The Hand of God

 OK, so a common theme that seems to be occuring for this part of American Lit. class is Puritanism. But, who are these people really. Puritans were a religious group from England who migrated to America and formed clonies to escape religious persecution. They mainly settled in the New England area, but some of the most famous and notable settlements were in Massachusetts. Probably the most notorious of those settlements was Salem, does that name ring any bells. Witches! It also happens to be the hometown of Nathaniel Hawthorne, author of The Scarlet Letter. But, before Hawthorne was eve born he was already famous for his family's involvement in the Salem Witch Trials.


So, one of the core Puritan beliefs that struck me was the belief that God saves those only those who which he wishes and only a select few fall into that catergory. I think that this is still carried on into todays society, except that today God isn't the one who is picking and choosing it is the goverment. Think about it, the people who make the most money like corporate 500 bosses pay the least amount of taxes. But, the poor and working class pay the most. Another example is the amount of money that the goverment decides to use on the war as opposed to the money spent on sbuilding schools and other things. We live in a seriously confused world these days and things need to change. Peace. 

When I Knew That I Was An American...

 So this week's blog post is to explain the moment in which we knew that we were an American. Well, to answer this question fully you have to understand what an American is. In class this week we read the Declaration of Independence and the essay What It Means To Be An American. Those pieces of literature helped me form an idea of what exactly an American is. To me being an American means being able to exercise free will, and having the drive to make change for ourselves. America was founded on democracy, a goverment of the people and for the people. But, not just people, people who are willing to work for change. An American can't be defined by a specific ethinicity because we all derive from a different country.

But, I can't really say that there was a moment that I felt I was an American, because i have always felt like an American. My family isn't from another country, we are from Richmond, VA. Although I am a Muslim which is often associated with terrorism and being Anti-American I have never let that shake my beliefs and sense of patriotism.

It was all a dream...

For this weeks blog entry we are supposed to discuss a conflict where no compromise was made and it ultimately ended in death. Well, i have the perfect situation, although it does moderately depress me. The incident that im speaking of is the East vs. West rap war. This conflict, or beef as it is refered to in the rap community. It all started when Tupac Shakur was shot inside of a recording studio, and coincidentally Biggie Smalls a.k.a Notorious BIG was in that same recording studio at the time. Tempers flared, word were exchanged, an ultimately one thing led to another and the war had begun.


In the corner for the west coast was the record company Deathrow records which Tupac, Snoop Dogg, Dr. Dre, and a host of many other famous rappers belonged to. In opposition was Bad Boy records which was backed by Biggie Smalls, Craig Mack, Busta Rhymes, and others. The camps were headed by Suge Knight hailing from the westside and P.Diddy from the east, or was his Puff Daddy or something stupid like that back then. Never mind thats besides the point and so is a bunch of other stuff about the whole ordeal so I will just skip to the important stuff. So, while this was going on Biggie tried multiple times to get a chance to talk to Tupac to settle the mess, but he didn't want to hear it. When his efforts did not work BIG decided that if they weren't going to find a common ground then he might as well go all into the situation.


But now, here comes the depressing part. After about a year or so of the beef between the two coast having not been digested yet, on September 7, 1996 Tupac Shakur was gunned down in Las Vegas, Nevada in which he died a few days later. On March 9, 1997 the Notorious BIG was also shot and killed in Los Angeles, California. The rap world had lost two of the greatest of all time over something that couldn't be proven, and a simple case of stubborness. That trajic event definitely could have been avoided if only, one of could have been the bigger man.(No pun intended) So until next time peace.

John Proctor; Hero or Stooge?

In society many view heroes as the person who saves the damsel in distress, or die for what they believe in. Well, in John Proctors case i guess that you could say he is a hero, theorectically. In my mind I see John as as fool, or as Mr.McCarthy tells us to describe him as a stooge.


For starters, John Proctor feels that the entire trial is stupid and should just be forgotten about. He has nothing to do with the witch trials and should just stay away from the issue and let things run it's course. But, this is where John's "hero" instincts come into play and he decides to come and get involved in the situation in hopes of saving the town. But, in the end he just ends up dying trying to be a hero. Yea, real heroic Johnny boy. How about really stupid and a major FAIL. Wait, he's not finished here is his last chance at becoming a hero to save the damsel in distress Elizabeth his wife. He does actually save Elizabeth by sacrificing his life for his love blah blah blah. Hooray, but wait here's the catch. If he was really dying for what he believed in then  why would the thought of cheating on his wife ever come into play. Yea, gets you thinking right.


So, to sum all that up John dies for something that he thinks he believes in enough to maker the ultimate sacrifice, but in the end it just makes him look like a STOOGE.


Well, that's all for now so peace until next time.