Salem, Puritans, the actual House of the Seven Gables and Nathaniel Hawthorne

Nathaniel Hawthorn was born in Salem, Massachusetts. Coincidentally, Salem is also the setting of "The House of the Seven Gables"  Actually, quite a few of his stories take place in Salem, Massachusetts, such as "The Scarlet Letter" and "Young Goodman Brown".
Puritans were a strict peoples. For example, they expected their children to act as young adults. They were not allowed to show any emotions or be severely punished. Toys and games were strictly prohibited and their days were filled with tireless work. They saw these materialistic things as sinful distractions. At a young age, the boys started to work under masters as apprentices to later carry on the trade. They learned skills such as carpentry, hunting, fishing, and other crafts. While on the other hand, the girls were expected to stay home with their mother and help tend to the house by cooking, cleaning, sewing, et-cetera. 
The Puritans affected our lives today in many way. One for example is that it made sure that there was morality in our government. They made religion an important part of our society. They introduced the concept and trade economy. So even though the Puritans are probably not the people you probably wanted to live with, they still greatly impacted our society in many ways. 

John Procter

I believe John Procter is not a puppet and to be used by other people. He is a man of high honor and respect, a hero. Although he has done some sinful deeds, such as cheating on his wife with Abigail, I still believe that he is a good man because he is truly sorry and tries to make thing right with his family and above all else, he saves lives. By not confessing that he is a witch, he keeps his title as known by the people and his family at the price that he must hang. I also think that he is a hero because he loves his family above all else and begs for her wife to be spared until she delivers their baby. He certainly is not a puppet because he makes  his own decisions and corrects his own mistakes.

When I Knew I Was In America

I guess I sorta knew I was American when I was still young and my parents told me that I was born in Chicago, Illinois in America. So, from then on, I guess I just always considered myself to be an American without really having a full understanding on what being "American" truly meant.


I developed a better understanding of what it meant to be an American around the time I was in first or second grade. I probably realized it when I looked into my social studies book and learned about how other people live outside of my community. I saw that there was more people out there than just my neighbors an friends down the block. I read about people who lived all over the world, in Africa, Asia, South America, and many more.


I realized what it truly meant to be American probably around fifth grade when I went on vacation to the Philippines to visit family. While I was there, I noticed how differently people lived there compared to how we live here in the United States. I realized cultural diversities and that I wasn't really American (besides the fact that I'm a citizen). I was really filipino because those are the customs and traditions that I follow.

A Reason to KILL

Honestly, I think killing others to solve conflicts is just stupid. Killing others just causes more problems. Even in war, killing an opposing country is no different than murder. But, because of some twisted logic, soldiers are praised and awarded for this. So basically, the reasoning of our country is "Its ok to destroy the lives of families somewhere else, as long as its not here." That's horrible.
Why can't problems be solved through civil nagotiation? Why must we be so barbaric and kill others to get what others have and what we want. That's just selfish, and if you learned anything in preschool and kindergarten, its that sharing is caring.
Why not play a nice friendly game of chess to decide the winner of an argument? Checkmate, now surrender to me. Can't it be that simple? But no, people have to be stubborn and risk their own people to fight for their country, kill a ton of people, and come home heroes, if they come home at all.
So basically, I think killing is stupid. The only way a person should die is from either sickness or age and nothing else. Dieing in any other way is just stupid.