Romantic Poem Reflection: Snowbound

I enjoyed Snowbound by Whittier because it made me think of the cheerier side of winter. The poem is very long, and chalked full of great sensory descriptions of winter. I often think of winter as just a gloomy few months where I'm held up inside because it is cold and nasty outside. Snowbound renews a childish excitement about going out and enjoying the snow. Lastly, I liked that Whittier told a story while describing winter versus poetry that just describes something abstractly. 

Research Paper Blog

One thing I learned from my research paper is that SEAL Team 6 was the group that killed Osama bin Laden. I found it fascinating that despite losing a helicopter, they were able to complete the mission successfully. I wonder if they will ever release the identity of the man who took the shot because the SEALs would not even tell Obama. Another thing that I learned is how secret the various Special Forces like to be. I think that it is a good thing though because it gives them a lot more freedom to get the job done versus being public and having to deal with all the politics and beraucracy. Overall, I expanded my basic knowledge of the Special Forces throughout my research, and I realized the importance of having elite forces to deal with threats.

Voki Blog

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Pit and the Pendulum alternate ending

As the fiery stones were moments away from pushing me into the abyss, I saw a slit open in the wall ahead. My captors have decided to watch my demise. All of the sudden a mad idea crossed my brain, so mad it just might work. I had to time my jump just right or else I would surely fall to my death. The Pendulum was at its lowest directly over the pit so when it made its next pass I leaped for it. I made it and just barely cleared the razor sharp  blade at its base and clung to the arm. I could almost sense the shock of my captors, and in their hesitation I began to climb the arm of the Pendulum. Up an up I climbed until all I saw below me was a fiery square that encased the pit that was meant to be my tomb. The higher I went, an eerie silence set in. It must have been one hundred feet before I finally reached the top of the arm. Here I found a hatch out of the room. I enter a maze of corridors that led in all directions. I noticed a guard coming through on a patrol of the halls and waited for him to pass. I subdued him with a crushing blow to the head with a rock I found on the ground. Now armed with his sword and torch I was ready to face my captors. I slowly made my way down until I reached their control room. Once inside, I mercilessly slaughtered them except for one. I took this ones robes, broke his legs, and tossed him into the dungeon he had put me in. Then donning his robes, I walked right out of the dungeon. The light at the surface was blinding, but the feeling of freedom along with the fresh air made it well worth it. The rest of my day I spent far away from this place, but I never forgot my ordeal and supported general Lassalle's efforts to end the inquisition with my lucrative trade business.

Crucible Reflection

The Crucible was a surprisingly enjoyable play to read in class; it is so much easier to read than Shakespeare. I found the trials particularly interesting. Its crazy to think that a devout religious society like the Puritans could murder people in the name of God. I think its ridiculous that they based the trials off of here-say and circumstantial evidence rather than hard proof when peoples lives were on the line. Abigail's word was treated like a prophet's and nothing could disprove it. For the judges to go along with her when she had all the motive in the world to get rid of the people that were on trial seems unreal and that it could never happen. Yet numerous other times mass hysteria has caused unjust things such as the HUAC trials in the 50s. Another interesting thing to think about is how people justify horrible things such as the witch trials with the will of God. Time and time again throughout history people promote their own selfish agenda under the guise of religion. Overall, the trials in the Crucible and the real Salem witch trials have a lesson to be learned that when mass hysteria is about conventional thinking goes out the window and the most radical things are held up as acceptable.     

Political Climate in the 50s

Red Scare Video
This video was done by a student for a history class, and I thought it was pretty well put together. It addresses the Red Scare and spread of Communism. I found the Anti-Communist music at the beginning interesting in that people were so far against Communism that they even wrote songs about it. Another surprising part of the video was the numerous photos of the masses of Communist at gatherings in other countries. I also learned that the FBI helped McCarthy illegally obtain information about the Communists which would coincide with the fact that J Edgar Hoover was willing to bend rules in order to keep America safe. Although I feel as if the Communists in America were so few that they didn't pose a legitimate threat to national security. Nevertheless, the HUAC trials and the spread of Communism created an unhealthy fear in America that would last for a long time. I think people today joke around about the Red Scare because some of the things going on at the time were pretty ironic or comical, but it's important to remember the Red Scare did have serious consequences that wrecked many peoples lives and reputations.

Blog 4: Fire and Brimstone

If all of you wish to live in eternal paradise with the Father then you had better mark my words carefully. Many of us stray from the righteous course not by our actions first but by our very sick and immoral thoughts. May it be lust or greed or gluttony or envy or any other sinful whim; they all condemn us to the eternal flames long before we act on these ideas. For our mind must be a citadel that only admirable, excellent, and God worthy thoughts may enter. Many of us defile them with the corrupt though which lead us on a path to hold hands with Lucifer for all eternity! Once the Old Boy has ye in his grasp he will tell you to lead others down your path too. You will become his agent here dragging many if not to act in a horrible manner to think horrible things which are just as bad if not worse than the action. For an outward act can soon be reprimanded and forgotten, but if allowed to fester like a untreated wound a corrupt thought can infect the whole mind at which time it is too late to save that soul from eternal damnation! The Devil will surely rejoice for every malevolent or corrupt thought just as much as he will rejoice when one commits the act of murder or theft. For the evil one is no fool and knows these corruptions of our mind is no different than if we are to act them out. Our gracious Savior warned us of such devious fancies in our mind and if ye wish to keep the flames of hell from licking at your bootstraps then God willing keep the filth that Lucifer hurls up  away from your head and strengthen your mind with the scriptures to bolster your defenses lest ye wish the Devil drag you to his decrepit domain.   

Blog 3: Squanto

Squanto was a member of the Patuxet tribe which is a subdivision of the Wampanoag Confederacy. In 1614, he was kidnapped by a lieutenant of John Smith who tried to sell Squanto into slavery in Spain. Local friars aided Squanto in making his way to England where he picked up the language which would make him a vital link in the New World. Squanto, who had been working for John Slany in England, made it back to his homelands in 1619 only to find much of his tribe had been wiped out by European diseases. Instead of his familiar people, he found the pilgrims who had just been through a rough winter in the New World. Squanto was able to communicate with them, and show them how to cultivate the land. Furthermore, he taught them how to catch wild game and fish. Perhaps his most detrimental skill was to open up peace negotiations with the Wampanoag (Massasoit) tribes which would last many decades past Squanto's lifetime. Sadly enough, Squanto was distrusted near the end of his life by both the Massasoit and Plymouth settlers, and he died from illness at the age of 42. Despite this, Governor William Bradford remarked that his death was a "great loss" and that Squanto wished that Bradford would pray to God to accept him. This being significant because at the time most Europeans regarded the Native Americans as savages and wouldn't pay any homage to one unless they had done something extremely special such as Squanto.  

Blog 2: The voyage of the Mayflower

Everyone knows about the Pilgrims coming over from England on the Mayflower, and getting blown off course. However, if you look in to the story of their journey a little deeper some intriguing details emerge. For instance, few know of the Speedwell which was a second ship that was supposed to be traveling with the Mayflower to the New World. Unfortunately, the Speedwell had leaking problems twice that delayed the voyage by about a month. It was then decided that the Mayflower would make the voyage alone which was a risky proposition back in the day because there wasn't a national guard to save you in the case of a shipwreck. Once they were on their way finally, many passenger attest to the ironic story about a belligerent sailor. The story goes that the sailor would laugh and swear at the sea sick passengers, and he would say that when they die he was going to throw them over board and take their stuff. Fate would have it that the sailor got sick himself, and was the first to be thrown over board. Finally, one other interesting tidbit was the near death of John Howland. During one of the furious tempests the Mayflower encountered on her voyage, Howland was blown overboard. He managed to hang on to a part of the ship though until he was rescued by the crew. Howland's descendants include the likes of Presidents FDR and the Bushes, actor Humphrey Bogart, and the founder of the Mormons Joseph Smith.  

wk 1: cahokia mounds

I found the Cahokia mounds very interesting with respect to the grandeur of the city and the mounds themselves. It's hard to imagine such a large city forming with the limited technology the people of Cahokia had available to themselves. The vast distance they could trade over was also intriguing. They had shells from the golf coast and various commodities from all over America.
The mounds are a neat concept because rather than dig a hole and bury the dead in it, they raised the ground up to bury their dead. Thus, the ancestors buried couldn't be forgotten very easily since their grave was a land feature. To add to that the mounds took a long time to build perhaps decades for some of the larger ones which exemplifies the reverence they had for their ancestry. The concept of remembering ancestry is not as prevalent now a days, and I believe it is a lesson to be learned from the Mississippian people. If they could take the time to pay respect to their ancestors hundreds of years ago with the technologies we have now it shouldn't be hard at all to do so.