Daily Journal #5

There are most likely many kids these days that do not understand what punishment really is. All I hear people talk about when they get grounded from something all they can say is that they just hate their parents and that they are just “stupid”, but I never hear them say anything about why they were grounded. One time I heard somebody talking about how stupid it was that they got grounded and then somebody asked them why they were and they said something along the lines that they were annoying him and then he cussed them out. I had no idea that it was now apparently acceptable to swear at parents.

Now that most kids do not go out of the house much besides to go hang out with their friends, the old ways of punishment have become, well, obsolete. It is not enough to just ground them so that they can not leave the house because they, or we I should really say, have cell phones, iPods®, Xbox 360s®, and computers. With all of this technology, we can still do pretty much anything that we would do normally except that we would not do it in person. There’s Skype® and Google+® so that we can have video chats, and also there’s Facetime® for the iPhone®. There are computer games which can keep us entertained for hours upon hours very easily.

For a real punishment, it has to do something with taking away a certain privilege, like a cell phone, the computer, or video games etc. Most kids, and most likely including me, would and do have “withdraws” from not having our phones because we have been attached to them; constantly talking to people, mostly through texts. Some kids now a day spend way, way too much time on the computer and on video game consoles. Sometimes it becomes excessive.

One thing, though, that I think has not changed is that parents can still threaten to take away the car; it is a very quick way to scare the kid into behaving because without the car, we have no way to get anywhere and I personally do not like bumming rides off of people because I did something stupid and got my car taken away.

Daily Journal #4

I go on vacations all the time. I used to go to Colorado every summer with my grandparents and my older brother. We drove all the way to Wyoming and we stopped at a lot of places along the way. They were these interesting camp sites and landmarks and things like that. We had a cabin that we went to in the same park every year and we would hike around the area for a couple of days and then we would go fishing and things like that for a couple of days. Then we would drive around the surrounding area and visit different historical and geographical sites. Since I was very young, I do not remember most of it but I do remember getting very homesick really easily. Also being so young had its perks because I had a very short attention span (and I guess the same could be said about me now, but that is neither here nor there) and I would just as quickly find something that would take my mind off of home. Then one year we got in a car accident and the next year I was afraid to go so I stayed home but I regret it because they had a really good time.

I also have been many places by both car and airplane because my mom has moved around the country because my step-dad got better jobs but they were based in different cities. She lived in Springfield, Atlanta, St. Louis, Chicago, Ann Arbor, and now she lives near Washington D.C. As you can see, I have had my fair share of flying by myself. It is harder to get homesick on an airplane because they are so fun to ride on and the flight attendants are very nice to the kids that ride by themselves. All of those plane rides back and forth may have been what got me interested in aerospace engineering, which is what I want to study when I go to college.

Reflection: The Crucible Act 3

I think that human nature is at the heart of this whole book. I think that the story was not written to show what happened in Salem from the point of view of people who were there, but to show the side of humans that people do not want to write about. Everybody has a bad side, no matter how innocent they seem on the outside.

One example of human nature shown in this book would be that people are generally slow to admit their faults. This is displayed by what started all the events in this book, the girls have been lying to everybody so that they will not get in trouble, even if it means that they are going to get other people in trouble, even killed so that they can stay blame-free. Eventually people will admit what they have done like how Mary confessed to John Procter that they are all lying to keep themselves safe (Miller 100). Mary’s confession might have been part of their plan to incriminate John Procter, but it is a truthful confession none the less. Abigail even had previously admitted the lie to John Procter earlier in the play, in Act One actually. When Procter first brought up witchcraft Abigail said “Oh, posh! We were dancin’ in the woods last night, and my uncle leaped in on us. She took fright, is all” (Miller 22). I think that the only reason that Abigail only told him the truth in confidence because she had “feelings” for him still and he could never prove that she said what she did. It would be his word against her word, and at that point in time the children were considered to always be telling the truth.

I also think that is a part of human nature to fear things just because other people fear them. In this case, people were afraid of witches all of a sudden because of people like Reverend Hale, who claimed that he had found and expelled a witch in his town (Miller 14). Now that Reverend Hale and others like him have opened the public’s eye to the present “threat” of “witches”, people are starting to claim their neighbors witches on a whim or with revenge or some other kind of gain in mind. It is the perfect excuse for the girls to use, everybody is already wary of “witches” and so when something mysterious happens, they automatically jump to the fear of the time, which in this case it would be witches. When Mary and the rest of the girls act like Mary was possessed by the Devil and Mr. Procter made her do it, the judge immediately believes them even though he can see nothing. Even Reverend Hale is furious because he can not believe that the judge would actually think that the girls were serious and telling the truth just because they act like they are being “attacked” by the Devil (Miller 120). I would be very upset if Danforth was my judge.

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

Reflection: The Crucible Act 2

Before I go onto a whole reflection blog about what each of the major characters’ “True Colors” are, I thought it would be appropriate for me to give a brief overview of the “True Colors” so people know what I am referring to.

The color blue is one of the four true colors. People who are “Blue” are thought to be helpers. They are sensitive and they like to talk and be around people; very social. They want to make a difference in someone’s life (“Blue”). There are also people that are “Orange”. Orange people are considered to be people that get things done. They are natural born leaders and risk takers (“Orange”). Then there are a group of people that are considered “Gold”. Gold, to me at least, sounds like the coolest one to be, just because it’s gold and gold is really nice. The gold people are thought to be people who like to plan. They are an organizer that has high respect for authority; a strong moral compass. Good for managing, detail, and getting the job done before relaxing or taking a break (“Gold”). Finally, there are the people who are lumped into the group of “Green” people. Green people are considered to be the logical thinkers, the people who enjoy solving one problem and moving on to another one when the first one is solved. They are independent and also tend to strive to become leaders of some sort. Most scientists and researchers are green people (“Green”). Now, we shall move onto the characters and their true colors.

First we have Mr. Procter. Procter to me is a “green” kind of person. He does not seem that sensitive so he is not a “blue” person. He is also not a “gold” person because he rebels against authority, like when he rips the warrant for his wife’s arrest (Miller 76). He also talks about how he does not like Parris and that is why he does not go to church every Sunday (Miller 65). He is also not an “orange” because he does not seem to act upon his impulses, well, except for that whole thing with Abigail, but let’s drop that sore subject. He seems to be very analytical because he immediately was suspicious of the whole situation with witchcraft and then it was backed up when Abigail told him that it was not witchcraft but they were just messing around in the forest (Miller 22). I also found it very similarly “green” of him to have a disposition ready before they went to court (yes I know I’m jumping ahead) (Miller 99)

I think that that Elizabeth Procter would be considered being an “orange”, mostly because when the court people show up to take her to jail for “witchcraft” she tells John to let them do it and that he find a viable way for him to get her out rather than trying to resist her arrest, which would be hard to do considering there are 9 other policemen outside of their house.

"Blue Card Results." Follow Your True Colors. Web. 12 Sept. 2011.

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

"True Colors Career Gold Card." Follow Your True Colors. Web. 12 Sept. 2011.

"True Colors Career Green Card Results." Follow Your True Colors. Web. 12 Sept. 2011.

"True Colors Career Orange Card Results." Follow Your True Colors. Web. 12 Sept. 2011.

Reflection: The Crucible Act I

The Crucible by Arthur Miller is full of Puritan beliefs and values that are clearly expressed throughout the play. It comes as no surprise though because the play is, after all, about people thinking that a sick girl was being cursed or influenced by a witch. There is no way that it could possibly be a regular sickness or sever anxiety over being thought that she was a witch or that she was partaking in demonic practices, which would be a very bad look for the daughter of the town’s pastor. In this time period, people get ran out of town for less severe things than being accused of being a witch.

One example from the book that shows just how gullible people were and what their beliefs were like was when Giles Corey was talking to Reverend John Hale about how his wife was “reading strange books” and how she always hides them when he comes into the room. And then Giles goes on to tell Reverend Hale that one night, when Giles was trying to recite his nightly prayers, he could not remember them and was stunned that when his wife closes the book and then goes out of the house, he can remember the prayers perfectly. He thinks that there may be something weird about those books that make it so he can not remember his prayers. Then the author goes on to tell about how Giles is getting old and his memory is fading and that he only recently learned those prayers, so it is far more likely that his wife was distracting him by reading the books which made him forget, and when she left, he was no longer distracted so he could recite the needed prayers (Miller 40). This shows just how much they attributed everything in this time period to being from the “Devil” if it is bad, and that anything good is from the “Lord”.

I think that the quote “Now mark me, if the Devil is in her you will witness some frightful wonders in this room, so please to keep your wits about you. Mr. Putnam, stand close in case she flies” shows that back then they not only thought that people and objects could be possessed by the Devil and his minions, but that they could make people do things like fly and other unnatural things along those lines (Miller 41).

Pages thirty two through thirty six is just one long paragraph talking about how it was the people like the citizens of Salem who were actually to blame for all of the devil obsession. The church community made up all of these things that were associated with the devil, like sex and having parties which was originally associated with the Greek god Dionysus, and so they made sin look even more appealing to people (Miller 36). They made the devil a major part of their society by the people who were supposed to be the ones “protecting” the public from the “evil”.

Miller, Arthur. The Crucible: a Play in Four Acts. New York: Penguin, 1976. Print.

Daily Journal #3

One of the worst possible situations I could ever find myself to be in would to be captured by some crazy person and held in their basement/cave/dungeon/lair thing that nobody could ever find me. Who knows? They could be some millionaire with a crazy and elaborite maze to even get to his basement so that theres is no way that anybody could even come close to finding me and rescuing me. Or it could be all the way out in the woods where there is no town or settlement of some sort for hundreds of miles. That would most likely be in Alaska or Montana or somewhere where nobody wants to live. Alaska would be worse though because it would obviously be very cold there, but if I am underground it might not matter.

Anywho, if I were captured by someone, I would immediately start thinking of an escape plan. I have seen way to many movies where the person who does not do anything is the first one to go because they are the easiest targets. I would try to see all of the different security systems that he has and if I were blindfolded, I would try to remember how to get to their house just in case I do escape, I will need to be able to find my way back into town for help. I would use my ingenuity to get around the various security measures they would have put up. I have watched enough Prison Break to know my way around things like that. If there were a maze of some sort, I would just put my hand on the right wall and keep walking. If it lead people out of the legendary Labyrinth of Daedalus in Greek mythology, I think a simple maze without any evil monsters will work on about the same principle.

If I were in a situation where I could not ever conceive of escaping, I would stay in a constant state of denial, I would always try to remain positive that I could eventually escape.

Reflection of Bradford

The Puritan writing style is once again easily shown in the simple and short terse writing style that is similar to the kind of writing that was used in Anne Bradstreet’s Upon the Burning of Our House and The Captivity and Restoration of Mrs. Mary Rowlandson by Mary Rowlandson. At the very beginning of the journal entry, Bradford broke away from the Puritan writing style, even though it was just a brief amount of time. He made a longer sentence than I was expecting to see:

These trouble being blown over, and now all being compact together in one ship, they put to sea again with a prosperous wind, which continued divers days together, which was some encouragement unto them; yet, according to the usual manner, many were afflicted with sea sickness. (Bradford 15)

 It was also fairly descriptive compared to his other sentences, I think.

It is very obvious right off of the bat that he is a Christian; one because he is a pilgrim on the Mayflower, and two because his second sentence, right after he just got done talking about sea sickness, was “And I may not omit here a special work of God’s providence” (Bradford 15). It is not surprising that Bradford had to include something about god doing this or god causing this or god helping him do that because it just wouldn’t be a Puritan writing without it. They seem to not being able to go 20 seconds without mentioning god and what he has done for them. It seems like nothing they do is ever because they had the smarts or the courage or the wherewithal to stick something out. It apparently was required to come from some other source.

Sorry for the little rant, but I got on my nerves a teany tiny bit. Anyway, as I was saying, this is clearly a Puritan writing. God, or some kind of allusion or reference to him, is basically everywhere you look in this thing. There was not much description, just facts about what happened as the writer saw them. It was about a young man who 

“would always be condemning the poor people in their sickness, and cursing them daily with grievous execrations, and did not let them that he hoped to help to cast half of them overboard before they came to their journey’s end, and to make merry with what they had; and if he were by any gently reproved, he would curse and swear most bitterly” (Bradford 15).

 It is really hard to not just want to not like this guy, just because of his description. After all of the things he has done are revealed, now comes the Puritan side, the part about how god decided to smite the young man for all of his misdeeds. There could have been no way that he was sick before, it just had to be god, obviously.

I would also like to point out how even though the Puritan’s writing was bland, they did not lack all literary devices. In this short entry, he uses irony when the young man makes fun of the poor people for getting sick, and how he wants to throw them overboard, and he himself gets sick and thrown overboard.

Bradford, William. Of Plymouth Plantation. Ed. Jeffrey D. Wilhelm. Glencoe Literature ed. Columbus: McGraw-Hill, 2009. 65. Print