In The Crucible, written by Arthur Miller, Abigail Williams is known to be manipulative and selfish, as she would constantly lie and falsely accuse other people of participating in witchcraft. She often threatens other people in order to get things her own way, and would gain control over them. For example, in Act 1 when she had threatened the girls to not confess to anyone about anything that they had done in the woods, and to only say that they were dancing. If they had said anything, she threatened to stab the girls.

“Abigail: Now look you. All of you. We danced. And Tituba conjured Ruth Putnam’s dead sisters. And that is all. And mark this. Let either of you breathe a word, or the edge of a word, about the other things, and I will come to you in the black of some terrible night and I will bring a pointy reckoning that will shudder you.” (20).

Abigail had falsely accused many other people in order to protect herself, but it eventually led to her accusing other people to get things the way she wants. From the people that she has accused, most of them had gotten executed without much proof. This shows how she is the cause of many deaths, and that she has a lot of power.

“Abigail: I want to open myself! They turn to her, startled. She is enraptured, as though in a pearly light. I want the light of God, I want the sweet love of Jesus! I danced for the Devil; I saw him; I wrote in his book; I go back to Jesus; I kiss His hand. I saw Sarah Good with the Devil! I saw Goody Osburn with the Devil! I saw Bridget Bishop with the Devil!” (48).

The reason for why Abigail acts this way is because she might have realized that she can get things done her way easily—by manipulating people and getting them killed.

Similar events that I have personally experienced were often when my siblings had gotten in trouble. An example was when I had caught my sister doing something that would upset my parents, and I was told to not tell anyone or else she would also get me in trouble. As siblings, there were often times when we would tell on one another, constantly getting one another in trouble.

“Manipulation”. Nitinbhatia, 2016, https://www.nitinbhatia.in/stocks/stock-price-manipulation-pledging-shares/. Accessed 16 Mar 2021.

Miller, Arthur. The Crucible: A Play in Four Acts. New York: Penguin Books, 1976.

There are often occasions where people would lie in order to make themselves feel better, or to make people believe that they are innocent. Knowing that the person is lying, yet other people are believing them makes me frustrated; I am not able to do anything about it as people would often think that I am trying to make the person look bad, or they would not believe me. Although there might be some people who believe me, other people would have their own opinions.

From my own experience, there would be times when my siblings had done something unacceptable in our household, such as breaking something. In order to not get in trouble, they would lie their way out or blame it on other people. Although I would not want to rat out on anyone, I know that I would also suffer the consequences. This situation is similar to the Crucible when Abigail was told to tell Parris about whether she had participated in witchcraft, as Parris had suspected that she had performed it during act 1. Although Abigail had told him that she and Betty did not participate in any form of witchcraft, he still found it hard to believe as he had seen them in the woods, dancing like heathens. Parris must have found it frustrating when he was trying to get Abigail to tell him the truth since he had already seen them acting strange in the forest. Abigail had to remain innocent and clueless in order to not be accused of witchcraft, as she and Betty would then suffer the consequences of them getting punished and killed. I understand how Parris had been frustrated about trying to get Abigail to confess the truth, but I also understand how Abigail did not want to confess anything so that she can protect herself and not get punished.

People often misunderstand an idea that an individual might want to convey, it is common and would lead to people getting the wrong idea of an information. There were often times when I misunderstood something; for example, not listening to instructions properly and doing the opposite of what I am supposed to be doing, or even mistaking someone as someone else. In the book, The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, written by Rebecca Skloot, Skloot mentioned that there were articles being published about Henrietta Lacks and her cells that has helped lead to new discoveries and helped the lives of many patients. However, each of the articles had used different names such as Helen Lane or Helen Larson, instead of her real name, Henrietta Lacks. This led to some misunderstanding about where the HeLa cells had come from, and it was also difficult for journalists, scientists, and doctors to be able to track Henrietta’s family to interview them.

Misunderstandings often lead to making the situation more difficult than it should have originally been. It makes people more confused as to what they are supposed to know and do, and I can sometimes relate to this as well.

I believe that there are some people who do not know what is the best for themselves. They would often ask people to make their own decisions so that they would know what to do. In The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, written by Rebecca Skloot, Henrietta would often prioritize spending time with her family instead of taking full care of her health. Only when she was really sick, was when she decided that she should visit the hospital to get herself checked up.  I have several personal experiences that I have encountered that really shows how certain people are pretty clueless about what they think is the best for them. There was a time when my friend did not know whether to have a day where she can just relax, or if she should complete her late assignments that day. To me, I know that I would prefer to complete my late assignments, but to her, she did not know which was better for herself.

Sometimes similar situations would also happen to myself as I am also quite indecisive, sometimes I would need my parent’s guidance for me to know what is best for me; however, my parent’s guidance might not always be right for me. Thinking about which classes I should take next year, what I should study in university, are all examples of not knowing what is the best for me. Sometimes I would also ask my parents and all they would say is “up to you” or “ask your friends”, I feel like this just makes it harder for me to pick what the best for me is. I would often do research on what would benefit my future and see if I would be happy with the outcome, which sometimes might help, but sometimes different websites provide different information; therefore, I feel like it would be better to talk to someone who has experienced what I am interested in. I need to eventually learn to make my own choices and know what is the best for me, in order to gain new knowledge and opportunities.

It is typical to know and not know whether or not something is best for you. It depends on what the outcome would be for the choices you picked, some may be more difficult to choose than the other. Guidance from mutuals or acquaintances might help, as some may have more experience and would know what they are talking about; even so, sometimes it would also be ideal to just decide on your own to see what is the best for you by thinking of advantages and disadvantages. Every choice made would affect your future; thus, it is understandable to not know what is best for yourself.

“Indecisiveness Can Cost You Your Business L Talk Business With Howard”. Talk Business With Howard, 2017, https://www.talkbusinesswithhoward.com/indecisiveness-can-cost-you-your-business/.

In this unit, we started off with taking a personality test and analyzing it. We then moved on to identify different ‘This I Believe’ essays, and it was interesting to see how many different beliefs each writers had. This then led to the writing of our own This I Believe essay and video.

This unit had taught me more about how to write an essay better to catch the reader’s attention, and how to use figurative languages and good transitional phrases in essays.

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https://docs.google.com/document/d/16pOHHdNIcUnEqbd4SXHidsac1JX69XfuVG3Nrb7E_M0/edit?usp=sharingIn this poetry unit, the assignments included were TIEAs, writing poems, annotating poems, listening to poems, and reading them aloud. During the beginning of this unit, we read a poetry novel titled, “Poet X”.

From this unit, I have learned the use of more figurative languages, my writing skills, and also my reading skills. This has given me a better understanding about what I should include in my writings and how I can improve further in the future.

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Sleeping is an important part of living, it gives us the energy that we need to last throughout the day, and also improves our overall well being. Every night, a high school student should get at least 8 hours of sleep; however, most high schoolers only get at most, or fewer than 6 hours of sleep due to procrastination, lots of work to do, or even just not being able to sleep. Due to insufficient sleep, it could lead to poor mental health which would then affect not only their academics, but also their social life.

One way to get enough sleep is not procrastinating and prioritizing the more important goals to do first, such as school work. So, instead of watching the television right after coming home from school, finishing your assignments that are due the next day is a better idea. A way that your own time can be managed is creating a schedule to plan out your entire day. This could make you feel more productive, reduce stress levels, and could also save time. When doing work, it is important to avoid distractions. For example, when your phone receives a notification, you would probably immediately check the notification, and it would then lead to you unintentionally scrolling through Instagram. Therefore, turning on ‘Do Not Disturb’ on your phone is a good way to keep you focused on your task, similar to how you would not want your notifications to wake you up when you are asleep.

Other than getting inadequate sleep, you should also not be getting too much sleep, which is about over 11 hours. This could increase the risk of diabetes, strokes, and even death. Getting excessive sleep could be caused by not getting enough sleep the night before, this could also lead to an irregular sleep schedule, such as sleeping during the day and waking up at night. A way to fix an irregular sleep schedule is to make sure not to take naps, and to stay active during the day.

Getting sufficient sleep is about as important as eating, or even breathing. It makes us healthier mentally and physically, improving our mood, and also helps us think clearer. Making sure that you are getting enough sleep by sleeping at least 8 hours before when you should wake up, not procrastinating or being distracted when you are supposed to do your work, and being active.

Image by wixin lubhon from Pixabay

“How To Fall Asleep In 2 Minutes”. YouTube, uploaded by AsapSCIENCE, 30 May 2019, https://youtu.be/EiYm20F9WXU