This week in class we talked about different themes in The Crucible. Man vs. Nature is a huge theme in this book. The puritans think that the woods are basically the devil. If anyone goes in there, then they will be possessed by the devil, making them evil and a "witch". The puritans vs. the woods causes major conflict between everyone in the village. They believe the girls that went in to the woods were possesed by witches and the rest of the town is hunting people down to figure out if they are witches.
I personally agree with the puritans. The woods in my oppinion could not have possibly been considered or at all be the devil. First of all because the girls that went into the woods were lying about the witches to save their own behind. Also because there are woods everywhere. People go into the woods all the time. Just becuase the woods are kind of creepy, actually they are super creepy, doesn't mean they are evil. I definatly dissagree with the puritans.
Also, back then I feel people just agreed with what they were told or what they wanted to believe. They didn't really think things through logically. But then again they weren't as advanced as we might be now. Not saying that people now don't believe in ghosts and stuff because I guess i kind of do. I get very creeped out by scary movies about ghosts and what not. The puritans were probably right to believe the things they did at that time period, but I would not agree with them and the crimes they commited maybe because i don't fully understand how society worked back then.

Puritans in Framingham

         A lot of what we talked about in class tied back to the puritans. They were here from England, as well as the pilgrims that came over. There are many differences between these two groups. Although they both were from the same place, they had very different principles and beliefes in life. The pilgrims came over to Massachusetts because they didn't want thier children to become corrupted by the English government. The puritans decided to come over because they wanted a utopian ideal of pure religion.
       It is very interesting how both the puritans and pilgrims settled in massachusetts. More then that, it's cool that the puritans were from framingham. Because of these puritans, framingham was the end point of the Salem witch trials. The acussed witches fled salem to framingham and the trail they followed was later called Salem end road.
      Speaking of Salem, every year during halloween the town has a huge treat-or-treat fest. I haven't gone yet, but I would really love to some day. I think it is pretty ironic how they make halloween such a big night because the purtians thought it was not right to be witches or "have powers". Not saying that the puritans were completly bad people, but it was pretty messed up what they did to people that they thought had magical powers. I think the witch trials were very unjust and all it ended up doing was killing people unconditionally.

Puritanssss

            In English class we were given a chapter of The American Dream to read. I don't know much about the Puritans, but from what I leaerned, they don't seem to be liked very much. The author writes about the reasons the Puritans are not liked as much as many of the other immigrants that settled in America. He says that Puritans are "widley regarded as very unpleasent people". He also talks about how the Puritans massacred Native Americans and that puritanism was based on wanting other peoples fear.
           The author describes Puritans as very unkind and unpleasent people. I, however, don't agree with this. The Pruitans weren't the only that killed people in masses after coming to the United States. The British sold disease- riddled blanckets to the Native Americans. Genocide was practiced quite often in the European society. Apperently they believed they were better than everyone else, but thats not a reason to hate on someone to such an extent. Compition is what makes encourages people to try hard in life. I think its unjust to say that the Puritans deserved such a bad name.
           The American Dream, in my opinion, is basically lived by anyone that immigrated or is a citizen of the United States. Just like these people, the Puritans also came to America with a dream. They wanted to disipline the people about the Anglo-American Church and wanted people to follow them. Although many people come with a dream , the Puritan dream was a very strange and powerful one. There were many consequences and most of them accidental. Maybe if they didnt try as hard to achieve their dream, then they wouldn't of been thought of as bad people and things would of been different for them.

American Dream

       Well since the American Dream can't really be defined, I believe my family is living what we call the american dream. We all get a good education compared to the rest of the world. Many people around the world do not have the oppertunity to get an education, or are not aloud to. In some countries females aren't aloud to go to school. Luckly in american we get that oppertunity.
        Another reason I believe my family is living the american dream is because we own property. We have a house with a big yard. My dad owns the house which makes it better becasue we don't need to pay anyone rent. I guess owning property is a big thing since that is what all the immagrints from way back in the wanted to do. Many people in america still do not have the oppertunity to own their own home for many reasons, such as the economy.
        We are also living the american dream because we have the capability to follow our dreams and be what ever we want to be. Me and my siblings are given a good oppertunity to go to school and further our education, so we can get into college. Very few people are living their american dream already because they have the money and the fame that most people try to aquire. Basically, the american dream is to just follow what you believe. Anything is possible if you try.

Food Network :)

        Chopped, on Food Network, is a wicked good show. Basically, there are four chefs who battle each other until there is an ultimate winner. Each chef that advances, has to prepare a meal for the panel of judges. The first dish is an appatizer, the second is a main course and the third is a dessert, my favorite. The winner recieves a grand prize of $10,000.
       Another great show is cupcake wars. I read in a magazine that it was one of the most popular show of the summer. It's interesting to watch how the bakers made unique cupcakes out of unusual ingredients that you wouldn't expect in an average cupcake. The final challenge is the best because each baker needs to make one million cupcakes. The winner gets their cupcakes displayed at an event.
       I think food network should make more competative shows rather then the home cooking ones. I don't think anyone actaully watches them and decides to cook the food they're making on tv. I think viewers would rather watch a compition because it is more intense. The Next Food Network Star is a good example of a competitive cooking show. Its interesting and its fun to see who gets eliminated each week.