Crucible Essay Draft Reflection

As of the first draft, I was not all that confident with my essay. I feel like there is a lot more I could add to it and I am happy that we still have the opportunity to make improvements. I had a hard time putting my ideas on paper. I have examples and I have many facts but I was struggling when it came time to translating those from just ideas to actual written words. I was happy that I did have the examples but now I just need to work on how I to say what I'm thinking.

I did find the pre-writing activities very useful. The outline sheet you gave us made it extremely easier to put what I had on there into an essay format. I pretty much had my whole essay on that outline and then all I had to do was go into detail more for the actual essay. The thing I might change in the future for pre-writing activities would just be to include more in my outline. If I included more, it would be even that much easier when it came time to writing my essay.

I felt like the peer editing did not do much good for me. It's not that our friends are too nice, it is because they do not really give specifics of what to change in the paper. However, it did help me to read some other people's papers. I got some different ideas and I realized some things I need to change in my own paper just from reading a different essay. As previously mentioned, I do not think the peer editing feedback helped me as much as it could have. I think we all, including me, need to be more specific about what to change and what to leave the same in the person's paper that we're editing.

I think a strength of my essay is that I have good reasons to support my topic. I also think that my first paragraph is pretty strong. Some of the weaknesses of my essay are that I might not have enough examples and I need to explain my topics more. For my next revision, I plan to focus on my first paragraph and not listing my main points right away. I also need to back up my points and tell where I got them from. I haven't added my citations yet so I will need to be doing that as well.

Into the Wild Personal Response

I definitely understand what Chris is saying here. You never know when you will have to go into a full sprint and it is much easier if you are prepared. By being prepared, that includes carrying the least amount of weight as possible and only keeping the necessities. This could pretty much be considered living a minimalist lifestyle. A minimalist lifestyle is basically the idea of living only with the things you really need. I would definitely not want to live a minimalist lifestyle. With the way the world works today, I don't think many people have the desire to live this type of life. It really is pretty sad. But unfortunately that's how spoiled today's society is. Most people have a TV, a computer, a cellphone, and many other high-tech inventions. Usually, once we discover how nice and efficient these things are, it seems that we cannot live without them. However, saying that, I do think that it is definitely possible. I believe that if I really wanted to live like a minimalist then I would be able to. But because it isn't something I am very interested in, I personally would not have the drive and ambition to achieve something as major as completely changing your whole life from the way you have known it to be since you were young enough to remember, to something totally different and unfamiliar.

Nature Writing

As I sit cross legged on the cool ground, I hear the birds chirping and leaves flowing with the breeze.  The sun is shining brightly in the sky.  The trees are varius shades of green, brown, yellow, and orange.  Leaves cover a good majority of the ground.  Every so often I hear a bug humming near my ear.  The weather is warm with the sun beating down on my back.  But occasionaly, there is a lovely breeze just enough to stir things up.  Very few clouds appear in the sky and a beautiful light blue tone takes their place.  From time to time there will be a car drive by but besides that, there is nothing but peace and serenity.  When witnessing such magnificent nature as this, I can't help but feel a sense freedom.  It's as if all of the stress in our lives vanishes when one foot steps across the threshold to get to the outside world.

The wind is now starting to pick up a little more rapidly.  As it does so, I am struck with leaves coming from multiple directions.  I feel my hair whip across my face.  The birds take off from the tree they were pirched in.  However, I still find the atmosphere to be calm and relaxing.  The sound of the breeze is soothing and the birds remind me of the assorted, majestic wildlife that nature has to offer.  Looking up and taking in the glorious view our environment, I ask oneself, why anyone would ever want to be elsewhere?

John Proctor

I would consider John Proctor a major character. This is because he is a very big part of the story but he isn't necessarily the main character. Because of John's affair with Abigail, his own wife, Elizabeth, was accused of witchcraft. I think that John could be a dynamic character as well. Even though we have only read up to Act III, John has already changed. He was first made out to be as a low, cruel man because he cheated on his wife. Now John claims that he loves Elizabeth and everything he does is to try to please her. Honestly, he seems like a pretty good man, besides the fact that he had an affair. I feel like John will do everything in his power to get Elizabeth out of jail. The last type of character John would be is a round character. To the people of Salem, he is considered one of the leaders of the town. But to Abigail, John is a man that once shared an intimate relationship with her but now he refuses to touch her. On the opposite side, to Elizabeth, John is a dirty cheater that is trying to earn back his forgiveness.

For the most part, John has many good qualities. One, for example, is that he confessed about his affair to Elizabeth. Granted, it never should've happened in the first place but in his defence, it is better to come clean than have Elizabeth find out later from someone else. I also like the fact that John doesn't get all worked up about the witchcraft like everyone else in town does. He even admitted that he doesn't believe in witches! He doesn't care that much about what people think of him. He is also very motivated to get Elizabeth out of jail. He knows that his wife is not a witch and he will do everything to prove that to the people of Salem.

I think that John Proctor's conflict is mostly external, such as man vs. man and man vs. society. In this case, it would be John against Abigail. John had an affair in the past, but he made it very clear that he doesn't want it to happen again. Abigail does not seem to understand this. She still loves John and she thought that he felt the same way about her. But John says that he does not want to lay another finger on her again. So he faces the battle of Abigail trying to win over John. Although Elizabeth is not necessarily an antagonist or an enemy, I think John also faces a battle when it comes to her. Elizabeth still doesn't trust John because of the affair so he is constantly trying to please her and earn his trust back. Now on the other hand, John has to deal with man vs. society conflict as well. The whole town of Salem was told that Elizabeth is a witch and whether it's true or not, that's what they're going to believe. It is up to John to convince everyone that his wife is not a witch. It will be a very hard thing to do since the town people believe every little word that comes out of Abigail's mouth. John has a big job ahead of him but I believe he can overcome it. So besides external conflict, I do believe that John deals with some internal conflict as well. A good example would be man vs. himself, where John has to decide whether to tell Elizabeth about his affair and possibly ruin his marriage or to not tell her but feel forever guilty. John ultimately decides to tell her about the affair and in my opinion, that was the right decision.

from Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God in the perspective of a puritan child

I really dread going to church. My parents usually have to force me to go. The pastor talks about burning and fire and hell. This is not what most people should think of when they hear the word God, is it? When I was younger, before I even understood what church was for, it seemed to be a happier place. It was where people would go to talk to God. Some would ask him for help and others would confess their sins. But now, it is very depressing. I usually tend to see many of the people crying. They all appear scared and shaky. It is hard to understand some things the pastor says, but I too, am scared. From what I'm getting at, no matter what you do, most people will go to hell.

"The pit is prepared, the fire is made ready, the furnace is now hot, ready to recieve them!" My mama starts crying after hearing the pastor pound this and other similar thoughts into all of our brains. And I don't blame her for crying! How can anyone not shed a tear or two after hearing something like this? When he says these things I can't help but picture his words in my mind. I see a very dark pit with fire burning at the bottom. One by one, people are being called to come forward and face the fire. Against their will, they must take a leap to end their life. They vanish and no one ever sees them again, for their body is in God's hands now.

"His wrath toward you burns like fire; he looks upon you as worth of nothing else, but to be cast into the fire." The pastor's words woke me from the nightmare.Once again, the weeping starts. The men in the audience try to seem tough. On the outside they may be able to put up a good act, but we all know how they feel on the inside. They feel like there is nothing that will help them. They feel scared and shaky. They feel the same way we all do. Helpless, worthless, and doomed...

My Impressions of Writing

I personally enjoy writing. Mostly creative writing, that is. I think you can say so much in a piece of writing. Whether it is a story or an essay question on a test, you are able to describe your feelings and emotions through your writing. Even though I do like writing, I may not be the best at it. I usually have a hard time figuring out what to actually write about but then when an idea comes to mind I don't have much troubles with writing. I am pretty good with the grammar aspect of writing. Some things I would like to improve upon would be using more detail and descriptive words. You can hardly ever have too much detail in writing but you can definitely not have enough detail. A good description will allow your readers to picture themselves in the piece of writing. They will also get a good feel of the type of writer are. Your writing basically says everything about you.

I am not very excited for the poetry unit. It's not that I don't like all poetry, it's that I don't understand a lot of poems. They are very confusing and complex for me. Also, the fact that we will then have to read poetry out loud does not sound too fun. But I am excited for the first chapter we are doing because I like history and I like writing so I think combing the two would be fun. Plus, I've never really learned about the history of writing and literature throughout all my years of schooling. It is going to be something completely new to me and I like learning new things. I also find that the "Women's Literature and A Changing Society" unit sounds interesting. I think I will do well on the units I find more appealing. However, I'm not saying that I will necessarily do bad on the units that I'm not looking forward to.