I'm Thankful For....

In our class there are a ton a great people. I think the person I'm most thankful for is Azia. I just met her this year and she sits in front of me in the class. Azia is a really nice person. When I see her she is usually happy or full of energy and talking to someone that seems so cheerful makes you happy. I'm a quite person and someone like who can get people to talk is great. She seems like a really fun person to hang out with. We usually work together when there is group work assigned which I'm grateful for. Azia if your reading this right now thanks for being my  American lit. buddy. 

I am a plow

On the set , shooting a commercial about "The Amazing Plow"

Take one

Plow: Hi, My name is plow and I...... Wait, what's my purpose again?

Director: Cut! Your supposed to be a tool used in agriculture to cut lift turn and pulverize soil. You help plants grow.

Producer: Isn't he the guy that cleared the snow off roads.

Cameraman: I thought plowing was like investing or something.

Producer: No, that definitely not what we're talking about.

Plow: Well what the heck I'm I !!

Director: I don't know, just make it sound good. We're trying to sell it to the people.

Take two

Plow: Hi, my name is plow. I'm your old forgotten friend. I clear the path for you while creating a path for new life. Please support plows in helping make a contribution to your society. Call now to support the National Association of Plows. Help us help you.

Director: Cut! That was good, inspirational. Alright that's it for today everybody.

Puritan ways in our society

One interesting fact about Nathaniel Hawthorne is that his great grad father was a judge in the Salem witch trials and cried witchery among many people. Also, his name was originally spelled hathorne and that he added the w to his name. Some people say that he did that to have the spelling of his name to match more closely to the pronunciation. Others say that he altered his last name to symbolize him breaking away from the history of past generations in his family. I found this interesting especially since one of the themes of The House of the Seven Gables is the affect of past generations on current generations.

(Nathaniel Hawthorne)

I think there are many ways that puritan times still affects our society today. In Puritan times the government was a theocracy. I think that a lot of laws they had were based upon religion. In today's society laws are not supposed to be based upon religion, but it is clear that there's a lot of things based on religion. Some of the biggest debates that happen in America are because of things that go against a religion. An example is abortion.

I personally think that in terms of religion playing a part in the government I don't know if America will ever fully get rid of that Puritan way and if it does happen it will not be happening for a long time. The reason why I say this is because our country was based off these ideas. This idea of theocracy has been embedded into the country.



The Moment I knew I was an American

I don't know if I have ever had one of those moments in which I truly felt like an American. I think the reason why that was is because it can be hard to define what being an American is supposed to feel like and I guess I never  gave it any thought. The other day the class discussed what defined an American. It was kind of tricky but some good points came up. Some things that were said was that an American is a person who has the freedom and opportunity to become whoever he or she desires no matter how they start off.

I thought about that and about how my life is right now. I realized that I do have lots of opportunities in life that a lot of people in other countries don't. I thought about how in other countries going from the bottom to the top is so hard to do and maybe even impossible at times. In my human geography class last year I learned about a caste system in certain countries that can't be broken. So, I feel grateful to be an American and to be able to achieve whatever dream I have and not really be hindered by anything.

Us vs. Them.. Us and Them

I think sometimes conflict happens when someone misunderstands, misjudge, and are unwilling to be open to something that's different. When people are stubborn about their own ideas and reject others without even considering them that could lead to people to misunderstand and misjudge other views.

One conflict that is going on in the US is the whole debate gay marriage. There are a lot of people who protest against it because it goes against their religious beliefs. I think its fine that people are passionate about their belief but sometimes people take their religious beliefs to extremes. There are people that build this hatred and will do bad things towards others that they don't even know. Just because you think someone else is doing something wrong it doesn't give you the right to do something wrong to them.

I'm not saying that people have to change their religious beliefs. If you don't believe in something don't do it. As long a person is not harming anybody you have to respect what they do.

WHY CAN'T WE ALL JUST GET ALONG!!!

John Proctor

      In the book one of the first things we learn about John Proctor is that he cheated on his wife. When I read this I thought wow is anybody in this town acually a good person. Although he may seem bad at first as the story goes along you find out that there is more to him and he turns out to be one of the more likeable characters.
   
       I think so far he's one of the only people that doesn't have some type of angle. He was also willing to tarnish his name to save his wife and others that are being accused of crimes they didn't commit, showing that  he cares about other people and will not throw them under the bus like others. He also forms his own opinion about things and is not afraid to express them and stand up for what he believes in. If there is injustice being done he is the one to speak out about it. He knows when religion stops and common sense begins.


      I think characteristics like these are probably not going to be found in others of this strict village. He has faults and have made mistakes but if you can look pass that compared to majority of the characters in the book he's definitely the good guy.

Oh My God..... He's Going To Do What?!

I just want to say that I completely disagree with what this story says.
People go to church and are taught to love, trust, and obey god and to depend on him when you need help. Could you imagine someone coming out of no where saying "and by the way if you don't do these things its gonna be a ARROW IN THE BACK AND A SHORT RIDE TO HELL FOR YOU!!" Thats got to be over 80% of the population going hell.
   It's crazy. It's loving someone out of fear, which really isn't loving someone. It's like the bully on the playground that you don't mess with because you know that if you do your going end up hanging somewhere by your underwear. If you say that you love God it should be genuine and if you do the right things because you know it's the right thing to to not because if you don't do it Gods going to ruin your life.
   My personal belief is that if you believe in god and you try to live your life the right way to the best of your ability, it's all good. I certainly don't think God has some arrow pointing at my eye waiting for me to mess up so he can destroy my life. Leave the screwing up life to the devil because we certainly don't need two people to worry about.