The Crucible Essay Reflection

While I was doing my research paper, I honestly wasn't very confident in myself. I have a problem with procrastination, so I didn't do everything the best I was able to do. After starting the essay, it was easy to write. Finding the actual research and worrying about having enough was one of my biggest problems. I had a problem with having enough research and making sure all of it was relevant and that I wasn't going off on a tangent. Any personal successes would have to be how well I wrote it in the time I gave myself to write it. I know I can do a lot better than I did and I plan on spending a lot of time with this draft before I turn it in for a grade.

I really liked the pre-writing activities. I thought the chart was extremely helpful. It helped me get all of my ideas together and figure out exactly what I was writing about before I wrote the paper. In other words, it made me actually think about writing instead of pulling the paper out of the air and calling it good. As I was pre-writing, I was quite excited about writing the paper and willing to take the challenge. This obviously didn't go as planned because of my procrastination. In order for me to write a paper the best I can write it, I must set aside some time and devotion to work on the paper. I lacked on this area during the week I was supposed to write it because I ended up going on vacation. I think it would be a smart idea if I did a lot more research before writing the paper instead of while writing the paper.

I thought the peer editing was a great experience, but not for everyone. Some people don't peer edit other's as "harsh" as they should because they either don't want to read the essay or don't want to tell the writer what they've done. In order to prevent this, I told the person that peer edited my paper to tell me everything and not hold back on critiquing. This ended up being very beneficial. I don't think I learned anything specific about reading someone else's draft, but I compared how we organized our papers since we chose the same prompt. It gave me some ideas as to how I can make my paper that much better. I also looked at their transitions, since I am not very creative with them. Obviously I didn't take their transitions, but it helped me think of some other things I could say besides "also" and "another". My feedback definitely helped with the revisions I made to the paper. I think my editor was very honest and blunt, which I would much rather prefer than hearing that it's great and I don't have to make any changes. If I were to make any changes, I would like to make sure that every one else critiques how they should instead of saying "good job" or not saying much at all.

As far as strengths for my paper, I think I have a lot of valid ideas that spark some interest. I think I have the general idea, but I need to be more specific. I will definitely be doing even more researching in order to make my paper the best it can be. I am usually like this at writing. My first few drafts are not the best, but as soon as I dedicate some time towards the essay, it turns out to be pretty decent.

Living In the Wild

Chris was one of those people that thought you should own nothing but what you can carry on your back at a dead run. Well, props to ya, but there's no way anyone in our society today would be able to do that. I don't think this belief is very modern. If you're like Chris, then this would work out just fine. But like anyone else, living this kind of life is not so easy.

The value of a minimalist lifestyle is quite simple. You don't get many luxuries because you can't carry a plasma television on your back while running away from a wild animal. It is a lot different than living the lifestyle most people are used to. The majority of people today live life on many luxuries, such as tv, cell phones, etc. These are things that we find normal because we don't know what life would be without them. The people that live a "simple" life don't have these things. Some people might not even have light bulbs. I, personally don't know how people could live like that, but it's their choice.

There is no way I would EVER even think about putting myself in a minimalist lifestyle. I don't mean to sound like a stuck up preppy girl, but I don't think I could live without the internet or my cell phone. I have no intentions to live like that and I can't think of a reason why I would want to. I have no interest in nature and plan on keeping it that way. Living a life like that would be so difficult because you would have to take away everything that you are used to having. All in all, there's no way I could do it, and I don't plan on it at any time.

Act 2 Character Analysis

John Proctor is a very complex character. When it comes to his and Abigail's relationship, he is a static person. Even though him and Elizabeth were arguing about the affair in the beginning of the Act, John still protects her and puts Elizabeth first. He cut off all relations with Abigail and has gone back to being faithful to his wife. I think that he is a round character for plenty of reasons. He says that he is a good Christian and follows all of the commandments, even though he committed adultery. I think that by marrying Elizabeth, he made a committment to her, yet he still goes to cheat on her with Abigail. He is most definitely a major character in this play because of the affair and the fact that his wife was accused of witchcraft.

I think there are a lot of variables that make John Proctor act the way he does. One of these would of course be the affair. I think that Elizabeth knows about it, but he still tries to hide it from her and this causes argument. I think he is quite protective over Abigail, still, and it seems obvious through his speech. Another variable would be the witch trials. Everyone is on their edge becuase of the trials. Of course, no one wants to be accused to witchcraft, so they are watching what they do and very cautious over their actions. One last personal quality I noticed was that he seems a little mysterious. I think that there is something about him that the audience has not yet found out.

There are a lot of conflicts that Mr. Proctor is currently going throught. One of the major conflicts would be man vs. man. Proctor is challenged by a lot of men in Salem. These people would include Abigail Williams, because of their affair and Abigail accusing Mrs. Proctor of witchcraft. I also think he is having a conflict between himself and Reverend Hale. I think that, since Mr. Proctor couldn't recite the ten commandments to the Reverend, he isn't quite convinced that Proctor is completely innocent. Another conflict would be man vs. his mind. I think he is giving himself mental problems because of all the things he went through in the past year. Between the affair and the witch trials, he probably has got something going on. I think that if these were modern day situations, he would probably go in to depression.

MY God is Not Angry.

A lot of people ask me why I lost faith with God. As a matter of fact, I didn't like a lot of things about Him. Eventually, I stopped going and wandered my way out of the Puritan life. With my father being the Reverend, it was difficult to discuss how I felt about this situation. I found it especially hard to tell him that his sermons were one of the reasons why I started losing my faith. I explained how I did not like how his sermons only talked about the negative things. When I think of faith, I think of happiness. I think you should be proud of your religion and proclaim your love to God. I do not think you should be doomed to hell and have to work your way to forgiveness. Like my father once said, "thus easy is it for God when he pleases to cast his enemies down to hell...". I don't think that is the mental image you should be giving the congregation. Over and over again, Reverand Edwards tells these innocent people that they are going to hell. Really, what did they do? Ever since the day they were born, all us Puritans would ever do is work and worship our Lord, and Mr. Edwards has the guts to tell us that God has enemies? Who in their right mind would believe that? God is supposed to love everyone and forgive them all of their sins. Even the most perfect Puritans sin daily...they just don't pay attention to it.

"The god that holds you over the pit of hell...is dreadfully provoked: his wrath towards you burns like fire; he looks upon you as worthy of nothing else, but to be cast into the fire..." This is yet another negative thing my father has informed us about. Who in the world would want a God like that? Now, I know that's not what I wanted. It is one of the main reasons why I left, actually. God died for your sins. He did it for a reason, and I really don't think he should be hatred of that. It doesn't make any sense.Why would some person die for your sins, and then hold a grudge against you? By all means, he didn't have to do it. We could be all unsaved and live life knowing we go to hell. Well, I guess you Puritans still believe you are going to hell. You should not have to work for your faith. Faith is a choice and you should not have to labor over it and worry until the day you die if you have done enough to have God MAYBE open the gates to heaven in your favor. That is no way to live a happy life.

I think God is a much more understanding and loving person than my father makes him out to be. I do not believe for one minute that he is waiting to throw us in to some pit of fire to burn in hell. I believe everyone should be welcome to heaven with open arms, and forget about every single one of their worries and doubts. God is not that type of person by any means. He is not going to heartlessy snip your thread of life and send you straight to hell because you didn't plant the right seed in the garden. That's not who He is and what He does. God is a loving person. I don't care what you Puritans think.

In my years of academic writing, I don't think I am a bad writer. I actually enjoy doing all of the research and typing something as long as it interests me. One of my biggest problems with writing for school is putting my personality into the paper. I would call myself a tunnel visioned writer.The way I write is the way the teachers taught me to write when I was young. I don't know how to go away from the boring writing papers and put more of a spice to it...if you know what I'm trying to say. When I get a major writing assignment, I don't fool around. I try to get as much information as I can before I start writing so that it is easy to put my words together. I wouldn't say I am very confident in my writing, but I know it's better than my ten year old nephew's writing.

I also have a lot of apprehensions when I write. Sometimes I feel like I am simply rambling along and not making any sense. Other times I get so bored, I just want to stop caring about it and wrap things up quickly. But I usually find a way to fight through it and finish up without it sounding like I lost interest. I try to write about things that interest me to forget that I am actually writing for school. I am not so lucky sometimes, though. Those are the times where I usually lose interest and slack off.

I am excited about the portfolio idea, but I'm not sure I completely understand it. I don't know exactly how much we will be writing, but I am one of the people that strives to get the best grade. My only worry is that I won't have enough pieces of writing to choose from. I want to make sure I can pick on,y my best pieces and not have to put in one of my not so good papers to make sure I have enough, if you understand what I'm trying to say. I don't really have any problems with it. I think it's a nice change rather than the usual final tests. I am really excited to see what is in store for this class. I am already very excited to see what we will do and how this class canbedifferent