Salem Witch Trials of 1692

Have you ever heard of the Salem Witch Trials? I embarked on a journey through the Salem Witch Trials of 1692. In this wild journey I got to answer only one question, and that question was my plea: guilty or not guilty.
There really was no one cause for the Salem witch trials. A combination of events and factors helped in the creation of a climate for the birth and growth of the trials. A recent small pox outbreak, the revocation of the Massachusetts Bay Colony charter by Charles II and the constant fear of Indian attacks helped in creating anxiety among the early Puritans that God was punishing them. This fear of punishment established a fertile atmosphere in which a case of possible witchcraft could easily be interpreted by the Puritans as the cause of God's wrath. Add to these events the economic, political, imaginations and fears of the people, family feuds and religious factors of the time, it is easier to understand how the Salem witch trials grew and prospered for almost a whole year. The first examinations took place March 1, 1692. The first trial for witchcraft under the Court of Oyer and Terminer was May 27, 1692
I took this journey twice to see what the difference in the conclusion is with each answer. The first time through, I pleaded not guilty, and then got hung. The second time through, I did the opposite, and pleaded guilty, but then got hung again.
While I was taking this journey, so were many of my classmates whose pleads varied between guilty and not guilty, and some survived. This confirmed my suspicion that this web site was completely random. Whether you pleaded guilty or not guilty, did not determine the end of your journey.
This was symbolic to the actual Salem Which Trials, which were also pretty much at random. As many as one hundred and forty people were accused of witch craft and only nineteen were actually executed.
Even if the accused were found not guilty, they were put in jail. When being put in jail, you must pay jail fees, and if you can’t you must stay in jail, so even those who were found innocent would often still die in jail. The Salem Witch Trials of 1692 were pretty much a lose-lose situation.

English 11 First Quarter Review

As of right now, I am loving our 3B English class. Not only do I love the people in it, I love some of our assignments. For example, this last narrative essay we wrote about our vivid memory. This assignment was not a boring report. We got to use our own experiences and our own memories. We were writing about us, and who doesn't love that?
Looking at my grade sheet, I know I could study more for our vocabulary tests. It would be an easy A, and I just need to push myself the study more. I lead a busy life, and any spare time I want to spend time with my friends. With the upcoming quarter, I will push myself to spend more time studying.
In learning to use a blog, I have learned how to use Blogger and Goodreads. Learning these skills will be very helpful next year in English 12, and even farther in my future like college.

First Lit Group Connection

In my book, Shattering Glass by Gail Giles, one of the main characters, Rob Haynes was molested by his father until he was eleven years old. I can connect with this because my step‑uncle was molested by his own cousin as a child. I can see how the terrible experience of being molested as a young child can affect the way you turn out as an adult. Rob, who is still living with the terrible memories, is trying to hide what happened from his friends. Also, with my uncle, he kept this from his parents until he was in his mid-teen years, about 10 years after he had undergone the experience. Sadly, there was nothing the family could do.

Bullying, NOT Jealousy!

She’s just jealous. This is the world-wide line all mothers tell their daughters when she undergoes a rough day at school, or got into a fight with her friends. The sad truth is female bullying is real. In the novel Odd Girl Speaks Out by Rachel Simmons, the subject of female bullying is closely examined by the readers.
Our society constantly camouflages the subject of female bullying by confusing it with jealousy. In each of the stories of the girls who have been bullied confide their feelings in their friends or in their family and in each situation the friends or family cover up the bullying by blaming the problem simply on jealousy. Realizing that bullying is not always based on jealousy, the readers will realize that girls are vicious snakes.