The Crucible Act 1 Post

The Crucible Act 1 starts with introducing the readers to some very important characters. The readers are first introduced to Reverend Parris, a power hungry leader in society. Abigail,  the niece of Parris, is a little scandalous  and inappropriate for woman of this time.  She is involved in an affair with another important town member, John Proctor, a married man in his late 30’s. The power at the beginning of this act is in the hands of Parris. Power in puritan society was control over the people of the town and control of the church. At the end of Act 1 the power drastically switches into the hands of 8 towns girls, under the control of Abigail Warren.  The girls were supposedly contacting spirits, and acting like witches in the wood, when they were caught by Parris. They obtained their power by blaming other woman in the town of witchery as well. Religion was a very important part of the normal puritan life. The bible states witches are real, so the idea of contacting the devil and being a witch is a very serious crime. “And I pray you feel the weight of truth upon you, for now my ministry’s at stake, my ministry, and perhaps your cousin’s life.” (Miller 11) This quote shows that Parris is worried about losing his power over his ministry because of the girls’ mischievous behavior. Abigail Warren, Mercy Lewis, Mary Warren, and Betty soon become the talk of Salem, and the main people in court.  The fact that these girls now had power over the Reverend was very abnormal for puritan society when the role of a woman was to be stay at home cook, clean, have kids, and raise the children. Salem is now changing, and nobody knows what is going to come with the events in the future.

"Sinners in the hands of an angry God" response

The sermon “Sinners in the hands of an angry God”, given by Jonathan Edwards many years ago, changed the lives of hundreds of people.  If people read or heard this sermon today, there would be mixed reactions depending on differences in beliefs. Even to people that don’t believe in a God, the sermon is so powerful that it will leave them in terror. This quotation from the sermon is saying that god can kill anyone simply because it would please him leaves the people in panic “. . . and it is nothing but the mere pleasure of God, and that of an angry God, without any promise or obligation at all, that keeps the arrow one moment from being made drunk with your blood.” (Perkins pg.98) This sermon caused terror even to the devoted Catholics who first heard it.  These were people who would attend church functions at least weekly and lived very proper religious lives. To them the idea of not going to heaven was unheard of if you lived as Catholics “should”.   In current times you have a great number of people who don’t go to church on a regular basis and religion doesn’t play an important part in their lives. They may feel that since they do not devote their lives to living by the words of the lord, God may be more likely to let them go to hell than more religious people.  This sermon will cause almost everyone to be fearful no matter how religious they may be, because according to Edwards no one can escape the decisions of God and he will choose whoever he wishes to die because it has that power over everyone.

Works Cited

Perkins, George, and Barbara Perkins. The American Tradition in Literature. Ninth Edition ed. N.p.: The McGraw-Hill Companies Inc., 1999. 97-98. Print.

(Sinners in the hands of an angry God) Post

In the introduction to “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God” the narrator states that the sermon delivered on July 8, 1741 by Jonathan Edwards, was remembered as the most famous sermon preached in America.  Edwards was given a reputation as a stern, loveless man, because of his harsh words as he preached.  The sermon itself caused much controversy, and began a fire known as the Great Awakening. Through his sermon he pulled colonies out of traditional European Christianity, and the colonist began to understand salvation.  Though his words were harsh, Jonathan Edwards was depicted by his family and friends a loving, sensitive, warm, and a good father and husband.  To Edwards, hell was a real place that he could envision. Though he depicted hell in a horrible way through his sermon, it was men for the people to realize the reality of sin and hell, and to not let the people forget the gospel through Jesus Christ. Jonathan Edwards is now known as the man who gave the most terrifying sermon to this day, and unfortunately is unrecognized for the care he had towards the people and the way they live there life today, so that they can have a good future.

                In the actual sermon by Jonathan Edwards, I would expect to hear about many gruesome and frightening images.  As Edwards preached I would imagine him to be very descriptive, and use many words to portray the image of hell in his mind to the people. I would expect to be persuaded to live by the ways of the gospel throughout his sermon, because of the way he describes the awfulness of hell. The way he preaches could be very intense, and unusual to the way people normally give sermons. Through his words I would probably begin to understand salvation.  The image of him in my perspective would be fear-provoking.  I would not see him as a personable being, but would be terrified to step close to him. This is what I would expect to hear in the sermon by Edwards, because of the reactions of the many listeners before me.

Descriptive Post



The image above is of a sunset of the shore of an island. On the right hand side of the image is a palm tree as well as a shoreline of the island fading in the distance towards the middle of the picture. In the very right corner there is a full moon, with a purple tint. The very top of the image is purple, and it fades to lighter shades of purple until it turns in to a orange and pink mixture as the water and skyline meet. The water mirrors the sky by starting with a light purple pink mix at the shore and turning into an orange red color as it meets the skyline. The land and palm tree are all black. The very top of the picture looks like a purple space with stars, a moon, and smaller planet which is a darker purple just below the moon. Just before the sky meets the water there are dark purple clouds which are reflected in the water as light pink, orange, and purple. The shoreline on the right side of the picture is mountainous and is reflected into the water. This is the description of the gorgeous sunset!

This is me and Delvert at Black River Horse Camp!

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This is my cousin Allie who I talked about in my About Me post :) This pretty much explains us.

This is me and my sister JJ. I love her she is my best friend!

 Everyone has pictures on their blogs so I thought I would include a couple of my favoirtes :) I also posted my favorite funny video, and a song I love (p.s. i love country music)

Honors American Literature Class Expectations

Elyse Beach

Mr. Provenzano

Honors American Literature 1^st hour

9 September 2011

Honors American Literature Expectations

In an Honors American Literature class the students should be expected to do their homework, always turn in their own work, and strive to do their personal best.

As honors students, the scholars should always have homework completed and ready to turn in on time. Teachers give homework to help the students gain  necessary skills for the class. Homework is an opportunity to review what was taught in class and helps the students know where to focus additonal time and attention on content. Students’ work should be done neatly and thoroughly because it can be used for reference as they study and prepare for tests. The class grade also includes homework and if the students choose not to complete homework they are forfeiting a good grade opportunity. Homework reflects the students’ effort in the class and helps the teacher know how dedicated the class is to the subject area. Parents also value homework since it discourages students from making poor choices due to less free time. Certainly homework is a crutial piece to an honor students’ academic success.

Students in honors classes should always turn in their own work. To be in an honors class the students should be hardworking and dedicated. They should complete their own papers and be proud to turn in quailty work.  Plagerizing in a very serious offense. If a student is caught plagerizing the consequences could include a failing grade in the class and even expulsion from school. Some students have had their college admissions withdrawn due to plagerizing. Students in these higher classes should be able to do the work they are assigned or be dismissed from the advanced English class. Having the integrety to complete their own work is a necessary component to being in an Honors American Literature class.

Honors students should be expected to always strive for their personal best. Honors classes require many hours of additional work and if students do not put their best effort toward the class it will be reflected in a lower grade.  By completing their papers to the best of their ability, the scholars should feel good about turning in their finished product. For students to achieve their personal best with all assignments they must put in additional reasearch, editing, and time to produce quality work. Additionaly, sometimes it requires hiring a tutor or taking supplemental classes to further develop the skills for the advanced class. To achieve high marks students’ often have to give up other extra curricular activities so that more time can be devoted to working on assignments. The work that the students’ turn in is a relection of their  true character. Turning in quality work allows the teacher to obtain an understanding of their students’ commitment and personal investment in the class.

Honors American Literature students should be expected to turn in their homework, do their own work, and demonstrate their best effort to participate in advanced classes.

About Me!

Hi, my name is Elyse! I have many family nick names like lysee, or beaner butt (that one I am not too proud of) and beanie! If you’re not my family you can call me Elyse unless I said you could call me something else, nicknames are not really my thing. I am very independent, bubbly, and sometimes stubborn. I love to do things on my own time in my own way, but am always open for a new adventure or new experience!  Some simple answers to simple questions about me are, my favorite color is purple, and yes I have two pets Shadow (dog) and Onyx (cat) and can sister count? And yes I have a sister who is four years older than me.

I live in Grosse Pointe and have all my life. I love it here and I think I might just come back to raise my family! I grew up in the park and started off school at Maire Elementary school, after that I went on Pierce to suffer that awkward middle school stage and I believe mine was way beyond awkward, now I ended up here at South (a sophomore this year) to end the beginning of my life. At south I am in Honors American Literature (which ended me up on this blogging thing), Honors Biology (which I hope will get me closer to my future career), US  history, Geometry, Spanish numero dos, Ceramics, and Choir! School and I have a love hate relationship I love it sometimes and hate it the other 95%. I should probably start liking it more though because I dream of doing something in the medical field or animal sciences! I am a very big MSU fan because that is where my sister is a freshman studying dietetics, and where I dream to go, so if you are not a fan it is okay you can still read this….I guess!  

My hobbies consist of dance and choir. I dance and have been dancing for 13 years. I do all kinds of dance classes such as Jazz, Ballet, Lyrical, and Pointe. This year though I am trying a new class that combines both my loves singing a dancing and those are a Theatre Tap and Theatre Jazz class. I have been doing choir since I have been allowed to. I also take private voice lessons outside of school choir. I love the experiences, friendships, and combination of both my loves that the South choir offers.  Other than those two main pastimes I enjoy hanging out with friends, having family outings, and doing athletic things such as play a game of backyard soccer!

My favorite thing of all is being with my family. We are a very close, tight knit family. We get together for every holiday, birthday, anniversary, or special occasion. My mother’s parents live in Grosse Pointe along with her sister (my aunt), my uncle and my cousin Allie. My aunt on my dad’s side also lives in Grosse Pointe along with her children/ my cousins Meagan, Matthew, Andrea, and Lauren. My cousin Allie, my sister JJ and I are all like three peas in a pod. I love them both like we were all sisters. Allie grew up an only child, and since there were JJ and I only 13 houses away, she joined in the fun of sisterhood, and we took her along the ride of growing up with a sibling. I love my family and without them and the support they give for everything I do or attempt, my life would most defiantly not be what it is today.

Throughout this little biography of me you have learned about who I am, what I love, and what I dream to do. I hope that many of the questions you would have if you haven’t met me before have been answered, and that you can start to understand me and my quirky personality a little better. I am glad you read this and learned a little about who I am as a person, and have gotten a chance to know me just a little more. J