Salem Witch Trials

During my Salem witch trial encounter I learned that several innocent civilians were hanged only because of what some one had accused them of. In most cases, it is better to tell the truth than to lie then keep having to lie to stay out of even more trouble. In the Salem witch trials it was different. In order to avoid being executed, some people had falsely confessed to witchcraft, while others would stay truthful to not be hated by the town, but they paid for it when they were executed. I also learned that twenty five people were executed during the Salem witch trials. Nineteen “witches” were hung while five infants died in prison. There was one defendant that did not take the plea in court, and was tortured to death. When the witch trials got out of hand Reverend Increase Mather, who was a president of Harvard College at the time, said that "Ten suspected witches should escape, than one innocent person should be condemned." At the same time, Governor William Phips was overcome with disgust about the accusation toward his wife about being a witch. In my experience of the tour through the time of the Salem witch trials, I found out that it didn’t matter if you were telling the truth or not, because if other people are telling lies that everyone else believes then you don’t stand a chance of living. On my tour I pleaded innocent and was about to be set free when one of the people at the trials started acting crazy and accused me of forcing her to do it with witchcraft, so they claimed me to be guilty. They hung me right after being found guilty on a lie.

Reflecting On This 9 Weeks

In this nine weeks of English 11, I have learned very much information. For example, I have learned about fifty new vocabulary words. I have also became a better reader and I think I can probably read at a higher level now. We have also done a lot of group activities, which has helped me learn how to work with other people. I have also became a better writer by showing and not just telling action and scenery in stories.

Names Will Never Hurt Me

There is a relation in this book that connects with the world. The connection is that there is a one year anniversary of a school shooting and there are school shootings that go on in the United States and they effect several people in many ways.

Lit. Circle Discussion

One interesting thread of discussion in our Lit. Circle on Crackback was when we were talking about if Miles, the main character, was playing for himself, or playing to fulfill his father's dreams that he had ruined due to an injury in college. We decided that he was playing to fulfill his father's dreams, because he is the only one that ever pushes Miles to play harder and get better besides his coaches.

Names Will Never Hurt Me

Parents. Grandparents. Aunts. Uncles. Brothers. Sisters. Cousins. Friends. Everyone is effected after a school shooting. Whether its losing a loved one or being afraid of another one happening, it must be hard getting over a school shooting. In Names Will Never Hurt Me, it is the one year anniversary of a school shooting and some people have gotten over it and just said its just a one time occurance and will probably never happen again. There are a few people that have memories coming back like a boomerang and are scared that something might happen, like the principal and a few other students who were effected severely by the event.