Propaganda in the Declaration of Independence

While the Enlightenment influenced many people during the eighteenth century to use logic and rational thinking, there is use of propaganda in documents like the Declaration of Independence that suggest writers of the time did not only rely on strong reason, but had weak arguments as well. In the Declaration of Independence, Thomas Jefferson uses propaganda like name calling and an appeal to the people to persuade the public.

One of the weak propaganda techniques that is used in the Declaration of Independence is the use of name calling. The reader can see name calling in the Declaration of Independence when Jefferson lists all of the reasons that America is deciding to sever ties with England and declare independence (Jefferson 124). An example of this is the part of the document that states, "He is at this time transporting large armies of foreign mercenaries to complete the works of death, desolation, and tyranny already begun with circumstances of cruelty and perfidey scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous age, and totally unworthy the head of a civilized nation." (Jefferson 124).  In the passage the author is tearing apart the British and criticizing them for be barbarous and cruel. In this passage the reader sees how Jefferson only mentions the bad things that England did to America. He chooses not to include the things that the British did do for the colonists like defending them from threats. This name calling and tear down of the British is a way for the author to effectively get his point across, but he is not presenting all of the facts to the readers("Recognizing Propaganda Techniques and Errors of Faulty Logic."). This is what makes this part of the Declaration of Independence propaganda. The author is using emotional appeals and keeping information from the reader instead of using a rational approach that includes pure reason and logic. 

Not only does Thomas Jefferson, the author of the Declaration of Independence, use propaganda in the form of name calling, but he also uses the weak argument of appealing of the people. It seems like that in the Declaration of Independence, Jefferson is trying to persuade the general public with emotion instead of reason to cut off ties with Great Britain (Jefferson 122). It seems that he thinks that he knows best and a portion of the document states," Such has been the patient sufferance of these colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former systems of government." (Jefferson 122). In this passage Jefferson is trying to justify the break with England by including all of the people of the colonies having the right to break away from unjust forms of government (Jefferson 122). It is clear that he involves everyone to make them sure that they all have a right to break away from England, and will be an asset in declaring independence.

In conclusion, The Declaration of Independence is not based solely on logic, but also propaganda that appeal to emotion, which is a weak argument. In the Declaration of Independence, the author uses propaganda like name calling and an appeal to the people.



Bibliography:

Jefferson, Thomas. "Declaration of Independence." Glencoe American Literature. N.p.: McGraw Hill, 2009. 122-24. Print.

"Recognizing Propaganda Techniques and Errors of Faulty Logic." Recognizing Propaganda--Guide to Critical Thinking--Academic Support. N.p., n.d. Web. 25 Sept. 2012. <http://academic.cuesta.edu/acasupp/as/404.htm>.

Journal 10

It is my belief that our English class should be provided mints. This is my belief because this will add an incentive to the class that will motivate my classmates and I. When provided mints we will feel as if we have earned something special and continue to strive for many more rewards in the future. A possible result in bringing in mints to the classroom would be a renewal of enthusiasm for coming to class. Rewards will award the students and may make us more willing to be engrossed in the subject matter at hand. Another possible reason that bringing mints into the class would be beneficial is that studies done by scientists suggest that eating mints stimulates the brain. While we were taking standardized tests in middle school, the teachers would provide us mints for the reason of stimulating our brains so we could end up doing well on them. I feel that our English class would be much more productive and engaged with out brains stimulated by mints. This could lead to our class staying on task well and being able to learn and absorb new information about what we are discussing in class. Having our brains stimulated would be essential to learning because we have class the last period of the day. I ,personally, am starting to feel mentally strained at this time of the day and I just want to go home. Eating mints will rejuvenate the whole class for our last hour class, so we will be able to do more and will be much more willing to take in new information. The mental weariness that the whole class could be experiencing after a long day may even vanish because we would have something special that will ignite a sense of goodwill feeling throughout the whole entire class. Overall, I think that mints should be brought into class to encourage students with rewards and stimulate our mentally strained minds.

Journal 9

I love autumn with all of my heart. Honestly, I could gush about the wonders of autumn all day long. First of all I love the violently vivid colors of the Fall. I cannot but help to love how beautiful the earth looks as it changes into various colors of orange and red. These colors brighten the whole world and are very appealing to me. Another thing I love about the autumn is the weather. I cannot stand the summertime because it is way too hot for me and I love being cold. Autumn is my saving grace from the oppressive summer heat and I am eternally grateful for this. The weather becomes perfect for me. I love to emerge outside and feel the cool pristine air of the Earth in my lungs. This is a time where I feel perfectly content. The weather is especially nice in October and I cannot be outside enough. In the autumn the stars at night are also a lot more bright. Even though I know little about the names of the constellations, I love to look at them because they are so bright. The stars always make me realize how big the universe is that I get to play a part in. The stars are to me as gorgeous as the turning of the leaves, and seeing the stars always has a way of comforting me. I am also a huge fan of all of the holidays that occur in Fall. Halloween always excites me even though I no longer dress up and go trick or treating. I still use Halloween though to stuff myself with an inappropriate amount of candy and other goodies. I also enjoy seeing all the kids dressed up in their funny costumes and how they how much joy they experience  in the special days in life like Halloween. I also love Thanksgiving because who doesn't love all of that delicious home cooked food and time with family?

Journal 8

Sometimes having a rational response to someone who is emotional can be very helpful to the conflict that is upsetting the other person so much. For example one time a friend of mine came up to me and was very upset because her hamster had passed away the day before. She had loved her hamster more than almost anything in the whole world. At first I had no idea how to console my friend about the loss of her beloved pet and was unsure of what to say to make her feel better. After considering the situation and evaluating the ways that I could react, I decided to take a rational approach with my friend. I knew that anything I would say in her time of emotion would not necessarily fix her broken heart, but when she considered it later that she could begin to heal. So, while my friend was looking to me for comfort about her hamster, I reminded her of the sickness that the hamster had been dealing with a long time. I gently told her that her hamster had lived longer than was expected and she should be happy for that. I also told her that the hamster was always in pain, and that now he would be free of his burden. I think that this gentle and rational response was able to help my friend heal a lot. I think that if my response had been emotional like many of the other people she talked to had been, I would not have been able to help her feel better. She realized that she had let her own feelings get in the way when think of her hamsters death, and she realized that her hamster would no longer feel the pain he had during life. I think this made my friend be able to accept the death of her beloved pet much more easily. In the end I think my rational response was very helpful.

The Crucible Act Four

While reading The Crucible by Arthur Miller, I noticed many similarities between this piece of literature and Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God by Jonathan Edwards. Most of these ideas seem to come from the shared beliefs in the wrath of God that the Puritans in The Crucible and Jonathan Edwards has in his sermon, and that the final judgement lies with God.

I noticed while reading The Crucible and Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God a similarity in how the Puritans perceive God as full of wrath and very vengeful. In Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God the speaker Edwards says, "God is dreadfully provoked, his anger is as great towards them as to the those that are actually suffering the executions of the fierceness of his wrath in hell..." (Edwards 97). Edwards is pretty much saying that everything you do wrong is making God angry, and every new sin adds to this fury. It also means that if you are sinning, in God's eyes you are not any better than the people already in hell. In The Crucible it is clear that many of the characters believe this like Reverend Hale. At the end of the story he realizes his mistake in supporting the witch hysteria in Salem and knows that many of the condemned are innocent (Miller 132). The reverend can be seen blaming himself for the death of many of the "witches" while he pleads to Danforth to postpone the hangings. He says to Danforth, "There is blood on my head! Can you not see the blood on my head!!" (Miller 131). Hale may believe that God may punish him for his help in the murder of innocent people and that his involvement is making God angry.

Besides the vision of an angry God, both The Crucible and Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God also share the same idea of the final judgement in life to rest with God. In Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God this idea is represented when Edwards says, "And they have nothing in the least, to appease or abate this anger, neither is God in the least bound to by any promise to hold them up one moment." (Edwards 97). This means that God does not care for you, but will only give punishment to you that he finds suit you after being judged. It also means that God has no obligation to keep you from Hell if he thinks it is right. The idea of God's judgement can also be seen in The Crucible when John is asking Elizabeth whether she thinks that he should confess and save himself (Miller 135). Every time he asks Elizabeth responds, "I am not your judge, I cannot be." (Miller 138). Elizabeth means that John has to make his choice by himself because at the end of the day it is not she who will judge him, but God.

In conclusion, there are similarities between the ideas of Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God and The Crucible. Both of these pieces of literature contain ideas on the wrath of God and the judgement of God. Between the similarities of these two pieces the reader is able to perceive important religious ideas of the Puritans.

Bibliography: Miller, Arthur. The Crucible. New York, NY: Penguin, 1996. Print.

Edwards, Jonathan. "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God." Glencoe American Literature. N.p.: McGraw Hill, 2009. 97-99. Print.

Journal 7

When many people think of bullying and harassment they usually only think of the effects on the victim of the bully. While many detrimental effects are put on to the victim, I think bullying tends to affect both the victim and the bully. For example, if a kid gets beat up, they will obviously have bad feelings towards the event and the person that abused them. Being beat up could make them feel very weak and start a plethora of self esteem problems in the victim. They also may start to harbor resentment for not only the other child that hurt them, but also the system that allowed such a thing to happen to them. This resentment could spread till the victim feels all out hate and this is when they themselves can get violent or cruel. They may figure it is better to be the bully than the victim. The victim could also decide that the pain from the mental and physical pain is just too much and tragically give up on life. The bully too can feel negative effects from bullying someone. After bullying someone the bully may one day feel remorse for all they have done to a specific person. The bully will not a get the chance to atone for what they did and this is something that they will have to live with for the rest of their lives. This remorse could even be multiplied if they drove their victims to extremes like giving up on life. Overall, I think that certain measures should be taken in the future to prevent bullying. I think that if we were to cut down on the bullying in the world then both parties could be saved from the pain that bullying creates. The bully could be saved from later remorse and the victim could be saved from social and emotional stress. In the end the world may be a better place where everyone can feel safe and comfortable because they are not bullied.

Act Three of The Crucible

In The Crucible by Arthur Miller many of the characters are given some of the worst traits that humans can have. In The Crucible, human nature like the envy of Abigail, the greed of Putnam, and selfishness of the girls are displayed by the actions of the characters and the events of the story.

One of the bad aspects of human nature that can be found in the personalities of the characters in The Crucible is envy. Envy is displayed mostly in the story by Abigail Williams. Abigail is a teenage girl that had an affair with a married farmer named John Proctor (Miller 110). Eventually John's wife, Elizabeth, found out about their relationship and fired Abigail from her job as a servant in the Proctor household (Miller 110). Abigail resents Elizabeth because she was fired (Miller 23). Abigail also believes that John is in love with her (Miller 24). This causes Abigail to begin to envy Elizabeth because she is John Proctor's wife and Abigail is not. This envy that Abigail feels begins to grow and gets out of control. Abigail begins to believe that if she gets rid of Elizabeth, that she and John can finally be together (Miller 110). It is due to envy that Abigail claims that Elizabeth is a witch that has been practicing dark magic (Miller 73). Abigail acting on her envy results in the wrong attempted persecution of Elizabeth.

Not only is envy one of the aspects of human nature shown in The Crucible, but also greed. Greed is shown by the townspeople that try to take advantage of the chaos of the Salem witch trials. One case of this is the Putnam family. They endorse the witch trials because they can declare the people who have land that they want witches (Miller 96). In the time period, when someone is hanged for witchcraft, they forfeit all of their land (Miller 96). This means that the land of the accused will go back on the market and can be purchased (Miller 96). Putnam declared his neighbor a witch in hopes that he would hang, and Putnam would be able to acquire his land (Miller 96). Putnam is driven by the greed for more farmable land, and this drive causes the suspicion of an innocent person.

Selfishness, in addition to envy and greed, is another part of human nature that is portrayed by the events in The Crucible. Many characters in the book are selfish, and can be seen lying to save themselves and persecuting others. An example of this in the story is when the group of girls claim that they were dancing in the woods naked was because they had been bewitched, when in reality they had been doing it for sport and rebellion (Miller 42). To avoid being punished for dancing, they blame their servant at first, but eventually they get caught up in the chaos and begin to declare people witches for sport or revenge (Miller 44-48). This plunges the whole town of Salem into witch hunt that imprisons many and even results in hangings (Miller 48). I think that this is the epitome of selfishness. To escape punishment they put the blame on others, and this leads to persecution and tarnished reputations for the people they declared witches.

In conclusion, The Crucible by Arthur Miller depicts many of the bad sides of human nature. Among these traits are envy, greed, and selfishness, which are represented by the different characters and events within the story.

Bibliography: Miller, Arthur. The Crucible. New York, NY: Penguin, 1996. Print.

Journal 6

It is very wrong to use someone else as a scapegoat, and I feel that what goes around comes around. There are always repercussions for putting the blame on another. It is unfair to blame something on somebody that did nothing wrong, and it is a sign of weak moral character. It creates problems though when people start to disbelieve the claims that you made about somebody else. This makes people angry because they have been mislead and lied to. This anger could lead to a torch and pitch fork situation for someone who blames other people. No one wants to be fooled and you would lose all of your credibility, and the population would try to ostracize and exile you. The person you blamed also may try to get revenge against you for blaming them for something. It will probably turn out worse the bigger amount of blame you put on them. If I were somebody's scapegoat I would try to get revenge. No one will tolerate being blamed for something they did not do, and this gives the person drive for revenge. They will most likely try to get back at you no matter what. It may turn out that what they do to you is even worse than the punishment you would have to begin with. So, I think that it is best to just deal with your punishment the first time around and not blame anyone else. Blaming others does not help you when you do something wrong. It simply draws the situation out, and things tend to get worse with time. Once you lie once it is easier to keep lying instead of telling the truth. This eventually will lead up to a web of lies. If you mess up once and it is found out that you lied, all of the other lies are revealed and everyone else will not be happy with you. This makes the situation ten times worse than it was from the start. It also makes you seem not trustworthy and provokes the wrath of however you blamed for your actions.

Reflection Blog: Act Two of The Crucible

While reading The Crucible by Arthur Miller, I noticed all the different personalities of all of the characters in the story. Two of the characters that have distinct characteristics are Abigail Williams and Elizabeth Proctor. While these characters are radically different they both nearly match a role of the True Colors assessment. By knowing their characteristics and True Colors, I am able to get a better understanding of Abigail and Elizabeth's personality and what their future actions may be.

In The Crucible, Abigail Williams would be green by the True Colors test. People who are green by the True Colors test are usually intelligent and think by logic and not emotion. They also tend to be leaders and are driven. This drive can make people who fall in the green category tend to not really care about the feelings of other people. I was able to determine that Abigail was green by her actions in the story. From the very beginning of the story, I was able to see Abigail's cold cunning as she started a witch hunt in her town of Salem, Massachusetts (Miller 48). She was able to cover up her odd behavior that would have gotten her in trouble with the church by saying that the servant Tituba bewitched her and her friends (Miller 44). While this is a cruel move, it is also undeniably a smart one by Abigail because she got off the hook and now has an incredible amount of power over everyone in Salem. She has become the leader of a witch hunt and can declare almost anyone a witch without barely any proof at all (Miller 48). This is the leadership role that comes to people who have a green personality naturally. Abigail also has a disregard for the feelings and welfare of others as well. In The Crucible, Abigail wants John Proctor and believes to love him (Miller 24). There however is one obstacle in her path to get to John and that is his wife Elizabeth Proctor. So, to get rid of Elizabeth, Abigail declares her to be a witch and plants a needle in her own stomach (Miller 74-75). She does this because at the same time she has her friend give Elizabeth a voodoo doll with a needle in it that the judges find in the Proctor Household (Miller 74). This is supposed to give evidence that Elizabeth is indeed a witch, and she is taken away to be tried at the end of Act Two (Miller 78). Abigail does not care at all that Elizabeth could hang from the false accusations she has made, and only cares for want she wants. Since I know that Abigail is green, I suspect that through the rest of the story Abigail will relentlessly try to get rid of Elizabeth and take her place as John's wife.

Elizabeth Proctor is on the opposite side of the personality spectrum from Abigail. Elizabeth is blue on the True Colors test. Blue means someone that is passionate and kind. Blue can also mean that someone that does not like confrontation and is forgiving. I think that Elizabeth embodies all of these things in the story. Even though Elizabeth seems to be a little weary of her husband John from his past relationship with Abigail, she seems to have forgiven him for what he did (Miller 55). She is not harsh with him and even seeks his approval him when she does stuff like make dinner (Miller 50). It is clear that she is still unhappy about John's affair with Abigail, but she is not confrontational about it. It can be seen that she does not like confrontation when the men form the court come to take her away and try her for witchcraft (Miller 72). John does not want her to go, but Elizabeth steps forward to go with them (Miller 77). This is because she knows only more trouble will be caused for them if John tries to fight off the men (Miller 77). Elizabeth is kind and selfless even as she is taken away, worrying not for herself but for her children and how she does not want them to fret about her (Miller 78). I think this personality may get Elizabeth in trouble later in the story. She is so kind and may risk herself to save John or someone else from persecution, by giving up her own life.

In conclusion, the personalities and True Colors of Abigail and Elizabeth gave me a deep insight into why the characters do what they do. It also gave me some basis to predict what they may do later in the story.

Bibliography: Miller, Arthur. The Crucible. New York, NY: Penguin, 1996. Print.

Journal #5

I think that the punishments discussed in the video we watched are appropriate twenty-first century punishments for unruly children. Yet, I think that not all of the punishments will really work effectively. I think it would also be easy for the child to find a way to work around the punishment, and then they would not really learn their lesson at all. For example, the expert in the video suggested having the children give the parent the password to their Facebook account, or briefly changing the password so the child may not log onto the social network. I think that this is a good idea in theory, but may not actually work. The child for example may refuse to give up their password to Facebook or other social media sites. The parent then would not be able to effectively use Facebook as a punishment since they could not access the account. Also, the child may give over their password to the parent, but then can just start a whole new Facebook account that is a secret from the parent. I think the most effective way to punish a child by taking away Facebook is to just take away their computer and smartphone privileges. The child will learn that using the computer is a luxury not a right. Maybe taking away computer will even make the child go and play outside or something more active. If they have homework that requires research I would stay by my stance on not using the computer. I would send the kids to the library and research the old fashioned way. Many parents might worry about their kids not having their phones, which often have Internet as well. The parents could take away the smartphone and buy a cheap phone to put their kid's sim cards in. This would allow the parent to still reach the child, but the kid could only really call on the phone and not have all of the fancy options of today's smart phones.

Reflection Blog: Act One of the Crucible

The first act of The Crucible by Arthur Miller gives the reader an insight into his version of the Puritans. From The Crucible the reader can see the qualities of the Puritans and the breakdown of their beliefs.

From reading The Crucible, I could see many qualities of the Puritans. One of these qualities is the zealously with which they regard God. It seems that God is very important to the Puritans, and their whole life revolves around God. The importance of God to the Puritans can be seen through the many references of God in the dialogue between all of the characters. An example of this in the story is when Reverend Hale yells, "Glory to God! It is broken, they are free!" (Miller 48). In this line of dialogue Hale is praising God for Betty, Abigail, and Tituba's confession of being in league with the devil and then renouncing the Devil for God (Miller 48). I think this ironic that Reverend Hale is praising God for releasing the girls out of a fake cooperation with the Devil. It is clear that the girls were never involved with Satan or ill, but gets caught in the panic and wants to use their neighbors as scapegoats. They women also may be enjoying the attention they are getting from the spectacle. This can be seen at the end of act one when Betty, Abigail, and Tituba just began yelling out random names of women that are supposedly cooperating with the Devil (Miller 48). The irony is increased by the fact that this whole scenario was born out of religious zealous of the Puritans and their strong fear of the Devil and going to Hell.

While the Puritans in The Crucible all may share a common zealous of God, it is clear that not all of the Puritans agree with what is going on both at church and with the girls. One of these Puritans is a farmer named John Proctor. Proctor seems to be the voice of reason amid all of the panic and chaos over Betty's mysterious "illness". He can even be seen criticizing Parris often (Miller 28). One example of this is when Parris is talking about how he called the Reverend Hale to come out and look at Betty in hopes of finding out what is wrong with her (Miller 27). He questions Parris about whether he went through the appropriate channels like calling a meeting together before calling out Hale to come look for witches (Miller 27). Parris did not and Proctor seems to disapprove of this (Miller 28). After this the reader can also see John Proctor, publicly disagreeing with the way Parris does his sermons (Miller 29). Proctor says to Parris, "I have trouble enough without I come five mile to hear him preach only hellfire and bloody damnation. Take it to heart, Mr. Parris. There are many others who stay away from church these days because you hardly ever mention God anymore." (Miller 29). This shows that there is a split in the church, and that different Puritans may differ on how things should be done in the church. I also foresee something bad happening to Proctor because of his views about the sermons in a church that is notoriously intolerant.

In conclusion, The Crucible by Arthur Miller gives the reader insight into his version of the Puritans, including what they believed in and how some views between Puritans differed.

Bibliography: Miller, Arthur. The Crucible. New York, NY: Penguin, 1996. Print.

Journal 4

A long trip that I have taken was when I went to Boston. This trip had a large impact on my life. I went to Boston when I was fourteen. To get to Boston my mother and I flew and this was my first flight that I had taken since I was very young, and made me realize how much I love flying in airplanes. When I got to Boston I stayed at a hotel that was right on the Atlantic. I had never before seen an ocean before, and I couldn't stop myself from admiring the strange beauty the chaotic turning of the gray waves created. My trip to Boston also gave me a chance to explore the all of the historic significance the city had to offer. I have always enjoyed studying history and it is my favorite subject. While in Boston, I was submerged in history and it was fascinating. It seemed to me that on almost every street in Boston had some significance. For example, I was able to see the warship the U.S.S. Constitution also nicknamed "Old Ironsides". I was also able to visit Paul Revere's home on the Freedom Trail, and see many important places like Boston Harbor where the Boston tea party took place. Besides history, Boston also had a large mix of different cultures in it that I found fascinating. In one part of the city was a "Little Italy" full of Italian restaurants that fulfilled promises of some of the world's best pizza. Boston also had a strong presence of Irish culture within the city as well due to all the people there that were descendants of Irish immigrants. Overall, I decided that I loved my trip to Boston and would jump at the chance to go back. I loved everything from the food, shopping, history, and the cold and rainy weather. This trip had such a huge impact on me because it made me discover how much I loved to travel and experience new things like different cultures. It also made me realize how important history is and it seemed to come alive in Boston.

History of Plymouth Plantation reflection blog

Through reading "History of Plymouth Plantation" by William Bradford, I can see many qualities of traditional Puritan writing. Bradford's Puritan style of writing includes many references of God and simplistic writing.

"History of Plymouth Plantation" by William Bradford seems to have a reference to God or other biblical things on almost every single page of the book. For example, one passage from the writing shows this when it says, " Satan hath raised, maintained, and continued against the Saincts, from time to time, in one sorte or other. Some times by bloody deaths or cruell torments; other whiles imprisonments, banishments, and other hard usages; as being loath his kingdom should goe downe, the trueth prevaile, and you churches of God reverte to their anciente puritie, and recover their primitive order, libertie, and bewtie." (Bradford 1). This passage essentially means that the Puritans think that Satan is always out to get those who believe in God (Bradford 1). The Puritan Bradford remains firm, however, in his belief that Satan may cause many awful things for those who follow God, but that the Church always fights and wins against what the devil throws at them (Bradford 1). From the passage, readers can understand how important God was for the Puritans. It is clear to me that they thought that if they believed in God and followed Him, that they would be protected by all of the bad things that Satan would do to them and they would win against Satan (Bradford 1). This may explain why the Puritans thought so much of God and were so devout in their faith that they incorporated Him into their writing.

Bradford's "History of Plymouth Plantation" not only shows Puritan qualities in writing by having many references to God and the Bible, but it also shows Puritan writing qualities by its simplistic nature. This simple writing style can be observed from the passage that says, "Experience haveing taught them many things, those prudent governours with sundrie of ye sagest members, begane to both deeply apprehend their present dangers, and wisely to forsee ye future, and thinke of timely remedy." (Bradford 22). From this passage, I can tell that Puritan writers had a simple style of writing that was very straightforward. At first glance the text seems elaborate to the modern reader because of the use of Old English. Once getting past the vernacular of the Puritans of early America, I can see how plain the writing really is. All this passage really only says that the leaders of the colony became smarter and saw what was the dangers to the colony (Bradford 22). Then the author goes on to say that the wise leaders of the colony began to think of ways to fix the problems (Bradford 22). This is so simple because many writers would not come right out and say all of this. Many other writers would use a actual problem that was dealt with and how it was solved. They would leave the reader to infer that the leaders were getting wiser about colony affairs the longer they lived there, but Puritan writers do not do this. They get straight to the point and do not use symbolism, or let the reader read between the lines. I think that the Puritan writing is so simple because the Puritans themselves were not into being extravagant or elaborate in case they accidentally upstaged God.

Bibliography: Bradford, William. Bradford's History "Of Plimoth Plantation." Boston: Published for the Massachusetts Historical Society, 1856. Print.