Tuesday, September 25, 2012

Propaganda in the Declaration of Independence

Despite the Declaration of Independence being a very well written document, I am sure that there are some forms of propoganda and faulty logic in it. The Declaration of Independence is in my opinion a very accurate depiction of how England treated America, with few exceptions. I can actually remember reading about several events in the Declaration that were mentioned as wrong doings by the crown. I also noticed that although there were several parts with rather violent language. The rest of the document was fairly mild mannered, though. You would think that a document starting a revolution would be a little more violent and distressing, but I guess that must not have been Jefferson's style because this read more like a documentary list that a passionate rebellious one. That being said, I do believe that Thomas Jefferson did exaggerate in a few points when he was writing in his more dramatic style.

At one point, Jefferson accuses the English having "abdicated government here, by declaring us out of his protection and waging war on us. He has plundered our seas, ravaged our coasts, burned our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people" (Jefferson 124). I know that America was in the middle of the Revolutionary War at the time this was written, but even so the language may be a little bit melodramatic. Even though many people died in the Revolutionary War, I still think that it is a pretty big stretch to make the generalization the king ruined the lives of the American people. Other than that, I think that if you were to ask Thomas Jefferson to give an example of an any even that he accuses the king of doing, he would easily be able too. The real issue between America and England was caused by Parliment trying to control the American assemblies, but the king's rude insolence was apparently much easier to attack than that of Parliment. All of Jefferson's accusations just seemed a little too dramatic for my tastes.

Other than that specific example in the Declaration of Independence being overdramatic, I think that it is a very reasonable document. Without taking the Revolutionary War into account, it does sound really dramatic and a bit unfounded and unreasonable. But when you remember that they were in the middle of a war, and the King George III had gotten entirely rid of the local representative governments and gave their power to his governors. I can understand completely why the American people would be outraged enough to start a revolution. All things considered, I was really surprised at the tone of the declaration. It was not as self-righteous as I thought it would be, and considering that the declaration was starting a revolution. It was really pretty mild. I think that it was a really good example of writing in the rationalist period because it really put reason and rationality before emotions. There was a bit of emotion in the Declaration of Independence, but it really was mostly based on reason. I think that it is a very good thing that our government was founded on reason, because governments founded on emotion tend not to be very stable. Overall, the Declaration of Independence was a very well written piece of rationalist literature.

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.

Journal #11 - VIRTUES

Everyone has their own ways of living their lives. Some people go with the flow, where some others create a set of rules by which they go about living. I personally go with the flow. I choose to do what I feel is right, and that has always worked for me. Unfortunately, for this assignment, I must create a set of virtues to follow. Not that that would be to hard.

I will make an effort to open doors for those I feel need help! Some examples are: crippled people, injured people, the elderly, and the small children who just can not push that door open. This does not mean I will not open the door for those who are able, I just will make more of an effort to be that person who takes a stand and helps out. I will always be polite, unless the situation requires a more firm approach. I will maintain a healthy, Christian life. I believe that having and living by a religion is good for a stable life of love and happiness. I will maintain humor in my life, bringing joy to those around me. I have always felt that a life without humor and laughter is not a life at all. If life does not bring you such happiness, what reason would you have to live? I also believe in the virtue of silence. As I have been taught many times in the past, "If you have nothing nice to say, do not say anything at all." By staying quiet, you avoid conflict. I do not like conflict, so this is a good virtue for me to live by. Another virtue that I would choose to live by is tranquility or peacefulness. Going on with what I said about the last virtue of silence, I hate conflict. Why would I try to get  stressed or angry when I have the option of staying calm and not allowing myself to become mad? If I do not let conflicts get to me, I will not become too emotional, and therefore I would be able to stay happy.

With these virtues at my side, I would be able to live a much more fulfilling of a life, so I may just have to choose to live by them full time.

Monday, September 24, 2012

Journal #10 - Persuasion of the Mints

In my opinion, mints are among some of life's true delights. I would spend this blog talking about how tasty they are as my reasoning for wanting you to bring them, but unfortunately I believe that is what you meant by "faulty logic". Despite the amazing, calming, and refreshing sensation brought on by the taste of mints, I have more logical reasons for wishing that you bring them in.

Are you aware of the health benefits of mint? Sure, they taste good. But, they also do wondrous things for our bodies. Our class is in the afternoon, so therefore the students in our class have already consumed their lunches. A good percentage of those students probably had a school lunch, which, despite attempts by the kitchen staff, are not very healthy. Unhealthy foods cause indigestion. The aroma, and therefore the taste, of mint soothes our stomachs by activating our salivary glands to produce more digestive enzymes. Our digestion would be working so well if you brought in mints! It is a fact that it is significantly harder to pay attention while you are feeling ill. Healthy students are happy students!

Mint does not only help ourselves, though. It helps the people around us. Again, I will bring up how this class is after lunch. I will also bring up that teenagers are not the cleanliest people in the world. As much as people try to keep up with dental hygiene, there are still some that forget. Being in an English class, we often find ourselves having to speak up and reflect on certain topics. Well, when we have stinky breath and we have to talk, bad things happen! So, Mr. Langley, with the help of Brach's Star Brites mints, we could have amazing smelling breath. That would make you, our classmates, and ourselves much more comfortable in this class. Who would be able to speak up in class if the moment they try to they are blasted in the face with disgusting odors?

You can see now that bringing in Brach's Star Brites mints would be a major help to the class as a hole. Not only that, but the taste would brighten the lives of us all. Considering all of these reasons, how could you not bring in Brach's Star Brites mints.

Sunday, September 23, 2012

Journal #9 - Autumn

There is seriously nothing I love more on this earth than the Autumn season. I am not one who likes bitter cold or scalding hot temperatures. Quite frankly, I hate them. They are not perfect to me. Fall brings on a very cool calming temperature that I always want to be outside in. It is not too hot or too cold. It is a perfect in-between temperature of warm days (in the beginning) and cool nights. It is also the perfect weather for hoodies and campfires. I love the feeling of having no homework on a cool Friday night in Autumn. Most likely, the perfection of that night would be used by some friends for a bonfire and movie night. So, since I would realize the chilliness of the weather, I would put on a hoodie and head out. The night would be lots of fun and I would have an amazing time. Then, when I come home, I would still smell like the campfire smoke and be reminded of the hot dogs and smores that were cooked over them.

Fall is the most relaxing time for me. I would like Spring more (seeing as though it is also not too hot or cold), but I enjoy the cooling sensation more than the warming sensation. I don't know, but I really just enjoy cooler temperatures. I suppose it is because I realize that it is easier to get warm when you are cold than to get cool when you are hot.

I am also significantly happier during the fall. Most people get depressed during this time because everything is dying, but not me. I love the sights, the smells, and the tastes of fall. It is an overall beautiful time. I have only ever been truly relaxed during the fall. I know I am rambling, I just adore this season. With its crisp, freshly picked apples to the crackling sound of falling into a pile of leaves, I have never enjoyed anything more than Autumn.

Wednesday, September 19, 2012

Journal #8 - Being Emotional

When some one is emotional they tend to get angry, sad, or even depressed very easily. The biggest thing that stops people from being rational is their swing of emotions. When something or someone causes a person to become angry or upset, that thing consumes their lives and they just cannot handle it anymore. The hardest part is that people might try to fix their emotions through even more emotionally blocking strategies. This makes rational thinking become nearly impossible. The trouble with emotions is that they are constantly there and apart of our everyday lives. The thing with being rational is that we have to use your brain to be rational. Many people do not like to use your their brains and actually think things through. I am a pretty good example of an emotional person. I take everything to heart, but I can take a joke when it is meant to be a joke. My emotions cause me to speak my mind a lot and give my opinion in times when maybe it is not exactly needed. The hardest part about that is that it tends to cause problems sometimes when my opinions or feelings are cared about or wanted. The only rational way I can think to fix this is to basically just keep my mouth shut. All I can do is just vent my feelings in writing or speaking aloud to myself because the more people I involve in my problems, the more problems that causes. When people get involved they add their emotions into as well. So rationally, I would keep it to myself and keep my mouth shut. Would this really be the rational thing to do? Maybe....maybe not, but I have no other choice but to sit and think about it. This is my way of turning my emotions into rational thinking to minimize more emotions and problems in my life. With more emotions, it is almost inevitable that I would get too emotional and the endless cycle of emotions would continue.

Thursday, September 13, 2012

The Crucible - 4 : Comparisons

Ther are actually a few things that are very similar between Jonathan Edwards' "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God" and The Crucible. I noticed that a few of the characters in the play remind me of Jonathan Edwards, and the message those characters seem to be expressing is very similar to Jonathan Edwards'.

Mr. Parris especially makes me think about Jonathan Edwards. In the first act, Mr. Procter talks about how Mr. Parris is always preaching about fire and brimstone and how the unfaithful will go to hell (Miller 28-29). Jonathan Edwards' entire sermon was to that effect, so it was easy to make that connection. (Edwards 97-99). I have trouble putting up with people like this who always talk about the bad side of things. I know that it is important to consider the consequences of the things you do, but for God's sake do you really need someone nagging at you all of the time like your step mother? It is no wonder that there is a faction in the play that does not like Mr. Parris. I would not like a person like that either.

I can also see similarities in the things they talk about and their priorities. It seems like a big priority to both of them is avoiding God's wrath. They do not really talk about the things a person can do to please the Lord, they just want to be not sent directly to hell. I think that most of the reason for there violent phrases is that they want to keep their power and keep the support of the people who pay them. I can see that the message of getting people all worried about their eternal souls would be a bit more profitable than letting the parishioners stop attending church. In the play it is really obvious that Mr. Parris is trying to further the conviction of witches because it makes people afraid of the devil and sends them back to church. I am not truly certain if this was what motivated Jonathan Edwards or not, but I would not be surprised it ifit was.

In the end, I can see a lot in common between Jonathan Edwards and Mr. Parris. The parts I had to read concerning both people annoyed me a lot. I guess I just do not like people who preach in general. I do not like to be told how to think and feel about certain things. I want to process the things I am told and think about them myself. I also wonder what motives those preachy people have. Why does it matter to them how I feel about things? I really do not think that it should. It just makes me feel very bad in general. The Crucible and Jonathan Edwards' sermon had a lot in common through the way the characters behaved, so it was easy to make connections between the two.

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.

Wednesday, September 12, 2012

Journal #7 - Bullying

If there is one thing that I can absolutely not stand in the world is the concept of bullying. Why would you do that? Why would you purposefully belittle someone like that? Does it make you stronger or better? No. It just tears apart everyone involved, the bullies and the bullied alike.

Obviously, there is at least on person being affected in a bullying situation. The person being bullied. They are the person that is being made fun of/yelled at/picked on/etc. They do not deserve that much hatred. When you make fun of or bully a person, you are pointing out their flaws and weaknesses and using them to your advantage. That is the lowest thing I have ever heard of. How cruel do you have to be to actually have the guts to do that to someone? Anyways. The person being bullied has to try and put up with this. But, let's say they can't. What do they do then? They go into a depression or something of that sort. They lose their confidence and expose more of their weaknesses to the person bullying them, which only brings on more bullying. The person who is being bullied is being torn apart from the inside, or maybe even the outside, just by being called out and made fun of.

Not only is the person being bullied affected by the bullying process, but also the bully. Most of the time in bullying situations, the bully will not realize how much it is affecting them. Truthfully, it is affecting them a lot. When you bully someone - not that I have had any experience in it -, you are gradually or even drastically altering your attitude and mannerisms. Once someone begins to bully another person, they become more violent, rude, sarcastic, and overall mean. Most of the time, the bully gets a sense of pride after they are done bullying the person. They feel like they have accomplished something. They grow accustomed to this great feeling of power and domination that they begin to cling to it. Soon, it would become so addicting to them that they would not be able to stop. Without that feeling of power, they are nothing. In order to compensate for this loss of power, they bully more and more and more. It would tear apart their very being from the inside until there is nothing left. Maybe I am being a little dramatic with this, but it is the truth. There are people out there who feel that they need to bully others to feel good themselves. They are self conscious. So, they use other people's weaknesses against them in order to not expose their own. To know that there are people out there like that who bully because they feel they need to... It is just sad. In a way, I feel bad for them just about as much as I feel bad for those who are bullied.

So, in all, both sides of the bullying process are effected greatly by it. You could either be mentally deteriorating yourself as a person or losing your self esteeem. Either way, bullying is just a horrible thing that should never ever take place.


Tuesday, September 11, 2012

The Crucible - 3: Human Nature

To me, human nature is what drives all of the events of the Crucible. All of the conflicts in the play have to do with the little problems people have with each other and with themselves. We get to see how they handle those conflicts and so we learn all about human nature. Jealousy, being unfaithful, and guilt all play roles in the main conflict. Another part of human nature that influences the plot is not wanting to get in trouble and using a situation to the most advantage possible.

I noticed a lot of jealousy within this book as I read. Elizabeth Proctor is accused by Abigail because Abigail is jealous of her husband (Miller 74). Abigail wants to be John Proctor's wife, so she accuses Elizabeth of being a witch in an attempt to get her hung so she can marry John. She must be either really jealous or really inconsiderate to want to murder someone to get what they have. This is a great example of human nature because of how flawed her feelings are. Humans are flawed; it's a fact.

A lack of faith is a large conflict in this plot. We all do stupid things that we are bound to be made miserable by. John Proctor has the same problem. He cheated on his wife with Abigail, and Abigail decided she was in love with him. Then, Abigail decided to try to kill his wife in a way (Miller 74). Obviously, getting involved with Abigail was a bad idea. Because of his cheating ways his family got in a whole bunch of trouble. Besides the obvious consequences, because Proctor cheated on his wife, he starts to lose his self esteem. By the end of the play, he considers lying to save himself because he does not feel like he deserves to be martyred for his honesty (Miller136). He thinks he is so worthless that it does not matter if he lies to save himself.  This is where guilt comes in. His guilt made him feel completely horrible by the end of the play. Guilt is a pretty common part of human nature because we all have ideas about what is right, and for the most part we all take care to do the right thing as much as possible.

As for Abigail, she blames everyone possible for her behavior in an attempt to avoid trouble. She really does not want to get in trouble, so she is willing to shift the blame to anyone else possible. I find this very rude and I am really not a fan of her. She's a little bit too much of an example of human nature. She uses the witch trials she created to her advantage. She puts the people that annoy her in prison and on trial. She even tries to get her lover's wife hung. Everyone will try to get the most out of a favorable situation, but her ways are a little bit more ruthless than most.

In the end, the characters of this play are the epitome of human nature. They use the blame game, they are self concious, and they are conflicted. Humans are flawed creatures, and as we read through this play, we are able to see just how much the author understands human nature. These examples of human nature make it easier to understand how the Salem Witch Trials escalated into what they did. We can see how they were fueled by human flaws. Human nature was one of the most significant parts of this book, and it would not have had the same effect had it not used such perfect examples of it.

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

Monday, September 10, 2012

Journal #6 - Repercussions for Blaming Others Wrongly

Blaming others for things you did is never a good idea. It will seriously come back to bite you in the butt. It really depends on how your personality is though. Many things can happen when The most obvious one is that an innocent person may be punished. That is not a good thing. No one likes to be punished, but it is especially bad when the punishment is undeserved. In the end, they paid the price for whatever YOU did, and that is unfair to them. They did not deserve the punishment that you should have received. Besides that, a perfectly happy person that gets blamed for something they did not do will get bitter. Even if the whatever you blamed them for does not end in punishment, the innocent person would feel like they have been wrongly persecuted, and that is enough to ruin anyone's cheerful attitude. Not to mention that wrongly blaming someone can ruin a friendship. If my best friend blamed something bad on me, it is likely that I would be pretty upset at her until she apologized or until I got bored of all the hate in the atmosphere. If she thought I was responsible for some bad happening, it is also quite possible that he would be upset with me, and over something I had not even done. This has not happened yet, I believe, but I am sure it would be a bad experience.


A big repercussion of wrongly blaming someone is that the person who was blamed may carry a bit of a grudge. They are obviously not going to be happy that you wrongly blamed them. That grudge can cause friendships or other relationships to fall apart. That is never good...

As you can see, blaming people for the things you do can really come back to bite you in the butt. Especially when you only blame one person, because that is just not fair. Instead, you should blame EVERYONE equally for everything bad that happens. I"m kidding. That would be bad too. You should refrain from blaming people until you are absolutely sure they have done what ever it is that is in question.

Sunday, September 9, 2012

The Crucible - 2 : Characters

I still remember when I took the True Colors test in Heath last year. I think they are pretty legitimate in their answers. They make a lot of sense when you think about it. When I come to think of the most important characters in the Crucible within the context of happy little colors, it seems clear enough to me.

Proctor is gold, I think. Golds are typically very family centered and organized. He is willing to soil his own reputation in order to save his wife, showing how much he cares about her (Miller 80). People with gold personalities often care a great deal about their families. I believe that golds would act more like blues when they are under stress, and perhaps Proctor was under a lot of stress with his wife when he had his affair with Abigail. Having a lover seems more like a blue sort of thing to do than a gold kind of thing - blues being the type of people who care most about relationships with other people. If he were really a blue, I doubt he would be putting Abigail on ice as well as he has by this part of the play. The play mentions that he has a sort of moral superiority about him, and this is keeping with a gold personality as well (Miller 20).

When it comes to Abigail, I believe she has more of an orange personality.  Orange people are most interested in being active and having a good time. She danced at night with other girls at a heathen ceremony because it seemed like it would be fun and entertaining (Miller 11). This shows that she was more concerned with having a good time than with her family - whose reputation she put in jeopardy -, the rules -which she obviously broke-, or much of anything else. She seems very uninclined toward learning, so that definitely rules out green. I think that she is really just a very immature orange type. She is not a very likeable character in my opinion.

I believe that Rebecca has a very blue personality. Even though she has not really said much so far in the play, every time she speaks her words seem to be very comforting. She really cares about Betty and her illness in the first act, even though she knows that Betty had been out dancing in the middle of the night (Miller 39). When in the second act it mentions that she was arrested, the reader cannot but feel sympathy and worry for the kind old woman. I really like Rebecca's character.

The Putnams were very hard to decide one color for. At best, they will have to be a mixture of at least two. They put a lot of effort in their plans for how to best get their revenge on people who they feel have done them wrong. I am not sure if this would be more green or more orange because of how hard they work at their schemes. On one hand, their schemes revolve around who they think has done their family wrong in some circumstances, like when a family member of theirs -due to some neighbors- was not allowed to be minister (Miller 15). On the other hand, some of their plots are purely about economic gain. Anyway, I think the Putnams are a very close call between green and gold. I cannot place them into one category.

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

Thursday, September 6, 2012

Journal #5 - Proper 21st Century Punishment

I personally have never been grounded or had anything taken away from me. I really do not do much in the ways of bad behavior. That, or my parents are just really lenient. If I were to do something worth punishing, though, I agree with the video that we watched that certain electronic items should be taken away. I would absolutely hate having my phone taken away, my facebook rights taken away, or my video game/television privileges taken away. Though, I suppose punishments are not necessarily supposed to be enjoyed. Nowadays, children and teenagers cling to their electronics like lifelines. I admit to it myself. I am almost always on the computer, and where that is sad, it is the truth. If those privileges were taken away, I would not be happy, and I would certainly not do whatever I did to deserve that punishment again.

On another note, I did not agree with the video that parents should be able to friend and monitor their children online. Sure, I am friends with my parents on facebook, but I know that they respect my privacy enough to not check my wall, my friends, and my friends' walls routinely. I know that they are able to see the things I do on facebook, but I feel it would be really rude for them to invade our privacy because they felt that we needed to be punished. I just do not agree with that aspect of the video.

Overall, I believe that, under certain circumstances, taking away electronics would be a good punishment for the average 21st century child/teenager.

Wednesday, September 5, 2012

Journal #4 - Traveling

Normally, I am not one to want to travel much. Nor do I get too excited about it. Sure, if my parents suddenly said, "We're going to Disney World!", I would be more than excited to go. Despite my happiness, I would not be looking forward to the actual trip, but the time spent there. Over the years, I have become more and more accustomed to long road trips. I go to church camp every year and the sites of the camp are usually 8+ hours away. I have found ways to enjoy these long trips, but it has become somewhat of a routene for me.

Last year, things changed. Early in 2011, I met a girl online who would become one of my best friends in the world. (Yes, online. I know that is pretty sketch, but we skyped and everything and I was happy to find that she was in fact not a forty-year-old creeper man, but a fourteen year old girl.) We have many things in common so we became fast friends. I began to "plot" against her, as I would say, and in October I went to North Carolina to meet her in person (without her knowing, I might add. Her parents knew, though.). Though the entire process of planning, packing, and driving there took a rather large portion of my time for a while, I was jumping with excitment. The entire drive, where it was very long, was one of the most enjoyable rides of my life. I was going to see my friend! We arrived after the 17 hour drive and had a great weekend of teenager antics. Then, I had to leave. That ride was not as fun.

After that trip, I realized that long trips can be fun. They are an adventure of sorts. Sure, they are more fun if you actually are wanting to go on them, but they are not too bad. That particular road trip had a big impact on my life. I now know that me and her will probably be friends forever. Because of this, I have more respect of long trips, because you never know how they will turn out. They could change your life. =)

The Crucible - 1 : Puritan Qualities?

Reading through The Crucible, I noticed that it was written in the early nineteen fifties. That is not exactly the time in which most Puritan writing was written. Despite this, I noticed quite a few characteristics of Puritan writings about it. The sentence style is very much puritan sounding in the narration. Arthur Miller uses fairly short, declarative sentences with little extra in them to add much flavor. This can be seen very well in the beginning narration, and especially in the following passage.

"The edge of the wilderness was close by. The American continent stretched endlessly west, and it was full of mystery for them. It stood, dark and threatening, over their shoulders night and day, for out of it Indian tribes marauded from time to time, and Reverend Parris had parishioners who had lost relatives to these heathen." (Miller 5)

It uses more description than actual Puritan writing- the phrase "dark and threatening" probably would have been omitted- but the lack of drama and passion when talking about Indian killings certainly savors strongly of Puritan. Arthur did not want too focus to much on his opinion on the killings.

A major Puritan-like characteristic I noticed in the writing was the many references to religion. The main difference in the play and Puritan writing is who the characters reference when they talk. In Puritan writings, God is talked about in every aspect of every event. In The Crucible, the devil is the constant religious figure being referenced and talked about. Despite the play being centered around accused demonic encounters, if were it written by a Puritan, there would have been many more references to God.

We can see how the Puritan faith was declining through all of Reverend Parris' sermons about the impending doom awaiting in hell for the faithless. Mr. Proctor says "I have trouble enough without I come five mile to hear him preach only hellfire and bloody damnation. Take it to heart, Mr. Parris. There are many others who stay away from church these days because you hardly ever mention God anymore (Miller 29)." When the Puritan faith was declining, the preachers tried to pull their parishioners back by scaring them with such speeches of hell. I am really not surprised that that did not work, because no one really wants to be told they are going to hell. Who would?

I could also tell throughout the play that the Puritan religion was declining because of Mr. Proctor's continued respect in the community. He did not go to church often, which in normal cases would lead to your persecution in the community, but people still respected him. In the days of the Salem Witch trials, faith must have become a lot less important for such absence from church to make so little difference to everyone.

In the end, I think that The Crucible is a very good example of Puritan writing even though it was written over a hundred years after most Puritan writing had been written.  Despite this, I think that a lot of it is different than Puritan writing, especially in all of the details in the author's descriptions. It still came very close to average Puritan writing.

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

Monday, September 3, 2012

Journal #3 - Hostage Situation

I can imagine that in a hostage situation, I would not be able to keep my cool. It is a well known fact that while in a bad situation, you must keep calm so that you can think clearly. While picturing this potential hostage situation, I can only picture myself kicking and screaming to be free from whomever/whatever was holding me hostage.

However, there is also the slight possibility that I would be in complete control of the situation despite the fact that I was being held hostage. I would remember what I had been taught to do in that situation and stay calm. In fact, I would probably do what my captor least expected. I would talk to him/her/it. I would make small conversation. For example, lets say I was being held hostage and I noticed that my captor was very nervous about everything. Obviously, a newb at holding people hostage. Let's say that this person is male. Depending on how much I was restrained, I would mention how I noticed his nervousness.  This would probably cause him to get very defensive at first, but that would cause him to become unstable. They are showing weakness. They are not confident with their hostage-ing skills. I would then bring the conversation to where we discuss his home life and I would discover that he was only doing keeping me hostage because he needed the money. I would continue to prod him with questions until I discover that he has been so unsuccessful because no one believed in him as he grew up. No one gave him to confidence to go far in life. So, being the caring person that I am, I would convince the man that I believed that he could do anything. He would be so overwhelmed with happiness that someone believed in him, he would let me free. We would then skip happily with our arms linked out of wherever I was being kept and when questioned by the police, I would not press charges. 

With these two possible scenarios in mind, it is easy to see that it is better to stay calm, which is what I intend to do if I was placed into such a situation.

Puritan Qualities of Bradford's Writing

In my opinion, Bradford's writing seems to be very typical of the time period.  It fits so well that I am beginning to wonder if these examples of early American literature were specifically picked out to make a point, or if the style really was that consistent. They are all very much alike.

In the first passage of Bradford's book, it shows how many people of the time considered everything that happened in their life to be an act of God.  He writes about a young man who was making fun of all the people who will die on the boat ride, when he himself is the first to get sick and die (Bradford 15). In the second passage in the book, Bradford talks about how it was God's will that a sailor was saved (Bradford 64). Reading through Bradford's writing, we can see how he references to God's strong influence of people's lives.

The most Puritan characteristic I noticed in Bradford's writing was its very simple style. With some writers, reading their prose is like to reading poetry, but such is not he case with Puritan style writing. Bradford's work, along with other Puritan writing, is very plain.  I am not a huge fan of then simplicity of this writing. Sure, it can be interpreted easily, but I prefer more detail in the things that I read. I did not find the writing bad, but it is just not my favorite.  I actually liked reading about some of the passages in his novel.

One thing we talked about last class was how Puritan writing often references scripture. The Puritans were very knowledgeable about the Bible. When he talks about how the Pilgrims landed in America, he mentions how some apostles were received in a foreign land (Bradford 65). Most Puritan writing has a lot of references to the Bible in it, and so does Bradford's writing. Despite my being a Christian, many of his passages I had never even heard before. People during that time must have read their Bible a lot more often than we do now.

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. 97-99. Print.