Crucible Essay Draft Reflection

     I think it would be safe to say that my confidence level while researching, drafting, and revising was pretty low.  I have never been much of a writer so I really knew my essay kind of sucked especially on the grammatical side.  I believe the most difficult part I faced was the citation part because I wrote my entire paper without any citations the first time.  The only success I will feel out of this entire paper is if I get it back without a F or a D on it.
     I found the pre-writing activities very helpful especially the web.  By doing the web it really helped me strategize my entire paper and when starting to write it, it was only a matter of putting it into paragraph or sentence form. The only thing I would change about the pre-writing activities is I wish I would have made my web a little more complete with better detail because I am finding that is where I am struggling.
      I felt that the peer editing experience was well worth it.  I really liked getting insight from another student's point of view and fortunately I had Alec peer edit mine and he was very critical which is what I needed.  I would not say I gained a whole lot though peer editing his paper though because he was writing about things I had no idea about and often found myself confused but I believe that's because Alec writes at a much higher level then me or just simply tries to get me lost in his work.  The feedback definitely helped with my revisions because it really helped me strengthen my detail, my thesis, and transition my paper.  I don't really think you could do much more to better the peer editing process.
     I do believe I have much more weaknesses then strengths but I feel that my main strengths are my sources because I have multiple citations that are included in my paper, my topics, and the way my paper transitions.  Also I feel my overall content is not bad.  My weaknesses of the paper are definitely lack of detail and grammatical errors.  I have always been rather short with my writing and never cared to expand upon my topics so I must work on that this last draft.  Also I must work on my work cited page and I could use a stronger title.  The most important thing that I will focus on for my final essay definitely the detail of each individual topic and in my thesis statement.

Into The Wild Response #1

     The belief of own nothing more than what you can carry on your back at a dead run is a bit crazy to me.  Nowadays people rely so much on outside resources and I am among this population.  We have become a very lazy society and rely on so many things in life to make our lives simpler but in all actuality are unnecessary.  So when Supertramp brings this belief to life, I at first thought it to be crazy and not possible but after sitting back and evaluating the lifestyles of most people in today's society, it is very possible for this to be valid.
     Chris brought this idea of living a very simplistic life with very minimal supplies when going through his journey.  Personally, I do not know how I could live such a simplistic life but I believe Chris saw the value of it and that was to live off the land but to enjoy the land.  This may sound repetitive but Supertramp admired the works of Thoreau and Thoreau's lifestyle.  If you look at Thoreau's way of life, you would see how he surrounded himself with nature and really enjoyed it.  He spent two years in a cabin living off the land and cut himself off from all human activity just to do this.  Now Chris didn't cut himself off from all human activity but he did cut himself off from activity with his family and went on to live this simplistic lifestyle enjoying nature.  I believe this was the true value of living this way.
     I definitely couldn't do this in today's world because of all the advancements in technology and also because I'm not much of an outdoors man.  Chris went out to really soak up everything the world had to offer and he says on page 57 that he wants to see as much of the land as possible but today if I wanted to see Alaska I would just google it.  I live a much more boring life and do not care much for seeing everything possible, so I don't think I could do this in today's world.

Thoreau Writing

     As I sit on a bench I notice all the trees.  Leaves falling from them like snow from the sky.  The ground below them as if a thin blanket of leaves is spread evenly, looks burnt.  For winter is in the air and it is approaching fast.  It relevant to me that weather has been getting colder and days getting shorter.  I smell smoke in the air, for someone must be burning leaves.  The day is all but perfect.  The sun shines, there's a nice breeze, people are out and about.  Cars pass and one honks, for they have never seen twenty people laying in the grass in front of a school.  But surrounding myself with these people, I feel a sense of security.
     In life we search for that feeling.  When one person feels that then everyone craves that feeling also and becomes derpressed until achieving this feeling.  Everyone becomes overwhelmed with their emotions and let there emotions become the driving force in life.  We cannot let emotions over come our life for we must stand up and live our lives to the fullest.  We must not look upon what someone else is doing or care if you do not fit in in society you must stand up by  yourself and spread your knowledge.  Just like a tree stand alone and spreads its leave.

Character Analysis: John Proctor

1.         John Proctor would be identified as major character. John plays a major role in the play, but the work isn't focused around him like it is focused around the so-called witches. John major role in the play would definitely be the connection between him, Elizabeth, and Abigail. After John's affair with Abigail, Abigail wants Elizabeth dead so she can be with John. With Abigail being part of the "witchcraft" she is able to accuse Elizabeth of witchcraft to try and split her and John up and John is caught in the middle but caring for his wife much more then anything Abigail says. John would also be classified as round. This means that John's character shows more than one side. In Act I John was a down to earth hard working farmer who showed no belief in the the accusations of witchcraft and had slowly started to drift away from the church. Even through all this John showed the same behavior throughout until consulting with Abigail outside. John then had a new side to his character which carries into Act II. This new side was a very short worded, angry man who doesn’t like to talk much. He brings a sense of cockiness or a sense that he doesn't have to explain himself to anyone even despite of his faults. John also shows a more caring side too when Elizabeth is accused and taken from the home.

 2.         John Proctor possesses several unique person qualities. The first quality is privacy. John in a sense acts like an introvert about his feelings. He keeps things very quiet and does not stur things up. He acts as if he wants no one to know what he is feeling and does not express anything except anger. John never really expressed how much he cared about Elizabeth. He only showed anger on how mad he was about this witchcraft phenomenon. John is forced to act in this manner because if he acted in a more open manner people would find out about his affair with Abigail. Another quality John expresses is leadership. John is not a real popular leader by any means but in an undiscovered sense John stands up for his rights and gives his opinion which really makes people respects him like Giles. In Act I when Betty is "bewitched," Giles is one of the first ones there wanting to see this phenomenon until John comes and kind of brings Giles back to his senses and John leaves. Then in Act II when some of the men’s' wives get taken, they immediately go to John's house to consult with him about this. This shows that John is more like an undefined leader that everyone respects.

 3.         There are really two major conflicts that John is faced with during the play. This first is man vs. man, John vs. Abigail. John is faced with Abigail potentially accusing Elizabeth of witchcraft and getting taken to court. Since Abigail has all the authority in Salem, John is trying to keep Abigail quiet so everyone doesn’t find out about the affair but yet he has to try and keep Abigail from accusing Elizabeth which she does. John is not allowed to overcome this conflict because Abigail has complete authority. The other conflict that John is faced with now is man vs. himself. Now that Elizabeth has been accused, John is now faced with a decision to try and save Elizabeth by telling of the affair or to keep quiet to keep himself looking good in the society. If John would tell, he could use it as an unfair evidence towards Abigail and get his wife free, but if tells of the affair he would most likely go to jail due to his poor behavior. John is faced with a tough decision.

Response: Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God

     The Puritan religion has drifted away from its true belief and has gone a step too far.  After hearing Pastor Edwards outrageous speech I am appalled to be considered of the Puritan religion.  For the past few weeks, the religion has really pushed me away but after this one final sermon, I can say I will no longer be a Puritan.
     Pastor Edwards stated that "The wrath of god burns against them, their damnation does not slumber; the pit is prepared, the fire is made ready, the furnace now hot, ready to receive them; the flames do now rage and glow."  and "...thus easy is it for god to cast his enemies down to hell."  God does not wait around to cast everyone to hell.  The fire is not ready to receive us.  Pastor Edwards has now made it seem as if God hates us all and will only condemn us to hell.  The sermon was to negative and gave such a negative outlook on how god perceives us.  Pastor Edwards repeatedly referred to us as "sinners" and "enemies" of God.  Well sinner I may be because I can say I will no longer be of the Puritan religion due to this negative outlook on God.
     God does not view us as "enemies" but as followers.  That's why we follow him and that's what I intend to do but not under Pastor Edwards terms.  He went too far and was actually the sinner who tried turning us on how God truly feels about us.  The Puritan religion can do whatever now as I follow God in positive way and am no longer an "enemy."

My Impressions of Writing

Writing has never really been my thing.  In my personal opinion I have always started all my writing assignments early enough to plan everything out and have plenty of time to write the essay but always had troubles starting it.  For some reason this is were I seem to struggle with writing therefore, as you would probably think my confindence in my writing is not very high which is a completely true statement.  When it comes to my strengths and weaknesses, my major weaknesses are not starting well and not ending well and my strength would be once I started writing it typically starts to flow and it becomes easy for me to write all my main paragraphs.  The one thing I would really like to work on in my writing is my gramar.  I do not use the best grammar in my writing and often make gramatical errors.  Overall I'm not a huge fan of writing but I need to improve on my ability so I am excited to take the class and hopefully improve my writing skills.

When it comes to the portfolio assignment I really dont have any questions.  I do really like it though how we are allowed to chose our favorite pieces for the portfolio and dont have to use them all in case I had one bad paper or something.  The unit im looking forward to most is the Huck Fin unit.  Talking to the class last year, it sounded like they liked that unit and I find it very interesting so I am looking forward to that.  The unit I am most worried about is also the Huck Fin because I have heard it is a tougher unit but hopefully I will still do well.