. the house of the seven gables .

The House of the Seven Gables had such a vague background to me, but while researching information on it and on other things, I was hit with a bunch of really cool information! At first I had first heard of The House of the Seven Gables because we were just reading about it in American Lit., which was written by Nathanial Hawthorne. This book was based on the actual house of the seven gables in Salem, Massachusetts. Nathaniel Hawthorne used to live in Salem, by the actual house. Another really cool fact is that his story was derived from his own family history on the legend of a curse pronounced on Hawthorne's own family by a woman, who was sentenced to death during the Salem witchcraft trials.

This is very much like how Colonel Pyncheon charged Matthew Maule with witchcraft because of him wanting to take over his land. It was Hawthorne, also, who came from a long ancestry of puritans. Puritans were the ones that began the witch trials. They were such a God-fearing people and had strict ways of living so that they can make it to heaven, that they were wanted to get rid of everyone that would upset the strict religious balance. Another motive might have been greed. Like with Colonel Pyncheon wanting the land of Matthew Maule to gain more to his wealth.

They all tie into together, through Nathanial Hawthorne. See, Hawthorne wrote the HSG and he also lived in or near the house itself in Salem. Hawthorne’s background included a grandfather, John Hawthorne, was a judge in the Salem witch trials. Also, how Hawthorne came from a long line of ancestral Puritans.

The second part of this is how the Puritans still have some influence on how we love our lives today. One thing can be some of our laws. Puritans were a strict people that lived by the word of God and these days a few things are still followed. One thing is that homosexuality is not allowed and we see this in how gay people are treated. In California, there is an actual banning gay marriage and people look down on it. Also many people follow the ten commandments but maybe not the full extent that they did. Like thou shalt not kill, or honor thy mother and thy father. People still follow them but don’t take it to the next level!

. i knew i was an American when .

The first time I felt like an American had to have been in the second grade. For all of preschool through first grade, I had been to a catholic school. We said our prayers in the mornings and that’s all I really remember doing. When I left that school, and transferred to James Ward the next year, it was a whole new experience for me. On the first day of school, after the sound of the beginning bell, the whole class stood up and began saying the Pledge of Allegiance. Of course, I knew how it went but I was confused and stumbled into the unison voices. Being the curious second grader that I was, I went to my teacher, very shy and quietly, and asked her why we said the Pledge of Allegiance. She told me that when we say this every morning we show PATRIOTISM and love for our great country. When she told me this it was like a new present was just given to me and it had a life-long use.I felt like an American. I felt a stronger pride for my country, I said my Pledge of Allegiance with a little more pride and when we sang our national anthem at school assemblies, or anything else, I was louder and it had enthusiamism. In my second grade mind, I wanted to grow up and do something to help and make our country better. I wanted to be the president like everyone else did (not anymore but hey you never know)! I know that it only took a few simple sentences and words to really make me feel like an American and to feel that sense of pride, but it never went away. I still am that proud and enthusiastic second grader just all grown up, and I will always be a patriotic American!

. us vs them .

“Conflict is inevitable, but combat is optional.”

- Max Lucade           

            How can we find our way out of a conflict without violence? What is the way we learn how to approach and handle them can better the outcome? Conflict ending in despair or tragedy can only bring more destruction. Death being the worse!

In The Crucible we see innocent villagers, whether they are the town drunk or most respected person, being accused of witchcraft. They were accused by people that had a conflict with them. By finding the best way to get them out of their hair was to say, oh so and so does witchcraft and conjures the devil! so that the person would be taken away. Like the conflict between Sarah Goode and Mrs. Putnam, Sarah Goode being a midwife to Mrs. Putnam at many of her births, was there to see many of Mrs. Putnam’s infants die. In turn, when the idea of witchcraft started going around, Mrs. Putnam accused Sarah of practicing it and that she had killed her babies. Now, this was not true to any extent but since there was a conflict between Mrs. Putnam and Sarah, she wanted some excuse of their deaths. This eventually led to the death of many people, the fact that people believed such foolishness. Death being the only way to end these problems between people.

                Many people see this as an only option because they are afraid if they couldn’t get their way in a situation, then it would ruin them. Death must only bring a slight satisfaction. After so long more people are going to bring the same things that they were scared of in the beginning! What are they going to do, keep killing until there’s absolutely no one left. This would only raise the amount of blood on their hands. Also people on the outside may see these persons as foolish and horrible, that they’re only going to do what best for them! In the end it would make matters worse. Can we come to realize we must see the more peaceful way of solving our problems? That a person’s life is just as equal as our own?