de-Luce the author is very descriptive when he says "the lovely town was white with apple-blooms" and "across the meadows, by the old gray manse" (Longfellow 5, 9). On the other hand, Flower-de-Luce is about how a man feels about the death of his friend. One thing that I do see as similar between these two poems is that each poem seems to be about how the author feels about something. In Autumn, the feelings the author writes about are his feelings towards autumn, and in Flower-de-Luce the author is writing about his feelings of sadness over the death of his friend. I think that because both of these poems incorporate quite a bit of feeling into them, it shows yet another characteristic of the Romanticism period. When I hear the word "Romanticism" I think of love and emotions, so I think that it makes sense if these poems are written about an authors feelings towards something. One difference I noticed in regards to the feelings in these two poems is that one is more of a positive feeling and the other is more negative. In Autumn, the author is talking about his excitement for autumn to come and how much joy the season brings to everyone. To me, that seems to come off as a positive feeling. For example, in lines 7-8 the author is talking about the joy autumn brings to all the farmers:

Blessing the farmers through all thy vast domain! Thy shield is the red harvest moon... (Longfellow 7-8).

In contrast, I see the poem Flower-de-Luce as a negative poem because it is about death. For example, in lines 1-4 the author is talking about the pain he feels for the loss of his friend:

How beautiful it was, the one bright day in the long week of rain! Though all its splendor could not chase away the omnipresent pain (Longfellow 1-4).

I think that both of these poems have many differences, but also if you look closely you can find many similarities in them as well.

Bibliography

Longfellow, Henry W. "Hawthorne. Flower-de-Luce. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. 1893. Complete Poetical Works." Bartleby.com: Great Books Online -- Quotes, Poems, Novels, Classics and Hundreds More. Web. 12 Dec. 2011.

Longfellow, Henry W. "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.

Journal #20- An original journal about autumn by Gabrielle Elizabeth Hermes

In this poem, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow speaks a lot about autumn. When I think of autumn, I think of all of the leaves on trees that are changing colors and of all of the sounds of autumn, such as crunching leaves and the wind blowing through the trees. In this poem, it seems to me that the speaker is preparing for autumn. In the very beginning of this poem, Longfellow tells us that autumn is finally coming after all of the rain. With the way he says this, I see it as a good thing that autumn is finally coming because they are tired of all of the rain. Longfellow also speaks of the events that happen in autumn, for example when he says

Blessing the farms through all thy vast domain! Thy shield is the red harvest moon, suspended so long beneath the heaven's o' erhanging eaves (Longfellow 8-10).

In this passage, he is saying that autumn is the season in which farmers harvest their crops and are blessed by the red harvest moon. Like I said earlier, when I think of autumn one of the first things the comes to my mind is the leaves and the wind, and Longfellow mentions this in line 14 when he says "Thine almoner, the wind, scatters the golden leaves!" (Longfellow 14). I think this poem relates to the Romanticism period we are studying because this poem is very descriptive. At some points in this poem, the author was so descriptive that I had a very vivid image of what the author was speaking about in my head. Longfellow also used a lot of metaphors in this poem, for example when he says "Thou standest, like imperial Charlemagne" (Longfellow 5). In this metaphor, he is comparing two things using like or as so he is therefore using a metaphor. I think this is a cool poem about autumn.

Bibliography

Longfellow. "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. 08 Dec. 2011.

Reflection Blog- The Chambered Nautilus

I picked The Chambered Nautilus to read as my poem and I really liked this poem because it was really short and pretty simple to read. From what I understand, this poem is about a little sea creature that grows and grows constantly changing its shell. This creature is called a nautilus, and throughout this poem Oliver Wendell Holmes interprets this creature in a way that allows it to represent a number of things. Also, in this poem we learn that this nautilus is being told by a heavenly voice to move from its old shell into one that is better (Holmes 18). By talking about this "heavenly message", Oliver Wendell Holmes is writing according to the normal pattern used in the 19th century, which involves observing nature in order to become a better person (Huff 5). Many different people have different reasons for what this nautilus represents, but I think that having it represent life is a really cool way to look at it. In this poem, the nautilus is constantly changing and moving on to better things which I think can be compared to the way people live today. For example, people are changing and growing all the time, just as the nautilus is doing in this poem. In this poem I also noticed many references to Greek mythology, and then when I read Randall Huff's literary criticism he mentioned the many references Holmes made to Greek mythology. For example, in line 5 Holmes says

In gulfs enchanted, where the sirens sing, and coral reefs lie bare, where the cold sea-maids rise to sun their streaming hair (Holmes 5-7).

Sirens are creatures in Greek mythology that sing and lure men onto their island, and the "cold sea-maids" is a reference to mermaids (Huff 2). I think that Oliver Wendell Holmes used a creature of the sea to write this poem about because it is very natural for a nautilus to change and grow, and I think that is a theme in this poem.

I think that this poem represents the Romanticism period in many ways. First off, I think that Oliver Wendell Holmes was pretty descriptive in this poem. I think this was a relatively short poem, but for the length of it I think there is quite a bit of detail. For example, in line 4 Holmes says "On the sweet summer wind its purpled wings" and again in line 12 when he says "As the frail tenant shaped his growing shell" (Holmes 4, 12). I know we have read stories that are much more descriptive than this one, but I think that in comparison to length this poem includes a lot of descriptions. Also, I think this poem belongs in the Romanticism period because of the references to nature and then using those references to teach a life lesson in a creative way. Oliver Wendell Holmes took a boring nautilus and made it into a metaphor for the human soul, and he did so in a way that is so timeless that people can still learn from this poem today.

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. http://www.fofweb.com/activelink2.asp?ItemID=WE54&SID=5&iPin= CPAP0070&SingleRecord=True (accessed December 8, 2011).

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 Blog- Washington Irving

In The Devil of Tom Walker, Washington Irving tells a story of a man who sells his soul to the devil in return for wealth. To me, this story seemed to a very simple plot that followed the same idea that many stories of this sort follow. A man with little money and a harsh life encounters the devil and strikes up a deal that will give him the wealth that he desires in return for his soul. I think that Washington Irving adds a lot of creativity into his story with the way he describes the devil and the way he tells us how the devil does his business. In this story, we learn that Tom Walker is a greedy man that is married to a greedy women, and the relationship between the two of them is anything but loving (The Devil and Tom Walker). A good example from the story that shows the bad relationship between Tom and his wife is when she disappears for days and Tom is more worried about the valuables she took than about her well being (The Devil and Tom Walker 246-247). This story represents the Romanticism period in that one of the biggest themes in this story is greed. The Romanticism period seems to have a lot to do with more of the material things in life versus the littler things in life. In this passage, Washington Irving tells us how Tom Walker felt about his wife's disappearance Tom now grew uneasy for her safety, especially as he found she had carried off in her apron the silver teapot and spoons and every portable article of value (The Devil and Tom Walker 246). This passage shows how greedy and selfish Tom Walker is because it says he only really became worried about his wife when he realized that she had taken their most valuable items with her. Something I noticed while reading this story is how descriptive Washington Irving was. Throughout Tom's shortcut through the swamp, he describes every little detail, from the roots in the ground to the trees that are ninety feet high (The Devil and Tom Walker 243). I like that Washington Irving used so much detail because it helps me focus more on the reading because I imagine what the setting is like. When authors do not use much detail, I have a hard time reading their work because its so boring. I noticed many similarities between The Devil and Tom Walker and Rip Van Winkle. For example, I thought that both stories included quite a bit of detail. In Rip Van Winkle, Washington Irving uses a lot of detail when describing the mountains and the little villages that lay at the foot of these mountains (Rip Van Winkle 4-5). Another similarity I noticed between the two stories was that each man in the two stories had a wife that was described as "termagant". I think it is kind of interesting that Washington Irving included a bad wife in both of these stories because it makes it seem like he could have had issues with mean women in his life or something. One of the major differences in these two stories is the differences in the themes. It seems to me that the theme of The Devil and Tom Walker has a lot to do with greed and materialistic things, and the theme is Rip Van Winkle is more of about not letting life get away from you. Bibliography 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. 240-250. 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.

Journal #19- Importance of nature & spirituality

I think that nature is really important in the cycle of life and death because I feel like it is the basis of the cycle of life. I think that nature is like the basis of this cycle because you begin life in a natural way and then you end life in a natural way. I think that spirituality comes into play in sometime between the time you are born and the time you die, and that it can be a really important part of life. When I think of nature, I think of the forests and animals that live there. There is a certain cycle of life that all these animals follow, and that entire cycle is based on how the natural world works. Nature can play a pretty big part in life because it can impact you in many ways. For example, your health is impacted by nature, and it can even impact your mental state. When I think of spirituality, I think of churches and God. I honestly do not think that this can directly impact your physical being, but I think it can be a really important part of your emotional self. I do not really know how spirituality has anything to do with the cycle of life except the fact that many different religions have a view of how that cycle goes. For example, some religions believe in heaven after death, and others believe in reincarnation. I think that nature is much more important to the cycle of life than spirituality is, but I think that spirituality has more of an emotional benefit. I think that spirituality affects the death part more in the cycle of life than it does the living part because of what happens after death. Although it has a greater impact on the death part, I think that it can also impact the life part because many religions have standards or rules for how they expect you to live your life.

Reflection Blog- Fireside Poets

So far, what I have learned about fireside poets is that they were admired by many Americans back in the day. The fireside poets were a group of popular American writers, and they got their name because it was thought that many families would read their poetry by the fire (Wilhelm 210). These poets were famous for creating extremely vivid pictures of the New England countryside in their poems and also for including important events that took place in American their narrative poems (Wilhelm 210). I think that it is really cool that families would all sit around the fire together and tell stories and read poems because that seems like it could be really relaxing. After reading about some of the fireside poets, I noticed that they were very descriptive in their writing. What I mean by they are descriptive is that they make things seem very real and vivid in their writing. William Cullen Bryant was the oldest fireside poet, and he was also the first poet to include American landscape in poems (Wilhelm 210). He wrote all about the nature he encountered as he went hiking, for example, in William Cullen Bryant's To the Fringed Gentian, he uses very descriptive writing when he says "Thou blossom bright with autumn dew, and colored with the heaven's own blue, that openest with the quiet light, succeeds the keen and frosty night" (Wilhelm 211). In this passage, William Cullen Bryant uses many descriptive words that help us as readers picture what he is writing about. This is different from the writers from our previous sections because I think they are much more descriptive in their writing than the writers of the other time periods were. Another example of the descriptive writing style used by Oliver Wendell Holmes in his work Old Ironsides is when he says "Beneath it rung the battle shout, and the burst the cannon roar; - the meteor of the ocean air shall sweep the clouds no more" (Wilhelm 211). I think its really cool that they use so many descriptions in their works because to me that makes reading so much more interesting and enjoyable. Also, the fireside poets are different from the writers of our previous sections in the fact that their poems are not about religion or logic. Most of the writings we have looked at in class are either linked to some form of religion or are logical/scientific, and these writings are neither of those. I do not really know what to call these writings, but to me they do not seem to fit into either of the two categories we have studied this far. I think that it is really cool that families would sit together and recite poems written by these poets because it shows a lot about the content of the poems. It tells us as readers that there was obviously something about these poems that people really liked, and with the fireside poets it was the fact that they could relate to them. The works of the fireside poets represented many values that were important to families back then, such as hard work, respect, and courage (Wilhelm 210).

Wilhelm, Jeffrey D., and Douglas Fisher. Glencoe Literature. New York: Glencoe McGraw-Hill, 2009. 210-111. Web. 21 Nov. 2011.

Journal #18- The Perfect Autumn Day

I think that on the perfect autumn day, the weather would be amazing. The temperature would be perfect, not to warm and not to cold. It would feel warm outside, but there would still be a cold breeze every now and then. The trees would be changing colors, all different shades of yellow, orange, red, and brown. I would hear the sound of people raking up leaves, and later smell them burning in their yard. On the perfect autumn day, it would feel so good outside. I would go to the park and take a walk. On my walk, I would see many beautiful trees with leaves of all different colors. I would hear the wind blowing through the trees and see leaves fluttering to the ground. I would wear a light jacket because its to cold not to have one, but warm enough not to need a big winter coat. The perfect autumn day would also be perfect weather for a bike ride. I would ride my bike down the side walk and feel the cool breeze blowing against my face and through my hair. I would also hear the sound of leaves crunching under my bike tires as I rode around. I would come home to my mom cooking some delicious food, and the smell of pumpkin pie would fill my house. I would wear my warm boot slippers and eat some delicious food with my family, and then lay down and watch a movie. The perfect autumn day would be a really awesome day because of the excellent weather. I hope that this autumn I can experience the perfect autumn day. I love autumn weather because it is so nice outside and because the trees always look so pretty! I hope that there is the perfect autumn day this autumn. I love the season of autumn!

Journal #17- Bonding with Nature

I think that I bond the most with nature during the summer time. To me, bonding with nature means being outside and enjoying the weather. I am usually outside almost every day during the summer time because the weather is so nice and warm. In the summer time, I bond with nature in many ways by doing outdoor activities. I go swimming, biking, and sometimes I just go for a short walk at Washington Park. Also, I like going to Wisconsin with my family in the summer because we go and stay in a cabin in the woods and its really fun. I like nature most of the time, but sometimes it makes me so mad because of bugs and what not. I like to go fishing sometimes if that counts as bonding with nature, and I like to go boating and tubing also. In addition to fishing, when it rains a lot and my street floods I bond with not only nature but also the kids in my neighborhood because we do rebellious activities such as riding our bikes through the flood water and having worm fights. Oh and this one time I went hunting with my dad out in the deep woods, which was really boring. The most bonding I have ever done with nature would have to be when I went hiking at Starved Rock with my friend Helena. I saw some really cool trees and an awesome waterfall. I even jumped off the waterfall and swam in a little pool which ended up being really cool. I think that nature is pretty awesome at times and I think that it is really fun being out in nature. I do not interact with nature much in the winter because it is too cold for me outside but sometimes I play in the snow or go sledding.

joURNAL #16

I think that there are many tools we can use to help us communicate with our partners because we have so much technology surrounding us. For example, everyone nowadays has a cell phone of their own or at least has access to one. We could use cell phone to communicate through either text messages or through phone calls. I think that cell phones would be a really easy way to communicate because they are easy to use and usually pretty reliable. Also, we could use other technologies such as social networking sites. There are many social networking sites, but two of the most popular sites are Twitter and Facebook. Most people have either a Twitter or a Facebook so I think either of these might also be an effective way to communicate. I think that this project is going to force us to take advantage of all of the technology around us in order to communicate and get our work done. In addition to cell phones and social networking sties, we also have email address and skype. I do not really like skype, but if it came down to it I would use it. I think using emails would be a really good way of communicating because that way we can share things and chat at the same time. I think that if I had to pick one of these methods for communicating with my group members, I would pick either emailing or text messaging because both of these are really easy ways of sharing information. I do not think that social networking sites would be the best option just because I know that it can become extremely distracting and I do not want to not finish my work because I am getting distracted to much. I think that if my group is okay with it, we will communicate by cell phones or email just because they are simple and easy. This project is going to require us to use a lot of technology and communication skills.

Journal #15

I think that since we are working on a project with other students from different classes and from different schools, we will have to take full advantage of the technology that surrounds us everyday. I think that this project will be a little challenging for all of the students because we are all from different areas and the only way we will be able to communicate is through some form of technology. There are many different ways we can use technology to communicate, such as emails, twitter, facebook, skype, and even through text messaging. Personally, I do not really like this project because of the fact that communicating is going to be hard and sometimes using technology can be really confusing. I think that if my group can establish a way that we could all use to communicate this project will be easy, but if something goes askew we might have some problems. Out of all of the means of communication I said earlier, I think the one that would be best for this project would be either email or through text messaging. I think that these two would be best because facebook and twitter are blocked on our school computers and I think skype is confusing. Also, everyone has a cell phone so it would not be a problem to text message my group members about the project. Emailing would also be a pretty effective way of communicating with the other students because it has a feature that allows chatting, its easy to use, and everyone has one. If I get to pick the way my group communicates, I would probably chose either text messaging or emailing simply for the fact that it would be easy for everyone. I think that this project will allow us to take full advantage of the technology that we use everyday and it will teach us new and better ways to communicate with people from a distance.

Reflection Blog- Franklin's Virtues

So have spent the past few weeks learning a lot about Benjamin Franklin, but we have specifically learned quite a bit about his thirteen virtues. From discussing in class and from reading his autobiography, I learned that Benjamin Franklin was a very knowledgeable and talented man. I learned a lot about his accomplishments and what he did within his life time, but I think that learning about his thirteen virtues was definitely one of the most interesting things we discussed. I found his thirteen virtues to be interesting not because of the actual virtues themselves, but because I thought it was really cool that he would try and perfect himself and that he would dedicate that much of his time into doing so. In this passage from his autobiography, it shows just how much time Benjamin Franklin dedicated to his thirteen virtues:

My intention being to acquire the habitude of all these virtues, I judged it would be well not to distract my attention by attempting the whole at once, but to fix it on one of them at a time; and, when I should be a master of that, then to proceed to another; and so on, till I should have gone through the thirteen (Franklin 150).

I think that it shows a lot about Benjamin Franklin that he was willing to dedicate that much of his time to perfecting himself. Also, I thought that it was really cool in class when we went over his thirteen virtues. I thought it was really interesting to see what virtues he found important and then also to see how he defined each one. Here, Benjamin Franklin tells the readers about how he chose his thirteen virtues:

...and I included under thirteen names of virtues, all that at that time occurred to me as necessary or desirable; and annexed to each a short precept, which fully expressed the extent I gave to its meaning (Franklin 149).

I liked how he picked out virtues that he thought were important, and then defined each one according to what he thought it meant. In my opinion, I think it is pretty much impossible to be absolutely perfect, so I do not think that Benjamin Franklin was one hundred percent with this study. Although I do not think he was perfect, I do believe that by practicing his thirteen virtues as much as he did, that he became a better version of himself.

Reflection Blog- Benjamin Franklin

By reading about Benjamin Franklin, I have also learned quite a few things about Deism. Deist's believe in god or in a supreme being, but unlike most other religions they have more of a natural view (Deism). What I mean by "natural view" is that Deist's believe that god allows the universe to rule itself according to nature, without the need of his supervision (Deism). In English class we have talked about two extremes that deal with religion, the Puritans and the Rationalists. The Puritans are very religious and they believe that everything that happens to them is the doings of God, which opposes the views of the Rationalists. Rationalists are much more logical then religious and seem to reason more than believe. I think that Deist's are a perfect mixture between the two extremes because they believe in a god, but they are much more rational than the Puritans in many ways.

I have learned a lot about Benjamin Franklin in the past few weeks, but one thing that has really stuck in my mind about him is that he was very knowledgeable. There were quite a few points in his autobiography that showed us about how much he studied, for example

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).

Benjamin Franklin frequently talked about his studies, which I thought was unusual for the time period this was written in because most people back in the day did not spend their time studying like he did. Also, Benjamin Franklin mentioned how he spent his Sundays studying rather than attending church, which I found very surprising since it is completely different than what we have read previously. Here is a passage from his autobiography that shows how he spends his Sundays

...I early absented myself from the public assemblies of the sect, Sunday being my studying day, I was never without some religious principles. I never doubted for an instance, the existence of a Deity (Franklin 144).

In this passage, Benjamin Franklin claims to spend his Sunday's studying rather than attending church which I think is really weird considering the time period and what not. Even though it is kind of weird that he did not attend church, I think it is pretty cool that he valued his studies and that he spent so much of his time learning. I think that by seeing how Benjamin Franklin is not strict with religion it is supports Deism just because they seem to be more relaxed about things. Also, Deist's go by facts and what is known, and I think that Benjamin Franklin supports this well because he is always striving to learn more about anything and everything.

I think that Benjamin Franklin's thirteen virtues support Deism because he is trying to perfect himself so that he can learn more about religion.

Bibliography

"Deism." Philosophy - AllAboutPhilosophy.org. All About Philosophy. Web. 26 Oct. 2011. .

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

Journal #14- Benjamin Franklin

I think if I could be an apprentice to Benjamin Franklin I would learn a lot about everything because Benjamin Franklin is really smart. By reading about him in class, I have learned about how knowledgeable he is and about how much time he dedicates to studying. I think that I would not only learn about everything, but that I would also develop new skills that he would teach me. I think that because Benjamin Franklin writes from more of a Rationalist view, I would learn a great deal about Rationalism. I think that if I were an apprentice to Benjamin Franklin I would become a better version of myself because of his thirteen virtues. With his thirteen virtues, he tried to perfect himself and I think that by being around someone who is perfecting themselves I to would begin to become a better version of myself. I also think that by being around him I would become much more intelligent and I would get a first hand look at why he wanted to perfect himself and why his thirteen virtues meant so much to him. If you think about it, they must have been pretty important to him considering how much time and effort he invested into them. I think I would become a better, more knowledgeable person if I had the opportunity to be an apprentice to Benjamin Franklin. I think that by being around him all the time I would become a knowledgeable person and that I would also become a better person because of his thirteen virtues. I think it would be pretty cool to be able to be around Benjamin Franklin and to be able to be educated by him and be a part of his life.

Journal #13- American Dream

I think that in these days the American Dream is very different than it was way back in the day. Back in the 1950's the American Dream was very simple, and now I think it has become a little more complicated. I think it is more complicated now than it was back then because now people want all different kinds of things in life. Some people want wealth, some people want families, and some people do not really know what they want. Back in the old days, basically everyone wanted a family and what not, but now sometimes people do not even want to get married. I think that my vision of the American Dream is to have a job that I like, a family, and basically to just be happy. Most people probably have a more planned out dream, but I do not know all of the details of my dream yet. In addition to everyone having different dreams, everyone also has their own definition of what it means to be successful. Some people base success on how much money you have, how many friends you have, or how big your house is but I have my own definition of success. I think that you are successful in your life if you can look back at what you have done and be happy with it. I hope that at the end of my life I will be able to look back and be happy with what I have done with my life. Although I do not think money equals success, I think that it is necessary to be happy and to life a successful life. Money is a big deal in society today, so if you do not have money it would be really hard to do anything and therefore to be happy. I hope I can live the American Dream and have a good job, a lovely family, and overall a happy life.

Journal #12- Right & Wrong

If I could make up the rules for what is right and what is wrong, I would only change a few things. Firstly, I would want more people to actually do what is right verse what is wrong. It seems to me that a lot of the time today people (including myself) do what is wrong of what is right because that is what is easier. So, one thing that I would want to change would be making everyone do what is right all the time. I think it would make life better for everyone if we always did what we are supposed to do. For example, if we had a big test on Friday but we chose to stay up all night on facebook then we obviously chose what is wrong over what is right because what is wrong is more entertaining than what is right. Not studying for a test isn't the worst thing someone could do, but this is an example that everyone can relate to. Besides the fact that doing the right thing is most of the time not as fun as doing the wrong thing, I would not change much else about the rules of right and wrong. I do not see how people can be raised to do the right thing since they were little, and then in the blink of an eye forget everything they were taught about right and wrong. I wish I chose right over wrong more often, but I know that everyone makes mistakes and everyone has those days.

Journal #11- Aphorism

The word aphorism, as defined by our Glencoe Literature books, means "a short pointed statement that expresses a wise or clever observation about human experience". I think there are many aphorisms out there that can be applied to my life, but I found one that I thought was very realistic to today's world. "Believe nothing you hear, and only half of what you see" is a 19th century Middle English saying that I think can relate to the lives of many people in society today (Knowles). Magazines are a really good example of how you can not believe everything you read. Magazines publish stories about celebrities all the time, but in all reality only some of them are true. Another example of how this aphorism relates to my life is the fact that I am in high school. Everyday I hear a new rumor about someone or something, and I know that there is no way all of them are true. I think that this aphorism can be related to anyone's life in today's society because we have so much technology around us that sometimes things can be blown out of proportion and unfortunately a lot of people do believe everything they read online or hear about on the news. Another aphorism that is similar to this one was stated in an 18th century letter, and it reads "You must not take everything to be true that is told to you" (Knowles). I think that this aphorism is also very realistic because some people can be so gullible and they will believe everything they hear. There are so many aphorisms out there that can be related to life today, but I thought that these two were ones that I can relate to the most. Even though these are kind of old sayings, they are still relevant to society because no matter how modern we become, people are still going to lie or make up rumors. I think these aphorisms are very wise and that they would be excellent advice to give to anybody because they can apply to anyone's life.

Bibliography

ELIZABETH KNOWLES. "believe nothing of what you hear, and only half of what you see." The Oxford Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. 2006.Encyclopedia.com. 11 Oct. 2011 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

Wilhelm, Jeffrey D., and Douglas Fisher. Glencoe Literature. New York: Glencoe McGraw-Hill, 2009. Print.

The Crisis No. 1- Reflection Blog

I think that Thomas Paine writes from a more Rationalist style in The Crisis No. 1 because I think it was much more logical than the religious style used by the Puritans. Rationalist writers seem to have a more logical way of thinking and it seems that over time people stopped using religion as an excuse for everything and started to actually think about why certain things happened. Before this Rationalism period, anything that happened that was unusual it was just assumed to be work of the devil, but in this period people began to look at things a little bit differently. They began to try and understand why things were happening instead of just assuming it to be somewhat religion based. In The Crisis No. 1, Thomas Paine represents the Rationalism period very well in the way he wrote his story. Also, we are shown how the shift in the way people thought in this passage

However, the fault, if it were one, was all our own; we have none to blame but ourselves (Paine 135).

This passage shows us how people stopped blaming God for everything and started to be more realistic about things. This passage shows us a major difference between this story and stories we have previously read because in all of the previous stories we have read it always seems that people blame God and now in this one he says that there is no one to blame but themselves. I think this passage from The Crisis No. 1 is a very good representative for the Rationalism time period. From reading this story, we learn that Thomas Paine does not want a war, but he does seek independence from Britain. In this passage we are shown how he feels about starting a war

Not all the treasures of the world, so far as I believe, could have induced me to support an offensive war, for I think it murder; but if a thief breaks into my house, burns and destroys my property, and kills or threatens to kill me and those who are in it, and to 'bind me in all cases whatsoever' to his absolute will am I to suffer it? (Paine 136).

In this passage we learn the thoughts of Thomas Paine in regards to starting a war with Britain. We see that he does not want to start a war, but he does want independence from Britain and if that means starting a war than so be it. I think that Thomas Paine wrote this to everyone, both those who are for and against the war, in an attempt to get people to see things from his point of view. I think that he would probably want to get more people to agree with him and to be on his side, so I do not think there was a certain group of people this was written for. Through The Crisis No. 1, we learn a lot about the way Rationalists write and we also got to see a few major differences between the Rationalists and the Puritans. In addition to these things, we also got to see how Thomas Paine tried to persuade people to be on his side through this story.

Bibliography

Paine, Thomas. "The Crisis No. 1." Glencoe Literature. New York, NY: McGraw Hill Glencoe, 2010. 134-36. Print.

The Declaration of Independence- Reflection Blog

The Declaration of Independence serves an important part in the United States government. This famous document was written by Thomas Jefferson, who was a man of many professions. Apparently, he was an inventor, musician, architect, lawyer, surveyor, and botanist (Jefferson 120). John F. Kennedy said "I think this is the most extraordinary of talent, of human knowledge, that has ever been gathered in the White House, with the possible exception of when Thomas Jefferson dined alone." (Jefferson 120). By reading the "Before You Read" segment in my book, I got a little bit of background information about Thomas Jefferson. This showed me a lot about him and from this I learned that he was very talented and smart (Jefferson 120). I think that if you look closely at The Declaration of Independence, you would easily be able to recognize both propaganda techniques and also some errors in faulty logic. For example, on page 122 Thomas Jefferson uses a propaganda technique to try and get his point across. He used the testimonial propaganda technique and in doing so he basically used a big name to intimidate people and to get his point across (Recognizing Propaganda). Thomas Jefferson makes reference to the King of Great Britain and says "The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpation, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute tyranny over these states." (Jefferson 122). Another use of propaganda displayed by Thomas Jefferson in The Declaration of Independence is the use of glittery generalities. Glittery Generalities is when you use important sounding words that can neither be proven or disproved, for example words like "glad", "honest", and "good" (Recognizing Propaganda). An example of when Thomas Jefferson uses glittery generalities is when he says "for the public good", and this is a glittery generality because it is an important sounding word that can neither be proved or disproved (Recognizing Propaganda). No one knows what the public good is, so therefore it is a glittery generality. Thomas Jefferson uses this propaganda technique many times throughout The Declaration of Independence, and I think that it is used by many people. Thomas Jefferson also uses the bandwagon and the either/ or fallacy propaganda technique in The Declaration of Independence. The bandwagon propaganda technique is when you think that just because everyone else is doing it, then you should also do it (Recognizing Propaganda). I think that Thomas Jefferson uses the bandwagon technique in this document because he probably wants everyone to go along with what he is saying. I think he uses the bandwagon technique because the more people that think everyone else is doing something the more likely they will go along with it. I think that Thomas Jefferson uses a lot of propaganda techniques in The Declaration of Independence because it makes it a lot more persuasive and it can make things sound a lot better than they actually are. I think that Thomas Jefferson did a very good job in making The Declaration of Independence very persuasive because apparently it was good enough for us to keep it around all of this time.

Bibliography

Jefferson, Thomas. "Declaration of Independence." American Literature. Columbus: McGraw Hill, 2009. 120-124. Print.

"Recognizing Propaganda--Guide to Critical Thinking--Academic Support." 6 Mar. 2011. Web. 26. Sept.

The Crucible Act 4- Reflection Blog

In the final act of The Crucible, there are many unexpected twists and turns taken by some of the main characters in this play. As we read this story, we quickly found out that this play has a very religious based community. This play was written in the Puritan style, which means it is very much based around God and religion. Throughout this play, as I was reading I kept asking myself why these people would automatically assume people were associated with the devil when something happened that they did not have an answer to. For example, at the very beginning of the book when Betty faints they all automatically jump to the conclusion that she was calling upon the devil and was doing witchcraft and what not (Miller 5). I defiantly think I had a hard time understanding how in the world it was possible for people to approach things so ignorantly, but then I thought about the time period and about how back in the day, stuff like this happened every single day because we did not have the knowledge or technology to know what actually caused Betty to faint. Also, in addition to not having all of the resources and information we have today they were very based around the church. In today's society we are not as religiously based as communities back in this time period were, and I think that is another reason people made such ignorant assumptions about things they could not explain. By reading this play I realized just how church based times were back then, and this is where Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God by Jonathan Edwards comes into play. I think that Jonathan Edwards shows us the more strict side of religion in this story because of the tone of the narrator. It is written in a way that makes me think he is being very cold and strict, and to prove that a little bit more in this little story he talks about how all sinners deserve to be punished and how all sinners should not be allowed to live with the true Christians (Edwards 99). From my experiences at church, I have always been told that everyone sins, so for me to read about people being hung for sinning it is almost unbelievable. I think that this is one of the similarities between The Crucible and Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God because in both of these stories we hear all about sinners and unfortunately, we also learn about the punishments that were given to anyone who was accused of sinning. Although Hands of an Angry God is written in a much more stern style than The Crucible, I think that both of these writings show us how important religion was back then and also how seriously sinning was taken back in the time period that these stories were written during. Personally I think that The Crucible is better for teaching us about how life was back in this time period because the author took the time to introduce the characters and showed us what actually happened verse what people believed to be happening.

Bibliography

Miller, Aurthur. The Crucible. New York: Penguin Group, 1976. Print.

Edwards, Jonathan. "From Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God." Comp. Jeffrey D. Wilhelm, Ph.D. and Douglas Fisher, Ph.D. Glencoe Literature. American Literature ed. Columbus: McGraw-Hill Companies, 2009. 97-99. Print.

Journal #10- Persuade

I think that Mr. Langley should postpone the due date of our vocabulary assignment for many reasons. First off, I think that if the vocabulary assignment was postponed it would be better for everyone. It would be better for us as students because we would have more time to complete this assignment and the more time we have to complete it, the better quality the assignment will be. If all the students have enough time to do their homework I think it will make their grades better and if all of the students have good grades then it will make Mr. Langley look like a really good teacher. I think it is a win win situation if the assignment is postponed because it will make everyone happy. Also, as a junior in high school I know that almost all students are already very stressed out because of the amount of homework we receive on a nightly basis and if this assignment would be postponed it might lighten the load of homework on students. I know that for me, my homework for tonight is already going to take up at least an hour of my time and I am sure that Mr. Langley does not want to spend his night grading my homework, so we should just postpone it and make everyone's life a little bit easier. I have a quote I like to live by, and it goes "why do today what you can put off until tomorrow" and I think we should honor the way I live and postpone this vocabulary assignment. Finally, my last reason for why this vocabulary assignment should be postponed is that some students do not have the resources that are necessary for this assignment. Internet access is necessary for almost all of our assignments, and if a student does not have internet at home all of these assignments would be almost impossible. I really hope this assignment is postponed!

Speech to the Second Virginia Convention- Reflection Blog

In the Speech to the Second Virginia Convention, we are reading in a style that is different from the Puritan style we have been looking at recently. The Puritan style is much different from this new style that we see in this speech in many ways, but I think the most obvious way is that in the Puritan writing style, they relate everything to God and religion and in this new style of writing it is more of a logical approach and they have less of a religious view of things. This new writing style is called Rationalism, and this speech is a very good example of how the Rationalism writing style sounds. In the Puritan writing style, they refer to God a lot and they are all very religion based, and contrary to that we have Rationalism which is more of a logical way of thinking. For example, in this speech Patrick Henry says "If we were base enough to desire it, it is now to late to retire from the contest. There is no retreat but in submission and slavery." (Henry 118). I think that this passage shows the Rational style this speech was written in because he is basically saying, there is no way out of this for us so we should just go to war. I think this is rational because he was being very logical in the way he thinks about things. I think that it makes sense to go ahead and go to war if you already know it is going to happen. Another passage from this speech that really struct me as being a rational way of thinking was

The next gale that sweeps from the North will bring to our ears the clash of resounding arms! Our brethren are already in the field; Why do we stand here idle? (Henry 118).

To me, this passage was very rational sounding for many reasons. What Patrick Henry is trying to say in this part of his speech is that if we stand around and wait any longer, they are going to begin a war with us so we might as well be the ones that start the war because we would have some sort of an advantage over them. I think that this passage reveals the Rationalism writing style used by Patrick Henry because of his logical approach and way of thinking. I like reading in the Puritan writing style better than the Rationalist writing style because I think it is interesting to see how people acted back when religion was the center of everything. Patrick Henry showed us a lot of qualities that go along with the Rationalism writing style in his speech Speech to the Second Virginia Convention. I think that Rationalist writing styles became more and more popular over time because society became less and less religion based. For example, look at where we are today in society as compared to where we were years ago. Things have changed and the writing styles have also changed along with society.

Bibliography

Henry, Patrick. "Speech to the Second Virginia Convention." Glencoe Literature. New York: Glencoe McGraw-Hill, 2009. 114-119. Print.

Journal #9- Rational Approach

Being a girl, I am around emotional people about 90% of the time. I am used to the emotional emotions of girls because I am around it so much, and also because believe it or not I am a girl. I know that if something goes wrong for me, I tend to have a bad habit to freak out and probably be slightly annoying with my emotions. Although girls always seem to be more emotional than boys, I also think that boys at times can be pretty emotional. For example, I have this cousin of mine that is usually a good student and generally does well in school. He is one of those kids that the I am so jealous of that can barely study for a hard test and still get an A. This year he is a freshman at the awesome Pleasant Plains High School, and he decided to take Spanish 1. I have been taking Spanish for 3 years now, so basically you can say I am a professional. Anyways, he is used to getting good grades in class without doing much studying and when he started taking Spanish he was blown away. He was kind of freaking out because he has been able to do good in classes his whole life without much effort, and then Spanish comes along and kind of caught him off guard. He was emotional because he was for the first time in his whole life, struggling to get a good grade. I solved this little problem of his by being rational and awesome. I tutored him and tried to help him better understand how to do his homework and now he is doing better in that class. I think I am pretty amazing for being able to help out my little baby cousin with his Spanish and I solved his emotional problem with my super cool rational thinking skills. This is a great story about a girl and her cousin.

Journal #8- Autumn

Autumn is a lovely time of year. I like autumn because it is football season and because of all of the bonfires that are going on. I like being able to wear a sweatshirt and jeans sitting by a fire playing never have I ever with all my closest pals. I also like autumn because of Halloween. I love Halloween because of all of the haunted houses that are going on and they are so fun to go to! This year I plan on going to many haunted houses with all of my friends. This year will be my first year of not going trick or treating on Halloween night, and after 16 years I think I'm finally ready to move on. Another reason I like autumn is because it is cold, but it is not like snowy and freezing. It is nice weather most of the time and it is perfect weather to watch football in. I love going to football games with my friends, and I also love going to watch my little brother play on his football team. I am really excited for this autumn because of all of the fun things I plan on doing! Although I am really excited for autumn, summer is by far my favorite season of the year. I like summer better than autumn because in the summer, I am worry free and mostly because I do not have to go to school. I hate school a lot, and unfortunately autumn is the season in which school starts. The only reason I do not completely hate autumn is because of homecoming and football games and Halloween and bonfires. For once, I am actually super duper excited for autumn this year. Oh and how could I forget that my all time favorite part of autumn is the pumpkin pie! Thanksgiving is in autumn and I absolutely love pumpkin pie, so therefore I kinda love autumn a little bit.

Journal #7- Bullying

I think that bullying is a serious problem in both middle schools and high schools everywhere. I have been on both ends of bullying before, and I can honestly say that neither of them is very fun. Being bullied is obviously not fun, but neither is being the bully. When ever I do something to someone to hurt their feelings, I feel really bad about it and sometimes I even get to the point where I can not go to sleep without calling and apologizing to them. I think that everyone is made fun of or laughed at during some point in their life, and sometimes I think people can be a little bit too sensitive about certain things. For example, if someone makes a joke or says something sometimes certain people take it way too seriously and its really annoying. Although I think they take things too seriously, I also think that if you know someone is going to be upset if you say that then you should just keep the comment to yourself. Bullying can cause serious damage to a persons life and can also affect the way they look at themselves. I think that bullies also have a difficult time because there is no way you can be so mean to someone and not feel remorseful about it. I used to be really mean back in middle school and I know that after the fact I would always at least feel a little bit bad about it. Luckily, in high school I developed a soul and I started being nice to people. Sometimes I like bully Abby Ulrich because it is really fun. In seventh grade I nick named her "Smellrich" and it has stuck like glue! I think that me and Abby are really good friends because we both like to bully each other. Its similar to a hate-hate relationship. But it is okay when we bully each other because we both know we are just joking and that is why she is my friend.

The Crucible Act 3- Reflection Blog

I think that so far in The Crucible, the author has revealed a lot of human nature through the characters. I know that for me, if I am being accused of something I will become super defensive and I even may try to shift the blame onto another person. I think that this is an example of human nature because no one wants to be blamed for something that is wrong or causes trouble to others, so if this happens people become defensive and try to shift the blame to someone else. This is exactly what is happening right now in The Crucible, all of the women are being accused of witchcraft and because of it their husbands are becoming extremely defensive against each other. The men are being very hostile with each other and are accusing each other, all in hopes of clearing their names and setting their family free (Miller). Also, I think that for some people it is in their nature to be mean and evil, which I think is displayed in this book by Abigail. I think that Abigail is just evil in nature because she always seems to be involved in the dramatic incidents that take place in this book. People do not like being blamed or accused, especially when what they are being accused of could potentially get them hung. I know that if someone was accusing me of something I did not do, I would probably react in a way similar to the way all of the men acted in this book. I also think that being hung is a really extreme punishment, especially when they have almost no proof except the he said she said that is going around the town. I think that Arthur Miller knows a lot about human nature because of how much of it he has in cooperated it into this play. He not only shows us a great deal about human nature, but he also shows a quite a few different types of personalities and how they can interact and get along with each other. Another example of human nature displayed in this book is something that I think is less common in today's society. It was in people's nature back when this book was written to be very religious, and therefore they were also very strict about God and the Devil. In this book we see many conflicts that deal with people being accused of seeing the Devil and we also see how this kind of problem was addressed. I think that this book is a very good book to read because it is very realistic about how people would react in a certain situation. For example, in this book when people are being accused of witchcraft, they react in a very predictable way and try to shift the blame to someone else (Miller). I think that some books try to hard to capture human nature, and therefore it can sometimes be unrealistic. In The Crucible, we are shown a large amount of human nature as well as shown the many different types of personalities and how they act together.

Bibliography

Miller, Aurthur. The Crucible. New York: Penguin Group, 1976. Print

Journal #6- Blaming

It seems like people always have someone or something else to blame when something goes wrong. I know that I always have some sort of an excuse or someone else to blame when I am in the spotlight for being wrong. For example, back when I was in sixth grade I had a research paper to turn in to Mrs. Risdon in class the next day. I finally had it all written, typed, and printed, ready to turn in the next day in class. But unfortunately I ended up forgetting my completed paper at home on the table, and both my parents were at work and could not bring it to me. Mrs. Risdon had been very clear that she was not going to accept late grades, so when class rolled around and I had no paper to turn in, I freaked out. I told Mrs. Ridson that my printer was broken and that my dad was going to fix it tonight and I would bring it in tomorrow. Unknown to me before then, she asked for my dad's cell phone number and told me that she was going to call him to verify that our printer was actually broken. I was freaking out because I lied to her and now I was going to get in trouble with my parents, and my teacher, all because I put the blame on something else. There are many consequences that can come with blaming someone for something they did not do, and some are less severe than others. For example, if I spilled milk all over the floor and then blamed it on my sister, she would have to clean it up instead of me having to do it. But in more extreme cases, like in The Crucible, Elizabeth is being blamed for murder and because of that she might be hung. I try not to blame others for my mistakes and I hope that people will not blame me for theirs.

The Crucible- Act Two Reflection Blog

So in class on Thursday, we did this test online that is supposed to show us our true color. We answered several questions according to how we would react in certain situations, and at the end it presented you with either blue, orange, gold, or green as your true color. My color was blue, which is described as being a very emotional type of person. My second color was gold, which is described as being very organized person. Coming in third was orange, and lastly came green. The orange personality is described as being a little bit crazy, but also being very effective workers. Greens are the people who show very little emotion and are often thought of as the "thinkers" (True Colors). I definitely agree that I am not green, but I think that at times I am a pretty good mixture of the other three colors. I think that I can be a little bit of all of these colors sometimes because I think the way I would react on certain things all depends on other things. In the book The Crucible, I think the author reveals the true colors of some of the characters by the way they act and react to other characters and certain situations. For example, I think that Mary Warrens and Abigail are both blues. I think they are blues because according to this quiz, blues keep mostly to themselves. Both Mary and Abigail seem to be pretty quiet, but at certain points they both become super emotional and passionate (True Colors). For example, when Mary Warrens is forbid not to go to the court anymore by Mr. Proctor, she becomes very passionate in telling him that he can not order her around anymore "I'll not be ordered to bed no more, Mr. Proctor! I am eighteen and a woman, however single!" (Miller 60). In this passage you can tell that she is tired of being ordered around by Mr. Proctor and she is very passionate about getting her way. Also, based on the two acts I have read from this book, I think it is safe to say that Mr. Proctor is also a blue. I have one reason as to why I think he is a blue, and that is because of his mood swings. According to this true colors quiz, blues tend to have mood swings (True Colors). Mr. Proctor has quite a few mood swings as he goes from fine to angry to resentful all in one act (Miller). Now that Mr. Proctors wife Elizabeth is taken away, I wonder how this will affect his character. Since blues are already very emotional, I am excited to see how the absence of his wife will affect him. Speaking of Elizabeth, I honestly do not know what to think of her. I would not say she is a blue, because even when she is being accused she does not show emotions. I think that as we get farther into this book we will see a little bit more of Elizabeth, but as for right now I am not sure what color I would give her. I think that as we read more of this book, we will learn the true colors of more of the characters from this book.

Bibliography

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

"True Colors." True Colors International. Baytech Web Design. Web. 18 Oct. 2011.

Journal #5- 21 Century Punishment

I think that parents in the 21 century have a harder time punishing their children than the previous generations. I think that with the amount of technology us children are surrounded by only makes punishing us even harder because there are so many things that we can do to keep us entertained. For example, if I got in trouble and my parents decided to take away my cell phone, I would not be that upset because I also have an ipod, a laptop, or television that I could use instead. I think that if parents are going to try and punish us by taking away our electronics, they are going to have to take them all to be effective. I think that if kids were limited the time they spent on electronics that many of them would do a lot better in school and also in everything they do. If parents just take away one of these elements, I can honestly say that I would not even care. I think that at certain times it would be appropriate to take away technology from a kid, but I also think that some parents go straight to cell phones every time. For example, if a kid is getting bad grades in school I think it is appropriate to take away cell phones and video games, but I do not think they should take stuff away for forgetting to do the dishes. For me, when I get into trouble my parents never take away my phone or anything like that. Every time I get in trouble I am grounded and not allowed to go hang out with my friends, not getting my cell phone taken away. I do not think that there is any way for parents to remove all technology from a kids life, so why even try? You can take away their cell phone, but they will still have an ipod. If parents are going to remove technology from our lives, they are going to have to get rid of facebook, youtube, cell phones, ipods, and television.

The Crucible- Act One Reflection Blog

In The Crucile, I think that Aurthur Miller incoperates many Puritan qualities into his writing. So far, we have been introduced to many different characters and we have gotten a pretty good look at what is going on in this play. This play takes place in 1692, and back in this time people had little knowledge of the causes of people being ill. From the beginning of this act, we see that Parris' daughter Betty is very ill, and people are beginning to say that it is because of witchcraft. Back during this time, to be acused of witchcraft is punishable by being hung and it was not a good rumor to be going around that you practice witchcraft. For example, in this passage from the play Parris says

Thomas, Thomas, I pray you, leap not to witchcraft. I know that you--you least of all, Thomas, would ever wish so disastrous a charge laid upon me. We cannot leap to witchcraft. They will howl me out of Salem for such corruption in my house (Miller 14).

This passage shows just how serious it could be if you are acused of witchcraft, and in Parris' case, it would mean being chased out of town and losing his job. Aurthur Miller shows a Puritan like quality in his writing by how much reference is made to God and by how much of an influence God has on the lives of all of the characters in this play. Puritans thought that religion was a personal, inner experience and I think that Aurthur Miller expresses the importance of religion by including it in his play. Puritans believed that writings directly expressed the workings of God, and I think that in his writing Arthur Miller is showing us as readers how the Puritans believe God and the Devil interact with people and how that can affect a persons life. For example, Mrs. Putnam believes that the devil has murdered seven of her babies because they died shortly after birth (Miller). This passage shows Mrs. Putnam speaking in regards of her dead children

Reverend Parris, I have laid seven babies un-baptized in the earth. Believe me, sir, you never saw more hearty babies born. And yet, each would wither in my arms the very night of their birth (Miller 15).

Now in modern times, we would know the reasons for why those babies died, but back in this time period if there was not an obvious problem, people assumed it was the work of the Devil or witchcraft. I think that by including all of these assumptions and what not the author is revealing not only Puritan qualities but also showing us how people acted back in this time period. Arthur Miller shows us how much a rumor about witchcraft could affect a person's life, and also provides us with information about how people viewed the devil back in this time period. I personally thought that the first act of this play was very strange, but at the same time I found it very interesting and entertaining.

Bibliography

Miller, Aurthur. The Crucible. New York: Penguin Group, 1976. Print

Journal #4- Traveling

I have traveled to many places throughout my life, and I have gone with many different people. One of the most memorable trips I have been on was when I went to Florida with my church. Because I was going with my church, I also traveled with many other students and adults. We rode in a huge bus and I sat with my friend Rachel. I think that this trip was different than any other trip I have been on because before then I had really only traveled with my family. I thought that it was really cool that I could go on vacation with all of my friends and not have my parents around. This trip was really cool because it made me feel really independent. For example, I had to pay for my own food, and I did the things I wanted to do instead of what my parents wanted to do. This trip lasted a whole week, and by the time it was over I was ready to be home. Although I had a really good time, I was ready for my parents to start paying for everything again. I liked this trip because I was able to spend a lot of time with my friends and because it made me feel very independent. Another time I went to Florida with my friend Helena and her family. This trip was completely different than the time I went with my church. I was traveling with Helena, her brother, his friend, and her parents. On this trip we went to the beach and to Universal Studios, but I did not like being away from my family. This trip made me miss my family because unlike my church trip, I was not independent at all. I had to do what her parents said to do and I did not like it. I think that traveling is really fun, but most of the time I would like to travel with my family.

Of Plymouth Plantation- Reflection Blog

In Of Plymouth Plantation, William Bradford tells us about the Pilgrims and their journey here. Like the previous stories we read, this one also makes reference to God and religion a lot. I think that this is one of the most Puritan-like qualities in this story because religion is a very important part of the Puritan-lifestyle. In this story, William Bradford tells us a lot about the struggles they went through being among the first to arrive here and how difficult it was to survive in the beginning. Similar to the stories we read last class, William Bradford also talks about how even though their situation is grim, these people still give thanks to God (Bradford 65). For example, in the story from last time about the lady who was held hostage she frequently gave thanks to God because she knows her situation could have been worse and she seen it as a blessing. In this story, William Bradford describes a scene to us of the Pilgrims landing on the beach after a really rough time traveling. In this scene, the people are on their knees on the beach giving thanks to God for their safe landing (Bradford 65). I think that by telling us about this part of the story William Bradford is showing us that even though they all went through a lot of suffering on the journey there, they still give thanks to God because He gave them a safe landing. I think that this is a very Puritan-like quality because in all of the stories we have read so far there is always something incorporated about giving thanks to God. I think that William Bradford wrote in a Puritan style in this story because of all of the references made about religion and God. Puritans also liked to write about things and journal because they believed it helped them explore themselves inside and out to reveal the workings of God inside them. I think that this could also be considered a way that William Bradford wrote this story with some Puritan-like qualities. Puritans wrote diaries and stories about history because they believed it showed the direct workings of God, and William Bradford wrote a story about history, which is yet another Puritan-like quality I found in this story. William Bradford mentioned in this story the Mayflower Compact, which is like the rules made by the Pilgrims that they all lived by. These rules were very simple, for example one said that they if at war each community would aid the other community (Bradford 67). I think that this is yet another Puritan quality that William Bradford reveals in his story. I think that in this story William Bradford reveals many Puritan qualities by relating everything to God and including religion in his story. In this story the Pilgrims believe that everything that happens to them is because of God and when something good happens the first thing they do is give thanks to God (Bradford 65). I think William Bradford uses many Puritan writing styles in his story.

Bibliography

Bradford, William. "Of Plymouth Plantation." Comp. Jeffrey D. Wilhelm, Ph.D. and Douglas Fisher, Ph.D. Glencoe Literature. American Literature ed. Columbus: McGraw-Hill Companies, 2009. 62-68. Print.

Journal #3- Hostage

I f I were ever taken hostage, I would probably escape pretty swiftly. Even though being kidnapped and held hostage is on of my biggest fears, I like to think that I would easily be able to outsmart my kidnappers. I would rethink about what the characters do in the action movies to escape, and then decide on which is my best bet. If I was in a forest locked up in a cabin, obviously I would gander at my surroundings until I could plan an escape rout. Once an escape rout is established, I will decide how and when is my best time to break a window and leap out of the cabin. I will then use my cell phone to call for a rescue helicopter and I would give them my exact coordinates just so that when I escape into the wilderness I will not have to be alone for very long. I assume my kidnappers probably would not feed me very much, so the first thing I would do when I escape is hunt for some food. I would stumble upon a fruit tree and indulge in delicious apples. I would sit and wait at this apple tree until the rescue helicopter came, but just as I think I am safe, I hear my assailants storming through the forest! Unfortunately, I did not think this part of the plan through and I had to make a split second decision. I could either run away from them and the apple tree, missing my opportunity for rescue or I could stay and risk getting caught. I decided I had to run away from them. I sprinted as fast as my legs could go until I could not hear them anymore. In the process of ditching them, I also managed to get myself completely lost. Luckily I found a stream and I followed it until I reached civilization. This is probably how I would react to being held hostage.

Mary Rowlandson- Reflection Blog

I think that both of these readings reflect many Puritan qualities, but I think that in Mary Rowlandson's writing called A Narrative of Captivity and Restoration of Mrs. Mary Rowlandson she reveals more Puritan qualities than Anne Bradstreet does in Upon the Burning of Our House. In Mary Rowlandson's story, she recalls about how she was taken along with her three children and held captive by a tribe called the Wampanoag. At one point in this story, I think that Mary Rowlandson reveals a Puritan quality by saying

And my poor girl, I knew not where she was, nor whether she was sick or well, alive or dead. I repaired under these thoughts to my Bible (my great comforter in that time) and that scripture came to my hand. (Rowlandson 85).

I think that this passage from Mary Rowlandson's writing reveals Puritan qualities because the Puritans were very religious. They believe the Bible is words from God, and they encourage education just so that people can read it. Another way Puritan qualities are revealed through Mary Rowlandson's writing is by all the references she makes to either the Bible or God. For example, she says "... O the wonderful power of God that I have seen, and the experiences I have had!" and also she says "Though some are ready to say I speak it for my own credit; but I speak it in the presence of God, and to His glory" (Rowlandson 85). There are many instances in this story where Mary Rowlandson makes some sort of a reference to her religion, which I think is a Puritan quality. Religion is a huge part of a Puritan's life, and by reading this story I think it is safe to say that it also was a huge part of Mary Rowlandson's life. On the other had, in Anne Bradstreet's writing there are also many Puritan qualities. In this poem, Anne tells about the emotions that flooded through her as she seen her house burning down. She makes reference to religion in her poem many times, for example

And to my God did my heart cry, to strengthen me in my distress, and not to leave me succorless (Bradstreet 91).

In this quote, she is asking God to give her strength and not to leave her helpless, and in doing so she reveals a Puritan quality. She also says

And when I could no longer look, I blest His name that gave and took, that laid my goods down in the dust (Bradstreet 91).

I think that Anne Bradstreets writing does not reveal as many Puritan qualities as Mary Rowlandson's does, but it still reflects many Puritan qualities. Also, Puritans used writing to explore their lives to see the workings of God, and I think that both Mary Rowlandson and Anne Bradstreet did this with their writings. Personally, I liked Mary Rowlandson's story better because it was easier to read and also easier to understand. Anne Bradstreet's poem was written in a different style than what I am used to reading so I thought it was a little bit more confusing.

Bibliography

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. 89-91. Print.

Rowlandson, Mary. "A Narrative of the Captivity and Restoration of Ms. Mary Rowlandson." Comp. Jeffrey D. Wilhelm, Ph.D. and Douglas Fisher, Ph.D. Glencoe Literature. American Literature ed. Columbus: McGraw-Hill Companies, 2009. 80-86. Print.