Syllogism Blog

Three True Syllogisms:

All people need love.
I am a person.
I need love.

All teachers are educated.
Miss. Kim is a teacher.
Miss. Kim is educated.

All southern states have warm climates.
Florida has a warm climate.
Florida is a southern state.


Three False Syllogisms:

All cats are male.
Nala, my family pet, is a cat.
Nala is a male.

All hockey players are boys.
My friend, Jen, plays hockey.
Jen is a boy.

Only sophomores take geometry.
Randy takes geometry.
Randy is a sophomore.

Crucible Blog #2

The trials that we have studied thus far in The Crucible are based on illogical fallicy due to the fact that the accusers contain no true evidence. All that is used in court to decide whether the women are innocent or guilty are stories. Stories in which the people of Salem could have easily made up in order to avenge such women whom they may have had problems with in the past. Due to this unfair system, it is quite possible that many of the lives that were taken during the Salem Witch Trials were those of innocent and wrongly accused women. This realization lead me to the conclusion that Arthur Miller's message on truth may have simply been that it is often irrelevant. The aspect of truth may be seen this way when manipulation is put into action and those involved pay more attention to what could possibly help them than letting the truth be known. If truth were a major component in the court system, people would not get away with wrongfully accusing others and innocent lives would not be taken.

The Crucible Assignment #1

Prompt:
"The Salem tragedy...is a paradox in whose grip we still live, and there is no prospect yet that we will discover its resolution."
What, according to Miller, is the "Salem tragedy" and why is it a paradox? How does he relate those times to the "modern" era?

According to Miller, the "Salem tragedy" is another name for the Witch Trials that took place in Salem, Massachusetts in the 1600's. Miller says that in an attempt to keep the community together, the people of Salem developed a combination of state and religious power, known as a theocracy. It is for this reason that the tragic event of the witch trials, in which many innocent people were wrongly accused of practicing witchcraft and forced to face gruesome deaths, can easily be considered a paradox. It is a paradox due to the fact that Salem was based around theocratic beliefs, beliefs of doing things as God would do them. Interestingly, everything that took place during this tragic time period is the complete opposite. While making this connection, Miller is also successful in relating this time period to more modern days. People may not be accused of witchcraft or other ridiculous claims, but to this day people all around the world are being persecuted for situations in which they may, in fact, be innocent. Therefore, what took place during the Salem Witch Trials is taking place everyday in modern society, only to a much lesser degree.