The Fall

Outside my home, I love to watch the leaves float gently down to Earth.  To me, it is one of the most memorable things to watch.  For this reason, Fall is my favorite season of the year.  I love the changing colors of the trees and the mild weather with little to no rain.  The Fall to me represents a slowing down of people and the events that occur.  The colder weather obviously has an effect on this.  In addition to watching the leaves fall, I love the holidays that are asscociated with Fall.  Thanksgiving and Halloween are extremely fun holidays for me. 

Joseph McCarthy

Joseph McCarthy was a senator of the United States who was responsible for the black listing of a communist individuals, also known as the McCarthy hearings.  McCarthy claimed to have a list of individuals that worked for the Soviet Union who were working in the government.  Instead of turning this information over to the authorities though, McCarthy chose to take the names to Congress in order to investigate these people himself.  This process made McCarthy famous to all who heard about it.  These people who were believed to be Communists were blacklisted, preventing them from getting jobs and sometimes forcing them to move out of the country.  I believe what McCarthy did was wrong.  In the United States, it is perfectly acceptable to have one's own beliefs about whatever one wants.  That is the great part about being an American, having free beliefs and ideas, and McCarthy took that from the people of the United States. 

The Crucible

Based on what I have read in Act One in The Crucible, the story is about the Salem Witch Trials.  At the beginning of the story, Betty Parris was sick and supposedly possessed by a witch.  The neighbors and fellow town members think that Betty is also possessed.  My thoughts on this is how can a whole town possibly think that a girl has been possessed by a witch.  When an entire town immediately assumes a girl is possessed because they can not think of a valid reason, there is reason for concern of the sanctity of mind of that town.  The parents of the children in The Crucible, obviously do not understand basic child personality.  When a child is in trouble, he or she will immediately point a finger to prevent from being in trouble.  Also with a child's imagination, the story can become wild and fanatical as evident in this story.

Puritan Daily Life

A day in the life of an average Puritan was one centered around religion.  They believed that everything they did was for the good of God.  The Puritan belief was based on the Anglican Church in England except the Puritans believed that the Anglican Church needed to go further in order to purify the Catholic Church.  This developed the Puritan faith as what is was.  Therefore one aspect of the Puritan religion was discipline.  Based on this religion, rules in Puritan society were very strict.  Discipline was harsh and severe to those that failed to obey the law.  There was hanging, whippings, and being locked in the stockades in the town square.  A stockade is a device that locks both the head and hands between two blocks of wood.  This humiliated the victim in front of the whole town.  A general guideline for the Puritans was just to follow God's law and everything would be fine.