John Proctor, is he a hero or a stooge? Well, the one reason why he might be considered a stooge is because of his affair with Abigail. It’s that one mistake in his life that is always preventing him from being in peace (which is thanks to our wonderful conscious). Other than that, John seems to be a hero, or maybe he just wants to be a hero to erase the fact (from his conscious) that he is a disgrace to his wife, his family, and his values.
When you accidentally drop a child’s ice cream, what would you do? Probably try to make it up for him/her. Maybe buying that child another ice cream might work in cheering up the lil kid. So, lets put John Proctor as the person who dropped the child’s ice cream. The child is his wife and himself (because he not only disappointed/hurt Elizabeth, his wife, but himself too). To make things up for his wife and himself, he shall try to avoid the “accident” happen again (hey, he might be a protestant but that doesn’t mean he doesn’t have flaws and makes mistakes, although this doesn’t justify what he did) and help his wife (and his conscious as well). Forcing Mary Warren to tell the truth might be considered heroic (maybe more like desperate) but I think what matters is why he is making her do it: he cannot take any more lies, more secrets, secrets that could torment him. Those secrets are the key to saving Elizabeth, but they could also mean his ruin. Yet he risks it just save his wife. You can call it heroic, or maybe, it’s just love.
So, one might consider John proctor a stooge, a hero, or just a desperate man in love. But it all depends on one’s personal judgment on life and humans… How are we supposed to live? What can be forgiven? What can’t be forgiven?...
Thursday, September 29, 2011
Thursday, September 22, 2011
Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God
Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God, a very accurate name for one of Jonathan Edward’s most terrifying sermons. In this sermon, Edwards tells us of God’s furious anger towards us. And why? Because we are sinners. And every time we sin, we are provoking God more and more. But, there will be a moment when He can no longer take any of our sins and he will let his fury be known and heard of, and kill us for it. We shall be flooded by his anger, shot by an arrow straight through our heart, or thrown into the raging flames of hell. Yes, that is what Edwards tells us. Yet, is it true? Well, it has to be! He is a minister, so he knows what he is preaching about. So why not believe him?
It is very important to remember that this sermon was given during the Great Awakening, the time period of religious revival. Jonathan Edwards seemed to be more into the belief that we humans should follow all of God’s rules and never, ever, EVER disobey them. This was the Puritan beliefs. So knowing this, it is kind of simple to understand why his listeners believed him.
At first I wondered why he would use fear to persuade his listeners to live a pure life, but I later understood. What better way than to convince others to do things than by fear? Asking politely wouldn’t have worked. If it did, then, for example, I doubt than wars would occur. Edwards portrays God, in my opinion, as a dangerous thief; if you do not give him what he wants (which is for all of us to follow his rules and laws), he will strike (kill us).
It is very important to remember that this sermon was given during the Great Awakening, the time period of religious revival. Jonathan Edwards seemed to be more into the belief that we humans should follow all of God’s rules and never, ever, EVER disobey them. This was the Puritan beliefs. So knowing this, it is kind of simple to understand why his listeners believed him.
At first I wondered why he would use fear to persuade his listeners to live a pure life, but I later understood. What better way than to convince others to do things than by fear? Asking politely wouldn’t have worked. If it did, then, for example, I doubt than wars would occur. Edwards portrays God, in my opinion, as a dangerous thief; if you do not give him what he wants (which is for all of us to follow his rules and laws), he will strike (kill us).
Though terrifying, it is a very interesting pint of view of a God. For me, God is merciful and although we should not sin, he will forgive us. Yet that is not Edwards view. He, from what I’ve understood, wants his listeners to be the perfect people. And for that to be possible, they must not sin. Yet they do, and now, god is angry. They are sinners… and their life rests in the hands of their angry God.
Thursday, September 15, 2011
Arrivals... There Goes the Nieghborhood
I’ve been living in the Brighton Park community my entire life. I have only moved once (when I was about 18 months). The distance wasn’t much, really. Only about 5 blocks, so the people all around are very similar.
I don’t know much background history about my neighborhood, but from what I’ve heard the first people to live around that area were Polish. This explains why the church a block away from my house has Polish mass (and not only Spanish and English mass). I still see a couple of Polish people, but Hispanic/Latinos are more common. There are also now some Asians that have just moved in. So, the diversity continues to grow.
When I was younger, I didn’t notice the people that lived in my neighborhood (except the cute boys, haha). My parents didn’t like the idea of me running around in the streets. They were afraid of all the gangbangers walking around (yes, sadly there are bad people like them in the world). That meant that I would only see my friends in school. The people never really changed. There were only a couple of kids, like my cousin, that moved. As I went into 7thgrade, I heard about people being involved in gangs and tagging crews, how they were sent to jail, or of their ending…This of course alarmed me. Since then I started to be more careful with how I was with. Yes, the people in the community and their actions do affect (in some way) your life.
That was one change.
But I also started to notice how there were some people who really disliked Latinos. I remember that my mom told me how a woman (who was American and married to a Mexican-American) was told to go to a different church because they didn’t have any mass in Spanish. The woman was denied to be part of that church because she looked Mexican, yet she and her family were Americans.
I’ve heard of how people are treated differently because of their appearance. Yet, most of my community is made up of Latinos. I hope that with the growing diversity of my neighborhood (because new people are still moving in), differences can be pushed away (and all the bad people, too) for it to be a nice place once more. As innocent as I thought it was when I was 6. Because, that’s exactly where I want my neighborhood to go (:
I don’t know much background history about my neighborhood, but from what I’ve heard the first people to live around that area were Polish. This explains why the church a block away from my house has Polish mass (and not only Spanish and English mass). I still see a couple of Polish people, but Hispanic/Latinos are more common. There are also now some Asians that have just moved in. So, the diversity continues to grow.
When I was younger, I didn’t notice the people that lived in my neighborhood (except the cute boys, haha). My parents didn’t like the idea of me running around in the streets. They were afraid of all the gangbangers walking around (yes, sadly there are bad people like them in the world). That meant that I would only see my friends in school. The people never really changed. There were only a couple of kids, like my cousin, that moved. As I went into 7thgrade, I heard about people being involved in gangs and tagging crews, how they were sent to jail, or of their ending…This of course alarmed me. Since then I started to be more careful with how I was with. Yes, the people in the community and their actions do affect (in some way) your life.
That was one change.
But I also started to notice how there were some people who really disliked Latinos. I remember that my mom told me how a woman (who was American and married to a Mexican-American) was told to go to a different church because they didn’t have any mass in Spanish. The woman was denied to be part of that church because she looked Mexican, yet she and her family were Americans.
I’ve heard of how people are treated differently because of their appearance. Yet, most of my community is made up of Latinos. I hope that with the growing diversity of my neighborhood (because new people are still moving in), differences can be pushed away (and all the bad people, too) for it to be a nice place once more. As innocent as I thought it was when I was 6. Because, that’s exactly where I want my neighborhood to go (:
Thursday, September 8, 2011
Introductions
I'm not sure how to introduce myself. It's a little more challenging since I have to do it through a blog (which I am new to). So, I guess I will begin with the basics. My name is Jessica Vega and I am a sophomore. I like to read, especially fiction, fantasy, and romance novels. One of the things that I love to do is to listen to music. I listen to various types of music, but my favorite band is Pierce the Veil. Other bands I like are Escape the Fate, My Chemical Romance, Mayday Parade, and Blink-182. I also enjoy walking and playing soccer. I can be quiet around people I don't know, but when I am around friends I am really loud. My friends always remember me as short for obvious reasons. I don't mind being short, although sometimes it gets annoying when other people are thinking I am an eleven year old. I like to listen to people and their opinions. I always prefer to listen than to speak.
Going into my family, I am the oldest out of three children (two girls and one boy). Both my parents are from Mexico. I am a proud Hispanic who always remembers where her roots are. I learned to speak Spanish first, and then English. I've lived my entire life in Chicago (South side).
I have many goals for the future. For now, though, I want to focus on my present, which is high school. I want to do well, since that will take me one step further to succeed in life.
Going into my family, I am the oldest out of three children (two girls and one boy). Both my parents are from Mexico. I am a proud Hispanic who always remembers where her roots are. I learned to speak Spanish first, and then English. I've lived my entire life in Chicago (South side).
I have many goals for the future. For now, though, I want to focus on my present, which is high school. I want to do well, since that will take me one step further to succeed in life.
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