Witch Craft :: essays research papers

Around the seventeenth century, the belief in witches and witch craft was almost everywhere. The Church of Rome, more than three hundred years ago, allowed punishments for the use of witch craft and after that thousands of suspected people were burned alive, drowned or hanged. In the sixteenth century, more than one hundred thousand accused and convicted people burned in the flames, in Germany. In England, enlightened men adopted the belief. The famous Sir Matthew Hale, who flourished during the civil war, the commonwealth and the period of the restoration of monarchy, repeatedly sentenced persons to death accused of witch craft. The Puritans brought the belief with them to America. They established laws for the punishment of witches, and before 1648, four people had suffered death for the supposed offence, in the neighborhood of Boston. The ministers of the gospel there were shadowed by the delusion, and because of their powerful social influence, they did more to foster the wild e xcitement and produce the distressing results of what is known in history as "Salem witch craft," than all others. In 1688, a wayward daughter of John Goodwin of Boston, about thirteen years of age, accused a servant girl of stealing some of the family linen. The servant's mother, a "wild Irish woman" and a Roman Catholic, impassioned disapproval the accuser as a false witness. The young girl, in revenge, pretended to be bewitched by the Irish woman. Some others of her family followed her example. They would alternately become deaf, dumb and blind, bark like dogs and purr like cats, but none of them lost their appetites or sleep. The Rev. Cotton Mather, a simple and conceited minister rushed to Goodwin's house to ease the witchery by prayer. Wonderful were the supposed effects of his desire. The devil was controlled by them for the time. Then four other ministers of Boston and one of Salem, as superstitious as himself, joined Mather they spent a whole day in the house of the "afflicted" in fasting and prayer, the result of which was the delivery of one of the family from the power of the witch. This was enough proof for the minds of the ministers that there must be a witch in the case, and these ignorant minister prosecuted the ignorant Irish woman as such. She was confused before the court, and spoke sometimes in her native Irish language, which nobody could understand, and which her accusers and judges explain into involuntary confession.

Smile and Smiling Specific Purpose

Preparation Outline: Informative Speech on Smiling Specific Purpose: to inform my speech class about the many things Your Smile can do. Thesis: After listening to my speech, my audience should be informed about how â€Å"Your Smile† can do many things; have an effect on you and others around you, and how it has an effect on your brain. Introduction I. Smiling is something most people enjoy. I’m a happy and very positive person, so I smile a lot. It turns out that when I smile, the world smiles back. In my research about smiling I referred to sources such as cbsnews. com, science. owstuffworks. com, bizzikid. co. uk II. Smiling can affect the way you feel. It feels good to smile and be smiled at. People like to be surrounded by others who are positive and make them feel good. III. A smile is a great way to start any conversation, and makes others more receptive to you. It adds to what you have to offer. Transition: Let’s start with how a smile can affect you and o thers around you. Body I. A smile can affect you and others around you. A. It lifts our mood as well as the moods of those around us. B. It can make us appear more attractive to others. C.It can be contagious. D. Make you look younger E. Help you build rapport F. Helps reassure the other person of your sincerity. Transition: Now that we have talked about how your smile can affect you and others around you, let’s move on to how your smile affects your brain. II. How Your Smile Affects Your Brain A. Each time you smile at a person, their brain coaxes them to return the favor. B. Facial changes involved in smiling have direct effects on certain brain activities associated with happiness. Smiling triggers your feel good chemicals in your brain.C. Just the simple act of smiling releases endorphins from the brain into the blood. In conclusion, today we have discussed how your smile can affect you and others around you. We also talked about how a smile affects your brain. Conclusion I. Smiling is a way to promote happiness within yourself and others. Smiling is a very important part of connecting and getting to know someone. II. Choosing to smile can make a difference in everything you do that day. A smile can brighten your mood, improve your outlook, and lead you to make positive choices.So when you smile not only will you make yourself feel better, you will also attract positive energy into your life. References Makes you look younger. Freeman, D. W. (2011, November 10). Smiling makes people look younger, study shows. . Retrieved from http://www. cbsnews. com/8301-504763_162-57322365-10391704/smiling-makes-people-look-younger-study-shows/ How your smile affects your brain. science. howstuffworks. com Layton, J. (n. d. ). Retrieved from http://science. howstuffworks. com/life/smilinghappy1. htm Feel good chemicals. Bizzikid . (n. d. ). Retrieved from http://www. bizzikid. co. uk/healthwellbeingsmiling. html

Hamlet, By William Shakespeare - 1907 Words

â€Å"Frailty, thy name is woman!† (1.2. 150). This controversial line, followed by several more from the play Hamlet, by William Shakespeare, displays a widespread view towards women that portrays them as being weak and contingent towards men. Throughout the play, two women, Ophelia and Gertrude, are shown to be dependent on the men in their lives. They both take on a foolish obedient state of mind. Even though they share this common characteristic, Ophelia and Gertrude are very different characters. Ophelia is a beautiful, young woman who is the love interest of the protagonist, Hamlet. Ophelia obeys her father, Polonius, without hesitation and has little experience with making her own decisions. Gertrude was the wife of Old Hamlet, and is†¦show more content†¦Early literature was â€Å"mostly men who composed these works and male critics who vouched for their greatness† (Gardiner 395). Early works of literature typically portrayed the society that was around them. In general, women did not have freedom to do as they chose. They were to listen to the men and do as they were told. The typical culture in a patriarchal society viewed women as objects and not as independent individuals. In Hamlet, Ophelia and Gertrude were merely accessories to the men and served in aiding to the plot. Ophelia grew up relying on the men in her life to tell her what to do. She followed the direction from her father and brother even if it meant hurting her beloved Hamlet. Act 1 was the first time Ophelia’s obedience was displayed. Her brother Laertes, and her father Polonius told her to stay away from Hamlet. With very few words of persuasion she replied with, â€Å"I shall obey, my lord† (1.3. 145). Ophelia demonstrated no capability of expressing her desires or the motivation to survive on her own. It was not her fault that she behaved in this way because women in her society were not supposed to rely on themselves. â€Å"Ophelia is not only misunderstood by the men in her life, but grossly underestimated by them† (Rooks 477). Ophelia had the potential to think on her own and choose