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Post by Mr. Thomas on Sept 18, 2013 10:37:49 GMT -5
Post responses here
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Post by emmanuelluna on Sept 18, 2013 17:45:02 GMT -5
Emmanuel Luna
Mr. Thomas
English 11
9/18/13
A. The beginning of McCarthy’s speech reminds me of what’s going on today with the crisis in Syria. President Obama is using fear tactics in order to convince the senate to lead an attack on Syria. McCarthy was using a similar tactic since it had only been five years since the end of a world war and also the Cold War was going on at the time. Because of this there was a constant fear of weapons of mass destruction and Communist spies leaking information to the enemies. These constant threats caused paranoia amongst the people and made everyone wonder whom they could trust and who was a spy.
D. The Salem Witch Trials reading really shocked me in general simply because of how paranoid people became over the possibility of witches living in their town. One quote that really stood out to me from the reading was, “19 were hanged on Gallows Hill, a 71-year-old man was pressed to death with heavy stones, several people died in jail and nearly 200 people, overall, had been accused of practicing “the Devil’s magic.” This quote shocked me because it shows to what extent the paranoia took over the people. Because of this paranoia many people were killed in tragic ways and many were accused of witchcraft. This paranoia also made the people wary of others and constantly suspecting each other of possibly being witches.
E. McCarthy’s ideas really confronted me because I feel that he just made a bad problem worse by presenting the possibility of their being Communist spies. I feel that doing so was unnecessary and like I said made things worse because it just made people more paranoid about what was already happening at the time. This paranoia would lead to a great amount of distrust between many people and would ultimately cause more harm than good.
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Post by seandelossantos on Sept 18, 2013 18:50:37 GMT -5
Sean de los Santos English 11 Mr. Thomas 18 September 2013
Salem Witch trials discussion
A. This reading sort of relates to the modern day war on terrorism. Both are very similar in which after one accident, it snowballed into a whole concern for who was and who wasn’t a terrorist. Today, the U.S went into a state of paranoia after the planes brought down the twin towers. After that people began to have suspicion just like the puritans and Catholics of Salem village. In the passage, the author states that, “ With the seed of paranoia planted, a stream of accusations followed for the next few months.” This relates to the U.S after 9/11 in which anyone in New York or other stares didn’t have a problem accusing the nearest man of being a terrorist.
C. One thing that really confused me was how they were able to just accuse anyone in the village of being a witch. This is very confusing because they didn’t have any other theory to why people was either acting strange or other things. It confused on how they couldn’t even come up with another theory to why people acted so weirdly.
E. One character I actually enjoyed in the Salem witch trials was the witch, Tituba. It was kind of crazy how she herself was able to confess to the fact that she might’ve been a witch. It was especially crazy when the author said that, “She described elaborate images of black dogs, red cats, yellow birds, and a ‘black man’ who wanted her to sign his book.” It really surprised me how she was able to stick up to what she believed during the time of paranoia.
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Post by ricejohn on Sept 18, 2013 19:07:06 GMT -5
John Rice Mr. Thomas
English 11
September 18, 2013
Discussion Board
E. I found it very odd that Senator McCarthy would call out certain people with no reason at all. Senator McCarthy accused people of being Communist and it really ruined their lives. These people that were mentioned in the speech lost their jobs and ultimately they lost their reputation. Senator McCarthy really didn’t have any concrete proof to accuse these people. As I kept reading the speech I began to dislike Senator McCarthy more and more. His speech was absolute nonsense and just delievered to keep the hysteria of anti communism alive. Senator McCarthy says at one point “The reason why we find ourselves in a position of impotency is not because our only powerful, potential enemy has sent men to invade our shores, but rather because of the traitorous actions of those who have been treated so well by this nation”. He basically said that Russia was sending people to the United States to spy on the country.
F. Senator McCarthy was delivering this speech to people who were feeding into the hysteria of the Cold War and anti communism. The relationship he intended to develop with them was basically to rally them up, get them excited to defend their country against the communists. He says “At wars end we were physically the strongest nation on Earth and, at least potentially, the most powerful intellectually and morally”. He was boasting about the United States.
D. “Ladies and Gentlemen, can there be anyone here tonight who is so blind as to say that the war is not on?” Senator McCarthy says this and it is basically saying that a war is among them. I really don’t understand how he can say this with no concrete evidence. He only says this and backs it up with circumstantial evidence that as never actually been proven.
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Post by eointunney on Sept 18, 2013 19:08:49 GMT -5
Eoin Tunney Mr. Thomas English 11 18 September 2013
E. While reading Joseph McCarthy’s speech on communists in the state department, I honestly felt like Joseph McCarthy was an absolutely crazy man. It is crazy how many people he accused of being communists without even having evidence. It seems like he is looking for a scapegoat for the mess of the United States and for the reasons of wars. On page three McCarthy says, “We are dealing with a far more sinister type of activity because it permits the enemy to guide and shape our policy.” By uttering the word sinister, Joseph McCarthy is pretty much saying here that the communists are doing the work of the devil. It amazes me how many people believed Joseph McCarthy and it is crazy how many people lost their jobs over this. D. In the handout “A Brief History of the Salem Witch Trials” there were many lines that I found very interesting. One quote which I found interesting was on page one. This line is, “The Puritan villagers believed all the quarreling was the work of the Devil.” I found this line interesting because it shows how strict the Puritans are. Everything that goes against their religion is automatically the work of the devil. Also on page 2, the first line reads, “She admitted that she signed the book and said there were several other witches looking to destroy the Puritans.” I found this line interesting also because it made me wonder what were the reactions of the Puritans.
I. I thought Emmanuel Luna’s comments on part A was a very great connection. When I read Joseph McCarthy’s speech I actually had related it to Obama using fear tactics about the war in Syria as well. This is a great connection because Obama and McCarthy are both making people fearful of the opposition, but McCarthy’s speech can also be looked at as idiotic. McCarthy is just crazy man, while Obama is trying to actually warn people.
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Post by matthewsegarra on Sept 18, 2013 19:09:21 GMT -5
Matthew Segarra Mr. Thomas English 11 18 September 2013 A. McCarthy’s speech is similar to the Syrian crisis. Obama is instilling fear onto us so it could justify his wrongful attack on Syria. He is trying to say that they will attack us first if we don’t attack them. McCarthy also doing this to provoke an attack on Russia since we were in the middle of a war with them. This caused mass hysteria and led everyone to suspect a possible surprise attack. Everyone believed someone else was a communist spy and everyone looked over their shoulders.
D. I was shocked by the level of distrust and paranoia in The Salem Witch Trials. It is just irrational to believe someone could perform deadly magic. This quote stuck out at me, “19 were hanged on Gallows Hill, a 71-year-old man was pressed to death with heavy stones, several people died in jail and nearly 200 people, overall, had been accused of practicing “the Devil’s magic.” This quote shows how cruel people were and the full extent of their paranoia and fear. This led to a lot of stress and a lot of deaths.
I. I agree with Emmanuel Luna’s response to E. I also feel that McCarthy was in the wrong for instigating this situation. He made a lot of people lose sleep, and ruined a lot of innocent people’s reputations. He just made the lives of the people he reached out to worse by feeding them lies in order to support his own cause.
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Post by matthewchan on Sept 18, 2013 19:15:46 GMT -5
Matthew Chan Mr. Thomas English 11 18 September 2013
A. We can relate to Senator McCarthy’s speech to today’s world. The main point in his speech was about communism and how government officials took sides with communism and how they affected the US government. I can relate this speech to Edward Snowden who spread classified information about the United States to the entire world. In my view, Edward Snowden would definitely be on Senator McCarthy’s list of traitors and “Most Wanted” people. C. A question I have about Senator McCarthy’s speech would be why did people betray the US government through their acts and judgments? We can also relate this question to today’s world as well. Why do terrorists find it fun to kill and hurt people? Why do people betray one’s country? These are excellent questions that can be answered in many ways. Maybe people betrayed the US because they didn’t like the government’s ideas and thought communism and war would be better. Everyone has a different view of the world and there is nothing wrong with what you believe in. However, you need to know what the difference between right and wrong is. E. I thought that it was a bad decision for Governor Phipps to prohibit further arrests and release the witches during the Salem Witch Trials. I think Governor Phipps thought there was no point arresting people who were “witches”. I believed he was extremely lazy and didn’t care for the welfare of family and citizens. I believe each person who was bewitched should receive justice and guidance.
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Post by joeroperti on Sept 18, 2013 19:37:50 GMT -5
Joseph Roperti English 11 Mr. Thomas 18 September 2013
A. After reading this story i found a connection with the fight against present day terrorism. When the thought of the world terrorist comes into ones mine that lives in New York the immediate thought is 9/11. But in the times of the puritans terrorism was not so iminent as today. They would percive a witch as a terrorist that raised havoc and troubles through out Salem. I feel this quote " With the seed of paranoia plated, a stream of accusations followed for the next few months" greatly relates to the months following a with trial as well as a terrorist attack like 9/11. C. The aspect of the book that really confused me was with how a person of the village could be randomly selected to be accused of being a witch. as long as they were accused or even thought of to be a witch they were put through a trial. Regaurdless of what lifestyle they were living at any given moment they were able to be deemed as a witch. I. my classmate Sean De Los Santos had a very similar connection with terrorism and the salem witch trials. i think that it is a great connection especially because we are both new yorkers and even today feel t he after effects of 9/11.
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Post by danokeefe15 on Sept 18, 2013 19:43:46 GMT -5
Danny O’Keefe Mr. Thomas English 11 9/18/13 C. While reading the Salem Witch Trials I noticed that after the two kids were accused of being witches, it became allot easier in a way to spot who was a witch or not. The thing that confused me was, did all of these people that were either accused or kill act the way that the first to people did. Were they making weird noises or putting themselves in weird positions or were they doing other things that people thought were witchcraft. What also confused me were the punishments for some of these people. I felt like people that were more likely to be witches get a less severe punishment then those that didn’t really do anything wrong. F. When reading Joseph McCarthy’s speech I noticed that there was a relationship between him and Abraham Lincoln in a way that they both wanted what was best for their country in a rough and confusing time. In the beginning of the speech he talks about Abe Lincoln and talks about what he stood for and after saying that he said that he in a way agrees with him, but they both faced different problems. He also refers to him at the end of the speech when he talks about the Sermon on the Mount and how Abe Lincoln would want America to react to this and in a way how he also wanted America to react to it. E. One of my reactions to this reading was when it spoke about some of the punishments and how many people were accused of witchcraft and other things, I thought that it was pretty interesting because of the way they went about these things and how scared and frightened these people were. Also the different punishments that people got were very gruesome, for example the 72 year old man being pressed by large rocks
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Post by Sgarlato on Sept 18, 2013 19:47:32 GMT -5
Stephen Sgarlato Mr. Thomas English 11 9/18/13
A. A Brief History of the Salem Witch Trials is very relative to the 1600’s when they actually would have trials for whether somebody was a witch or not. Back in the 1600’s they would try to prove whether they saw “dark magic” being performed that could potentially be harmful for the community. In the section of the article that is stated Witch Hunt it described Tituba saying, “The Devil came to me and bid me serve him”. This freaked me out because in the 1600’s usually the so called “witches” would pretend to or think they were actually doing magic/possessed. Tituba actually says she is seeing the Devil.
C. As I look upon some of the other ProBoard responses many people stated that they didn’t know why people would get randomly searched and accused as being a witch. As I thought about it I started to wonder the same thing. I can understand checking someone if they are seen doing out of the norm things but not if they are just regular people. There was no real explanation of why they did that.
D. In the part of the article labeled Salem Struggle I really like the part where they say, “Many practicing Christians, and those of other religions, had a strong belief that the Devil could give certain people known as witches the power to harm others in return for their loyalty. I like this because today religion is much stronger amongst certain people and we are able to understand that the previous statement is not that all true.
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Post by georgebaroudos on Sept 18, 2013 19:49:54 GMT -5
George Baroudos Mr. Thomas English 11 18 September 2013
A – The witchcraft craze reminded me of the U.S. when swine flu broke out. The swine flu epidemic became a very big controversy, people began singling people out for their adoption of the flu and it was honestly a mess. The witchcraft craze ravaged Europe just as the swine flu epidemic ravaged North America. Many people became cautious in both situations. Precautions that we wouldn’t take normally were put into effect because we were scared. The people of Europe were most likely scared as well and in both times the continents were not in the greatest place.
D – Once the “seed of paranoia planted” (2) all hell breaks loose in any society. Once people’s minds begin to think everyone begins to panic. With the threat of a witch everyone was scared for his or her families. Everyone was put on guard and as it grew wider more paranoia sank in. It was unfair to these people in the society but the norm involved paranoia. Precautions were taken and anything would be done to save their family. Many families were in fact singled out tremendously. It is quite unlucky but we must all deal with our own problems.
E – Even though the actions of some judges during this period are unacceptable and unforgivable I do admire judge Samuel Sewall. Sewall accepts his wrongdoing and admits that he was wrong. It takes a lot for anyone to admit they are wrong. Doing it publicly is even harder. But through his craziness I admire his honor and ability to admit wrongdoing. I am still baffled how these judges accused these people but it took a lot to admit his wrongdoing. With that I also believe sympathy and regret sink in.
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Post by peterstolarski on Sept 18, 2013 19:57:50 GMT -5
Peter Stolarski Mr. Thomas English 11 September 18, 2013
A) Senator Joe McCarthy’s speech relates to the fact that what you say or post on the internet may affect your everyday life, stop you from being let into a school or even get you fired. There have been many instances where a person said something on the internet that others found offensive and was fired or expelled from school. There have even been instances of people joking around on the internet about subjects such as bombs and terrorism and being arrested for doing so. Even though the people persecuting the person who posted something “offensive” or “dangerous” on the internet have no proof or knowledge of what the person really meant or if the person really was joking they still they still persecute the person for it. Just like McCarthy is doing in his speech.
C) I don’t understand why it took Massachusetts so long to apologize for the Salem incident, “however, it was not until 1957-more than 250 years later that Massachusetts formally apologized for the events of 1692”. (page 2)
D) “Today we are engaged in a final, all-out battle between communistic atheism and Christanity. (…) And, ladies and gentlemen, the chips are down they are truly down”. I found this line interesting because it shows how he makes every thing overly dramatic and plays on the feelings of the crowd to get them worked up and achieve what he wants. There was no all-out battle. The tensions in the cold war were relatively the same throughout its course. If the chips were indeed down
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Post by poulong15 on Sept 18, 2013 20:09:57 GMT -5
Gregory Poulon
Mr. Thomas
English -11
September 18, 2013
Senator Joseph McCarthy’s Speech on Communist in the State Department
D. The excerpts of Joseph McCarthy’s speech on communist in the State Department were a real eye opener when I was reading. The speech was very interesting, but I found one paragraph that really caught my attention. “The reason why we find ourselves in a position of impotency is not because our only powerful, potential enemy has sent men to invade our shores, but rather because of the traitorous actions of those who have been treated so well by this nation. It has not been the less fortunate or members of minority groups who have been selling this nation out, but rather those who have had all the benefits that the wealthiest nation on earth has had to offer -- the finest homes, the finest college education, and the finest jobs in government we can give.” In this paragraph of his speech McCarthy sums up what he feels. These lines state that the United States is hurting themselves because of men and women who are U.S. citizens working with other countries against us. Joseph McCarthy really gets his pint across giving us concrete examples of why this is true.
E. I really liked and comprehended Joseph’s whole point of view. He was really trying to prove a point and influence his listeners that there needs to be a change, in order for communism attacks to stop. He gives his listeners more then one concrete example of U.S. citizens turning against there country. One example that really stood out, was that one about John Service. John went to china as an insider of the U.S. to learn about communist attacks. Later John found himself on trial for turning his back and becoming communist, and going against the U.S. He was found guilty and this is what Joseph McCarthy wants to stop.
C. I really enjoyed the speech, I was just confused about the part of no one taking a stand and prosecuting these traders. If these concrete examples are really true and we have the concrete evidence of them being traders, why can we not finally prosecute them and get our people the safety we want?
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Post by connor on Sept 18, 2013 20:35:33 GMT -5
Connor Ryan Mr. Thomas English 11 9/18/13 Joseph McCarthy A. I feel like McCarthy speech can relate to the war against of terror we are constantly fighting. He says, "the reason why we find ourselves in a position of impotency is not because our only powerful, potential enemy has sent men to invade our shores, but rather because of the traitorous actions of those who have been treated so well by this nation" (2/4). I feel like that line relates to the problem the United States is facing daily. We are facing the fight against home grown terrorism. Just a couple of months ago the bombings in Boston was a act against terror. The terrorists were two males who were both American citizens. D. A line that really stood out to me in the "A Brief History of the Salem Witch Trails" is "it was not until 1957- more than 250 years later- that Massachusetts formally apologized for the events of 1692"(2/3). I feel like most states do not take responsibility for their actions. I enjoyed that Massachusetts say sorry because they know what they did was wrong. I. I would like to comment on Emmanuel Luna's part A because I agree with it. Obama and McCarthy are both using scare tactics to put fear into the people. Obama is trying to warn the citizens of the U.S by scaring them because of the situation in Syria. I think McCarthy is just trying toward people of the events that are about to happen. Other people might think McCarthy is just plain crazy. Some of the things he says are idiotic.
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Post by bourdonm15 on Sept 18, 2013 21:39:29 GMT -5
Matthew Bourdon English 11 Mr. Thomas 9/18/13 A. This story really relates to anyone that is ever accused of doing something wrong when they are completely innocent. For most people it is never to a major extent, but something like accused of taking something when you didn’t, etc. “Eventually, the colony admitted the trials were a mistake and compensated the families of those convicted.” This shows how these people just pointed fingers and assumed without deeply investigating and knowing if these people were innocent or not. It is really sad and devastating to those that were innocent and lost their lives it really is tragic. D. I enjoyed the story/biography because I felt like it was important to know. It is history and it is something that was major at the time. “Since then, the story of the trials has become synonymous with paranoia and injustice, and it continues to beguile the popular imagination more than 300 years later.” This shows how important this is to history and to our knowledge. It was also very easy to understand, not confusing, and very intriguing. F. The relationship between the characters was not that amiable. Anyone working for the court or as a part of the jury were not on the same page obviously and due to this did not agree on many things. The people a part of the court and jury were out to get the person on trial for wrong doing. “The court largely ignored this request and five people were sentenced and hanged in July, five more in August and eight in September.” This just shows that the court as a whole had no mercy for those on trial.
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