Journal 24

This journal is about how I plan to study for semester exam. My plan for studying for exams is to cram every night. I am so busy  with cheer leading and competition that I have no time. My most important final to study for would be psychology, AP us and chemistry. O and of course this lovely class English 233. I am really stressed about these finals because my schedule is so difficult and there is little time to study. I think I will pull through though. I have confidence that I will get my gpa from a three point nine zero six to a four point zero. I  am in a lot of waited classes so it might help my gpa go up. I wish cheer was not so time consuming because school is really important but I probably would be fat and not do work if I was not invloved in cheer. My plan is to study this weekend for AP us and then study for pyschology on monday. On tuesday I will have to only study for strength training. On wedensday I will have to study for chemistry and algebra. That is my hardest day. On thursday I have zoology and english. Zoology will be hard because it is Ms. Lee's class and I am almost positive that she teaches like a college profeser because I fail all those tests. Anyway I hope my stragedy pays off. I guess we will see next week. Goodbye for now. This is the end of journal number 24.

Journal 23

Journal 23 is about being Self- Sufficient. We have to be self sufficient a lot in life. A person can not and should not rely on someone for everything. Of course there are exceptions to this rule. For insistence if a person has a disability or a disease then they have the right to be not be self sufficient. Anyways with us being   honors and accelerated students we definitely have to be self sufficient. We have to do our own work and rely on ourselves to get work done. There is a little more pressure since we our honors students. More work is accepted of us and we have to do it all alone. When it comes to citing sources and stuff we have to be even more self sufficient. You have to make sure your work is correctly cited so you do not get in trouble for plagerizing or taking someone's work. I try to be self sufficient in things other than school. It is hard though because some people do not agree. For example in cheer, I want to be self sufficent, I want the best for my stunts and for my jumps. Others want to focus on themselves or as a group. I think sometimes being self sufficent can hurt you. If you only worry about yourself. I think that you can become selfish and selfishness can lead to so many things. It can lead to being rude and hurting people. It can also make you become a loner and leave you with no friends. No one wants that but sometimes you can not help it. It can become addictiong to do things yourself. Then you can not handle certain things when you have to do group work or a project at work. I think I have just enough of self sufficency. I can do things myself and in groups. Of course I would prefer to work on my own or maybe just one partner.

Reaction to Self Reliance

This blog deals with the writing “Self Reliance” by Emerson and is a reaction to the analysis by George Kateb.

 I thought this analysis from George Kateb was interesting The analysis was very in depth and detailed from the expert, “Self Reliance”. It was clearly meant to expand the ideas from Emerson as well as add details and thoughts. Although the article was a little long I thought it cleared up some of the confusing parts in “Self Reliance”.  It should be able to clear it up because it was thirty-five pages. The length was so long because Kateb had many ideas and reactions from the original words from Emerson. Kateb most likely looked up to Emersons writing. Otherwise why would he want to write a long reaction on this.  Kateb writes, "Every sentence seems a declaration of faith. He seems to stand behind every utterance with his whole being, and risk his being by the completeness of his candor.” (Kateb). This shows the understanding of the work and the seriousness Kateb felt when writing this reaction. I find it a little odd that he was so into an essay. Throughout the essay the reader can see Kateb believes in Emerson’s writing and wants to live by it. Personally I would not call this writing something to base life off of but everyone is different.

After seeing this article I think Emerson and Kateb seemed like a pretty classy guys.  He says, "An almost exasperated Walt Whitman can therefore say of Emerson: 'He does not see or take one side, one presentation only or mainly, (as all the poets, or most of the fine writers anyhow,)—he sees all sides. His final influence is to make his students cease to worship anything—almost cease to believe in anything, outside of themselves'" (Kateb). He shows he believes in other ideas and people, not just himself. This shows a lot of class because most writers would say there ideas are the only good ones and the right ideas.

I think Kateb wanted to interpret “Self Reliance” in a way where everyone can relate. I personally relate when Kateb says "One relies on oneself”(Kateb). With some recent experiences in my life I have realized that if you want things done you can not rely on others. You sometimes have to do it yourself; even if it means following a different path. This was the point of the reading, for a person to relate to it and maybe get some little thing out of it.  

Overall this writing was pretty good. I think it could have been a lot better if it was not a book. Like I said before thirty-five pages is a little much.  I think he showed Emersons writing in a different and a creative way. I think it was not a waste of time to read this and was a relatable article. Kateb got his ideas across and I respect him for that. “Self Reliance” is a well written paper and I can understand why it was written about and is still read today.

Emerson, Ralph Waldo. "Self-Reliance and the Life of the Mind." In Emerson's Transcendental Etudes. Board of Trustees of the Leland Stanford Junior University. 2003. Quoted as "Self-Reliance and the Life of the Mind" in Bloom, Harold, ed. Ralph Waldo Emerson, Updated Edition, Bloom's Modern Critical Views. New York: Chelsea House Publishing, 2006. Bloom's Literary Reference Online. Facts On File, Inc.

Journal 22

Snow.Snow. Snow. Snow. Snow. Snow.Snow. Snow. Snow is white and soft and wet. It is in different shapes and  can be east. However snow is also sloppy and slippery and wet. I think snow is pretty when it first falls then it gets brown and slouchy  That is ugly. It is also difficult to drive in which can be dangerous for drivers. This year I do not think that we will get any snow days. The new superindent is from a cold and snowy state, therefore the snow that falls here will be nothing for him. Not saying that is a bad thing, because I do not want to make up days in May. I just really do not want to drive in the wet and cold snow. Most people around here love and want snow. They are crazy in my opinion. Who wants to be cold and have to bundle up with three coats? Not me. If you want snow so much go to Colorado or North Dakota or somewhere were 45 degrees is a hot day. I want summer. Not snow. I want pools, not ice. I want ice cream, not hot chocolate  I want to wear skirts and not jeans everyday. There is one plus to snow. That plus would be boots. I love boots. They go with legit anything and you can not wear them in the summer. But snow is not necessary for boot weather. We just need cold for boots. Gosh I love boots. Boots with jeans. Boots with yogas. Boots with leggings. Boot with anything. I really sucks when we have to have cheer practice and there is snow. There is a better chance of slipping and falling. With it being competition season, the dangers of falling and breaking a leg is much greater. Anyways. Snow is okay. If you like it, good for you. If not, whatever. Yepp. Goodbye. Snow. Snow. SNow. Snow. Snow. Snow. Snow. SNow. SNow. SNow. SNow. SNow.

Journal 21

• Journal #21: Write your reaction to the following Emerson quotation:

There is a time in every man's education when he arrives at the conviction that envy is ignorance; that imitation is suicide; that he must take himself for better, for worse, as his portion; that though the wide universe is full of good, no kernel of nourishing corn can come to him but through his toil bestowed on that plot of ground which is given to him to till. (Emerson, "Self-Reliance")

I can not relate to to this because I am not a man. Therefore this blog does not pertain to me. However since you will probably poke my eye out I will write. Not because I am afraid of you but because I do not want to lose three points.
This quote means everyone has a problem or struggle in life. Everyone has a point when they break down and can not go on any longer. We all have that point were nothing goes right and we give up. I think this quote is saying we need to keep going and not let little things or stress keep us from great things. I also think its saying do not get carried away. When you are at the top you have to rememeber you started and you have to not be arrogent or ignorance. Emerson seems to get people and this quote is impressive. I think he understands human nature and gets both sides of people: those at the botttum and those at the top. Instead of saying man he should say people so both sexes can relate. I really hate when people say things to just one sex. Overall I think this is a really good quote and explains life in a good point of view.

Journal 20

Journal #20 Using sensory details (sight, smell, hearing, touch, taste), write a passage depicting the cycle of life. Use a Romanticism writing style approach.

This story takes place in Africa. In a world is non existnet because there are no humans, as you can read in the passage. ENJOY. 

The sun arose from the big blue sky. All the animals knew this was the day there new king would arrive. 72 days had gone by since the announcement of the new lion. The animals all waited anxiously to see what he would look like. Would he be brown or tan or yellow? Would he be little or big like his dad? The animals knew that whatever he looked liked  they would love him and cherish him to there lives end. In the world of Animal Kingdom the lions were the head of the pack. Everyone agreed with them and loved them. They really had no flaws. This was in a time period when humans did not exist. All there was in the world was animals.   Giraffes, zebras, hippos, birds, and many more creatures made there was to the famous Pride Rock. The steam of the rock was rolling off and the grass was wet from the morning dew. The babboon Ralphie walked to the top of the mountain and said "It has arrived". The animals paraded around. Sounds of elephants trunks and heyenas laughs could be heard from miles away. They finally calmed down and the queen and king lion walked out carrying a yellow pup. Ralphie grabbed the young cub and reached it up for the animal kingdom to see. "This", he said loudly, "Is your new queen." The Kingdom was silent. Was it even possible for the new heir to be a queen. After a few minutes of silence  the kingdom aroused in sherieks and applause. It had been centuries since a new queen was born. The cub was beautiful. She had a gold tone of skin and a small pink nose. She was tiny. Her roar was small and cute. All the lions growled, in a good way. The animals were overjoyed. It was a new cycle of life.

Journal 19

The United States of America
The greatest country of all
Soliders pay their lives
So the title will not fall

Freedom is a price
Some will have to pay
The colors on our flag
Tell us its okay

Red and White and Blue
The colors of our pride
We are invincible
As long as we survive

I am one of these people
Who fight to keep us free
I will not stop ever
Even if I bleed

For this is what I love
And I will always try
Even if I die
I hope to be a dove

War is never good
Sometimes it must be done
For like I said before
This is what I love

Journal 16

One time there was a group of really weird seniors at Pleasant Plains High School. They decided to wear a outfit that resembled the loggers and the 1980's. They did it for a bet but it was still really weird. Because they were seniors no one said anything bad about them. Actually they thought it was cool. The underclassmen talked about doing this there senior year and making it a pleasant plains high school tradition. This shows depending on who the people are they might not get judged. For example if I had worn a banana suit to school people would most likely make fun of me and make my life miserable. Because the boys dressing weird were seniors and popular jocks, no one said a thing.

Journal 18

• Journal #18 Using sensory details (sight, smell, hearing, touch, taste), write a passage that starts with As I pondered the multitude of eyes beaming at me from the magnificent creature

As I pondered the multitude of eyes beaming at me from the magnificent creature, then faster than I could believe it jumped out at me. I got into a ball, like the park ranger said too, and pretended to be dead. However the creature did not attack. It began licking me. I started to laugh and got up. It was a baby koala bear. It was grey and fluffy and absolutely adorable. It was unlike anything I had seen. It could run and jump. I did not know koala's could to that. The strangest thing about the creature was it had four eyes. I did not see them at first for two were very small. I decided to call the creature four, because of its' four eyes. I wanted to keep my new friend and take it to my hut in the African city I was in. Unfourtanatly that would be animal knapping and it was forrbiden in the city I was staying in. I thought I could get away with it but I was a goody too shoes. I said goodbye to my furry friend and struggled to fight back tears. As I was walking away Four followed me, whimpering. I decided I would visit him everyday until I left to go back to America. That would be almost 2 weeks. Two weeks would cerentainly be enough to get over my friend. Boy was I wrong. The two weeks flew bye and I had to leave. On my last night in Africa I decided not to go see Four, for it would be too hard to say goodbye. I left and went back to home. The next week I was watching the news and a story came on about the African Town I had been in. Four had been rescued and was going to an American zoo near my town. I was estatic. I saw Four the day he came and every day after that. I got a job  at the zoo and stayed with my best friend for the years to come. THE END 

Journal 17

Journal #17 says using sensory details (sight, smell, hearing, touch, taste), write a passage that starts with "As the light blue fuzz feathered through the warm current of air purring from the heating vent, . . . 


As the light blue fuzz feathered through the warm current of air purring from the heating vent a young girl named Jessica freaked out. Breaking the silence in her honors english class, she exclaimed, "A bird, a bird. A feather, do not let it on me! Help. Help"

 The class started laughing they all knew Jessie was afraid of birds. She had a had a horrible experience when she was in fifth grade. She was at her friend Ginger's house and they decided to watch a scary movie. The movie talked about crows taking over people's homes and attacking them. It freaked Jessie out and from then on she was afraid of birds. 

Mr. Pirate ran to Jessie, he did not know she had a phobia of birds. "What are you doing?" He yelled. "This is a horrible distribution  I will poke you in the eye if you do not shut up." 

Jessie began to cry. Mr. Pirate really hated her. Almost as much as her cheer coach Stephan. "I am sorry." She said in a whispered voice. "I am very afraid." 

Mr. Pirate just shook his head and pointed to the door. Jessie left with her head down in shame. She walked all the way to the office. She thought about leaving. Her cute Kia Rio was right outside and the keys were in her pocket. She decided against it. Trembling because she knew her dad would be very upset. She sat down and waited. 

The a fire alarm went off. Everyone ran out of the building. Jessie's head shot up. She had fallen asleep in English class. It was all just a dream... or more like a nightmare. When she awoke a blue feather was laying on her desk. She screamed. 

THE END

Journal 15

There are many people I miss in my life but the person I miss most is my grandma. She passed away in 2007 from cancer. She died two days before my thirteenth birthday. It was really tough on me because it was the first person I had lost that was really close to me. I was at my grandma;s house a lot when she was alive. Both my parents worked late and I was too young to stay home along. We ended up getting really close. She even took me to Rhode Island for a week just because I wanted to go. She spoiled me a ton. I got so many things.  I was really lucky. I miss my grandma  a lot, especially around Christmas time and around my birthday. This year was really hard because I was turning sixteen and she was not there. She has missed so much in my life but I know she is looking down in spirit.

I think you can miss people even when they are still here. For instance I miss my best friend. We used to be so close and tell each other everything and now we are complete strangers. She hides everything from me and blames me for problems that I have no control over. For example her and her boyfriend breaking up. She blames me for our friendship slowly ending because I got more friends this summer. Even though I get blamed for everything I would still go back to the way things were. We were more than best friends, we were sisters. I think it will take I long time to get our friendship back to what it used to be. Hopefully it will still be there. The good thing about missing this person is she is still here. No matter how mad I get or she gets we will be here for each other. I honestly think by the end of this year things will be back to normal.

The Pit and Pedulum

 

In "The Pit and the Pendulum" by Edgar Allen Poe, there is a clear switch between the Rationalism and Romanticism writing period.  Rationalism believes that God created everyone and everything. It believes reasoning, and scientific evidence. Romanticism is almost the exact opposite.  It deals with feelings and emotions. Romanticism deals with the self. An example of a writer in this time period is Edgar Allen Poe. Characteristics, such as imagination, emotions, and self-analyze, of the Romanticism period are shown through his story, "The Pit and the Pendulum,".

Poe’s writing is very dark and disturbing. The writing is very emotional, which is a major part of Romaticism. In the story, the narrator is in a jail cell and on death sentence. The way he describes being claustrophobic is eerie and makes the narrator seem fearful. There are examples of this many times throughout the story. "My worst thoughts, then, were confirmed.  The blackness of eternal night encompassed me.  I struggled for breath.  The intensity of the darkness seemed to oppress and stifle me.  The atmosphere was intolerably close" (Poe 265).  “The heat rapidly increased, and once again looked up, shuddering with a fit of ague.” (Poe 273). This emotion is questioned in an analysis by Charles E. May. May questions if the narrator thinks he is in a dream. He says “In this story we find the most explicit statement in Poe's fiction of his sense of the blurry line between dream and reality" (May). 

The narrator of Poe’s story discusses himself and his life at the moment of the story. He is in a cell and is on death sentence. He does not believe his life is like this. As said in the previous paragraph the writing of Poe is a sense between dream and reality. The narrator and character of this story shows this well.  

Imagination is also a part of the Romanticism period.  Faith was not all placed in God. It was placed experiences and imagination.  Throughout the story, Poe exhibits examples of imagination.  An example is on page 264.  A piece of the writing says " faces in coals that glow; is not he who beholds floating in midair" (Poe 264).  This is clearly made up because all that coal is not faces and things cannot flow in mid air.

 “The Pit and the Pedulum” is just the beginning of the Romantisim period. It shows characteristics such as emotion and self-analyze. Although it is brought out in a creepy and somewhat scary way Poe is an excellent example of what writing styles portrayed.

Journal 14

Journal 14 asks when in your life were you most scared and what created that fear. I have been scared and fearful many times throughout my life. I do not really feel comfortable discussing them on a blog were lots of people can see... So I will discuss a not so scary time.

Before a cheerleading competition I am so scared. I will be fine the night before and get a good nights rest but when we hit the warm up room I start panicking. Competitions are some of the scariest yet fun things I do. It takes a lot of guts to go out on a floor with judges and tons of people watching you. If one stunt falls or one tumbling pass touches the floor the crowd gasps and freaks out. It is scary when they do that. One of the reasons I get scared is because I am a flyer. This probably sounds crazy for people who do not cheer but flying is terrifying. Everyone in the arena watches and judges the flyer. They comment on you flexibility  height, and weight. If the stunt fails the flyer is always blamed  They did not "fight hard enough" for the stunt and they did not do what they were suppose to do. I was the main flyer my freshman year. Our squad had seven upper class-men on it. I was flying and doing stuff I had just mastered on girls who had been working for years. It scared me because I did not want to let them down or make them mad at me. My freshman year I handled the pressure great, I never let a stunt fall. Unforgettably sophomore year was not so good. I fell at every competition even state... It was so scary. It makes me fearful now for competition. Although I do not have to fly as many stunts this year, I do have to do something new: base. I am positive I will be freaking out and probably cry, it is the only thing that makes me a little better.

Journal 13

I thought that this collaboration project was a neat concept however it was not executed in a positive way. I found the project very stressful and the work was not equal. I understand that we are honors students and should have more challenging work but I do not think we should have to do the video for those who did not participate. The hard part about doing the video for someone was you never knew if they were going to send theirs. I worked three hours plus on doing the video editing and waited for what seemed like forever on some of the videos. I just do not think that is fair. Also it was very hard to communicate. Now a days not very many people check their emails daily. The way people get in touch is through texting and skype. Honestly who wants to give their number to a complete stranger? Talk about creepy.

I did not learn too much from this project. I was stressed almost the entire time. However, I thought some of the cites we used were interesting and could possibly be used in the future. I was also very proud of the Plains kids in my group. They did all their work by the final due date. Although it took some hard core work from Mrs. K, I am proud to say that I did not have to do any videos for the regular English students from PPHS. I even got some help from one of them which I was surprised and grateful for. So I guess I can say I learned not to doubt the students in my grade because they surprised me by doing their work.

I definitely think an individual grade is needed for this project. It is not a project where you pick your partners and its your own fault if they do  not do the work. It was completely random. Also the Farmington students did nothing. I understand it is hard to work with a bunch of people you do not know but they could at least have tried. If you decide not to do an individual grade at least do just the Plains kids for the whole thing. That way you can communicate with them. I think that this project is a neat idea but definitely needs some work. I think that this project would be useful maybe not for a grade though. Or maybe for less points.

Franklins Virtue

When writing the thirteen virtues, Franklin had an idea for them and a purpose that hopefully changed his life and the way that people around him lived. He wrote them so there would be a guideline on how to live a clean life. He made the virtues personal so that he could follow each one carefully and hopefully in the long run, he will have become a better person and his life the right way without any mischief or mistakes (Franklin). The virtues are way more important than just thirteen goals to live by. The goal is if a person live by them, they will become the way of life. Hopefully the virtues can turn life around into something so much more important and meaningful.

The virtues Franklin made are creative and very thought out. Franklin thought the virtues through for many reasons. The virtues were made to fit his needs at the time. It took a long time to think about what virtues he needed to please him and fix his life. However the virtues affect more people than Franklin. He might of thought these virtues could affect other people’s lives. This made the thinking process even more complex. He hoped the system of virtues would help more people want to live a better life and do more things for the good. Franklin knew it would be easy to fall out of following the virtues and ignore the rules. To try to eliminate himself and others from ignoring the virtues he made a systematic approach to the problem.  Franklin created a cycle that could be completed in thirteen weeks and in four times a year (Franklin).  Franklin made a chart that he could follow his progress. He would keep track of all the times he messed up and didn't follow the virtue. He would mark down what he did and then the next day try to do better and not repeat the mistake. Eventually he was able to not follow the system because he had no faults.  “After a while I went thro’ one course only in a year, and afterward only one in several years, till at length I omitted them entirely” (Franklin 88).

Some people really liked and approved the idea of Franklin's virtues and wrote criticisms on the topic. In Henry Tuckerman’s criticism, there is little to no negativity what so ever. He loved the fact that Franklin wanted to live a better life and that Franklin had political power to the colonies. He stated "But while official duty and patriotism gave Franklin occasion to propagate and actualize so many useful and requisite principles,—to become the thinker and advocate,—the incarnated common-sense of his country and his time,—there was another sphere of mental activity, another range of sagacious enterprise, in which he expatiated with kindred success." (Tuckerman) He is stating how Franklin was a very successful man because of these virtues in many ways. He was a smart man and good influence on the people who admired him as a patriotic and political figure. Tuckerman is also saying how his determination and good heart made him and others became a better people and influences on lives around him.

In his critique, he has many good words to say about Franklin. For instance in this passage from the writing, Henry is describing Franklin and the things that Franklin do. "The grand simplicity of his theory, the familiar apparatus by which it was tested, the accuracy of his foresight, and the unpretending spirit with which he received the fame incident to so great a result, form together one of those memorable instances of the conquest of mind over matter, of human intelligence over the secret facts of nature, which add the cognizance of new laws to the domain of knowledge, and brighter names to the catalogue of her immortal disciples.” (Tuckerman). He used many details when describing Franklin and the virtues. This shows his enthusiasm and positive attitude towards the virtues.

Although everyone has their own opinion on Franklin’s thirteen virtues, they helped him and made him a better person.  Everyone should want to make themselves better and after reading Franklin’s virtues and critics that go along with it, the urge to try is harder. Franklin’s virtues can truly help everyone.

.

Bloom, Harold, ed. "The Character of Franklin." Benjamin Franklin, Classic Critical Views. New York: C helsea House Publishing, 2008. Bloom's Literary Reference Online. Facts On File, Inc. http://www.fofweb.com/activelink2.asp?ItemID=WE54&SID=&iPin=C C VBF019&SingleRecord=True (accessed October 25, 2012).

Franklin, Benjamin, Dixon Wecter, Larzer Ziff, and Benjamin Franklin. Benjamin Franklin's Autobiography. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1959. 81+. Print.

Tuckerman, Henry T. "The Character of Franklin." Facts on File. Web. 29 Oct. 2012

Journal 11

Journal 11 asks us to explain our virtues that we want or do live by.

I think my first virtue to live by is honesty. Honesty is important in a lot of things in life. I would have someone be harshly honest to me than lie. I treat other people the same. Example: I ask someone if my hair looks good, clearly it does not. I expect them to tell me it does not and perhaps help me fix it. Even though the truth hurts sometimes I would rather know it now than later. Honesty is very important virtue to live by.  Another virtue I live by is frugality. I would love to not spend money on things I do not need. Of course this would probably not happen. But hey I can try. I want to live my life happy and do things that make me pleased. I do not want to have to worry or dread doing something. I want to live life to the fullest potential. I think cleanliness is another virtue to live by. It is very important to be clean and to live in a clean home. I hate i when people smell bad. This school needs to learn to live by the cleanliness virtue. Seriously. The school has showers.. Anyway virtues are very important and help shape our lives. 

Journal 12

The American Dream very's for everyone. Depending on your ethnicity, social class, and job the hope and dream very's for everyone. To me the American Dream is being able to be free. You can be whoever you want in America. A person has freedom of speech and can be his or her true self, as long as in coincides with the law. I think going to college also a part of American Dream. Being able to go beyond high school is a huge privilege the United States of America.

I think the American Dream has many characteristics. People want to live the American lifestyles, which I think is a huge fantasy. Characteristics are things people want. They want the fancy cars and the huge Hollywood style homes with million dollar views. They want the huge rooms with indoor spas and pools.Women dream of the football star husband or a model husband making lots of money. Men dream of supermodel and actress wives. Children want to become the child star being MaryKate and Ashley or Miley Cyrus.  Of course we all want to make a ton of money and drive top line cars. We all want the next big thing like the Iphone or the newest tablet. We even want the cutest animals like puppies, kittens, and zebras.Basically the American Dream is wanting things.

Clearly not everyone will reach the "American Dream" but we all have it in some ways. For me being happy is the American Dream. I want a loving family and a solid good job. I want to have a good education and succeed to my fullest degree. Money and fancy cars would make me super happy but I do not expect it all. I do not think anyone should expect it.. Anyway, the American Dream is a goal we all want to reach. Only few of us will reach it and I wish the best of luck to the ones that do

Franklins Autobiography

The autobiography of Benjamin Franklin included many of Franklins thoughts and virtues of life. His writing reflects more of the rationalism period rather than the Puritan period for many reasons.

The rationalism period is reflected throughout Benjamin Franklin’s autobiography. One reason is because his writing is more logic and analytic thinking as compared to always referring things back to God. The rationalism style of writing uses more of the persuasive talking and figurative language. The Puritan period uses more of the straight to the point words and everything is based off of God. Franklin is a deist. He does not use God or reference religion in his autobiography. He was more of a man that God could go without mentioning, which is why he does not resemble anything near the Puritan writing style.

Franklin was also an inventor. He created many things that helped the human race advance in technology. Not once did he mention that God helped him make his inventions. The reader can see that Ben was aware of his surroundings through this quote: "Tho’ I never arrived at the perfection I had been so ambitious of obtaining, but fell far short of it, yet I was, by the endeavor, a better and a happier man than I otherwise should have been if I had not attempted it.”  (The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin 90).

The Puritans believe that God is a part of everything that happened. They believe that God created the world and therefore he creates everything in it, no matter what. Well, that is what sets the two religious views apart from each other. The fact that Franklin is a deist helps his writing because at the time, he helped write the constitution and made technology advances. Instead of filling his autobiography up with all references to God, he uses the power and persuasion of his words to make people listen and read what he has to say.

Another reason Franklins writing reflects more of the rationalism period is through the virtues. He lists thirteen virtues he thinks people should live their life by. To make sure that he was abiding by these rules, and to make sure that he was on the right track for becoming a better person with better morals he created a system that was to keep track of the all the times be stuck to them.  The system was a checking system that had a chart and boxes to mark in labeled with the appropriate titles for the appropriate virtues.  To work the chart, it meant that when he had violated a virtue and did not live up to what the virtue read, he would make a mark in the box for that day that he failed.  The goal was to minimize the marks in the chart and to keep a clean life.  None of these values included God.  It was obvious to see that Franklin focused on his beliefs instead of God’s. If his writing reflected the Puritan period, he would be basing his virtues on God and God’s beliefs.

Throughout the autobiography the reader can clearly see the writing reflects the rationalism period. Franklin was an avid thinker and inventor whose ideas helped shaped the world today.

 

"Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin: Chapter 9." Kellscraft Home Page: Free Books On-Line - And Much More! Web.

  <http://www.kellscraft.com/FranklinAutobio/FranklinAutobiographyCh09.html>.

 

 

The Declaration of Independence

The Declaration of Independence was in a way hard for me to understand, yet interesting at the same time. I do not know if it was the word usage or just the overall tone I picked up from the story, but I had a very hard time following what was happening. What I did understand I found intriguing because I had never read it before.

As I was reading the Declaration of Independence, I picked up on some faulty propaganda that was used. One of the main ones I scoped out is called the name calling technique. In the name calling technique (Recognizing Propaganda), people are given a label, which sort of marks how other people perceive them. It is false because many people only get to see one side of a person, when there is always an underlying personality. The story tears the king down, which is one of the characteristics of name calling. It was used to bash the King of Britain (Thomas 123). There was a list included of past injuries and negative effects that led to a tyranny. Since the points sum up why the King of Britain was bad, that is what people believe. Along with the bad things though, usually come some good things. This story forgets to mention the good things that the King of Britain has done. Another technique that I saw being used was using false information, almost contradiction (Recognizing Propaganda). It says in one part of the story that all men are created equal and that their rights cannot be taken away (Jefferson 122). I think that contradicts the point that if all men are created equal, then why are they bashing the king? Why is everyone not treated the same way? If we all have the same rights, shouldn't everyone be exposed to the same punishments and the same approval? I thought about these questions as I was reading the story.

I think that the bandwagon technique is also used in the story (Recognizing Propaganda). Even though the list is not a positive one toward the king, the bandwagon technique builds up characteristics to make someone look good. Even though the list makes the king look really bad, it makes other people look really good. It is a persuasion technique the author uses to gain people to be on his side, rather than with the king who has supposedly cause them so much damage.

I think that the whole document is mainly based on emotions. They are trying to lay down facts, but the thing is no one really knows if the statements are true Therefore, people are basing their opinions on what they hear. When they hear negative comments, they tend to develop a negative perception of who someone is. Another technique that is in possible use is poisoning the well. I think this technique is used because it is almost like a stereotype. Putting people into a certain category that alters, or people automatically assume, what kind of person they are. The use of faulty logic works with this document though. Even though there is hidden meanings in some of them, the argument is very moving and persuasive. People listened and that is when changes were made. I think to solve the issue of faulty logic, there should be solid facts, with solid proof. No matter what, the speaker has to be able to back up what he is saying.

Jefferson, Thomas. The Declaration of Independence. Comp. Jeffrey D. Wilhelm, Ph.D. and Douglas

Journal 10

Todays blog is about convinving  Mr. Lanlegy to bring Brach's Star Brites Mints to English class. I would just like to say if he did bring mints to class I would not eat them beacuse I find those discusting. However I will pretend I like these mints in order to write this blog. If he did choose to bring candy he should bring skittles because everyone loves skittles!

Brach's Star Brites Mints are an excellent treat to have in class for many reasons. First of all Brach's Star Brites Mints have a zing in taste that can wake any student up. Our english class is at the end of the day, right after pace and everyone is tired and ready to leave school. A little sugar from this inexpensisive treat is just enough to keep us students occupied for 80 minutes. There are a hard candy so having something to suck on in your mouth for a long time would help keep most of us awake. By waking us up the mints would turn on our minds and help us learn and respond to information from the class.

Another reason Brach's Star Brites Mints would be good to bring for class is for a reward. I know it sounds somewhat childish but it would be a good little treat for the class. For example if I anwered a dicussion question and provided an outside source, I could get a mint. Another example could be if the whole class did there blog or if it was someones birthday. Who doesnt love a little treat on the birthday? That forsure is PBIS.

I think mints would be very helpful in class. If someone dozed off all you would have to say is go grab a mint. The coolness and the overall taste would wake us up at least for a little while. I know it would sure help me and considering I fall asleep alot in your class.... Anyway I think you should highly consider bringing a tub of mints for our A5 honors english class. They are not very expensive and could really help the class focus and it would make us have something to look foward too. Overall I just think it would be an intellegent and bentifucul idea!

Crucible 4 compared with Sinners in the hand of an angry god

I liked the way that the book ended. Act four was full of a lot of suspense and sadness. I started to develop an emotional connection with the characters because they some decisions were made out of pride instead of truth.

John Proctor was a very brave man in the end of this book. After being chained up in a cellar for a long time, he was really quick to just give away his life knowing what waited for him at home if he would confess. I felt bad for Elizabeth in this scene after she talked to him. Before she had a chance to talk to him, she really had no emotion and it seemed like she could care less if her husband hung or if he lived. I did not really like her attitude and tone in this part of the act, but in the end after seeing him, she became very emotionally attached to him. I think that she secretly wanted him to confess and for them to both be forgiven. I think that John had to much pride, for he knew he was a liar and God already was frowning upon him. He did confess, but only to rip up the document in the end because he believed everything was already taken away from him except for his name, which he was not willing to give away and died for it. I think that The Crucible goes right along with "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God" because they both are based on God in general. In the final chapter of The Crucible, the court was trying to get people to confess. If the people accused confessed, they were more likely to be saved from God and forgiven. If they did not confess they were to hang. All of the people accused were sinners, and God did not like to save the sinners. Judge Hawthorn believed that many of the accused souls were already in Hell, so he did not want to postpone the hangings unless they confessed; unless they finally saw the light of God. I do believe God was angry in the Crucible. From the way the characters were acting, God was not willing to forgive people of their sins if they were not willing to confess. The play is very confusing in that way because everything was through God, but the town people, who are sinners themselves, are supposed to be caring out the works of God. I think that Judge Hawthorn was a sinner also. He did not always follow God's way and either did Parris. I think that people just assumed they did because they were both religious figures. The Devil could have really been seen by anyone in the story. If so many people were being accused, its hard to believe that they could just save themselves because they had some kind of authority in the town. "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God" has a tone that is very angry, so that people pay attention and really listen to what is happening. In the last act of The Crucible, the tone is very angry and threatening because they are trying to make Proctor realize and make a decision that will make or break his future. I think the stories go hand in hand with each other because they both are following sinners as their souls slowly go to hell when they should be going to and praising God.

 

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

 

Journal 8

Write about a time when someone was emotional and the situation was solved by a rational approach. 

This is a simple journal but I am going to flip about it. However, I do not think that I will be able to get 325 words about it. I will try my best. A rational approach means be straight up honest. I love when people are rational. Why would you lie when you could tell the truth? Example. A girl is doing her makeup and it totally looks like crap, she asks you if it looks good. Say no because it is the truth! Another example. A rumor is going around about a girl and her drinking on the weekend. Instead of spreading it around or telling her no one is talking about it tell her. Then the girl can do something about it... DUHH. It is not that hard. Anyone here is a story example that will hopefully get me 325 words. 

Once upon a time there were two girls named Taylor and Breayn. Breayn was having a bad day because her phone broke and her car was taken away. Then to top things off her boyfriend Carl dumped her. Breayn was very emotional and was crying her eyes out. Then five minutes later Carl texted her again saying he wanted to get back together. Taylor had to be rational and say no! He did it once, he would do it again. This is a radical approach because obviously the dumb boy will do it again. If Breayn gets mad at Taylor that is stupid. She was being a good and honest friend. But clearly this approach is not for everyone. It is my choice but it might not be hers. I think people have to look at the situation and decide on the best way to handle it. I think I will  always tell the radical side but that is my personality and the way people know me as. 

Journal 9

Autumn is a great time of the year. The weather is the perfect temperature and everyone seems to be in a great mood. Except for me. Who gets laryngitis. Laryngitis sucks. You can not talk or breathe and everyone laughs at you because you sound like you are high as a kite. Also you have to whisper. Whispering sucks too. No one can here you and everyone finds it funny. I also have sinusitis. That is horrible too. I have to come to school though or else I will miss this lovely class and my four other weighted classes. Anyways when my body does feel normal and I have a talking voice I love fall. Jeans and sweatshirts and yoga pants are my favorite things to wear. Everyone has there hair pulled back and does not really care. Fall is also when football playoffs are and when basketball season starts. I love cheerleading in the fall and I love cheering for a good football team. Autumn also means thanksgiving. I love food so obviously I love thanksgiving. If I do not have my voice back by fall I will cry. I will not be attending this school anymore because I will not be able to handle it. Actually if it is not back by next week I will probably cry to. I wish everyone had and or gets Laryngitis. That way I can laugh at them and make fun of them. And they can suffer like me. Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha. But really people will regret it. And this lovely illness, not a disease, can ruin their fall and their cheer leading and basically their lives. You can not eat the seasons food such as caramel apples and pies. When you have this illness you cannot eat nor sleep or basically do anything. I would do just about anything to get my voice back. I would write 12374389718479834789104710 words to get it back.  That is a lot of words. I can barley get 325 about the great season of autumn/fall.

Journal 7

Today journal is about bullying. Everyone in the world knows bullying is a huge issue and has gotten even bigger since social media sites like twitter and facebook became popular. There are many people who try to stop bullying and honestly I do not think the problem will ever go away. I think there will always be people trying to put others down. I think people should continue to prevent bullying I just do not think they will ever 100% succeed.

Being bullied is probably the worse thing ever. I think everyone at some point in there life goes through being bullied. Some defiantly have it worse than others. I have personally been attacked through school. When you have a father as an administration people constantly pick on you and say everything you do is because of your parent. I usually just ignore it because I am older and wont see most of these people ever again but it was really hard when I was in elementary school. I remember one time I got student of the month and people told me it was because of my dad. It is stupid that people feel the need to bring others down. I know my bullying experiences are not as near severe as some. People have been physically treated and attacked online. I have never really had to deal with that. It is sad that people have to bring others down to make themselves feel better but I guess that is how the world is. :(

Although most people wont admit it I think it is accurate to say most of us have bullied someone in our lives. That could be a sibling or younger student or even a friend. We have all said something hurtful to a person if we know it or not. I know I have had plenty of unnecessary comments that have offended someone and I don't mean it to come off as bullying. I just tend to speak my mind. I honestly have no clue what goes through a bully s mind. I do not see how you could physically harm someone or attack them on a social website. I hate when people talk about others for who they are dating or what they are or aren't doing. I think the world today is filled with bullies and victims and we all know how it feels to be hurt.

Act 3

In act three the idea of the characters human nature really does come out. Technically this human nature does not come out in a good way. The characters are put in very stressful and difficult situations. This causes many upset, frantic, and unexpected behaviors to come from the characters.

In act three the character of Giles Corey really begins to show his angry and protective nature. His wife, Martha Corey, is on trial for being a witch, which of course he does not believe to be true. He feels that he has legitimate evidence that his wife is not a witch. His anger comes through when he bursts into the courtroom claiming his wife innocence and makes a huge angry scene as he is drug out of the courtroom. (Miller 84) His protective nature is hidden behind all of the anger that he is giving off. For it really is human nature that when we become very protective of something, we become angry towards those who want to hurt them. For example, if your sister has an issue with a girl at school and is being bullied you are probably not going to be very nice or respectful to them. This is because you are protecting your sibling. I think this behavior is expected because his wife is being accused of something he does not think is true.

Another character, Mary Warren, has a huge part in act three. She is the one person who can really determine Elizabeth Procter's and Martha Corey's innocence. Her human nature of fear plays a huge part in this act. Martha has a terrible fear of the devil, which is expected because her strong faith believes that the devil is all things evil. Her fear of Mr. Procter comes into play when she admits that he forced her to go there and say they were pretending. She also said that Mr. Procter threatened to kill her if she did not do as he said, the fear of him made for the chain of events that happened in act three. (Miller 118-119).

Whether Mary was telling the truth, I have not yet decided. If she was not telling the truth, the fear of the court, judge, and possible jail time or hanging could have been what truly scared her into making up lies about Mr. Procter. Mr. Procter shows very similar human traits as Mr. Corey except Mr. Procter ads lying into the mix. Mr. Procter has been lying to all his peers and community about his affair with Abigail. He doesn't want his name to be put to shame and telling people would do just that. The truth finally comes out and his protective nature comes out with a mad furry (Miller 109-112).

These few human traits such as protectiveness, anger, fear, and lying were all displayed by characters in act three. These traits are also things that people today display both bluntly and secretly which makes it human nature to do many of these things.

Miller, Aurthur. The Crucible. New York: Penguin Group, 1976. 84-112 Print

Journal 6

The topic for today is a plain and simple question. What are the consequences when blaming someone they did not do.This is an obvious blog and there are only like three things that can happen. So I do not understand how we will get 325 words. This seems to be a challenge every single blog.. Hmmmmm.... As I say in everyone of these great journal entries: Here we go...

I think that there are many consequences when blaming someone for something they did not do. The most obvious example would be getting caught in the lie! Chances are you will get caught and you will be punished. One example of this is in high school. A girl, lets name her 123, can make up a story about her best friend named 456. Girl 123 told the whole school that 456 got a speeding ticket on the weekend when she really did not. Obviously 456 knows she did not and can prove to people she didn't do anything wrong with the law. 123 not only looks like and idiot but also loses her best friend in the time being. Her punishment for making up a stupid lie is losing her best friend. No one wants that. Another punishment example could be blaming someone for stealing someone you stole. The chances of  the truth coming out are high and you could get in trouble with the law. This goes the same for murder. Once you kill someone justice will probably be served and you will rot in jail. It is just wrong to blame someone for something they did not do. It just makes it worse in the end.

271 words... Still got awhile to go. The only thing I can think of is not to lie. Its bad. It will hurt you in the end. Everyone has expereince with this. Most of us have been on both ends of the spectrum. Recently I have just been on the victim end and it sucks. The best thing for anyone to do would be not to do it and make the world a better place. Classic I know. The end.

True Colors

In class today we discussed personality in a system known as True Colors. In this test your personality is analyzed based on how you answer these certain amount of questions, you will be given a word. The word will be given to you displaying how much you were a certain word based on how you answered them. The word each have their own meaning that displays a type of personality. There are colors that go along with the words as well. I will be using the colors throughout the blog because it is easier to understand. There are four words and colors; thinker(green), helper (blue), planner (gold), and doer (orange). Green basically means you are very analytical and think things through very well and are very firm and consistent in all they do. Blue means that you are very much about emotions and loving, people who are blue tend to like things to stay very calm and conflict free. Gold people are sensible and practical; you will find they are very learning oriented and hard working. Orange means they have a lot of energy and strength; they will work very hard to win and accomplish their goals ("The Meaning Behind the Colors."). The colors generally show how people are, and do not mean that we cannot display more than one color at different times. My color was blue which meant I was mainly a helper. I do not think that is correct, this shows some default in the test.

In the book, The Crucible, the characters all display different colors. One example of a character displaying a “True Color” is John Proctor. He displays a prominent green color. This is because he thinks out things a lot before he does things aka a planner. This is why he doesn't just tell on Abigail Williams. He wanted to make a plan and not just tell out because he knew telling her secret a big deal (Miller 22-26). As for Abigail Williams, she is very much a blue. She wears her heart on her sleeve and is very emotional. She is also a little bit orange because she works towards what she wants and puts all her energy into it. For example, her wanting to be with John Proctor and for him to admit he loves her (Miller 23-24). Reverend Parris is what I would consider an orange. He is very power hungry and goal oriented. He will go through anything and anyone to get what he wants. Rebecca Nurse is a half and half of a gold and blue. Although she is very emotional, she does have a very smart and sensible whit to her. For example, when she is being accused of being a witch, she was emotional but used her brain to talk to everyone (Miller 27-31). Elizabeth Procter is quite the opposite of her husband; she is a blue in my opinion. She wears her heart on her sleeves and in her words. She is not like Abigail's blue though; she is a mean woman with her heart on her sleeve. She uses her emotions in rash and not very good situations such as going straight to firing and trying to ruin Abigail's life after finding out about the affair between her husband and Abigail (Miller 76). As I have demonstrated to you, the characters all have different colors, and those who are the same colors still can have opposite sides of the color, some of these being good and others not being so good. This causes many conflicts between the characters themselves which makes for a very interesting story line.

Miller, Aurthur. The Crucible. New York: Penguin Group, 1976. 22- 76 Print

"The Meaning Behind the Colors." True Colors. My True Colors Incorperated. Web. 11 Sept. 2001. .

21st Century Punishment

Twenty first century punishment is ridiculous. This video we just watched was the dumbest thing. I like this blog topic so I can go on and on about how stupid it is to overprotect your kids. I think 325 words will be very easy because punishment is so dumb.

I think a fair twenty-first century punishment would be taking the cell phone away. Parents were concerned about emergencies and practices. Do they not realize that everyone has a cell phone and they can uses someone elses? I understand  if they have a car that they would need a cell phone but if they did something so bad then they should not have there car. I think it is pointless to white list and only have parents call. I think that it is stupid because they still have their phone. Taking away facebook is stupid to because facebook is dead. If anything parents could enforce facebook because its so boring. In the video they said having a safety profile so you can check there friends. I get that if the child is ten but sixteen? absolutely not. You can not control your childs friends and that is just asking them to get beat up. I think that video was so stupid. You might as well put a chip in your kids head. I get parents want to protect there kids but you can do that by not buying them a computer or an iphone. Seriously? These people are dumb. Do not complain when there is something to do about it. They could also just be less strict. Understand your kid is going to have an attitude and get snappy sometimes. Here is a tip: Warn them. If they cuss at you then enforce a type of punishment like the phone. If they are struggling with homework say no computer until your done. If they lie about were they are going take away the car. If they have a little bit of an attitude don't do anything. It is so dumb. It will make your kids hate you more and want to make you mad so they can get even.

The next time someone makes a 21st century punishment they might want to ask the teen or remember they were once there too. The last thing you would want is a bad relationship with your kid because you were a not nice word and took something they love away without warning or reason.

Bam 413 words.

Crucible Act 1

A Puritan is someone who is fully invested in the church and in the lord. Puritans are known to be a little extreme when it comes to the Lord. They feel the need to be over the top and a bit ridiculous. They have a tendency to be very judgmental of those who are not in the same mind set as them. Which pretty much means to be completely involved in God and the church and there is no other way to think about it. They seem to not like or get along with those who believe differently. While reading the novel The Crucible we see this against witchcraft.

 The idea of being totally involved with someone to the point where you don't even question it anymore is scary to me. That is something that doesn't make sense to me. Like I have said in class before, reading about this religion makes me a bit uncomfortable. It seems like they want you to be just as involved with God as they are and that is not me. I think it would be hard to be so loyal to someone in every single thing you do. I am interested to see if the characters in the book show this loyalty throughout the book. If they do show it I think they do deserve credit because that is a really amazing achievement.

 In the book The Crucible is very Christian based and oriented to the point where it is basically a Christian book. "Let God blame me, not you, not you." (Miller 39) This is a quote that shows how much they believe God was the only judge of them. They need not worry about what other people think of them because God is the only judge that matters to them. The person that said that was Mrs. Putnam who is what I would consider an extreme Christian. (Miller 39) At the same time I do not think she is a puritan because she is not a very good christian at all. She goes around accusing people of wrong doings with her husband and daughter because she feels like she needs to seek revenge to those who have done her wrong.(Miller 12-20,37-38,47) The biggest problem with that family is that they feel like everyone is against them and they need to be against everyone. This is their biggest and worst fault which causes many problems with the people in the town. There is a lot of talk so far in the book about witches and witchcraft. Many young girls including the minsters daughter and niece are some of the people being accused of witchcraft. (Miller 9,13-20) There is a lot of speculating going around which is causing a very unchristian like atmosphere. The puritan life style includes no funny business such as witch craft. So ultimately that is the biggest conflict in the book. From here on out I feel that the witch vs. Christian will be a theme throughout.

Miller, Aurthur. The Crucible. New York: Penguin Group, 1976.3-31 Print

Journal 4

Journal 4 asks about traveling. I do not really know what to write because I am very tired and this is the last class of the day. Hopefully it makes sense. So here we go...

I love traveling. Over the years I have driven to Florida many times, Alabama. Virginia, and North Carolina. I have also flown to many places. I do not mind driving. Especially because we always have lots of electronics. My family has two portable dvd players. We watch a a ton of movies on our trips and we watch lots of tv shows. Along with watching television we talk and listen to music. We do not do this for very long though because we get annoyed easily. I also sleep a lot. Half of the road trip I probably spend sleeping. The best part of traveling is getting to eat on the road. Chick fila and Whataburger are my personal favorites! We also keep a bunch of food in the car like Goldfish and Oreos. We also have to have a ton of orange gatorade! I think having food on a trip makes it a lot more fun and easy. 

 Recently this summer (July 27 through August 7 to be exact) we drove to Florida. It was my parents, Mike and Carrie, and my sister Macy and also my best friend Mikayla. We drove 14 hours to Destin, Florida. We also had a big stop in Southern Illinois to look at the giant Superman statue. It was an easy drive. Mikayla and I read our wonderful English novels. We fell asleep every time we opened a book. When I wasnt boring myself to sleep with reading classic and great novels I watched the best show ever One Tree Hill. It was great. I got through  4 seasons. My sister was annoying but I dealt with it because she was on the opposite side of the car. Mikayla sat in the middle. Once we got to Florida it felt like forever because we were so close. But other than that it was an easy trip.

Reflection Blog: How does the writing of Bradford reflect the qualities of Puritan writing?

"Plymouth Plantation" was written by William Bradford. Bradford a thirty year old and was a very religious man. He was on the Mayflower in the year of 1620. He reflects the feelings and religious lifestyle of many pilgrims in this time period.

The pilgrims migrated to America from the Netherlands because the culture was changing. America seemed like a good opportunity to create their own lifestyle. With America being new, there was a lot disease that affected the pilgrims (Bradford 67). Therefore  a  lot of the people died from the diseases. The winter season also killed off a lot of the pilgrims.

Bradford's writing has many great examples of Puritan writing. For example, Bradford wrote about how we do not chose when we die. We live until God wants us to die. When someone died on the Mayflower, the other pilgrims knew that it was God's choice that he/she died. This is like the Puritan writing style because the Puritans also believed that God controlled when they lived and died. If God was ready for you to die, you would die (Bradford 67).

Another example of Puritan writing is how the pilgrims handled death. Even when people died, the pilgrims still thanked God for getting where they are in life. For example, when they were near Cape Cod, the pilgrims thanked the Providence of God. They were in the wrong place, too. They still thanked God for everything. They were very dedicated to their religion. They were thankful to be on land. In this day and age, if someone was on a plane and the plane landed in a different country, you would be mad. We would not be thanking God for letting us reach land; we would be mad about him putting us in the wrong place. But in this day and age, we do not stick to the Puritan way as strongly.

The quote "And yet the Lord so upheld these persons as in this general calamity they were not at all infected either with sickness or lameness..." (Bradford 66) shows the Puritan belief that only God chooses who lives and dies. He keeps people alive until he decides that their time on Earth is up. People had no decision on whether they lived or died. I find it very interesting that all of these people were that dedicated to their religion. People these days usually have doubts or do not strictly follow their religion, but in the Puritan writing style it seems that there are no doubts and everyone follows the religion very strictly.

The Puritan writing also shows the belief of helping people. Helping other people was very important in the Puritan religion. Squanto helped the pilgrims with some of their problems. He teaches them things, too (Bradford 66). They say that he has been sent from God. When something bad happened, they were positive about the little things and thanked God for them. This writing is very dedicated to God, just like the Puritan writing style. Everything good that happened to them was because of their dedication to God (Bradford 66).

I do not like the Puritan style of writing. However I did find it interesting to learn about a different culture.

 

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

Journal 3 asks how it might feel if you were in a hostage situation. It also asks how you might cope and handle life as a hostage.

If I was in a hostage situation I would be freaking out. (Well depending on the situation. If I was kept hostage by someone attractive or famous like Justin Beiber or Josh Hutchersion I would be happy and do what ever they wanted me to.I would want  to stay hostage forever because its Justin Beiber.) But if I was held hostage, like a serious hostage, I would be an emotional wreck. I would probably cry everyday and be the weak one. I would depend on another hostage and probably beg to leave. Honestly I would do about anything to get out of the situation. Being held hostage or being involve in a mass shooting is one of my biggest fears. Therefore I don't really like writing about it. But since I need approximently 200 more words I will make up a story about being held hostage. So here we go...

It was a cool fall day in Minneville, Connecticut. I was walking around the town shops with my mom and decided to go out to eat. We went to a local diner called The Old Dairy. We were sitting there looking at the menu when two suspicious men walked in wearing all black. I am a very curious and cautionary person and I began to worry. Because this is something I normally do my mom said to not worry and order. I listened to her. Of course she was wrong. Before we knew it all the lights in the diner went off. I screamed. Then came the worst part: gun shots. My mom and I hid under the table. I was balling. What seemed like hours was only minutes. The lights came back on and there was a man talking. He told us to drop our phones and money if we wanted to live. We listened. Then he said that we were staying here and were his prisoners. He told us he owned the store and called off the cops. I didn't know who to believe. NO one knew what to say or what to do. Then the next thing I knew Captain America walked in. He shot the villains and saved us all.

Journal 2

Manners are something most people use and everyone needs. This is even true with animals. This journal entry is about a group of animals who do not use there manners but do to kindness no one is hurt or killed. They just learn a lesson. So here we go....

Once upon a time a long long long time ago there lived a family of lions. They were the leaders of all the animals and everyone loved them. When an animal went to the lions den the kind and respectful thing to do is bow. It was natural for all the animals to bow because they had been doing it all there life. However not everyone in the world new this was the appropriate behavior.

One day a new group of animals came into the Pride Rock and while all the animals were gone at the watering hole. The animals included a hyena, a giraffe, a zebra and a dark lion. They thought they had found empty land and they went to the lions den, making themselves at home. They were tired for they had had a long journey so they went to sleep. While the new animals were asleep the old animals returned and were not pleased. They didn't know what to tell the new animals so they let the fearless money Mufasa handle the issue. He took his large walking stick and banged it on the floor. It shook the ground and woke up the animals. They were not pleased. "Why are waking us up?" they asked.  

The Pride Rock animals started to laugh. "This is our town and cave." They said.

The new animals got defensive because they thought they would be kicked out, hurt, or killed. "Calm down", the monkey Mufasa said, "You guys are welcome to stay"

The new animals were shocked. “Really?” they said, “That is so kind”

“We know.” They animals said. “We learned our manners from them”, looking at the lions.  

Assigment 1

Mary Rowlandson Narrative of Captivity and Restoration is a true story about a colonial American woman who was captured by Native Americans during King Philip's War and held for 11 weeks before being ransomed. The expert we read from the American Literature Textbook includes details about her religion and continuous faith throughout her captivity.

Mary Rowlandson was one of the thirty-seven captives held by Native Americans during the war. She believed in the Puritan religion.  The Puritans came to the New World as a business venture. The group of Protasents was seeking to purify the Church of England. They believed the spiritual world and the everyday world were intertwined. The Puritans also believed that religion was a personal and inner experience. They left England for a few reasons. One of these reasons was they believe Christian worship should be more simple and related more to the bible. By leaving the country they could for a religion that was more ideal for them. Another reason they left the Church of England was because many of the people were being persecuted. Obviously they did not want to belong or live in a society that was treating people unfairly. By leaving England the people were able to come up with their own beliefs and society. A major belief in the Puritan religion was “In Adam’s Fall, We Sinned All.”( I do not really understand what this quote means and do not want to discuss in because I do not like interperting and discussing detailed religion. But the Puritan’s believed in it. J) The Puritans believed in certain values such as self reliance and industriousness. They also believed in temperance and simplicity. The Puritain beleifs are shown through their writings. They believed the bible was a guide and model on how to live their lives. They believed by following this book God would provide and give them the tools or wisdom they needed to survive. I think this devotion to the bible, God, and their religion is shown throughout the narritive expert by Mary Rowlandson.  

Mary and her fellow captives were treated terribly while being hostages with the Native Americans. At the beginning of the expert she says, “I would rather be chose to be killed then held captive.” (Rowlandson 82).  Mary had a baby who was wounded and was taken from her on the journey. The baby ended up dying while she was in captivity. The captives were not given the approiate food wages or clothing. She and the other captives turned to God and passages in the bible during these hard times. This is prooven many times throught the expert reading including on page 85 when Mary says “So I turned to my bible (my great comforter at that time.)” I think religion is what helped Mary survive the captiviting. By being able to  believe in someone made her have hope which is why she was able to starve and lose people she loved and still come out alive.

Another poem in the American Literature Textbook relates to religion and god during the building of America. “Upon the Burning of Our House” by Anne Bradstreet is about a fire that destroyed her home and all her belongings. Because she was Puritan she believed God did this to test her and did it for a reason. She calls the fire a gift (Bradstreet 91). I think this relates to the first narrative because it really did happen and shows traits of the Puritan religion.

Journal 1

Write your own Native American creation stories.

Many wonder how the bird got its wings little do they now they their wings as punishment. A long time ago there was an athlete named Red Cloud. He was very fast at running and loved jumping up in the air. Everyone in the tribe looked up to him because he was so great at sports. However Red Cloud was not the noble guy people thought he was. While the town was sleeping he would go into the peoples houses and steal. No one in the town ever suspected the burglar to the famous Red Cloud. Everyone in the town believed it was his brother Blue Sky. Blue Sky was a sneaky looking man. He had long long long braids and a very hairy and long beard. He would jump high up in the air trying to fly. People thought he was weird and not very many people liked him.
One day Red Cloud put the stolen items in Blue Sky's satchel. Then he told the people of of the town he heard Blue Sky coming in late. Because Red Cloud was so respected in the town people believed him. Blue Cloud was arrested and forbidden to jump or go outside again. Red Cloud was not very smart though. He kept stealing even though Blue Sky was arrested. The town did not know what to do. They begin questioning everyone. The wise leader of the tribe decided to catch the thief. He had a town meeting and said to stop looking for the thief. Red Cloud thought he had gotten away with his bad deeds but it did not change him. The next night he snuck into the stables to steal the chief's horse brush. Little did he know the chief was hiding behind a hay stack.He hopped out from behind it and tackled Red Cloud. It was a loud noise because the chief was a big man. Many members of the town came running. They were shocked when they saw Red Cloud. The town felt terrible for how they treated Blue Sky. To show their forgiveness the tribe came together and made wings for Blue Sky. He was able to fly in the air. The wings were named after the four members of the tribe that make them. Bull. Iriqouis. Redneck. Dingho. And this is how the bird got its wings.

Sources

Hemingway, Ernest. The Old Man and the Sea. New York: Scribner, 2003. Print.

Salinger, J. D. The Catcher in the Rye. Boston: Little, Brown, 2001. Print.

Steinbeck, John. The Moon Is Down. New York: Penguin Group, 1995. Print

Blog 50!

Yay! I am finally on the 50^th blog of the summer. For my last blog I wanted to share my opinions about the readings. I started reading the summer books back in May. My goal was to get all of my blogs done before July. Obviously that did not happen. However I managed to write down my thoughts and opinions and was able to type them all out. (Which is why I posted them all in a few days). I think this was an okay approach. I mean I was able to finish before school starts (:

I thought the books for summer reading were better than last years. I still did not like them though. The books The Old Man and The Sea and The Moon is Down were so boring. I understood The Old Man and the Sea pretty well. I was able to comprehend the story and was able to write lots of blogs discussing the book. Unfortunately the Moon is Down did not go as well. I could not get myself into the book. I really tried but it just would not work. You can see this through my writing. I only did about ten blogs on the book. Catcher in the Rye was a good story. It did not seem like a book I was being forced to read and I really liked that. You can see I enjoyed the book because close to half my blogs are about it. I think that I understood this book more because I liked it.

The authors of the books affected my opinions of the book before I read them. What I mean is The Moon is Down is written by John Steinbeck who wrote one of my favorite books of all time. Therefore I expected to really like this book. Ernest Hemmingway wrote The Old Man and The Sea. I hate Ernest Hemmingway’s writings. I expected to totally hate this book. Honestly I was right about this one. I didn’t necessarily hate it but I didn’t like it. It was fine.

Overall I thought these books were okay. I survived summer reading!

Catcher in the Rye

 Even though The Catcher in the Rye was my favorite out of the three summer books I read there were parts I did not like. One particular part was when Holden Caulfield, the main character, was with the prostitute in his hotel room. I think that is so disgusting and immature of a sixteen year old boy to try to get with a prostitute. What did he think was going to happen? I just thought the entire situation was very weird and awkward. I almost felt bad for the prostitute because Holden was being so weird about it in the beginning. I was relieved when Holden politely asked her if it was okay if they just sat and talked instead. This is the part that made me mad. Shouldn’t the prostitute been happy or relieved or the least bit appreciative at all? For goodness sake, she was a child herself and I am sure she did not feel good about herself. I cannot imagine anyone who took part in such degrading acts would have very high self-esteem. The prostitute was mad! Even after Holden said he would still pay her! I just did not understand where those feelings were coming from her. Her only concern was whether she was getting paid or not, no matter what she had to do to get paid. I just felt like she would have been more than happy to sit down and have a conversation with Holden. She acted like he was the weirdest person on the planet for not wanting her services. She did not even give Holden a chance to show her that he was a fairly decent guy and was not joking around. And then when Holden paid her exactly what the man in the elevator said, he got in trouble for it. I feel bad for him that he got scammed. Not only did he get scammed out of ten dollars, but also out of a friendly conversation that could have helped get rid of some of his depression.