John Proctor: Hero or Stooge?

Well, since there are only two choices, I would say a stooge. In the end, John was unable to solve the crisis the village was going through, and innocent people die anyway, himself included. Also, Mary Warren was able to turn the tables on him within two seconds in court when she realized it was pretty hopeless to be honest and save herself at the same time. All she had to do was imitate Abigail and come up with lies about John. Suddenly he becomes the person in the center of it all, the person to blame for everything, the stooge.

He wasn't a hero, but he was a good man. He had good morals and did his best to stick with them, even with his mistakes, which he admitted and accepted. John was modest and stuck up for what he believed in, and I respect and admire him. His pride is also quite something. He doesn't want to be known as the guy who had an affair with a younger woman and have his family carry that for generations after him, yet he still confesses, only to give people what they want to hear. Yeah, he wasn't a hero, but I like him anyway. :D

Sinners in the Hands of An Angry God

Say, hypothetically, I was a Puritan teen in the 1700's, sitting in church.
Say, hypothetically, I was listening to Jonathan Edwards preach about how God is hanging each and every one of us by a very, very thin thread that will break the moment we step out of line, and send us falling to the deepest pits of hell.

Say, hypothetically, that I'm religious.
I'm not.
However, if I really was in that situation listening to preachings every Sunday like that of Jonathan Edwards, I'm sure I would be extremely religious, realistically speaking. (Who in their right mind would doubt something so scary???) But today, with the freedom of thought, I know I wouldn't be able to live in that environment for two reasons: I grew up knowing God as the all-forgiving one, not the so-pure-that-He-can't-stand-looking-at-you God, and I like thinking my own way and having my own opinions.

I was the Christian in my Buddhist family once upon a time, probably due to the influences of my friends. I loved and believed in God and how He would protect my and guide my through my life, and I worked my best to be a good person, and hoped to someday end up in heaven. But somehow, I just stopped. I suppose I just gave up on God, and decided that I don't know what really happens when I die, and I will always know of only one life, so why have a set of beliefs limit my life experiences? It wasn't like my life was that much better when I prayed and worshipped. I still believe in being a good-hearted person, but I do what I want, and just go with my own moral principals, not the ones set by Christianity.

This just brought up a question that I always wonder about. It's not really about this, but it's on the topic of religion so I'll mention it anyway: Why do people hate each other for having different religious beliefs? For one thing, a lot of people believe in the same God, even if it is different views of him and different practices. Also, what does someone's beliefs have to do with you at all? It's not like it will harm you or their afterlife will effect you. I feel that ironically, religion is the ultimate things that bonds us together and tears us apart. It shouldn't be though.

Arrivals....There Goes the Neighborhood

Living in a city as diverse as Chicago, it's common to hear a lot about the different neighborhoods and the one or two ethnicties that make up the majority of the population in the area. And occasionally, you hear someone talking about that one person or one family who isn't the race that makes up practically the entire block.

Yesterday, our American Lit teacher brought up Columbus and his impact on the Native Americans, how it was mostly just take take take from the them to benefit the Europeans. We also discussed a little about the general idea of two different groups of people meeting. In today's world, when different groups of people meet, in a neighborhood situation, it's usually either something bad happens or nothing happens. But that's just my personal opinion. I live in a normal pretty peaceful neighborhood and everyone's nice, but the tenants of the house on our left have always been trouble-making people. A few years ago, there were some gang members that lived in that house. They went around trespassing into people's property, stealing, breaking car windows and rear mirrors, etc. They're gone now, but only to be replaced by a really loud family that blasts the TV and radio 24/7, nonstop. Isn't it obvious now why I'm so negative about this?

However, despite all that pessimism, I do see a brighter side to this. In a different situation, like in school, the meeting of different groups results in a lot of good things. I have a habit of hanging out with people from different backgrounds and races, so I get to learn a lot of their cultures. It's quite interesting. Every once in a while when you come across people who have a lot of influence from another race, it's especially interesting to see how that person is "Asian at heart" or "Mexican at heart". They defy the stereotypes of their races much more obviuosly than others, and it creates much more diversity and tolerance and it eliminates the ignorance people have to hold specific views on how people from certain races should act or be like.

I'm gonna end this by going back to the Christopher Columbus thing. Yes they did take a lot from the Native Americans, but you know, if it weren't for them and people like them, we wouldn't have a lot of things in America, in other parts of the world. Things like horses and diversity in America, tomatoes and corn in Europe, and so on. So maybe there's a good side and a bad side to all situations like this. I just prefer to stick with one.

Introductions

Hi everyone.

So, day one of school and my American Lit teacher asks us to keep up with a blog for the year. Here it goes. 
There's not a whole lot to know about me. First off, my name is Helen, I'm 14, and just started high school. I'm usually a very busy person with school, piano, Chinese, and math team (there are a few others too, but they don't seem to be worth mentioning). Things I like to do for fun..it's mostly eating and sleeping, to be honest. Desserts are my favorite :) But I also enjoy music a lot, especially singing. Things I don't like to do consist mostly of cleaning, speaking in front of an audience, and talking about myself (haha I know).
About my personality..it's not very "solid". I don't think that's the right word but it's the best I've got right now. I'm different depending on how I feel that day. However, there are things that will always be there no matter what: sarcasm and awkwardness. So you'll never really know what to expect from me on a certain day. It all depends. 
A few other random facts:
I am in no way athletic or coordinated. There are days when I get lucky and I'm able to throw and catch, but overall I fail at moving. 
I was born here, but raised in China for the first three years of my life, so my Chinese is pretty good. Good enough, at least. 
I've also studied Spanish in school since kindergarten, so I am slowly on my way to becoming trilingual :D (Yes, it's pretty sad that after 10 years I'm still not fluent, but the Spanish teacher who taught me never really taught anything new after 4th grade.)
I'm one of those people who can't think of what they're trying to think of at the moment, but any other time they can think of it right away. Does that make sense?
I CANNOT STAND when people on the streets randomly say "NI HAO!". Do they have any idea how annoying that is (besides just racist)?? If you really must know, most Chinese people can speak fluent English (especially at our age), thank you very much.
I love the smell of the air right after it rains. And chocolate.