Journal #24

How I study for finals: REVIEW! All I do is write out pages and pages of notes, and then review them, try and know all of them. Then I take all that information and put it on flash cards. Then I review those till I know them forward and backward. That is my generic study method for a history class, or for Spanish. For my math and by science finals, I write out all vocab on papers. I study those a ton and then I write out an example of every type of problem I can imagine ever being on the final. Then I practice those until I understand each problem. Practice, practice, practice. That's all I can say about studying for a math or science finals, or anything that has any type of problems. For an English final, a lot of teachers give essay questions, so to practice for them I write a fairly good response for each of them. I get good bullet points and have an idea of where I would elaborate If this was my prompt on the final I would already have a really good idea about what to write about. I also just review grammar  and vocab, but we use that a lot already so I do not have to study those as hard. For my fitness final, there is not point of studying. I have been in this class for three years already, and if I do not know the exercises and video moves by now, I deserve the low grade I get. Studying is a very important key to getting good grades on your finals. It does not matter how good your grades are; if you do not study for finals, you will get a bad grade. As soon as my teachers have updated all of my grades, I will check STI and calculate the percentages I need on each final to get an A for the class.

Journal #23

Write about being self sufficient.

Self Sufficiency means that you can take care of yourself. You are able to provide for yourself without any dependence on another person of object. Most teenagers are the complete opposite of self suffieient. They depend on their parents for money for foos, shopping, and gas. They depend on their friends or teachers for answers in school. I feel like I am fairly self sufficient. Especially now that I have to pay for all parts of my car with my sister. The insurance, registration, and gas.If we do not pay, we do not get to drive. I have to do my own laundry, and clean my room. I have to time manage my own homework, my own time. So many kids just depend on other people or their parents to get through life. I find this super annoying. They are not going to to have their parents to organize their lives through college. They will not always sit by a smart kid in their classes to get help and cheat off of. People need to be able to depend on themselves for everything. They need to be able to find their own jobs, and be able to provide for themselves. People need to be able to feed themselves, whether that cooking their own meals, or having enough money to go out and eat. Self Sufficiency is important because you feel good about yourself. When ever I accomplish something really hard or something really important, I feel super happy. Like when I figure out a really heard math problem, or If I had a really good day at work. People strive to do their best, and for that you have to be self sufficient.Hopefully by the time everyone graduated high school they have a really good idea about what actually being self sufficient means to themselves. To me it means to be able to do things  by myself, for myself, and I feel very accomplished when I do that.

Self-Reliance Critism

After reading Kateb's literary criticism of Ralph Waldo Emerson's vision of self-reliance I could more fully understand Emerson's writing. I felt like reading the essay written by Emerson and then reading a criticism by another author, Kateb, really opens up the meaning of the essay for me. I have my opinions that I formed after reading the essay, and then I read the criticism that gives me another well thought out analysis over what I had just read. When I read "Self Reliance" by Ralph Waldo Emerson, I understood that he was telling us to be grateful for everything you have in your life and not take anything for granted. He wanted everyone to do their best in each thing they put their mind too. In Kateb's analysis he also agrees with Emerson in his ideals but not in the way Emerson comes across with his ideals. "His variety of declarations tempts us to say that he contradicts himself, but even if we resist the temptation, we are still not sure where he finally stands" (Kateb). The author believes that the way Emerson comes across is difficult and elusive. I can understand where Kateb is coming from because Emerson does talk like everything he says should be law. He really believes in everything that he says. I also think that this is not that bad of a character trait for Emerson to have. This is one of the reasons that Emerson is still so respected and well known is because he believed so much in his writings.  Kateb states that according to Emerson he does not necessarily want us to agree with his insights or judgments, or even to go on discussing all his subjects. He only wants us to feel delight with him in the spectacle of contrariety that the world offers and that he tries to capture in his work. His great lesson is that some large part of the interest or fascination in the world comes from the fact that meaning or beauty or truth can be found in conflicting or incompatible ideas, principles, forces, and practices. I had not previously thought of Emerson's writings this way. From what I had interpreted form Emerson's writings, I thought that he was telling that his ideals would be a correct way to live your life by, kind of like Benjamin Franklin's virtues. Kateb shows the other point of view, that Emerson just wants to show us what he thinks for the sole purpose for enlightening us. He wants to inform us of what he believes, but he does not want to force his beliefs upon anyone. I agree with much of what Emerson believes. I think he would have been a really cool, smart guy to meet when he was alive. Although Kateb's literary criticism disagrees with how Emerson portrays his information, I still like Emerson's writings. I think that students many many years in the future will still be reading and discussing  their interpretations of Ralph Waldo Emerson;s writings. 


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. http://www.fofweb.com/activelink2.asp?ItemID=WE54&SID=5&iPin= MCVRWE011&SingleRecord=True (accessed December 11, 2012).

Journal #22

I am not the biggest fan of snow. I think it looks really pretty coming down, and its almost not human to say you do not wish for snow on Christmas Day, but it is very incontinent. The snow gets on the roads and makes it very slippery, and dangerous. My parents will not even allow me to drive when their is a lot of snow on the ground because it is unsafe. Snow also has bad affects on power lines  causing lots of power outages in the winter. And it is winter, so you definitely want the power because it is really cold. I suppose I do not like snow because I do not like winter either. I hate to be cold, and that's all I am during the winter months. I have to drink lots and lots of hot chocolate, and cuddle under a lot of blankets. After I grow up I want to live somewhere warm so I never have to be that cold in winter. This also falls under snow. I do not like walking in snow because it will get in my boot and make my socks cold and wet, and then my feet are super cold. This is a terrible feeling and I do my best to not experience it ever. I do have to admit, snow is really pretty when it falls from the sky. The sun reflects off of it and it sparkles in the daytime. Trees and bushes look really pretty all covered in snow also. The sad thing is that all the flowers and springtime items have to die under the snow. If we could have snow in the summer and it did not melt, I would not be opposed it it. All snow is is little tiny pieces of ice. Snow looks super pretty, but actually is incontinent and kind of gross. Especially when it gets in the roads and turns black and stuff.

Journal #21

I think that this quote by Ralph Waldo Emerson has a lot of meaning about how people act. He is trying to portray trying your best no matter what. He says that everyone arrives at a place where they have to use everything they have been given, everything they have learned up to that point. They cannot depend on others for the answer anymore. That person has to just accept that they can only know what they have already learned, and cannot change that fact. This quote actually reminds me a lot of a certain predicament that I am currently involved in. In have a test in my AP Chemistry class today, and I wanted to make sure I studied a lot. So last night I grabbed my folder and my notebook and started to study. I then realized that all of my papers that had anything to do what the subject of the test was about was still my locker. I had placed them all in my binder, and I did not bring that home. I came to the conclusion that I was not going to be able to study for the test and I had to take it solely on the knowledge that I had already acquired. I go to the class next, and I know that I obviously cannot cheat, so all I have to go off of is what I can remember. Emerson was a very smart man, and really understood human nature. He also stated in his quote, "when he arrives at the conviction that envy is ignorance". Emerson means that it is no use being jealous of someone elses work, all it does is make you not want to do your own work. When you are jealous of someones else's work, you are not able to do your own best work. Ralph Waldo Emerson knows that this is a very important thing for each person to understand about themselves.

Journal #20

The life cycle of a human is amazing. From a small seed, he or she will live, uninterrupted, will live over eighty years. Human life is really incredible. From the minute you come out of your mother's belly, to the moment you lay down at the end of your life. You are a baby for about two years. All babies to is cry, eat, and sleep. But this normally disgusting behavior is offset by the cuteness of the baby. With their squished faces, and fat rolls on their arms, you cannot help but love a baby. After the baby stage, you move into the toddler potion of you life. Toddlers learn to walk and talk, and have an insane amount of energy all the time. This stage normally lasts around two years also. Included in this stage is also the terrible two's, when the child acts out and misbehaves a lot. After a toddler you are now school age. From about age 4 to age 10, you attend elementary school and preschool before it. In this life stage you learn how to read, how to write, how to add, and other very important life skills. After age 10 you enter the preteen stage until age 12. Preteens try and act older than they are and really come into their girl and boyhood. Age 13 to age 19 is considered a teenager. Teenagers are notorious for acting out against their parents, behaving badly, and getting in a lot of trouble. Also in this stage, you learn to drive  graduate high school, and enter the world of adulthood: also known as knowledge. From 20 to about 40, you are just a generic adult. You can vote you can drink, you can basically do whatever. After 40 you hit middle age, then after 65 you hit senor citizenship  And then you stay in the life stage until you die. There are so many life stages in the human life, and they are all very different from each other.

Journal #19

 He walked back toward our colony quite fast,
He had news to proclaim from out past town.
A ship they saw! New coloners at last.
Months and months had passed without such a sight.
They had almost lost hope, that people would come. 
Their colony was struggling, They had little might
No one wanted to work, just wanted a reward.
No gold or silver has been found so far
They still had hope, but ever so little
This new ship would change, set high the bar
Of work to accomplish. New crops to grow.
Now they have people to work. Life would change.
Their colony would be prosper.
England would be proud, and send reinforcements. 
The Indians have been harsh to the settlers.
Attacking at all hours of the night.
So far, their fearless leader has held them off.
But no telling how long he would last. 
As he neared town, he began to yell.
"Ships are here! Have no more fear!"
People came to town square in dozens,
Loud shouts and mummers were heard.
The settlers follwed him back to shore.
Everyone ready to meet their new friends.

Journal #18

 As I pondered the multitude of eyes beaming at me from the magnificent creature, I slowly reached my trembling hand out to touch the beast. I gasped when my fingers touched the soft fur of the creature's back. I quickly glanced over to the creature's face and his numerous eyes to make sure he was not disturbed. When I was sure he was not I took a deep breath and reached out with my other hand and quickly, but gently hoisted myself upon the creatures back. I laid my body down close to the animal's spine, and rested my face against his collarbone. I quickly patted his side two time and whispered, "Let's go." The animal complied and almost shook me off his back and he hoisted himself into a standing position. i dug my fingers into his side and grabbed handfuls of fur to steady myself. First, the animal began to walk but he quickly moves to a swift jogging pace. It was very frightening to be moving so fast, but I soon got used to the bouncing rhythm of the creature's footsteps. I lifted my head to glance at my surroundings. I saw beautiful flowers and tress as we moved through a forest. We were moving to quickly for my eyes to focus on an individual object, so I began to enjoy the blur of color to each side of the creature I was riding. I took a deep breath in my nostrils, smiling as the sent of leaves and fresh air filled my body. I could feel the wind whipping through my hair as the animal continued to pick up his pace, now almost to a sprint. I looked in front of me, as my breath left my body. We were heading straight for a river. I dug my head into the animals back, shutting my eyes tight, and braced for impact. When the jolt of the cold water did not come, I lifted up my head confused. It seemed as though the animal had jumped the length of the entire river! I smiled, it seemed like there was always something new to find out about this wonderful creature.

Journal #17

As the light blue fuzz feathered through the warm current of air purring from the heating vent, I smiled. Switching out of my daydream involving meeting a famous celebrity, I turned my attention back to one of my classmates melancholy presentations. He has been droning on for the last fifteen minutes. I could not force myself to be intrigued by his minimal effort project, so I had begone letting my mind wander and drift through the many items on my stressed mind. Through visions of colorful ideas, I sort through a list of things inside of my confused mind. With the impending doom of finals lurking just around the corner, I kicked my studies into over drive. Carefully planning around study time is all I can wrap my mind around. After a few moments of wistful calculations of my scores, my mind mind moved on to another subject. Thinking of the wonders of the Thanksgiving feast only days away made my mouth water in anticipation. The many different colors of the feast is just as appealing to my eyes as the food is to my mouth. The golden brown turkey glistening with gravy, the blood red cranberry sauce normally sitting untouched, and the bright orange of the sweet potatoes- the sweetest thing on the menu. I become happy thinking of the lively conversations I will have when my family gets together. The laughter and happiness swirling through the air, puts a smile on everyone's faces. This party con only rival the celebrations my family has come Christmas time. With even more family in town, there is never a dull moment. A loud noise, sounding like someone clearing their throat, shook me back into reality. I look up into my teachers cold eyes glaring at me. It was my turn to present my project. I slowly trudged to the front of our surprisingly chilly classroom and took a deep breath, and began to present my project.

Journal #16

I remember in 6th grade, there was this girl in my group of friends who had a very distinct personality and clothing style. She loved pink, and the environment, and horses. She always wore those shirt with cute little cartoons with sweet sayings on them. Then one day she started wearing darker eyeliner. She also started to wear skinny jeans and black. Shirts with screamo and emo bands on them. When this happened I remember thinking, "Wow, she looks exactly like another one of my friends". As soon as she was accepted into our friend group, she started acting just like this other girl. She suddenly had the same interests and style as my other friend. When I see things like this, I think of that person as fake. I lose my respect for that person's individuality. It makes me not want to be their friend at all. And that's what I did to that girl. I stopped hanging out around her, and soon so did the girl whose style she had copied. Thinking back, I know that that was kind of a mean thing to do, but I still think it was the right thing to do, looking back on it. Now this girl has different friends and her new mix of style is somewhere in between what she used to have and then the copied style. I guess she could not get rid of the style that she had adapted back in middle school.  as far as I know, this girl is happy and does not think that she ever copied someone. I guess she just really wanted to fit in and did whatever it took without really realizing it. People change all of the time, for many different reasons. Trying to fit in amongst friends is just one of them. Another would be if they wanted more attention. People dress different if they do not receive enough attention, or if they feel neglected. Dress is one of the easiest was to be noticed.

Journal #15

The majority of my family live close to me, but there is a few people that live very far away. My Aunt Monica lives in Huntington Beach, California (by Los Angeles). She has been living out there for maybe 6 or 7 years now, and I miss her a lot. She used to live with us before she moved out there and she is my godmother. It's sad that she moved so far away because I was not able to go to her wedding a few years ago because plane tickets are so expensive. When she had her fist baby, Maya two years ago, My family and some other relatives flew out to Las Vegas to meet her, her husband Erik, and the new baby. They had taken the 3 hour drive over from California. That was really awesome that we were able to do that and see them, but we are only able to see her family two or three times a year maybe. Now my Aunt just found out she is going to have a baby boy, and I'm extremely happy for her. I am also sad because I know they will not be able to travel and see us as much with a new baby and a two year old, and an 8 year old (Erik's son, my Aunts' stepson).

I have never moved out if my house, so I have never moved away from any friends. One of my friends did move out of my neighborhood, and now I do not get to see her very often, She moved out into the country, and out of our school district. She may be moving back sometime in the next year so that is really exciting! We are actually meeting up today after school to catch up because we have not seen each other in so long. I plan on going to college very far away from here, so I will be missing a lot of people when I do that.

Journal #14

I remember a time when I was about 6 or 7 years old when I was the most scared I have ever been up to that point. I was trick or treating around my neighborhood with my mom and my older sister on Halloween. I remember turning the corner of the street and hearing a loud revving engine noise. I looked to see where it was coming from and saw two probably high school aged boys all dressed in black, waving around a running chainsaw. They were yelling and running through the street scaring everyone around. In my mind, I thought that they were monsters and thought that they were going to kill me. I was so scared I hid behind my mom, and I might have even cried a little- it was that scary! To this day I still will not watch Texas Chainsaw Massacre or any other slasher movie that prominently involves a chainsaw after having that experience.

Another time when I was very scared was more of a surprised scared then an actual terrified scared.  I was with my family at the Star Trek Experience in Las Vegas at one of the hotels (It's name is currently escaping me). My sister had really wanted to go so we took an afternoon out of our vacation to go see all of it's attractions. When we were there I was looking around in the gift shop for a trinket, when I took a step back and bumped into someone. I turned around to say, "Sorry!", but before I was able to I got a good look at who I had hit. It was a 7 foot tall man dressed up as a Klingon! My heart literally dropped. My breath was taken away and I ran to hide behind my dad. It was one of the times I was most scared ever that I can remember. I mean its not everyday you run into a very tall, and intimidating looking alien!

Pit and Pendulum

"The Pit and the Pendulum" is a very well written suspense story. Personally I am not a fan of the ending, as I expected something more dramatic to happen, but I like how it is unexpected. Edgar Allan Poe's short story can definitely be classified as Dark Romanticism. The poem has supernatural happenings, which is a characteristic of Dark Romanticism writing. The narrator is imprisoned in Toledo by the Spanish Inquisition and sees angels and judges that morph from candles and sounds (Poe 263-264). The supernatural visions that the narrator (he needs a name, the reader becomes very invested in the emotions and thoughts of this man, but lack the personal connection of a name) envisions follow the Dark Romanticism model. In this short story the narrator vividly imagines how he will die in the prison. He goes through many different types of death including buried alive, falling into a deep pit, being burned alive in an autos-da-fé ceremony, or later being chopped up (Poe 263-266). The unnamed narrator builds up the suspense of the story by vividly describing the scenarios. The great detail of the scenarios is another characteristic of Dark Romanticism. The constant loom of death also is a classic Dark Romanticism trait. The narrator is consumed with different ways the Inquisition can kill him, and by the end of the story, ways that he can thwart their plans. The weirdly, very uncharacteristic, Poe short story ending is happy, unexpected, but happy. The unnamed narrator is saved by General Lasalle, the "enemy of the Inquisition", who pulls him away from the deep pit as the narrator was about to fall in (Poe 273). Hats off to General Lasalle for having amazing timing entering this particular dungeon with a man about to fall to his death, saving him in the nick of time. That takes some skill. But as this is a work of fiction, I know there is a high probability that General Lasalle did not grab a falling man over a pit of death. The happy ending is a Romanticism writing quality that is rarely used by the master of horror stories, Edgar Allan Poe.

Psychologically, the unnamed narrator is in a hallucination state where he does not know what is real and what is not (Poe 263-267). "it moves the character into a concrete dilemma that seems to "stand for" a metaphysical situation in an ambiguous way that suggests its "dreamy," "indeterminate" nature. (May). That psychological state is an unstable one, which explains why the narrator keeps having mirage like visions and is sometimes unable to distinguish what actually happening  "Days passed - it might have been that many days passed" when the pendulum was swinging above the unnamed prisoner narrator (Poe 269). He also had a "full memory of the trial, of the judges, of the sable draperies, of the sentence, of the sickness, of the swoon" after he 'saw' judges and angels in the shadow of imaginary candles (Poe 265). Then the next thought that the narrator has is "then entire forgetfulness of all that followed; ... have enabled me vaguely to recall" (Poe 265). The unnamed narrator can't differentiate between reality and the nightmare that he could possibly be having. The fear of being in the Toledo prison could have triggered some sort of subconscious response that the narrator used by creating false realities and to not be able to tell what is real. Poe did a good job portraying the narrator in a suspenseful way that has the reader guessing if what the narrator claims as true is truly what happened.

 Poe, Edgar Allan. "The Pit and the Pendulum." Comp. Jeffrey D. Wilhelm, Ph.D. and Douglas Fisher, Ph.D. Glencoe Literature. American Literature ed. Columbus: McGraw-Hill Companies, 2009. 263-273. Print.

May, Charles E. "Alternate Realms of Reality." In Edgar Allan Poe: A Study of Short Fiction. Boston: Twayne Publishers, 1991, pp. 96–97. Quoted as "Dreams and Reality in the Story" in Harold Bloom, ed. Edgar Allan Poe, Bloom's Major Short Story Writers. Philadelphia: Chelsea House Publishing, 1998. (Updated 2007.) Bloom's Literary Reference Online. Facts On File, Inc. http://www.fofweb.com/activelink2.asp?ItemID=WE54&SID=5&iPin= BMSSEP39&SingleRecord=True (accessed November 6, 2012).

Journal #13

After just finishing the Franklin Virtues project with the Farmington High School kids, I've found that just using technology to communicate with the other people in my group is hard. You never know when other people are going to check their email, when they will actually complete the assignment we are give, or are they actually even post the assignment. With having people in our group not go to our school it is very difficult to try and see what they are working on or if they are even doing the right thing for each assignment. I thought that the project had good points to it, like I enjoyed having to really analyze one of Franklin's 13 virtues, but I also did not like parts of it. Most of the time I am not a big fan of group projects, because I do not like being dependent on other people for my grades. This project was especially hard because being the only Honor's English student meant that I had no classes with the other people in my group, so there was no way for me to see what anyone is doing until the actually post their finished project on the website. One thing that could be done to improve on the project is clearer deadlines.  Me and also several of my classmates were always confused about what we had to get done and when. After this project, I feel like I really only gained a few skills about how to use video and editing software because I was picked to be our group editor. If we had to pick if we wanted to do this project again, I would not really want to do it. I like what we had to do during the project. I felt I understood Franklin's virtues, but technological issues and the fact that it was really hard to communicate with my group, makes me not want to do another project like this.

Analyzing Franklin's Virtues

Benjamin Franklin was an ingenious man. Credited with the invention of the stove, the library, and many more influential inventions of the time. He also was an important political figure that affected the Constitution and was the oldest signer of the Declaration of Independence. Ben Franklin also was a great writer. Poor Richard's Almanac and articles in newspapers appeared every where in colonial America. With all of those praises, you would think the man would have some major short comings or some sort of character flaw. Franklin had none.  He actually tried to better his character into something that he could be more proud of. Franklin knew that he could improve himself and become a better person and have better qualities. Those characteristics or virtues became the basis idea behind his System of Thirteen Virtues (Franklin 149-150).

The thirteen virtues that Franklin selected not only are things that he personally needed to work on, but things that he believed every man should exhibit. The thirteen virtues were temperance, silence, order, resolution, frugality, industry, sincerity, justice, moderation, cleanliness, tranquility, chastity, and humility. Humility was the virtue that Franklin added in later as his "Quaker friend" pointed out to him that he was a very proud man and that Franklin's pride "showed itself frequently in conversation" (Franklin 162). By realizing the problem and understanding that to fix it, he had to put in hard work, Franklin slowly chipped away at his pride until he could have a conversation with someone without it showing or demeaning someone (Tuckerman 1). The other twelve virtues consisted of things that Franklin knew were the success to a happy, successful, likeable life.

Franklin was successful in making himself a better person for two reasons. The first is that he went through his Virtue System religiously and for several years, and the other is that they actually improved his life. To actually follow through with that large and complex plan is a testament to Ben Franklin's character. Not everyone finishes what they start out to do, let alone continue it for  years. The thirteen virtues aided out Franklin with than just character; the quality of his lifestyle was increased. The virtue of order gave Franklin the most trouble, but also brought the best reward (Franklin 157). Franklin's definition of order was "Let all your things have their place; let each part of your business have its time" which means that his goal was to separate out his day so business and pleasure did not mix (Franklin 149). To aid in that quest, Franklin created an hour by hour schedule of his day to ensure that not only every minute was productive, his activities were ordered so that his priorities were straight. Keeping to that schedule proved difficult as Franklin realized that it was hard to end all work at a certain time as sometimes events happen at different parts of the day and someone might bring in something to get published or have something for Franklin to do after the allotted work hours were over (Franklin 150). He did improve on all of the virtues as the cycles were completed.


 Tuckerman, Henry T. "The Character of Franklin." Benjamin Franklin, Classic Critical Views. New York: Chelsea House Publishing, 2008. Bloom's Literary Reference Online. Facts On File, Inc. Web 31. Oct. 2011.


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

Journal #12

In today's America, the American dream simply means to follow your dreams. Almost everyone grows up and wants to be a successful and happy employed person with a family. This dream is the same as it used to be when immigrants first came to America. They had religious, financial, or agricultural troubles as well as many other reasons to want to come over to America  America was known as to be the "Melting Pot", a mix of all cultures. People came from all over the world knowing that they could come to America and be accepted and make a better life for themselves and their families. People would get a low-paying job that they probably did not want in order to make the money or earn the experiences to make their actual dreams come true. Someone who dreamed of opening up their own deli might start out with a job at a meat factory or something similar. Now, people in the work force have the opportunity to do whatever they want. They do not have to work lowly jobs in order to make ends meet while trying to get into the profession they would love. We are now able to strive in our schools to get that dream job, and then after college, (or before, we have that option) we are awarded by receiving that job.

 In the present, little kids have big dreams of becoming the president or an astronaut. And that is now possible in America! Anyone can dream and become anything they wanted to become in America. That is the wonderful thing about our country. We are a free people, not ruled under anyone who tells us what to do, we are free to make our own decisions about anything and everything we want. We can decide to become a teacher, or an engineer if we wanted. Anything we put our minds to can be done here: That is the American Dream.

Benjamin Franklin

Benjamin Franklin is a prime example of the transition from Puritan influenced writing to the more logical Rationalism writing style. In his autobiography, his writing style does not involve God or the Bible (which is the complete opposite of the Puritan style), and he also did not reference religion in his describing of the people's day to day activities, instead contributing it to the "spirit of Independence"  As Franklin did not share beliefs with the Puritans, it is very easy to compare differences between the two of them. Franklin was a Deist. Deism includes philosophies about reason and natural laws dominating the world. "As I knew, or thought I knew, what was right and wrong, I did not see why I might not always do the one and avoid the other" (Franklin). William Bradford and Mary Rowlandson on the other hand were Puritans and believed in similar things as Catholics, but without the wrongdoings people did in the clergy. Mary Rowlandson knew that the "elect", or God's saved people, would aid her in her time of need. Benjamin Franklin took pride in believing that other people will help him out through the goodness of their hearts and the united feeling of freedom and independence that the colonists shared with him. William Bradford was a leader like Franklin, but Bradford led through God. He saw signs of God everywhere in his day to day life, and applied this to his actions. Franklin led the colonists through Rationalism, or logical thinking and reasoning abilities. He made decisions based on facts and research and was a great philosopher. Franklin was a scientist who invented many things, a writer whose works are still read today, and a politician who is read about in history class. Franklin made a big impact on lots of the decisions made in the Revolutionary War period. Franklin led with his mind, while Bradford led with his heart and soul. Mary Rowlandson draws strength from her faith, while Franklin draws strength from the fact that his fellow man will go the extra mile to better himself and seek out freedom and independence.

The Rationalism writing period differs from the Puritan writing period as the times in the country have changed very drastically. No longer is there a struggle to stay alive and prosper during the harsh winters and fight off the "savage" Indians outside the colonies in America. In Franklin's time, the colonies' cities were flourishing and Indian attacks were not a big threat to the people. America had just become an independent country from the British, and the people were dealing with the changes. The environment in which Mary Rowlandson grew up and endured as an adult greatly varied in comparison with Ben Franklin. Rowlandson was captured by Indians and treated very poorly throughout her adult life. Franklin came from a poor family of seventeen children, but made himself a better person and took advantage of every opportunity that came his way. Franklin lived his life with a strong sense of logic and reason in everything he did. Franklin greatly embodies all parts of the Rationalism style in this way.

Benjamin Franklin. Excerpt from Ben Franklin's Autobiography.

Journal #11

It is very important to live your life by several important virtues. Honesty is a major one. When you live your life truthful, it is more fulfilling and happier. Lying creates tension, guilt, and has other negative impacts on your life. By being honest, you are able to not feel those feelings, and it allows other people to trust in what you say, and you to feel more free. You want people to believe in the things you say, and not doubt you. Another very important virtue is Loyalty. You can be loyal to a number of things, a person, an object, a pet, and many others. All these virtues run together, if you are not honest people will not believe you and therefore they will also not be loyal to you. Being loyal involves a fierce protectiveness and a want to have the best for them. Loyalty is very important because it entails forming bonds with someone or something that is not easily broken, these bonds are important for your character. Patience is another great virtue. Most people have heard of the saying, "Good things happen to people who wait.". This is true. Being a patient person will always have a positive outcome. A person who is not patient is not very likable because they will complain all of the time whenever they are waiting for something. The last good virtue is fortitude  Fortitude is the will to overcome fear or obstacles. This is very important because living your life sheltered is not really living your life at all. You need to be able to go out and do something spontaneous and unexpected. Fortitude is also important because it is like determination. When you set your mind to do something, it is the will to be able to follow through on that promise you made to yourself. By living your life by all of these virtues, your life will be more fulfilled and happier.

Reflection: Declaration of Independence

The Declaration of Independence was written in 1776 to claim America as an independent country from Great Britain. Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, John Adams, and two others wrote this eloquent document. The Declaration of Independence was monumental in the separation with Britain and is still a very prominent piece of literature today. Although good for its time, we now know that the declaration had several flaws including faulty logic, and some propaganda techniques. Obviously, these false ideas are not very prominent, because of how useful this document was in 1776. The good, moral parts of the Declaration of Independence overshadow the faulty parts.

One of the first uses of faulty logic that popped out to me was within the fist few sentences. The statement of "That all men are created equal" is not a true statement (Jefferson 122). This is not true today and it definitely was not true at the time this was written in the 1770's. In colonial times, the only people that were equal were white males, middle-aged or older. Not only could women of any color, Indian men, or black men not vote or participate in the government, young white men had a very hard time getting involved in the government. Most of the delegates to the Second Continental Congress, where the Declaration of Independence was written and signed, were middle aged, the youngest being twenty-six. Jefferson's statement was incorrect, although at the time, it brought about feelings of hope and pride in equality, as only a select group of people were actually  "created equal" (Jefferson 122).

Later on in the "Declaration of Independence", Jefferson called the King of Great Britain a tyrant by indirectly referring to him by saying that cutting down on elected officials' representation was only "formidable to tyrants only" (Jefferson 123). Calling King George a tyrant is name calling propaganda. Normally that would make the reader turn away, because writing with name calling and finger pointing, it not something that people want to read. In this case, the audience of this document are Americans. Many people in America disliked the English, and calling the King a tyrant is not going to make them like England. The loyalists who already love England are not reading the "Declaration of Independence" to realize their love for America or King George. The target group that the Declaration was written for would have only become more for the revolution with the "tyranny" name calling (Jefferson 123).

 Another negative name calling propaganda that was used was "the merciless Indian savages, whose known rules of warfare is an undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes, and conditions" (Jefferson 124). The Indians were not all "merciless" and "savage". Maybe one Indian acted savagely to white stranger and the impression stuck. I know that their were many Indians who aided the white settlers such as Squanto and Sacajawea. The Indians also did not fight in wars against white colonists or discriminate against "ages, sexes, or conditions" (Jefferson 124). While the colonists might have agreed with Jefferson, the line from the "Declaration of Independence" dates the document.

Although the Declaration of Independence, was a very important piece of writing at the time it was written in 1776, we can now realize that it used faulty logic and propaganda techniques. When this was written most people agreed with the ideas that were written, and that is why the false statements of the document were not prominent until later in history.

Jefferson, Thomas. "Declaration of Independence." Comp. Jeffrey D. Wilhelm, Ph.D. and Douglas Fisher, Ph.D. Glencoe Literature. American Literature ed. Columbus: McGraw-Hill Companies, 2009. 97-99. Print.

"Recognizing Propaganda Techniques and Errors of Faulty Logic." Cuesta College. 06 Mar. 2011. Web. 27 Sept. 2011 

Journal #10

If you brought mints to class next time, that would be awesome. I love any kind of mints there are. Besides tasting delicious, mints are actually beneficial to the students in class. The peppermint included in most kinds of mints, including Brach's Star Brites Mints, help stimulate the brain, helping wake it up. This makes it easier to concentrate in class, on important tests, and help the student remember details about what they've previously learned. When we were all in middle school, every year we had to participate in a week of standardized testing called ISAT week. During this week each student would take one test over a subject like Math, English, or Science in the morning and another different subject in the afternoon every day. Before each test, each teacher, during their talk of the instructions, would hand out a mint to each kid in the class, to help wake up their brain. Doing this helped us concentrate and work harder, and therefore do better on these tests. Some people in my class were not as big of fans of mints as I was, so basically before every test, I was able to eat three or four mints, which definitely made a difference! I ended up doing very well each year on these standardized tests. I know that having mints is not the reason I did so well on these tests, but I believe it helped me concentrate and remember more details during the test. If you brought mints to class next time, we would all be more alert in class discussions, and participate more because of the peppermint we will have consumed. The peppermint will have woken up our brains, and we will be ready for class to begin. (Plus, I just love mints, eating them in class always makes me super happy. For my birthday my mom gave me a five pound bag of spearmint mints. I eat them all the time.)

Journal #9

I enjoy the season of autumn. While its not my favorite (that would be summer and summer is amazing) I do like several parts of the season. I love looking at the leaves when the change colors. Whenever I drive around, it is always so pretty during the autumn. The leaves are red, gold, orange, yellow, and all kinds of different fall colors. When I was little I would always help my dad rake up the leaves in my backyard and then jump in them with my dog. It was always so much fun. Another thing I like in the autumn is that it gets colder, but not too cold.The weather calls for long pants and sweat shirts or sweater, which is basically what I live in past summer. But in the fall, it is not too cold that I need a winter jacket or anything. That is the worst part of the changing seasons: I hate the cold. I hate the feeling of being cold, and luckily I do not get that as much in the fall. I also love Halloween, which happens to fall during Autumn. It is probably one of my favorite holidays. Who wouldn't want to dress up in anything they wanted, get together with a group of friends, and walk around collecting lots and lots of candy?! Another thing that is great in the fall is the start of the NFL football season. I am a huge fan of the Green Bay Packers along with my dad. I own a part of their stock along with my dad and my sister Elizabeth. I always wear my jersey (Aaron Rogers, number 12!) and watch the games with my family every week. We eat finger food and yell at the television; It is a great time.I do enjoy the fall, and I am glad that we live in an area that is able to experience all four of the seasons there are.

Journal #8

When an emotional situation appears, it is smarter to approach the situation with a logical thinking. When somebody is emotional they are incapable of making a rational decision by themselves. Thinking in a logical way allows the person to see all the outcomes of their decision and make the best choice in that time. An example of this that is fairly common is when you have a family pet that is old and sick. This is an emotional time in the family because that pet has been around for years and is treated just as if it was part of the family. Making the decision to put that pet down is heart-wrenching. You do not want to see that pet die, but you know that he or she is in pain. An emotional decision would be to not put the pet down and try and do everything possible to keep it alive. Now this would be a good thing, if the pet was not in pain, or if that was not just prolonging the inevitable. A rational decision would be seeing if the pet would benefit from any more treatment, or if it would be the kindest thing to put the pet out of its pain and put he or she down. My family went through this ordeal last year with our dog Luke. He was a large yellow retriever who lived nine years. When he became sick, and was no longer strong enough to walk down our steps outside to go to the bathroom, or walk to his bowl to eat or drink, we had to make the decision to put him down. It was a very hard decision and we had to decide it as a family, and make a rational, logical decision. Luke was never going to get better, only more weak and more sick. So instead of prolonging his pain for our comfort, we put him down. This was a very emotional situation for my family that we were able to handle with a rational, logical approach.

The Crucible Act 4

The preacher, Jonathan Edwards, who, according to the Before You Read section in our textbook, was considered the most influential American writer before Benjamin Franklin, preached using the terrors of religion. Although I feel like I wouldn't have responded well to his intense preaching techniques, it must have worked for some people because we are still reading his speeches today. His harsh teachings try to scare his listeners into believing the word of God.

Edwards has many ways to engage his listeners and get them to feel his same emotion towards religion. For starters, he builds them up with his words and dramatic feelings. How can one not get caught up in a speech when the speaker is using such emotion? He also attempts to make the listener feel bad for their blessings by comparing them to the less fortunate. "What would not those poor damned, helpless souls give for one day's such opportunity as you now enjoy!" (Edwards 99). While I would probably not be this harsh, Edwards gets his message across, and his listeners will believe him. One harsh quote that stood out to me was the following. "You are ten thousand times so abominable in his eyes, as the most hateful and venomous serpent is in ours" (Edwards 98). I think the name calling and tearing down is unnecessary when trying to prove a point, especially because Edwards does not show much support for his own opinions. Edwards knows that there is a right and a wrong way with no gray in between when regarding God.

Similar to how Edwards uses anger and intense lessons to engage his readers, the characters of The Crucible use fear to find what they are looking for. They threaten, and eventually prove, that if you have any part in the act of witch craft, you will be hanged. If one was believed to be a part of the witch craft, they would be tortured until they admitted to it. How this served a purpose is beyond me because if you continue hurting someone to get them to admit something, of course they will admit to it even if it is falsified, like most women did in response to Abagail's accusations. In the end, people will be hanged if they did or didn't get involved in the witch craft. This was the case for John Proctor. He admitted to performing witch craft, but he was really innocent. John Edwards puts it best when he says, "God is dreadfully provoked, his anger is as great towards them as to the fierceness of his wrath in hell, and they have done nothing in the least" (Edwards 97).

Proctor's decision to admit to a crime that he did not commit was a large symbol in the novel. He offered himself as a way to end the rumors and conflict in his community. Judging by Jonathan Edwards' speech, he would most likely not have agreed with Proctor's actions. "Look at other things, as the good state of your bodily constitution, your care of your own life, and the means you use for your own preservation" (Edwards 97-98). However, Proctor made his decision and added a sympathetic touch to the story.

Journal #7

Bullying is still a huge problem in the world even with all the steps we take to stop it. A bully is a person who picks on someone verbally, or physically. When most people think of bullying, they only think of the physical aspect. Now this is the most notice able form, being as you can see bruises and other wounds on the actual victim. Bully's pick on other kids physically because they probably do not have the best life. They pick on others so they can feel better about themselves. They want to feel superior and strong, they pick on a small, defenseless kid. The bully's victim is effected by this bullying. If the bully is picking on the kid at school, that kid might be frightened to attend his own school and not want to go. It can instill a fear into the kid that might last their entire life.When a kid is bullied emotionally, it has a much greater affect. Emotional damage is less noticeable  but hurts much more than any physical damage that can be done. It is more possible that girls will hurt each other with their words while boys will more likely be a physical bully. Emotional damage can force a kid to doubt him or herself and start to believe the terrible things that the bully says to them. A horrible consequence of too much emotional bullying could be a suicide. As technology is advancing, so is another form of bullying. Now people are able to bully through the internet. People can leave hate comments, or call someone out online that they would normally not do that in person. Online bulling is almost worse because the people can bully anonymously. This form of bulling is awful because it makes kids scared to be in there own home on the privacy of their own computer. As a whole, everyone needs to take a stand against bullying, to stop the terrible treatment.

The Crucible Act 3

As humans, we all react to situations differently because no two people are exactly alike and think exactly alike. We call this a fact of human nature. At the same time, however, there a few major reactions and observations that people make and generalize to create something called human nature. There are positive and negative forms of human nature in which people do. Sometimes things that are in our nature are not good things, such as some of the events that are occurring in The Crucible during Act III.

Throughout the witch trials, the husbands are all trying to defend their wives (Miller III). That is human nature. You protect what is yours and what you love. That would be considered positive human nature, in my opinion, because you are trying to help someone. Also in Act III, Proctor defends himself (Miller 117).  Proctor was defending himself because that is just what us humans do. When someone wrongly accuses you, you tend to defend yourself. I think if you do not defend yourself, then you are just a coward. But in the case of some of the women in The Crucible, they started to believe that they were actually possessed by the devil (Miller 79). That is also human nature. When you hear something so much, you start to believe it. Even though you may have initially denied it, once it is said so much, it makes you question it yourself. Human nature that we think of today is essentially the positive kind, and that makes sense. We do not fault ourselves, so going along with human nature, we do not think that we do any wrong.

Although we think of the more positive side of human nature, there are definitely plenty on the negative side too. In The Crucible, Abigail is the definition of negative human nature. She is only trying to save her butt, but in doing that, she has to lie. She has accused so many innocent women of doing wrong that there is no way she could take it back (Miller 48). That is definitely a form of negative human nature. Once you are in so deep, it is hard to turn back the right way. Mary Warren also shows some negative human nature qualities before she became an honest person and confessed that she and the rest of the girls had been lying about everything that they saw (Miller 102).  But when very few people believe her and Abigail keeps denying the whole thing, Mary becomes so overwhelmed. She lowers herself to the rest of the girls, and she accuses Proctor of being of the devil (Miller 118). Throughout all of The Crucible, negative human nature is also prominent.

     Overall, human nature is human nature. That is the best way to put it. Everyone is a human being and with that comes the fact of human nature. It is what we do. We use our instincts, we act the same way given different situations and cannot change that. Human nature is both negative and positive in a sense, although most people do not really recognize the negative side of it. Human nature is in everyone, even if they do not think it is.

Miller, Arthur. The Crucible: a Play in Four Acts. Harmondsworth, Eng.: Penguin, 1976. Print.   
 

Journal #6

The act of Blaming someone for something that they did not do, is never ever right. If you are trying to cover up for someone else or even yourself, the lie will come back almost for sure bite you in the bottom. When you blame someone else you get them into trouble and a bad situation that they did not deserve. They had not done anything wrong until you decided to blame them for something. After the blame is placed on them they try and say "It was not me!" But no one ever believes them, because they believe that the accuser, also known as you, blamed the right person who did the crime. And most likely unless you are found out, that person will receive the consequences that were not meant for them, but you. Most of the time when someone blames somebody else they will lie. And once they lie once, it is very easy to keep adding onto the lie and blaming others, or adding to the blame of the person. Then after a while all the lies become too much, and someone will find them out. This is exactly what Abigail is doing in the play, The Crucible, that were are currently reading in class. Sooner or later they townspeople are bound to figure out that she is just throwing out names to take the blame of the crime off her. Abigail will then receive a far worse punishment then she would have received if she would have just confessed in the very beginning. Also, she could have the blood of the accused witches who were hung on her hands, because she had no basis for accusing them in the first place. All in all it is much simpler to just confess and take the consequence, then it is to lie and try and pin the blame on someone else. Trying this will never work, just apologize and take your punishment.

The Crucible: Act 2

According to the True Colors test we took in class, every person can be summed up in one out of four color personalities. The characters of The Crucible are no exception. Personality traits such as the thinker, doer, planner, and helper can be used to describe almost everyone. Relating these character traits to the characters in the Crucible can help us better understand them.

John Proctor, popular in Act Two for his affair with Abigail Williams, is a very strong example of a gold personality (planner). He was a proud man and worked hard to keep himself good in name. He was accused of doing bad things with Abigail and later admitted to them. He told his wife, "I should have roared you down when first you told me your suspicion. But I wilted, and, like a Christian, I confessed. Confessed! Some dream I had must have mistaken you for God that day. But you're not, you're not, and let you remember it! Let you took sometimes for the goodness in me, and judge me not (Miller 55)." After all of the wrong that he did, John continued to try to keep his family together. Gold personalities are very power oriented and show leaership, so I think John fits nicely into the category (Lowry Online).

The next color of the four personality types is green. Knowing that green (thinker) describes a clever, research oriented person, I think Reverend Hale suits the color best (Lowry Online). He served as the peace maker for the novel. John and Elizabeth Proctor called upon Hale to help them end their marriage issues. He acted as a judge hearing both sides and making conclusions. He also spent a lot of time in search of the witches. His Christian ways caused him to examine Betty for witchcraft as if she was a science experiment. The reverend was nosy and very interesed into the religious views of the Proctor's, and he encouraged the community to testify in the witchcraft case.

The next category is blue (helper), which portrays an emotional, romantic character (Lowry Online). Out of the characters in The Crucible, I would choose Elizabeth Proctor as a blue personality. She stands up for herself against her husband, John. She tries to come off as being tough during their argument, but is really emotional through the entire thing. A similar situation happened when she was being arrested. She tried to be tough through it, but the narrator admits that there were tears in her eyes.

Finally, we have a yellow personality (doer). I am picking Abigail Williams for this group becuase she is a free spirit and does what she wants. She's a liar and looked down upon in the religion based society becuase of her wrong actions. Although she knows she is disrespected, Abigail continues to do what she wants.

Knowing the True Colors personality traits can help us better understand the characters in the Crucible. The four traits make the characters easier to understand and relate to. They also provide a basis to look for when analyzing the characters actions. 

Lowry, Don. "True Colors." True-colors.com. True Colors International. Web. 11 Sept. 2011.

Miller, Arthur. The Crucible. New York, NY. Penguin, 1976. Print.

Journal #5

I think that 21st century punishments are a good, fair idea. Before technology became such a part of everyday lives, just keeping kids stuck in their room was a punishment because they had no way to contact or interact with their friends or other fun things. Now when kids are grounded or sent to their room, they have their cell phones, game systems, and laptops to still entertain themselves. Being sent to their room with all that technology is hardly a punishment! Most kids would rather be using their phones, laptops, or game systems then talking to their parents anyway! Good punishments in the 21st century do have to do with limiting or simply taking away the kids access to their technology. Kids and teens depend on their cell phones, and laptops to stay connected and entertain themselves. Getting them taken away really limits the teen's ability to interact with others, which what the parents want. I have an iPhone now, but before I got that, I had a separate iPod and cell phone. My parents knew that my iPod meant more to me than my cell phone did, so when I would get in trouble, I would just get my iPod taken away. A punishment like taking away the teen or kid's personal laptop, cell phone or game system teaches them to maybe read a book, or play with other non-electronic things. Parents want their kids to be able to function in the real world, without the help of electronics, and that is why they punish kids the way they do. As I get older, instead of getting my phone or iPod taken away, I will get my car keys taken away. It has not happened yet, but getting my keys taken away would be a terrible punishment. I really enjoy driving, and I like being able to depend on myself to get places. After receiving my license, I think that it is kind of embarrassing to have my parents drive me anywhere. These are all good examples of a fair 21st century punishment.

The Crucible: Puritan Writings

The Crucible takes place in Salem, Massachusetts during the famous Salem Witch Trials. The Salem Witch Trials occurred during the late sixteenth century, and many "witches" were hung during this time. Salem was part of the Massachusetts Bay Colony which was founded as a haven for Puritans to practice their beliefs separate from the Church of England. In regards to the other towns of the Massachusetts Bay colony, Salem was run pretty similar. The church in Salem is what the town mostly revolved around, and they held their meetings at a central town square. The town was governed through its religious figures, such as Reverend Samuel Parris in The Crucible. Arthur Miller wrote The Crucible in 1953, hundreds of years after the Salem Witch Trials had started and ended. Although himself not a Puritan, Miller was able to put himself in a Puritan's place, and embody the ideas of Puritanism during the Salem Witch Trials in his writings.

As the play begins, Reverend Parris's daughter, Betty, is ill after having fainted in the woods. She was with a group of friends, and the cause of her fainting was said to be the reverend had scared her when he jumped out and surprised them. The doctor visits the reverend's house and informs him that he believes there are unnatural things, meaning witchcraft and the devil, that caused Betty's illness. As a reverend, Parris is obviously a very religious man, so he is quick to deny the doctor's conclusion. The doctor and many others of the town think that the girl's strange behavior is caused because of the Devil (Miller). The Puritan religion is strongly based off of it's religious aspects. They believed in Predestination, the providence of God, and had utmost faith in their God. Being accused of "witchcraft" and therefore fraternizing with the Devil was a terrible sin. Because of their strong faith in their religion and their god, they are quick to just assume that the girls are acting strange because of the devil. "The Devil can never overcome a minister. You know that, do you not?" (Miller 46) The Puritans believe that their ministers and other high religious people are close to God, and are not able to be corrupt, which we now know that most were back then.

Their religion gets in the way of the Puritans thinking logically about what actually happened to the girls that night. Betty and many other girls were out with Tituba, and they are dancing around while, for a reason that is not exactly clear, they drink chicken blood. Word of this got around, and everyone is filled with the idea that they are witches. With this idea and no medical diagnosis for what is wrong with Betty, they called in an expert on witchcraft. This man, Reverend Hale, tries to figure everything that had happened and come up with a reason why. It finishes off with Abigail and Betty, at this point completely awake, slandering several others as people who are in cahoots with the Devil (Miller). These girls are only trying to take the blame off themselves when they begin to give the other manes out, who probably have not done anything wrong.

Miller, Arthur. The Crucible: A Play in Four Acts. New York, NY: Penguin, 2003. Print.

Journal #4

In my family, we travel a lot. We go on vacations to visit family, see sights, and experience new things. My first plane ride was when I was three or four years old, going to Arizona to visit my grandparents. One of my favorite vacations that I went on was Christmas break of my freshman year. Almost my whole entire extended family traveled to Las Vegas for the week. My family, and my grandpa flew form Springfield, my uncle and aunt flew from Washington D.C., and my other aunt and uncle and his son and their new one month old baby drove over from California. This experience was so great because I was able to see all my family from different parts of the country together in one place. It was better to travel somewhere else to meet, instead of at someone's home because it is way more stress free. There is not any thing to get ready for the visit, only time to spend with your family. I have been to many states, some multiple times, and I think I has made me a better person. Traveling to many different places like Las Vegas, Washington D.C., Disney World, and Texas, shows how other parts of the country work. When my family goes on trips we try and go somewhere where we have never been or want to learn more about. I have been to both Space Centers, all the sights at Washington D.C., the Mall of America, and The Green Bay Packer Stadium, Lambeau Field.

Some people just go on trips to the beach to relax, but I like the fact that we are able to learn new things on our family vacations. It's a nice change to go somewhere else and immerse yourself in the differences of that area. Traveling to Baton Rouge, Louisiana for example is very different then traveling to maybe Syracuse, New York. When I get older and can travel for myself I plan on going to Europe and Asia and seeing all of the wonder sights that are to be seen there. The pyramids, the Eiffel Tower, and the Coliseum are some sights that I would hopefully visit sometime in my life.

Of Pylmouth Plantation

Most writings of the early colonial era have the same Puritan ideals. In a Roman Catholic society in England, a group of religious people came to disagree with several of the leaders and teachings in the Catholic Church. They wanted to purify the Catholic religion and teach it to others.These people were soon known as the Puritans and wanted to move to America to have a free place to practice their ideals. One group of Puritans that arrived in America on the Mayflower, housed a man named William Bradford. Bradford is most well known for his writings in Of Plymouth Plantation, a journal that documents the happenings of the beginnings of the Plymouth colony. Like most other authors of the time, Bradford's writings strongly reflect of the Puritan religion.

The story that Bradford wrote proved that God was of major importance to the Puritans. God was the first one that they honored when they arrived in the new country. "Being thus arrived in a good harbor, and brought safe to land, they fell upon their knees and blessed the God of Heaven who had brought them over the vast and furious ocean, and delivered them from all the perils and miseries thereof, again to set their feet on the firm and stable earth, their proper element (Bradford 65)." Of Plymouth Plantation also tells the tale of one man who planned on overthrowing many men on their ship the Mayflower. The man wanted to get rid of all the diseased men on the ship by throwing them overboard. In the end, the man ended up becoming very ill and being the first to die and to be thrown overboard. The Puritans blamed this entire situation on the man being evil and his death was the way God repaid him. "Thus his curses light on his own head, and it was an astonishment to all his fellows, for they noted it to be the just hand of God upon him (Bradford 15)." Religion has been used in every Puritan writing piece that we have read so far.  The people lived their lives and made decisions depending on how it would be portrayed in God's eyes.

We learn a lot about the harsh relationship between the Puritans and Indians in our history classes. The Pilgrims took over their land and pushed them out. However, Of Plymouth Plantation shows the other side of the relationship. The Puritans and Indians created a peace between them, even after all of the struggles they had. An Indian called Squanto helped join the two sides and was described as being "a special instrument sent of God for their good beyond their expectations (Bradford 67)." He could speak English very well, so he was able to translate between the Puritans and the Indians in their exchanges. Squanto also helped the Puritans become comfortable with their new life in America. He was the one who introduced them to farming and new tools and techniques. These new ideals were the driving force in  making the Plymouth colony succeed.

Bradford, William. "Of Plymouth Plantation." Comp. Jeffrey D. Wilhelm, Ph.D. and Douglas Fisher, Ph.D. Glencoe Literature. American Literature ed. Columbus: McGraw-Hill Companies, 2009. 64-67. Print.