Students in Mr. Nekrosius's humanities project groups recently researched, wrote, and designed online newspapers about the Salem Witch Trials. To learn more, there is a link to the newspapers below.
For Mr. Nekrosius's humanities classes, here is your blog post assignment:
Choose ONE of the online newspapers created by Mr. Nekrosius's project groups and spend twenty minutes browsing through the various pages (you can find links to the two newspapers here). When have finished reading the newspaper, post a comment in which you write the following:
1.Three things you learned about the trials and/or the people of Salem--be specific, and be thorough.
2. A detailed connection between the events of Salem and the events you studied for your project (or, if you are in Mr. Nekrosius's project group, a connection between something you read and something you wrote for your own article.)
3. One question for an author or one of the designers of the newspapers.
(If you are in Mr. Nekrosius's project groups, you should post on the other class's newspaper.)
Remember:
You should include ONLY your first name and your class period (NO LAST NAMES) at the end of your blog post.
Also, remember to be positive, constructive, and detailed in your responses! Your posts are due Thursday, November 29th.
38 comments:
of the many things that I learned while reading the newspaper these are in my opinion the three most important. First off I learned about how if you get tested to see weather or not you are a witch, you die weather or not you are a witch. second of all I learned that if you become a witch you sell your soul to the devil. also third of all i learned that the signs of the devil are when you learn to bark and hiss like animals and start to act like them. also a sign of the devil is when you get taken over by spasms. I did the Anne Hutchinson Documentary project and I was surprised to find that both of the projects had so much to do with religion. both of the projects had to do with religion and England and (obviously) puritans. The Question I have goes to Milo. In your article you said "Witches cannot say prayers from the Bible, and are horrified by the church. Once you were a witch and had signed the Devil’s book you were permanently a witch and would not be able to go back to being a regular citizen." I was wondering why it is that witchcraft always has to do with the Devil and how it is always evil? How come Witchcraft cant have anything to do with God and Why cant Witchcraft be good? Is it that when you become a witch you become corrupted?
--Clemente R.F.
Nekrosius Humanities
period 5-6
I learned many things while reading 'The Salem Journal' including the fact that only one of the girls out of a group of young girls that started the whole Salem Witch Trials nightmare ever apologized for accusing so many people of being witches. I learned that the legal processes in Salem lasted one year, from 1692 to 1693. I also learned that the Salem Witch Trials were started by and nine year old girl.
I was in the Anne Hutchinson documentary for my project, and I was surprised how much the Salem Witch Trials were like the trial of Anne Hutchinson. Bridget Bishop reminded me of Anne Hutchinson in many ways. Bridget was a woman like Anne who was discriminated against and put to trial. In the end Bridget was put to death. While Anne was not put to death she was banished from the Massachusetts Bay Colony, in the end Anne was killed by Native Americans, this would not have happened if Anne had not been banished.
A question I had for Aden was that as the author of the article 'Bridget Bishop' she interviewed many people from the time period in which the witch trials happened. In the end of the article Aden states "She was the first hero to die". I would like to know if Aden was trying to write as if she was in the same time period as the people she interviewed or if she was writing from a modern day perspective because it felt that everybody was against Bridget except for Aden. I agree with Aden though, that Bridget was a hero, and I learned a lot from this article, that was the one question I had.
Elizabeth M
Nekrosius
Period 1/2
1.
One thing I learned about the Salem Witch Trials by reading "The New Englander" is that Reverend Parris bought Tituba because his wife was ill and he needed help doing things around the house. A second thing I learned would be that Salem was founded in 1626 by Roger Conant, and was later joined in 1628 by a group led by John Endecott. Perphaps because mainly men founded Salem, it was a patriarchy. This may be one reason why the trials were largely dominated by accusations of witchcraft against women. One more thing I learned from the newspaper would be that a witch was someone who made a pact with Lucifer. In exchange for the power they gained they have to find more followers (witches). Lucifer also gave the witch a familiar. A familiar was a demon that could take the form of any animal(commonly a black cat) and could also posses weak, sick, or elderly people.
2.
"Unspoken" by Maya P. and Chloe S. is an article that views Abigail's, Betty's and the other girls' accusations in a similar way that I did in my article. They brought up topics like: Were the girls making up all the hysteria?, Did the girls do all the accusations and fits for fame?, and was it all a game to the girls? The general topic we brought up in both of our articles being: Was what the girls were doing truthful or not?
3.
(Annika B, "Which Witch is Which") How did people use clothing to determine witches? Is it a reliable or not reliable way to do so?
Molly B.
Nekrosius
Per 1-2
I learned many things while reading the newspapers, I am pretty jealous of the cool things I could have read about. I was very interested in how important killing witches were. I felt like it was unfair that even if they suspected you as a witch but might turn out to not be one they would still kill you! I also found that the fact that a nine year old girl started the salem witch trials is a tremendous thing that could inspire some kids this day and age. the transformation to a witch scared me, but I thought that giving your soul to the devil was pretty cool. I was in the mural project i really noticed while read the newspapers how different and similar the projects were, similarities were in the beginning we were really studying the same things like the puritans and traditions of 1500's-1600's. The question I have is for Nora G, if everyone in the town didn't think she was witch but a saint why would they not protest or try to help her.
Cole S.
Nekrosuis
Per. 1/2
1)
The fact that struck me as the most interesting was that Elizabeth Parris and Abigail Williams may not have actually been pretending the whole while to have fits and accuse people of being a witch; there is a poisonous fungus, ergot, symptoms of which are nearly identical to the girls' "fits", of which it is actually plausible for them to have eaten. I learned that every single witch test was either based off of these girls, or along the lines of float, you're hanged as a witch. Drown, you were innocent, ah, well. I learned the specifics of what Tituba told the girls that got her into all the trouble, that while there were so many accused, there were only supposed to be 9 witches, and that while hanging witches was supposedly saving innocent children, Elizabeth and Abigail's fits got worse and more dramatic.
2)
I was in the mural project, and studied the French and Indian war, the final battle of which was the battle of Quebec. I learned that there was another battle in the same location, 71 years earlier, also called the Battle of Quebec, with somewhat similar circumstances: French allied with Indian tribes versus British, but, unlike the 1761 Battle of Quebec, the British were the ones who suffered a massive defeat. (These battles were the cause of a very confusing argument at the Mural's presentation between myself and one of the article's authors, Elbert Du.
3)
Why were the Porter and Putnam factions in opposition? How much of Ann Putnam's actions are because of the faction's opposition? (Ann Putman is less likely to be saved by the possibility of ergot poisoning) Article: The Death of Giles Corey , by Elbert Du
--Erica H.
Per 1-2, Nekrosius
When i was looking over the newspaper i learned that Puritans didn't use crops to their full extent. I also learned that the Children of Salem had to follow the same rules as all of the adults. I learned that their believe in Calvinism which is named after john Calvin. I learned that they are vulnerable culturally and politically. I learned that if you have a dream about a person flying over you or somebody else that person flying in what ever form it has taken on is a witch and that is what they call spectral evidence. I also learned that there is a profession called a witch hunter. What they do is look for people they suspect are witches or find people who have been accused of being a witch. Once they found a person they do one of two things. 1.) they tie their arms and legs together and put them in water if they sink they are innocent but if they float they are witches since water repels evil. If they sink even though they are innocent they will probably drown. 2.) They find a mole, scar, or birth mark then they stab it. If they bleed or feel pain they are innocent if they don't they are witch. Another trick the witch hunter can pull is have a hollow handle and slip the blade in there so the subject doesn't feel pain.
Since i was in the Salem Witch Trials i think a connection is that when i was writing about reverend Parris i found that he was a real cheap dude and i can kind of relate that to the witch hunter because he slips the blade into the handle so they don't feel pain. I also can relate Reverend Parris to tituba because when tituba was in court she pleaded guild and falsely spread the danger to six other people and i can relate Reverend Parris to that because he supported the girls every chance he got and he also was trying to get the court to let him stay and trick and change the courts mind which tituba did.
I also have a couple questions. 1.) Why did the court allow Spectral Evidence when there was noway to prove it? 2.) How is it fare to have people dunked in water and have them float to accuse people of being witches when most people float? 3.) Why didn't the Puritans use crops more? 4.) Why did tituba make false accusations to save her life when now everyone else has their live on the line? Was that the right thing to do? And last but not least 5.) Why did they name their religion off of John Calvin's name? I mean i know he founded it but i think they could have used something more creative.
--Taylor B
November 27, 2012
Humanities 1-2
Nekrosius
I learned a lot reading this newspaper. One thing I learned is the difference between black and white magic. i now know that white magic was to do good and black to do bad to people. I also learned that anyone could be accused of being a witch an exampel is Rebbeca Nurse. she was thought to be a saint and was killed for being a witch. In addition, I learned about the theory of ergot poisoning, and how the symptoms closely match the symptoms of the bewitchments.
I was in the Anne Hutchinson documentary project. One similarity I noted between the Anne Hutchinson trial and the Salem Witch Trials is that a guilty sentence would mean that the prosecuted is removed from the society, either by death or by banishment. A question I have for Roxanne N. is: "Are there any other ways to perform magic other than black and white magic?"
--Zoe Nekrosuis
Per 1/2
I think that the most shocking thing i learned from reading the Witch Trials newspaper was the utter distrust, insecurity, and anarchy that was displayed in this time and place. Also, I think that the judges were very biased in favor of the townspeople's cries. From what I've read, almost every person convicted by the judges was hanged or killed in some manner. Reverend Parris was a very good display of this. He was sent a letter proving that the accusations were somewhat innacurate, and he plumetted in disgrace.
I was in the Anne Hutchinson Documentary Project, and I found that the discrimination between men and women were almost the same. Majority of the hangings were women, whilst only a few were men. Another horrific detail was the death of Giles Cory. The atrocity of being crushed to death is terrible to me. The fact that people would do this is disturbing to me, but the society was probably different from now.
--Ethan B
Nekrosius
period 1-2
I learned that Ann Putnam was the only afflicted girls who apologized for the nonsense of killing people. After thirteen years Ann confessed that accusing people of witches was wrong. Sarah Good’s husband spoke against her in the trials which caused Sarah to be hung. Dorcas Good who was five years old, was allowed to leave once her mother was hung. I was in Mr.Nekrosious project group and in the Salem Journal there was a little part in an article that talked connected with what I wrote about the Economy. They stated how the poor people were first accused then later on the more affluent people were accused. My question would be for Grace T. who was an author for one of the articles would be was Dorcas Good able to survive and to take care of herself without her mother?
--Victoria
Mr.Nekrosius
period 5-6
The newspaper that I read was well written and well researched. I read the period one and two "Salem Journal". I learned some very interesting things. Firstly, I learned how the trials started. The trials started with two young girls getting fits of hysteria and after the fits were over blaming it on their slave, who practiced forms of "black magic." The slave, whose name was Tituba, was then dragged off to jail and tried for witchcraft. She had a confession forced out of her and was subsequently sent back to jail. I also learned what the real cause of the fits of hysteria was: ergot poisoning. Apparently the fits were being caused by a fungus called ergot that grows in the climate that existed in the western part of Salem. The fungus grew on barley, which was grown in the western part of Salem and was the staple grain for the people of Salem. Almost all of the people who had the fits had definitely been exposed to the contaminated barley and the symptoms matched between ergot poisoning and the fits. The mystery was solved but not before twenty-four people died. I learned about the court in which the “witches” were tried in as well. The court of Oyer and Terminer presided over witchcraft trials after its creation in 1692 by Governor William Phips. The court would try suspected witches by attempting to force out confessions, doing odd tests including one in which a needle was in the holes of the accused’s “devil bite.” The court was disbanded after several prominent people wrote things crying out against the court and the spectral evidence used to convict the “witches.” This is very similar to the trial of Anne Hutchinson. Though separated by fifty years these two events have many things in common. For one, both involve trials in which there is little chance of being acquitted. Secondly, both events happened with the same group of people in the same colony. Finally, the convicted parties in both cases were somehow outspoken. Anne Hutchinson was a woman and had gone against the majority and those in power. Many of the accused “witches” were also outspoken. One was a beggar, another a slave, and yet another someone who had married her manservant after her husband died. Both of these events had much in common and are actually quite similar. There is one thing that I would like to ask Anna K-Z who wrote the article “Ergot Theory Could Clear Accused Witches.” The question is this: who figured out that ergot caused the fits and how?
-Harrison
Humanities Period 1/2
Mr. Nekrosius
Ali k
Mr. Nekrosius
period 5-6
1. I learned that the first witch (tituba) was the servant to reverend Samuel Paris. She told stories to the reverends daughter and niece they were Abigail and Elizabeth. Tituba told them all about magic in her stories.
Witches were considered a threat to the community because a witch worships the devil. And Salem was centered on Christianity.
John proctor was a farmer and the first man to have a trial. The reason that john was accused of being a witch was that he was so openly against the trials.
2. Both the trial of Anne Hutchison and the Salem witchcraft trials were about religion and a threat/threats in a community. The witch trials were about trying to get rid of this threat of witches in Salem. And in the Anne Hutchinson trials, Anne was trying to show people a different religion but the leaders of the community saw her as a threat. Both the trial of Anne Hutchinson and the witch trials had a lot of women figures. The first witch tituba was a women and she taught 8 girls about magic. In the trial of Anne Hutchinson, Anne was on trial but after her there was also marry dryer who was hanged for going back into Massachusetts.
3. In the first article of the new Englander, how did and why did tituba know about putting the egg in to the water. I think that periods 5-6 made a really cool and interesting newspaper
First off, I learned about how Giles Corey was pressed to death with rocks. This, in my opinion, was one of the more gruesome, drawn-out tortures preceding death that was used on "witches". This just went to show the lengths that the people would go to make "witches" suffer. It wasn't the gruesome death so much as the willingness the people had to formulate and carry out the torture that was horrifying. Another thing I learned was that after all the crazy hysteria over the witch trials, only one of the girls who was thought to be a victim ever apologized. That girl was Ann Putnam. I applaud her bravery; it really takes guts to admit that one's self hasn't actually been bewitched by an agent of Satan. And finally, I learned that since anybody at all could have been accused as a witch, everybody suspected everybody else and absolutely no one was safe. Even high-ranked authorities and faithfully religious people could be accused of practicing witchcraft. All this distrust started from when a few girls started having weird fits, which they might have faked to become popular. Everybody who was a "victim" of witchcraft, pretty much all young girls, were able to accuse anybody they wanted with fast results. This gave them a sort of power that they were eager to use. As a member of the Anne Hutchinson documentary, I related this kind of "girl power" to how Anne Hutchinson's influence over her followers threatened the power of the authorities, and gave her a chance to influence people even though she was a woman.
My question, to no particular author, is as follows: Was there a level of authority that was really not threatened at all during the trials, or were all levels of authority susceptible to being accused? And if so, was it possible to accuse, perhaps, the king himself?
Jenny W.
Nekrosius
Pd 5
I learned a lot from the New Englander. I was very interested in the article about women’s rights in Salem. The women were not allowed to do much. The women were the opposite of men, so during church they had to sit on the other side of the Church during service. Also, the women were suppose to stay at home when the man of the house was in public, and when the man was at home the women could go in public. I was also very interested about how the children were encouraged not to show emotion. This was a surprise for me. I think that showing if your happy or sad or excited is a good thing. Not a bad thing. If you cant show your emotion, then no one will know if the need to help you.
For my article, I wrote about Rebecca Nurse. It was interesting for me to learn about how restricted women were in the Salem community. It was said that Rebecca Nurse was very resected, but it is hard for me to believe how respected she was. If women were looked down upon, then how can they be respected by others? That is also my question to Lily who wrote the article.
Nora G, Mr. Nekrosius per. 1/2
In the Salem Witch Trial paper, I learned that when your name would get called out by one of the girls, you would have to go to court, and possibly get hanged. I thought that this was very gruesome, but I think that the people of Salem did this because they were spooked, and didn't know what else to do. I also learned that if you had an unusual marking on your skin, someone would poke it with a needle, and if it bled, you were no longer accused of being a witch, and if it did not bleed, it was somehow suspicious and you were kept on trial. I think that this is odd, but is another reason that the people of Salem were scared. I also learned that in 1486, a book was published, called Malleus Maleficarum, which means Hammer of Witches. This book was used by citizens of Salem as a guidebook to finding Witches.
I can relate to this article because the people of Salem had an expectation for the method of throwing a person tied to a chair in the water. The Pilgrims had a naive expectation of arriving to the New World in summer, but they landed in winter. Both groups of people had an expectation, and it was wrong.
My suggestion for Lillian is that she should include more methods of telling whether someone is a witch or not. I was very interested in the methods, and I think it would be great is she could add more.
-Georgia D, Mr. Nekrosius. Per 1/2
I leaned many interesting things about the process of the trial. I learned that there were informal trials before the court of Oyer and Terminer. During these informal trials the physical features of the accused can be used to incarcerate them. I also learned that the communities were very easily swayed to believe that the accused is guilty. All that was needed was a small sample of evidence such as the fact that you have the features of a “witch”. One interesting thing I learned is that unlike other events in history even the rich and powerful women were being accused.
I was in the mural project and I realized that although they are very different projects they have a few connections. One thing that connected the events I studied to the Salem events is the both had a lot to do with religion. The puritans had many fights with the Native Americans partly because the puritans didn’t let the natives practice their own religion. And in Salem the witches were not allowed to recite the lord’s prayers without disruptions.
Last I have a question for Florence, you have an article called Guilty until proven innocent, but the article doesn’t explain why. So my question is why are the considered guilty until proven innocent?
Jeremy 1-2
1.) One very interesting person that I learned about was John Proctor. Before I read these articles, I did not know anything about him. John Proctor was the first man to be accused during the Salem Witch Trials, and he was well admired. He became one of the wealthiest property owners, because of the inheritance from Johns father. On August 19th, 1692 he was one of the five hung in Gallows Hill. 2.) My project was the Salem Witch Trials. For my article, I did Tituba. In both my article and the Tituba article in period 1-2 talked lots about her stories and if they really affected the girls. 3.) My question to Miles L-G is how many rocks were piled on Giles Corey before he actually died?
--Aliya B, per.5-6 Mr. Nekrosius
I learned that the friends and family of Rebecca Nurse supported her and truly believed that she was innocent, even after she was accused.I learned that Salem was founded in 1626 by a man named Roger Conant, and was later joined in 1628 by a group led by a man named John Endecott. I also learned that children in Salem were not encouraged to show emotions.
I think that Annika B's "Which Witch is Which" has some connections to what I had wrote for my individual article, because she too discusses the people first accused and why they were accused, though she did have a different main idea than mine.
My question was for Alex B.'s article, "Little Ones". Are all the daily things that you mentioned specific to only Salem, or to everyone back in 1692?
Florence A.
Nekrosius
Period 1-2
1. One, Tituba was a slave from South America who was in the center of the Salem Witch trials and she caused it by just telling stories that were told were she used to live. Two, one of the main causes of The Salem Witch Trials was that the girls Abigail Williams and Betty Parris (Elizabeth) were seriously effected by Tituba's stories and started accusing everyone of being witches. Three, when Tituba was accused of being a witch she denied it but after she was beat she "confessed" she was a witch she made stuff up that the people of Salem would believe so that she would not be killed.
2. The hysteria began from stories told by Tituba which strongly affected Abigail Williams and Elizabeth Parris and that lead to the deaths of many innocent, falsely accused people. The people of Salem believed in the elect, meaning that some people were predestined to go to heaven (and anything they would do no matter what they would still remain a "good" person) or hell (and anything they'd do no matter what would be considered evil). This played a large role in The Salem Witch Trials because many people did bad things such as sentencing innocent people to death because the people of Salem accused them of being witches. So Abigail and judges no matter what they did if they were predestined to go to heaven would not be considered a bad person.
3. Chloe s, was Giles Corey the only person killed this way? also why was he put to death in this horrible way?
--Miles L.G.
Nekrosius Humanities
Periods 1-2
1. I’ve I have learned so many things reading the newspaper, one thing that really drew my interest is the article “Beginning of the Salem Witch Trials” by Annika B. and Sophie H.This helped me learn a lot about the Salem witch trials because I didn’t know that much before. One topic that stood out was about the information and background of Tituba. Tituba was the servant of Reverend Samuel Parris. Reverend Parris sheltered Tituba because his wife was ill, and he needed help cooking, cleaning, taking care of his daughter and their niece and doing the general things around the house that his wife was unable to do. I also learned that Tituba was born in an Arawak village. He was captured then taken to Barbados. Lastly I learned about voodoo. I have heard about voodoo but I never knew where voodoo actually came from, but in this article it tells me a little bit about the background of voodoo. Voodoo was created from a mixture of different religions. The religions were West African Religion, Christianity and local beliefs. Another very active religion during this time is black magic. Tituba practiced both of these religions.
2. I was in the mural project and we learned about the Native Americans, the Europeans and the relationship that was between them. I thought there was a connection between the Native Americans, the Europeans and the Salem. The Native Americans and the Europeans, they envied each other. The English called the Native Americans “devils” and “monsters.” They had no reasoning for each other. I thought this bad relationship was also with the people of Salem. The people of Salem thought the “witches” were being persuaded by the devil and were terrible, they thought they deserved to die
3. I have a question for either Sophie or Annika, What time period did the last story that hit Salem the hardest take place in? I also have another question for either Sophie or Annika, Why did Tituba believe that if you put an egg white in to water and let it sink and if you do it right you would be able to see your future husband?
-Jackie W
Nekrosius Humanities
Period 5-6
Three things I learned while reading the paper are: How people accused of witchcraft get tested to see if they are witches, and that they will die anyway. The kids who accused people of being witches never said sorry for what they did. That all the stuff that happened only lasted for one year. The connection that I made is between the John Proctor article in the morning class and my John Proctor interview. Many of the facts were the same, although the format of it was different. I think that the webmasters did a great job with it, but a question I have for them is why aren't the links drop down bars.
- Samy A
One thing i learned about the Salem Witch Trials is how the status of a person determines whether you live or die. Also, i learned that people had so many beliefs, mostly religious, about how things worked in they 17th century. Lastly, i learned that witches seem very peculiar and seem to stand out in the crowd. In the article, Witches Are Everywhere by Roxanne N., I found the article very close to what I wrote about in my article. although, she states some techniques that I didn't include in my article. My question is how did the other class decide the layout of the newspaper and who was decided to do which article?
--Lillian N.
Mr. Nekrosius period 5/6
1) Three things that I have learned are that Tituba went straight to prison for being accused of witchcraft, Abigail Williams and Elizabeth Parris got some weird hysteria from a witch (Tituba?) telling them stories, and that because of Abigail and Elizabeth hundreds of people were being questioned about whether or not they were witches. Abigail and Elizabeth (a.k.a. Betty) have been told many stories about magic, spirits, and fortune-telling by their slave Tituba. Abigail and Betty got this hysteria (or the Devil’s hand) from a witch who the Samuel Sewall (the judge) thinks is Tituba. The Devil asked Tituba to sign his book. Tituba signed, but saw nine other names. She only remembered two-Sarah Good and Sarah Osborne. Both Sarahs’ were questioned and brought to prison. No one knew who to trust anymore and hundreds of men, women, and children were questioned if they were witches because of Abigail and Elizabeth.
2) A connection that I noticed between the events of Salem and my project (Anne Hutchinson) was the trials in Salem and the Quaker laws. In Salem people were accused of being witches. There were numerous ways to determine if that person was a witch or not. A witch can’t recite the Lord’s Prayer without disruptions, if you are tied to a chair and put in water you will float if you are a witch and sink if you aren’t one, etc. Overall Twenty-four people died during the trials, nineteen people were hanged, four died in prison, and one was crushed to death by rocks. People were punished if they didn’t follow the laws, or lied.
The first anti-Quaker law stated that anyone who isn’t Quaker that comes to Quaker, Massachusetts would be whipped and jailed until they could be sent away. The second anti-Quaker law said that any male entering Quaker would get his right ear cut off. The third time he a hole would be burned through his tongue. The last anti-Quaker law would cost a death penalty. Mary Dyer didn’t at first know about the law and got off with a warning. The second time she was about to be hanged but got off with yet another warning. The third time she came back she did get hanged. My point is that the Salem witch trials and the Quaker laws were similar because of the way the government/laws worked and how the people responded. The government made everything very clear and yet the people (in Salem and for the Quaker laws) would still rather die than tell the government what they want to hear/do.
3) Did anyone ever find out if Tituba was a witch or not?
Amanda
Mr. Nekrosius
Period 5-6
I learned that Puritans believed heavily in the story of Adam and Eve. Therefore they had a bias towards women as being weak and giving in to temptation. This ties into my article about the daily lives of women in the way that they were not always given the respect that they deserved when they did work that men got much more credit for doing. I also learned that Rebecca Nurse was a well respected member of the Salem community. This is because she went to church every week, but not the few weeks that she was sick. She was so well liked that the people of Salem petitioned to have her released from jail after being accused of witchcraft. One question I have for the designers is why they put every article of one type on the same page without links to separate pages for each article.
-- David Cloud
Nekrosius
11-28-12
I learned a good amount of things while reading the New Englander Newspaper. First from "the Beginning: of the Salem Witch Trials" by Sophie H. And Annika B. That the Salem Witch Trials were started because of one women (Tituba) and the later the exponentiated into an epidemic killing many innocent people. I learned a lot about the criteria of a witch and the interrogation process by which you could "determine" if someone was a witch. Finally I learned that often not only were innocent people reports as witches and then killed the people who reported them rarely if ever felt remorse for what they had done.
The only main similarity between the newspaper and my project (the mural) were that the puritans in both Massachusetts and in Salem were devout Christians and would punish anyone who would desecrate, doubt, or break the rules of the religion.
-Michael Nekrosius
Humanities 5/6
In the article How it all began, in the New Englander. I learned how the Salem witch trails started with three girls tell stories, and how people could suspect people of being witches, and I learned what happened to the three girls. In the mural we stuied the lives of important people on the east coast of today’s America. For people in the newspaper they stuied the lives of people in Salem. For Marc F, Jacob L, and Fionn S “Is how did the other people in the town react to the witchs?”
Tomas L
Nekrosius
Period 1-2
1.) I learned many things about The Salem Witch Trials, while reading "The New Englander. One thing that I leaned is that Tituba was a servant of Reverend Samuel Parris. Tituba was bought by Samuel Parris because his wife was ill, and he need help to chores around the house. A second thing I learned is that in order to figure out if someone was a witch they would do very harsh things. They would put a person on a chair underwater and see if they would float. If they did float they would be accused of witchcraft. They would also look for a devil's mark on their body. If a mark was found, they would poke a needle into that mark. If the needle did not hurt them, they would be accused of witchcraft. The last thing I learned about was spectral evidence. Spectral evidence is when someone has a dream in which they see someone harming a person or flying around people, then that person doing the harming is a witch.
2.) I was in the Anne Hutchinson project. The Salem court trials is one thing that is similar to the project I was in. Tituba told stories to people, and that influenced them to have a different view on life then they did before. Anne Hutchinson also told a group of people stories, and influenced them to have a different view on life. Even though the situations are different, the outcome is court and people are harmed for believing in something different. These people are excluded from others because of their religion.
3.) I have a question for Sarah G. and Aliya B. How many rocks were stacked on Giles Corey's back in total?
-- Kelsey K
Nekrosius
Period 5-6
Of the many things that I learned from reading the Salem Witch Trials newspapers I was particularly surprised by a few of them. One of these are the creative and cruel ways of testing for witchcraft. " Witch hunters" - people who were paid to capture and kill " witches" would stab people in odd birthmarks or moles to see if they would bleed. If the person bled they were not witches. Another technique used was to throw someone into a pond with their hands and feet tied. If the person sank and most likely drowned they were innocent, if the person floated they would be killed as a witch. A second thing I learned was that some people actually did try to do magic (Titibula). One type of magic practiced was voodoo. In voodoo you could hurt someone by sticking pins into a little doll made to look like them.mAnother interesting thing I learned about voodoo was that it was invented in Barbados. Before now I had always thought that voodoo was invented in Australia (do not know why). A third thing I learned was that in colonial times witches someone could be killed without a fair trial just because a teenager told people that the person was a witch. The trials held for people accused of witchcraft were like the trial of Anne Hutchinson in that they were not fair. In some cases the accuser was even the same person as the judge. One question I have for the writers of the newspapers is why did the trials stop? Another question I have is what did the king of England think about this? Was he angry?
Luis X. Nekrosius
If the three girls had just been under control and not spread a fad who would we be at this time? We would be a more trusting community and better community. On the front cover of the "The New Englander" there is a commercial to find out if your neighbor is a witch or not, the way you find out is to stab them and see if they bleed. This could destroy a future relationship. If someone had not gotten together with another maybe Abe Lincoln would not have been shot. These three girls changed everything dramatically for better or worse.
--George Nekrosius
1. I learned all about Tituba, and the girls club where she taught all of the girl about voodoo and fortune telling. I also learned about how the people were punished for being “witches.” Another thing that I learned about was a man named John Procter and his struggles with trying to make people understand that the Salem Witch Trails were childish and wrong.
2. In the mural project I learned about Squanto and Massasoit and how they worked extremely hard to make two different groups of people come together in peace. John Procter just wanted to have everyone trust each other and be peaceful.
3. Did the pregnant women get hung too? Or did they get punished in other ways? When did the Salem Witch Trails end?
--Bailey L. Period 5-6
1.There were many things i learned about the salem witch trials. one thing that i learned was in the article by Nora, Roxanne, and Grace called court procedures. I learned the steps people have to go through before a witch can be accused guilty. I also learned the couple of ways that the court found out if a person was a witch or not. Another thing i learned was that the people of Salem would torture the "witches and wizards" as much as they could. For example, when they killed Giles Corey, he was laid flat on his back and had alot of heavy rocks placed on him. They cut off his tongue as he croaked his last words.
2. I was in the Anne Hutchinson documenatary, and I was amazed on how cruel and unfair they were to Anne. When I read about the salem witch trials I found out that the people of salem were much more creul and unfair than the court was to Anne. I also agree with what Clemente said, that they both had a lot to do with religion and the Puritans. I also liked how each of the different projects and different messages and projected these messages in different ways.
3. The question I have goes to Nora, Roxanne, and Grace, why do the witches have to go through so many examinations and trials? Why can’t they just have one inspection, one examination, and one trial?
-- David Tiger
Nekrosius
Period 1-2
I learned a lot from the Salem Witch Trials newspaper. I was really surprised that the starter of all the mess was a slave--- I had thought that it was some priest trying to make money. Also, I realized how incredibly devoted the Puritans were to their church, even if they had to watch their neighbor be killed. And last, I learned that even though the Puritans were smart, they were really superstitious: they honestly believed in witches and black magic.
I was in the Anne Hutchinson group, and I was surprised at how similar it was to the newspaper, because they both involved assaulting people due to the Puritans' own insecurity as a colony. I understand them being cautious, but they seem a little melodramatic. I really did like the article about Tibuta but I have a question: Were the others who signed the paper also people in the community?
Sophia C. 5/6
I did not really know what was salim. As I read more of the newspaper I learned a lot about salim and how it worked. If I had to wright a paragraph talking about what I learned the paragraph would be as long as the newspaper. I will on the other hand talk about the thing I though was most surprising and interesting. The first thing was that the children had no real toys and were not aloud to play games. Also the salim witch trials started because of a couple of board girls in the winter. Maybe if the girls had toys and objects to entertain them the trials would have not had to happen. The last thing that was shocking to me was that if you were accused of being a witch even if you were a witch or not you would get killed anyway. I think that is terrible. The newspapers were very different from the mural project (with was the one I did). There was one thing that did stand out to me, all the pictures and drawings they were a nice touch to the newspaper and a good follow up of the articles. Overall I thought the newspaper (The New Englander) was very well put together. I only have one question; how did you come up with that interesting title?
- Janie I
Nekrousius Humanities
Period 5-6
There were several important facts that I learned from reading the newspaper articles. Before I read the “red scare” article, which compared the red scare, which was the hysteria about communist spies in America during the cold war, to the hysteria that occurred in Salem, I had no idea that anyone living in the US would want communism. It just never seemed like a very American thing. I also did not know that during the witch hunts, 26,000 people were killed, or that such a variety of people were accused. I assumed that only people of low-income and who were unpopular with the other people in the town were accused. I assumed this because accusing a person seemed like a sort of way to get rid of people, judging by the way that people were targeted in the Salem witch trials, and if an accused person could get the citizens of his town to think that he or she was innocent, then he or she was generally considered innocent. Generally, I thought, the people targeted were lower class, and some were not religious.
The way that these articles were written is different from the way that our class wrote them. Our class wrote them in the present tense and the many people in the other class wrote in the past tense. I think that the past tense gives the reader the impression of being a bystander, but the present tense makes people feel as if they are in the village. Using the past tense gives the reader a view of the entire hysteria, instead of the small part that a person in the hysteria would have viewed.
I also noticed that the topics covering events that were not in Salem were not generally about witch hunts. Instead, articles that examined other examples and types of “hysteria” looked at a larger range of kinds of events, including events that happened later, why the hysteria occurred.
One question that I would like to ask the webmasters is, “did you ever think of putting color into the background and design of the website?” Of course, I think that it looks impressive as it is, and has minimal distractions from the text, so I have concluded that the colorlessness was a decision that the webmasters agreed on. I would just like to ask them what their reasons were for choosing to keep the website black and white.
Another question that I would like to ask is, “how did the “afflicted” girls live their life, after the hysteria ended?” Did they live their lives like everyone else, or were they haunted by the memory of the people who died because of their actions? I think that it is important to know this because it could help determine the cause of their actions, whether it was from ergot poisoning, or from any other cause.
The final question that I am going to ask is, “why do we call this ‘hysteria’?” To call this hysteria seems to be guessing that these people are somewhat insane. That is an argument that people could make, that people that put so much faith in their religion that they are willing to kill people could make people conclude that they are mentally disturbed. Although, if we do not use the term “hysteria,” what will we use?
David Fish
Humanities 5-6
1) I learned that Sarah Good had a terrible life. Her father committed suicide when she was younger. She married then her husband passed away. She was then remarried to William Good, but they had a terrible marriage. Even when she was accused her husband did not support her, he testified against her. Then her daughter was accused of witchcraft (Dorcras Good). She was hung on June 19th, 1692.
2) I learned that Bridget Bishop was married before she married Edward Bishop. Thomas Oliver was the man she married before Edward. Thomas and Bridget fought a lot and in 1680 Thomas died. She was then accused of bewitching him to death by here stepdaughters. She was found guilty and was let free.
3) I learned that Ergot poisoning might have been the cause of people seeing others fly around and harm others. Ergot poisoning comes from eating Rye infected with the fungus. Symptoms of Ergot are: muscle spasms, hallucination, and pain.
~~Terrance, Nekrosius
Period 5-6
1) I learned many things from the Salem Witch Trials Newspaper The New Englander. I learned that Tituba, the servant of Reverend Samuel Parris, was the beginning of the entire Witch Trials. Reverend Samuel Parris bought her to do work and she also started telling people (including the Reverend’s niece and daughter) stories about witchcraft and magic. The girls supposedly started going crazy, having fits and seeing evil spirits. Tituba became Salem’s first witch when one of the girls mentioned Tituba’s name during a fit.
I also learned about the actual witch trials. I learned that they were usually very unfair. If someone was accused of being a witch and they didn’t confess they would be tortured and forced to confess or tried. One of the trials was being tied up and thrown into the water. If the person were a witch he/she would float as water repelled evil, and then be killed. If he/she didn’t float then the person drowned and died anyway.
Also, Salem was a patriarchy (founded by men) and this may be why many accusations of witchcraft were directed toward women, not men.
2) In both the Salem Witch Trials and King Philip’s war, everyone is very paranoid. In the Salem Witch Trials the paranoia became so extensive that people began accusing each other of being Witches to explain why they were struggling in King William’s war. Also, in both cases communication between both sides of the war is muffled and distorted, as customs are so different. This appears when in King William’s war, settlers found ornaments that they thought must have been used to worship the devil.
3) To Terrance T. Did the people see the unfairness of the trials? If so, why didn’t they do something about it?
-Jacob C.
Nekrosius Humanities
Period 5-6
I learned a lot from The New Englander, especially about the people involved in the witch trials. I learned that children as young as four were jailed. I learned how America has improved its legal system based on the legal mistakes during these times. Finally I learned about the trial of Rebecca Nurse. I learned how even somebody that was considered a symbol of puritan piety could be accused, convicted and killed, due to accusations of witchcraft. I found many connections between my article, about the witch hunts in europe and many articles in the New Englander. Most of the legal problems that were happening in America had already been solved in Europe beforehand. My one question after reading The New Englander is, Was there a clear pattern in who was accused? And if so what was it?
- Sam F, Nekrosius
Period 1-2
1.)
One of the interesting things I learned in "Which Witch is Which" form the New Englander is that people who were accused and put in jail had to pay to see there family and if they died they also had to pay for the body to be removed. I feel like they should not have to pay for such things. Another interesting thing I learned is that witches could not be buried in the church yards.
Another fact that struck me the most of the many I found is that The consequences were sooooooo harsh.
2.)
One connection is that the people who started accusing wanted peace by not having any "trouble makers" and Squanto also wanted peace but made it happen in a different way.
3.)
My question to you is how did someone benefit from accusing someone of being a witch? Would they get a reward? Overall I loved reading your article it was really interesting
--Alicia Nekrosius
period 5/6
28/11/12
1) I learned many things during this project. I learned that alot of people died when a lot did not have to. I leanred how they would be tested to see weather it they were a witch or not. If you said you were a witch then you would most likely be set free, but would be looked down upon by the entire village. If you did not admit to being a witch you would most likely be put to death. I also learned that Tituba and the two girls were the start of many deaths because one night they were bored so they asked Tituba if they could hear a story so Tituba told the two girls a story of black magic and that when they started to act possessed.
2) I think there was a connection between my article and Sam M's Article because in my article I talk about the Massachusetts Bay Colony and whats going on, but Sam talks about the entire world at that time and what is going on all around the world.
3) I have a question for Allen and David. Why did you choose to let everyone have their own page. Why did you not just put all the related articles on one page. Wouldnt that be alot easier? I also have a comment. It looks very good and I like how when you scroll over a topic it comes down with a bunch of different articles.
Marc F.
Nekrosius
5-6
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