Declaration of Independence Reflection

It was easy to see propaganda techniques in "The Declaration of Independence" by Thomas Jefferson.  One that stuck out to me was a form of name calling.  The name calling was not negative of mean, but they called the King of England, he.  While this is not bad, it showed that he was the one to blame.  Him and only him was the reason that the colonies wanted to leave England.  The general term showed that they did not care for him, but they still were against them. 

Another propaganda method I saw would be the "Either" method.  The two generalizations made about England and the Colonists showed this method.  England and the King was referred to as "he". The colonists referred to themselves as "we".  These two terms divided the sides on the revolution.  Either you were part of the "we" or "he".  There was no in between to this opinion.  

Another propaganda method would be "The Bandwagon" method.  The way Jefferson presented the "we" portion of the document.  The generalization of "we" made people think that everyone felt this way against England.  The way this was delivered made everyone think that if they did not feel this way they were not a part of America.  This was a very good method to be used because it almost scared people into sharing the "we" opinion.  

A faulty logic example I saw in "The Declaration of Independence" would be Arguing from Ignorance.  While Jefferson was not ignorant, there was nobody to represent the side the English took in this document.  There was not a defense for England so it was easy for Jefferson to call out everything that England did wrong when there was nobody to explain reasoning behind those happenings.  It was so easy to attack someone who was not there.  That is why this document is a slight example of Arguing from ignorance.


"Recognizing Propaganda Techniquesand Errors of Faulty Logic." Recognizing Propaganda--Guide to Critical Thinking--Academic Support. N.p., n.d. Web. 24 Sept. 2012. http://academic.cuesta.edu/acasupp/as/404.htm.

Wilhelm, Jeffrey D., Douglas Fisher, Kathleen A. Hinchman, David G. O'Brien, Taffy Raphael, and Cynthia Hynd. Shanahan. Glencoe Literature. New York: Glencoe McGraw-Hill, 2009. Print.

Journal #10: Mints

We the people of the A-5 English 332 class deserve mints from Mr. Langley.  For our numerous struggles and battles we face in this accelerated class, we deserve those delicious little round mints more than any other human being.

First of all, Mr. Langley misses class.  He leaves us with directions which is nice, but if we have questions, they go unanswered!  This is a reason we deserve mints because we struggle to keep going on with our assignments with little direction.  We need mints so we will not start an uprising due to these conditions.  "The man" aka Mr. Langley must satisfy our rebellious spirit with the yummy mints, or else the consequences could be dire.

Another reason we deserve mints is because we are an advanced class.  We could reside in the non-honors English class, but we decide to go above and beyond expectations.  We do not want to answer the normal questions.  We want to think critically and analyze stories with our twenty-first century skills!  We should be rewarded for our hard work and dedication to this honors class.  We do not expect much in return for our efforts, but it would be splendid to be rewarded in this small way.

Last but not least, we need mints because it is the end of the day, and we need to focus.  Days at Pleasant Plains High School can get drawn out and boring.  By our last class, we are often unruly and hard to control.  A few simple mints might be the cure to a hyperactive and inattentive class.  These small mints might help us calm down.  Mints are actually proven to stimulate thought and brain activity.  I know this because way back in middle school, they gave us mints before ISAT testing to stimulate our brains.  These little mints could be the difference between paying attention and falling asleep in class.  It is a small bargain to make with us, therefore you should supply us with mints.

Journal #9: Autumn

Autumn is a pretty awesome time of year.  I really think that it might be my favorite season.  While summer and spring is awesome, fall is so peaceful.  The cool, crisp autumn air makes me feel so safe.  I love cuddling up by a bonfire with a big blanket and some marshmallows in hand.  It is so serene just wearing your big sweatshirt and letting the autumn breeze carry your thoughts away.  This is the best time of year to be outside and in jeans and a sweatshirt.  Fall is also amazing because football season is beginning.  I love to get together with my family and watch a football game. It brings us together because the outside is cold, but inside with your family is warm and cozy.  Halloween is another example of why the amazing season of autumn is so amazing.  You get to eat endless bags of your favorite candy and you get to dress up like something you never would normally.  The best way to go is to make a homemade costume, because those are the best costumes.

Journal #8: Emotional Time

Emotional times can often be times of hysteria and distress.  In these times, it is important for people to step up and behave rationally and logically.  There was a time when many emotions were stirred in my life.  My friend was very upset over the death of her dog.  Being a good friend, I comforted her.  This did not help very much so I developed a rational and logical reason that might make my friend feel less sad about her dog dying.  I said things like it was his time, he was getting old, he lived a good life, but they still seemingly did not help much.  Therefore, I made a logical approach to my friend and said that her dog died because he had served his best days to her family and this world and that was what was needed from his life.  This helped more then any other approach because it was not spiritual or fake.  I meant the words I said completely one hundred percent.  It was also seemingly logical because it was a full proof ideal to why her dog had lived.  It was also not about why her dog died it was more about the life he lived and why he served his life well and to his full potential.

Another emotional time that called for logical reason was when my friends and I almost ran into a deer after homecoming.  My friend was driving and slammed on the breaks when she saw a deer.  This was the completely correct reaction when seeing a deer when driving.  However, she did not account for our friend driving behind us.  The friend behind us luckily was paying attention and was able to pass us due to the lack of traffic.  After this event, we realized how lucky we were to be alive and not crashed in the cars.  I handled this logically because my friend driving was quite hysterical when thinking of the other possible result that could have happened from this event.  I told her that she did the right thing and it worked out for the best.  No one was hurt, so this calmed her down because it was true. The logical answer helped everyone calm down from this emotional ordeal.

The Crucible Act IV Essay

Act IV seemed to reflect the thoughts of Johnathon Edwards sermon, "Sinners in the Angry Hands of God". It seemed that the sermon related to the actions and behaviors of the characters in this final Act.  
The main character that relates the sermon and the play would be Proctor.  Proctor confesses to doing witchcraft although he did not partake in witchcraft.  He did this because he wanted to live and also because he just wanted to confess his sins and be done with the situation.  He was pressured by Danforth and Hawthorne to confess, and Elizabeth finally convinced him to.  He set up his confession to the other men and at the end when he had to sign the confession to confirm that this had happened, he tore it apart and then had to face his death.  In the end, he did what he thought was right and this was probably not influenced by the sermon in any way.  If he had listened to the sermon he probably would have confessed just so God would not be mad at him anymore.  
Hawthorne and Danforth could have been scared by the words of Johnathon Edwards as well.  They pressured the suspects to confess so that they could take care of the situation and make sure that God knows that they tried everything to reject the devil and help those who had been believed to had been involved.  These men wanted to make sure that God could see that it was not their fault that this had happened to their society and that they were certainly not apart of it.  When they had those who did not confess to being involved in witchcraft, they killed them because that was the easy way to show that they were against witchcraft.  Hawthorne and Danforth represented the side of people that were scared by the sermon, "Sinners in the Angry Hands of God".
The events that took place in this play also proved to have been a reflection of Johnathon Edwards sermon.  The whole situation was started by the fear of devilish actions and behaviors.  The horrible fear of disobeying God and ending up in hell was unbearable to think about because colonists were conditioned to be deathly afraid of the fate in Hell.  This sermon can relate to this because it was said in the sermon that hell is a terrible place with fire where you will suffer for the rest of eternity.  
If I were to compare the two in which piece was more interesting, I would say the sermon was.  Most people would not think this, but the intense sermon was very interesting.  I though it was so interesting because it was insane to think that this man was thought of as holy and that he was trying to save people.  All he did was scare people to a point where they only worshiped God to prevent a life of being tortured forever.  In the Crucible, many people were scared, but there were also characters who did not care, like Abigail.  
Thus, this novel reflected the sermon in many ways through characters and events.  It showed the fear of God's wrath was important and that to others, they could not be factored.  Each piece was interesting in the way that the views differed. 

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

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

Act III: Human Nature

Human nature in the Crucible is an important aspect to know as a reader when trying to understand the story.  Human nature is such an important aspect to grasp when reading a story because it makes the story believable and relate able.  Humans can be devilish, innocent, and kind, and that is important to incorporate to a story so that the story is realistic.  In the crucible, there are many incidents of human nature being shown through the characters.

Putnam shows human nature through his selfishness.  He wants the trial to go on so he can get more land.  He does not regard any body's feelings and he is willing to hurt others to get his way.  George Jacobs life does not matter as long as Putnam will be able to purchase his land after he is hung.  This shows the negative side of human nature.  Humans can be manipulative and emotionless and Putnam shows this.

Another character that represents human nature would be Abigail.  Abigail shows human nature because she likes to rebel and cause trouble for entertainment.  She is tired of being in such a restricted society and this can be seen through her actions.  She causes trouble and claims that the devil is involved with her just to get a rise out of others.  She likes to cause all this trouble because she is bored of her life in this secure society.  A quote by Proctor shows that he knows why Abigail is acting in this way after he ended their affair:

"A man may think God sleeps, but God sees everything, I know it now. I beg you, sir, I beg you—see her what she is. . . . She thinks to dance with me on my wife’s grave! And well she might, for I thought of her softly. God help me, I lusted, and there is a promise in such sweat. But it is a whore’s vengeance" (Miller 110).

He says that it is a "whore's vengeance" and that she is just blaming Elizabeth because she is mad at Proctor (Miller 110).  Abigail shows another negative side of human nature because of her vengeful actions and pointless stirring up of the colony.

Proctor shows many human nature characteristics in this play.  He shows lust.  He lusts after Abigail although he is married to Elizabeth.  In the previous quote, he admits his actions to the whole court and the whole colony (Miller 110).  It put shame to his name, but it was admirable to admit because it could possibly save his wife.  While he might have done this too late, he still admitted it and in that judgemental and crazy society that must have been a hard thing to do.  Proctor shows some negative human traits like lust and betrayal.  He also shows the positive trait of owning up to what he did although it took him awhile. Proctor knows that he has done wrong, but unlike the other characters who would have hidden his secrets, he let them out to free his wife.

Therefore, there was many portayals of different traits that can be related to human nature.  There were many negatives in this certain play because of the subject, but of course other characters showed that there was a small shimmer of hope that not all the characters in this novel were completely bad.  Thus, human nature was easy to see through the various characters.

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

Journal #7: Bullying

Bullying is a very serious issue we have in today's society.  It effects more than just the victim of such bullying as well.  The bully can be effected very seriously as well.  To begin, the victim is obviously more effected.  The victim can be hurt beyond physical damage.  The victim can develop emotional issues and become depressed.  For example, if a bully starts a rumor that effects the victim's image then the victim might be made fun of or judged wrongly.  This leads to depression and it is a thing that should be avoided in today's society.  Bullying over the internet is also increasing the amount of teen depression and bullying.  It is easier to bully over the internet because you do not see the direct effects of your words on someone else.  There are many issues that can bloom through the horror of bullying.  The effects on the bully are usually not seen because they are obviously the bad guy in the situation.  They could be suffering just as much as the victim, but they put their feelings out in a terrible way by making fun of other people.  This is horrific, but in today's society of hiding feelings and who you are can lead to pent up aggression many bullies are proven to have.  The bully can get in a lot of trouble if they are mean to people.  They can end up in the office at school and get in huge amounts of trouble, even for cyber bullying.  Many kids at my school have gotten in trouble or been a victim of cyber bulling.  Many kids do not know that their words can be affecting  a persons will to live in a world where people are so mean to them.  It is important for kids and teenagers especially to know that words cut deep and are taken very seriously by certain people.  Bullying is such a horrendous thing and it should be stopped before it has a chance to effect kids and teenagers so harshly.

Journal #6

There are many things that can go wrong when you blame someone else for something they are not guilty of. Consequence is defined as the result of your actions. Whether they are good or not, they are considered to be a consequence. These consequences can be very bad and hurt people a lot.  For example, if Katie went to the store and stole a piece of bubblegum, but I blamed Jessie for it, Jessie would have to suffer the consequences, and Katie would not learn a lesson.  First of all, Jessie would have to do whatever happens when you steal something, like deal with the police and the store and pay a fine or whatever.  This would be very unfair and many people would label her as a thief and not let her into other stores.  Katie, on the other hand, would be chewing her bubblegum and not having a care in the world. This is almost worst then the punishment that Jessie faces because if Katie were to want to steal again, she could be in more trouble.  She would eventually build up to grand theft and then her consequences would be worse then ever.  This is horrible because if she were to have gotten caught the first time, her punishment would be better then the big punishment later.  She would learn her lesson and be on her way.  These lessons can be learned before you fault and try to blame someone else.  If you just take blame for what you have done, the world would be so much nicer.  We would not have many of the problems we have today in society with lying and false punishments being carried out.  This would make a world a difference in society because everyone would be friends.  There would be no blindsiding, or backstabbing, or bullying.  It would be a very extraordinary world.  It would be awesome and lovely and we would all join hands and sing until the end of the world in December.

Crucible Act Two Reflection

In class the other day, each student took a test that determined their personality type.  The four choices for the personality types were all different from each other.  The personality type I got was blue.  This color described me as being a helper.  I care about others and I try to help people through their problems.  This was the closest personality type to me because the other one's were not even close to my personality.  My second highest personality type was orange.  Orange is a doer.  Doer's go out and they do not analyze their decisions before making them.  They live in the moment and they are not very organized people.  This was somewhat close to me because I make impulsive decisions sometimes, but not all the time.  My next closest personality was green.  Green means that you are a thinker.  Thinkers have a different perspective on life then most people.  They analyze things very closely and always think every decision over and over.  This is not close to my personality.  The last personality type to choose from is the gold personality, or planner.  Planners are super organized and think every decision over multiple times.  They keep themselves busy and plan out every aspect of life.  This is the least personality like me, which makes sense because I am not organized at all!

Anyway, all this testing leads to the assignment which was to read Act II of the Crucible and to analyze the personality types of the characters using this test that we took in class the other day. The first character to analyze is Abigail.  Abigail seems to be a blue personality.   Blue people are described as people who keep to themselves, and they are very emotional.  Abigail displays passion and emotion during this novel through her rebelling against her colony.  She does not want to go with the colony anymore.  This passion makes her a blue personality.  A second character is also a blue, would be Mary Warrens.  She seems to be very quiet but still had very emotional and passion driven moments like Abigail.  Some different characters then them would be Reverend Hale.  He seems to be a very intelligent man and critical thinker.  He often analyzes things in a different way than other people and this leads me to think that he would be put into the green personality category.  He is very realistic in his thoughts and this makes him more green than anything else.  He says what he thinks because in this time period he believed in serving God as being their whole world, so he says what everyone is afraid of hearing.  Hale says:

"the Devil is alive in Salem, we dare not quail to follow wherever the accusing finger points!"(Miller 71).

This makes him green because he says his thoughts and that is what thinkers do.  They analyze then declare their thoughts.  Even though their thoughts may not be right, they still think and believe what they "know".

Therefore, the characters in this novel are very similar to us in ways.   Proven through this quiz, we possess many similar qualities with these characters.  

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

"True Colors." True Colors International. Baytech Web Design. Web. 9 September 2012.

Journal #5: 21st Century punishment

A fair punishment for the twenty-first century teenager would be to ground them from every technology and social aspect of their life.  They should be locked in a cupboard like Harry Potter.  It is not a good punishment to send them into their room because they could access the whole internet world from their cellular device.  If there was a child who was sent to their room, chances are they have a television, an xbox, and maybe even a smart phone.  This is awesome for kids, but they do not get to be disciplined correctly.  In this ever changing and advancing world, technology is always accessible. Through technology, you can mostly contact everyone in the world from your basement while you play World of Warcraft.  This is good for some aspects, but not for when your child is grounded.  This will have to be adapted to the current life because sending your no good child to their room will not do anything anymore.  Therefore, you should make a new room inside your house that has white walls and white floors.  The lighting should be fluorescent and there should be absolutely no furniture!  If there is, it will not be an effective punishment.  When your child does something bad, just lock them in this room for about 12 to 48 hours.  This will teach them a lesson.  Make sure there is no form of entertainment in this room as well.  Or else, your child will not be punished correctly. If you do want a small activity for your child to do while in this room, the following activities are acceptable: reading an atlas, getting a quill that makes a scar on your hand like Harry Potter, and making ceramic dolphins.  These activities will be so boring or painful that your child will never disobey you again.  Your kid will be begging you to give them chores to make you happy with them and they will never risk disobeying their masters(parents) again.  Hence, this is how to effectively punish those no good, dirty rotten, pig-stealing 21st century teenagers.

The Crucible act one reflection

The Crucible is a story about the life in Salem.  It is the story of a Reverend who's daughters are being "possessed" by the devil or participating in witchcraft.  It is a very interesting story compared to the other works relating to Puritan values.  It is a more interesting story that is meant to entertain.  It shows Puritan value because it has to do with the battle between God's people and these girls that are similar to witches and they seem to be showing signs of the devil dealing with them. The reverend tries to create sermons that show that his daughters are not showing signs of devil worship.  He tries to deny that anything is happening to his daughters.  His daughters also try and deny these happenings by saying that they were just being normal or they were too old for this childishness.  However, this shows the other end of the Puritan belief system.  This shows the dark side to what happens when you do not give your whole self to God.  This is such a different side to the stories we have been studying because it does not just show peoples love and respect for God, it shows their fear and denial to the believing of the devil.  It shows that not all puritans are good and pure.  It shows that some let the devil tempt them and they cannot change once they let him in. Parris says this about witchcraft in the play:

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

This shows that everyone was concerned with this problem of witchcraft.  Everyone fears the signs of witchcraft and Parris begs Thomas not to trust witchcraft.  This desperate plea from Parris shows how much he fears the fact that witchcraft is happening in Salem.

Another quote was from Mrs. Putnam;

"But I must! You think it God's work you should never lose a child, nor grandchild either, and I bury all but one?" (Miller 28).


This was also a different side to Puritan beliefs because it shows Mrs. Putnam is losing faith in God because she lost all of her children.  She thinks it is unfair for Putnam to think that he should keep all of his family and think that it would be God's will to keep him so fortunate, while God does not treat her as well as him.   She does not believe that Putnam should think of himself to be so lucky.  He does not deserve God's mercy more than anyone else in Mrs. Putnam's opinion.

My opinion of this play/story is way more positive compared to the other stories.  The other stories by Puritan writers were dull and lacked detail.  They could not express too much opinion without overstepping their Holy rules.  They were straight to the point and had no elaboration.  They just said what happened and moved along.  This story, however, is great.  It shows opinions, emotions, and actually has a good story line. It is telling an entertaining story rather then just reciting an event.  It is a way better change to be reading something that might actually be interesting to read!

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

Journal #4: Travels

I went to Hawaii a few years ago.  It was an awesome experience, but there was a lot of traveling to be done.  I drove to the Springfield Airport at six in the morning.  After the thirty minute flight from Springfield to Chicago, I ate some Chili's buffalo wings.  I restored all of the energy I had lost.  Some people might think it is gross to eat buffalo wings before ten in the morning, but who cares what they think.  After that, I traveled around the airport to look for my gate to Hawaii.  It was about to be eight and a half hours on a plane.  I was getting nervous about being on a suspended floating bus 12345 Miles in the air.  I changed into my tie-dye sweatpants to make my trip more comfortable.  I started the long ride by plugging my headphones into my iPod. It was a good choice to start the trip off.  After that, I noticed that TV shows were on the television. Shows like 30 Rock, The Simpsons, and Friends were being played throughout my flight.  It made the flight less painful, but it still was such a long journey to be on.  The flight had eventually ended and it was lovely to land in the Honolulu airport.  I could finally stretch my legs and walk around.  Hawaii was beautiful, but I did not get to enjoy my first sights of this state because I was s exhausted from my journey.  This was disappointing because I was supposed to embrace the first beauties I saw in this awesome area.  This had a huge impact on me because it felt like I was ungrateful to experience the beauties of this place.  However, I got some rest and before I knew it I was traveling again. I boarded my cruise ship that would take me from one Hawaiian Island to the next.  The waters were very calm.  I saw great animals like whales, dolphins, and turtles.  Unfortunetly, there was one night that the water was very rough and I got sick.  This was another affect of travel.  Some people are not supposed to travel through sea.  Thus, those were my rough travels that seemed especially long!

Reflection "History of Plymouth Plantation"

Bradford had a Puritan writing style similar to the other women that we had observed the other day in class.  He mentions god on every page, he never says anything against his religion, and he thinks that the lord is responsible for every happening in his life.  In a passage in chapter 1, Bradford says:

"The one side laboured to have y right worship of God & discipline of Christ established in y church according to y simplicitie of y gospell wihtout the mixture of mens inventions, and to have & be ruled by y laws of Gods word, dispensed in those offices, & by those officers of Pastors, Teachers, & elders, & c."(Bradford 4).

This shows that some of his fellow Puritans had worked to please God.  He shows that every one of God's people have to work and do good things to earn a spot in the eternal life with God.  On the other end of this quote, it said that there was only "one side labuored to have y right worship of God & dicipline of Christ".  This shows that there were also people who did not worship God in the correct way.  This shows that Bradford judged other people who were not as strict on religion as he was.  This just proves his Puritan beliefs are strongly and accurately portrayed through his writing in this nonfiction piece.  

"The other partie, though under many colours & pretences, endevored to have y episcopall dignite with their large power & jurisdiction still retained: with all those courts, cannons, & ceremonies, togeather with all such livings, revenues, & subordinate officers, with other such means as formerly upheld their antichristian greatness, and enabled them with lordly & tyranous power to persecute y poore servants of God." (Bradford 4).

This was Bradford's opinion on the "antichristian" other group.  This sentence shows that the other group scared him and he would rather they honor his religion.  He thinks that the innovation that this group is developing is against God.  The thought of change seems scary to the Puritans.  This shows another aspect of Puritan belief because they do not like when other people believe other things then them.  While they do not push their religion too hard, they still make it knowing that they disapprove of other religions.  This passage of Bradford's is showing that.

He can be compared to the other authors in three aspects: belief, hope, and hard work.  All three authors believed in God.  They all followed his rules and spoke to him because they believe that God is there for them always.  Also, they all hoped.  They did not hope in a greedy way, but they prayed and asked for help and forgiveness.  They were never ungrateful, but they new that God had a plan for them and that he would not disappoint them.  Lastly, all three authors showed work ethic.  They all worked hard to earn a spot in heaven.  They never were spiteful to God.  They also gave forgiveness even when they had bad fortune.  This shows the Puritan beliefs were in the writing because as a reader, I gathered all that information.  It is very important to write in a unique way, and each Puritan author wrote in a way that the reader could understand their opinions on religion!




Bradford, William. "Chapter 1." History of Plymouth Plantation. Boston: Massachusetts Historical Society, 1856. 1-10. Print.