Political Climate of the 1950s

http://www.u-s-history.com/pages/h1769.html

The McCarthy hearings must have brought a lot of stress to the American people. I'm sure that at that time, citizens felt their freedom of speech was being violated. Also, citizens probably felt that they were being watched at all times. If I were alive during the McCarthy hearings, I would have been very scared of what the government was doing. I would also be very afraid of "communists" most likely, and would do whatever I could to avoid contact with people who were suspected to be communists due to my fear of being accused to be one. It was just unfair, and I think that there would be public outrage if something like the communist hunts ever happened again in America.

Research Paper Reflection

All in all, I learned quite a bit on my research paper. The Cold War as a whole really intrests me, and I chose the Cuban Missile Crisis because it was the focal point of the war. One thing I learned during the writing of my research paper is that mono can really effect one's thought patterns. I ended up re-typing the same lines over and over again, because no matter how I worded the line it never seemed to make sense. This happened multiple times during the course of writing the paper. I also learned that the U.S. tried to invade Cuba. Before I wrote the research paper, I had no idea that America ever attempted to invade Cuba. I knew America disliked them, but I never knew that America ever attempted to invade and conquer such as they did in the Bay of Pigs.

Romantic Poem Reflection

I would like to reflect on "The Tide Rises, The Tide Falls." To me, this is the most memorable piece of romantic poetry that we have studied so far this year. I feel that the repeated line that states the title of the poem has a very strong effect. This emphasizes that the world will continue to turn on without a single person living in it, and things will remain how they always are. I think Longfellow could have chosen "the sun rises, and the sun sets", but then he could not have included the reference of the traveler's footprints that were washed away on the beach. All in all, I think it is a very powerful poem about life itself and reminds me of my mortality.

Connection to Nature

I decided to observe the snow outside for my connection to nature. I find myself very connected to snow, because I think that it looks very beautiful and calming. I also think that snow is nature's most interesting form. When one really thinks about it, nothing in nature is really like snow. One could compare rain to snow, but it does not accumulate. No other thing in nature can stimulate other things in nature and make it look beautiful like snow can. I also feel when snow comes, it impacts individual lives much more than any other weather (besides dangerous weather). Snow brings a world of oppurtunities for winter fun, along with other dangers. Snow is a very beautiful and unique natural occurance.

Pit and the Pendulum : The Alternate Ending

The walls were getting closer, closer, closer..........they seemed right upon me. I could feel their heat burning my skin. And then it stopped. The walls stopped. They remained so close to the pit that if I were to move, then I would surely fal into the pit. They remained hot, but did not come any closer. Standing, standing, standing.....I couldn't move. The minutes seemed to trickle along so slowly that I had lost track of time. After what seemed like weeks, I heard a noise. I looked up to see a falling blade. Then, nothing.

The Crucible: Abigail Vs. Elizabeth

In The Crucible, the major conflict is found between Abigail and Elizabeth. All of the events start because of this conflict, and ultimately end because of it too. Abigail starts the play by drinking blood in the forrest (because of Elizabeth) with her other friends participating in sketchy activity. When they get caught, they do not know how to react to this. To cover up their own fault, they create such a rediculous lie that they start to believe it themselves. This lie is that they were bewitched by others, or they only acted like this because other people made them. In this accusation, Abigail turns on Elizabeth to accuse her of witchcraft. Even though Elizabeth is a morally straight woman, Abigail knows that she can get the whole town against Elizabeth if she accuses her of witchcraft. This eventually leads to John being accused of a witch in Elizabeths trial, and his ensuing hanging. With this being said, one can conclude that the rivally between Elizabeth and Abigail controls to development of the plot in The Crucible.

They All Played A Part : William Bradford

William Bradford played a critical roll in the Plymouth colony. He was the presiding governor over Plymouth during the critical early stages, and he was responsible for the survival of the tribe. When he became in charge, he was put in a position such that if he was to fail that the entire colony would have died out. Under his leadership, the Pilgrims succesfully became acquaintances with the Native Americans. The first thangksgiving also happened when he was in charge. He also helped many people through a time of great sickness in the colony.

Puritian Plain Style: Fire and Brimstone

The God that you and I share is not a God of pity. For we are like bowling pins waiting to be knocked down by God's wrath. He can choose at any moment that he may release the his wrath and annihilate us, while we helplessly stand, unmovable, about to be annihilated. Because of this, we need to show steadfast dedication to our Lord. We need to rededicate our lives to him. If we do not do this, we are like wandering sheep without a leader. Our lives have no purpose without our Lord Jesus Christ. To find joy and purpose in our lives, we need to revert from our bad habits to his ways. And most importantly of all things, we need to know what we are in God's eyes. We are measly, helpless souls who can be condemned by God at any moment. To be saved, we must purify rededicate our lives to holiness and become more of the saints that God wants us to be.

Journals of Discovery

I will reflect on the General History of Virginia. The bias found is that John Smith was very self centered and egotistical, and he thought very highly of himself. This effected some of the information found in his first hand account. The Jamestown settlement started with a very rough relationship with the Native Americans, but it eventually improved as Pocohontus aided the colony by saving John Smith and bringing the colony food when they needed it. There were many hardships. Over half of the people died, and there was a time where there was barely any food at all inside the colony. Drastic measures had to be taken to stay alive. A misconception the colonists had before they came is that the Native Americans would be intimidated by them, but the Native Americans were actually not intimidated at all once they arrived.

Native American Culture Blog

From the stories that we have read so far in class and from the movies that we have watched, I have discovered that Native Americans formed a very unique culture. They were a people driven by tradition, rather than progress. This was displayed in many ways. In class one day, I remember hearing that Native Americans never actually invented or used any form of the wheel. They also had no written language for the most part, and no complex system of mathematics. The only thing they had to live off of was nature, culture and tradition. Even at Cahokia, the great structures built were out of natural materials, along with the blood, sweat and tears of the Cahokians in contrast to scientific developments that were being made all around the world at the same time. Even though they lacked scientific advances, they were probably more connected to the natural world around them (physically and spiritually) than most cultures in history.