The Influence of Cotton Mather Essay - 1333 Words

The Influence of Cotton Mather â€Å"The Salem witchcraft trials,† a phrase not too often heard these days in everyday conversation. Witches burning at the stake, or drowning in a tub of water, and perhaps the most humane way of their execution, hanging. This piece of American history is a prudent example of how everyday people can, and were, be lead astray from what would normally be considered ridiculous and preposterous ideas, into something that warrants these horrible means of human demise. What or more importantly who was responsible for this catastrophic loss of life? The Quaker society of colonial America was where these events took place. The term Quaker refers to a member of a religious sect called The Society of Friends,†¦show more content†¦His major publications were Wonders of the Invisible World in 1693, Magnalia Christi Americana in 1702, Bonifacius year 1710, Memorable Providences, Relating to Witchcrafts and Possessions in 1689 and several others. What type of man was Cotton Mather? What did he value? And how did his writing reflect his beliefs? Let us first start by evaluating a writing related to the events described above, The Wonders of the Invisible World. In this publication, Mather makes many references to accounts of eyewitness testimonies and confessions of the accused; not only to justify, but also to prove that the Salem witchtrials were a God sanctioned attack against Satanic works. Mather says, â€Å"He (the devil) has wanted incarnate legions to persecute us, as the people of God have in the other hemisphere been persecuted: he (the devil) has therefore drawn upon his more spiritual ones to make an attack upon us.† (2) Mather’s use of the term â€Å"spiritual ones,† is meant to represent the accused witches of the time. Witches, Mather believes, are the work of the devil. Throughout this writing Mather quotes from the Bible. Mather knows that the people of his church would not dare question the validity of the Bible. So, by choosing specific verses that favor the intended goal of his writings he is able to add rock solid validity to the statements he is making to the members of his church. References to past situations illustrated in the Bible prove to Mathers’ audience that theseShow MoreRelatedCotton Mather : Provoker Of Catastrophe1009 Words   |  5 PagesCotton Mather: Provoker of Catastrophe For its witnesses, the Salem Witch Trials confirmed the reality of the invisible world of spirits. The catalyst was described as a man who had an interest in the actions of Satan. That man is Cotton Mather. Mather was born into a family of ministers, including Reverend John Cotton. Mather preached his first sermon as a teenager and was ordained in his early twenties. Cotton Mather is known for his unnecessary involvement with the Salem Witch Trials. With theRead MoreSalem Witch Hysteria And Trials1620 Words   |  7 Pagesheinous accusations implicated by Cotton Mather which effected society as a hole and gave reasoning to the numerous amount of witch stories we hear today. Cotton Mather was the eldest son of Increase Mather, Massachusetts most influential and well known Puritan minister, and the grandson of John Cotton, Salem’s spiritual founder. Cotton Mather was born in Boston Massachusetts and attended Harvard University, receiving an honors degree from Glasgow Universit y. Mather was pastor of Boston s second protestantRead MoreCharacter Analysis Of Cotton Mathers The Wonders Of The Invisible World888 Words   |  4 PagesConversely, Cotton Mather stood by the use spectral evidence even after his father had condemned it. In The Wonders of the Invisible World, Mather outlined his belief that the convictions in Salem were justified. In fact, it was the judges of the court of oyer and terminer who asked Mather to write a book to clear their name. Directly contradicting his father’s stance on the admission of spectral evidence, Cotton Mather stated that, â€Å"We are Humane Creatures, and we are safe while we say, they mustRead MoreThe Crucible By Arthur Miller Essay1604 Words   |  7 Pagesentrance of rationalism and consequential secularization in the culture of the time. Out of the confluence of rationalistic thought and The Enlightenment came Cotton Mather’s Wonders of the Invisible World, which dictated the realities of evil thr ough a rational exploration of the existence of witches and other markers of the immaterial. Cotton Mather’s Wonders of the Invisible World As The Enlightenment encroached upon the small â€Å"city on the hill† that was Salem, Puritan ministers and government officialsRead MorePuritan Writers : The Wonders Of The Invisible World1238 Words   |  5 PagesCotton Mather is one of the best known Puritan writers for his work The Wonders of the Invisible World. Mather gives the outside world a glimpse into what the Salem Witch trials were like and how they conducted their way of figuring out who was a witch in their colony. The Wonders of the invisible world brought the audiences into the firsthand experience of a trial and made them experience it from the viewpoint of one of the citizens of that colony. Mather specifically focuses on the trial of MarthaRead MoreThe Social Psychology of the Salem Witch Trials1647 Words   |  7 PagesSalem witch trials. There are several other terms that could replace mob psychology such as group think, group control, social psychology. Social psychology is termed as a branch of human psychology dealing with the behavior of groups and the influence of social factors on the individual. (Donohue) â€Å"An individual is subjected to a more powerful control when two or more persons manipulate variables having a common effect upon behavior†. (Skinner 323) The psychology behind this simply states thatRead MoreMary Rowlandson And Transcendentalism1661 Words   |  7 PagesChristianity. Cotton Mather was a Puritan who was born and raised in Boston, Massachusetts in the late 17th century. Being â€Å"the eldest son of Increase Mather and the grandson of Richard Mather and John Cotton†, Cotton Mather was born into a family of ministers (149). Following in their footsteps, he became heavily involved with the sin of witchcraft later in his life. Throughout his entire life, Mather dedicated his life to becoming a devout Puritan. Around the time of the trials, Mather published hisRead MoreAnalysis Of Young Goodman Brown By Nathaniel Hawthorne1600 Words   |  7 Pagesduring this time is Cotton Mather, author of The Wonders of the Invisible World, which is a detailed description of the accused witches of the Salem. There is evidence to believe that Hawthorne based much of â€Å"Young Goodman Brown† after the lives and writings of the Mather family. It seems that the Mathers, in their writings and sermons, caused an unwarranted worry of witchcraft among the P uritans. â€Å"The Salem witchcraft crisis was clearly inseparable from the figure of Cotton Mather in Hawthorne’s imagination†Read MoreEssay on Cotton Mather and the Salem Witch Trials of 16922284 Words   |  10 PagesCotton Mather and the Salem Witch Trials The Salem Witch Trials of 1692 took place in the Puritan community of Salem, Massachusetts. Cotton Mather, a clergyman in Salem, emerged throughout the course of the trials as a pillar of support and, ultimately, as a witch-hunter. However, his motives at the beginning of the trials were driven by his Puritanical reasoning which holds a strong belief in Biblical Law. Cotton Mather used his Puritanical faith to find reasoning in God that allowed the SalemRead MoreThe Salem Witch Trials : A Dark Stain Essay709 Words   |  3 Pagesto be a dark stain upon the history of Massachusetts. Witch hunts existed long before the trials and executions that took place in Salem. As early as the 1490’s European governments, led by church leaders, led a crusade to rid Europe of pagan influences. Over a two hundred and fifty year period approximately fifty thousand people were killed. Although the death toll was not a great in Massachusetts, the religious message was the same. Perceived evil again the Puritan church must be stopped at

Charles Dickens Essay - 1511 Words

Charles Dickens was an astounding author and titan of English literature throughout the Victorian era. Dickens was remarkably known for his early years, his career, and his life tragedies. During his career Dickens achieved worldwide popularity, winning acclaim for his rich storytelling and memorable characters. Dickens will forever be remembered as a literary genius who changed the world with his vivid novels and his superb stories. Charles John Huffam Dickens was born on February 7, 1812, in the Mile End Terrace in Portsmouth England (Sahlman 1). His father, John, was a clerk in the navy pay office and was stationed in Portsmouth, at the time being. John was a very friendly, good natured, well read man, and a loving husband.†¦show more content†¦He worked there for several months and lived on his own throughout that time. Dickens found himself frightened by the horrific conditions of the factory. His experiences there led him to write some of his most famous works. (Hunter 67). As Dickens grew older, he began to develop an interest in fine literature and theatre. He also enjoyed viewing various plays at several theaters throughout London. (Johnson 10). He would sometimes pay theater managers to allow him to appear on stage (Peare 30). Dickens soon realized his true intuitions about the career path he wanted to follow throughout his life. Dickens’s creative imagination and exceptional writing style gained him much fame as he entered the spotlight for the first time. (Levine 154). In December of 1833, Dickens published his first story entitled A Dinner at Polar Walk. The following year, he became a political journalist, reporting on parliamentary debates and traveling across Britain to cover election campaigns. During the time when Britain was the major economic and political power of the world, Dickens highlighted the life of the poor and disadvantaged at the heart of the empire. A great deal of his journalism, in the form of sketches in periodicals, formed his first collection of pieces titled Sketches by Boz. (Hunter 69). The publication of these articles led to the creation of his first novel, The PickwickShow MoreRelatedCharles Dickens Biography1626 Words   |  7 Pagesattention to the childhood cruelty, the less fortunate in an English society, and the unwealthy dysfunctional families of the early Victorian time period. Charles Dickens reflects these and other issues as he brings to life the realism of writing. While others were writing about the w ay things should be, rather than the way things were, Dickens was challenging these ideas, and argued that paupers and criminals were not evil at birth. This was an act of rebellion, for he in fact was showing the VictorianRead More Charles Dickens Essay1932 Words   |  8 PagesCharles Dickens Charles John Huffam Dickens is the greatest English writer that ever lived. He was one of the most popular writers in the history of literature. Surely no English author is so well known and so widely read, translated and remembered as Charles Dickens. He fame is well deserved. From the pen of this great author came such characters as Oliver Twist, David Copperfield, Bob Cratchit and Tiny Tim, Mr. Pickwick, and Little Nett. Dickens was born on February 7, 1812, in PortsmouthRead MoreRevenge, By Charles Dickens988 Words   |  4 PagesJoseph Eisold Mrs. Dorman English 3rd 7 March 2017 Research paper There has been a point in everybody s life where they want to get back at someone for something they have done. In A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens there are many forms of revenge, but they cannot be justified. Some specific points of revenge is the murder of Foulon, the plot against Lucie and little Lucie, and the plot against the Evermonde family for the murder of Madame Defarge s siblings. First, we need to find outRead MoreBiography on Charles Dickens627 Words   |  2 Pageselder Dickens was transfered several times, first to London, then to Chatham, and finally, in 1822, back to London, where the family lived in Camden Town. John Dickens was constantly in debt, and in 1824 he was imprisoned in Marshalsea debtors prison (Southwark). Charles was forced to leave school at the age of 12 and go to work in a bootblack factory to help support the Dickens family.It was his personal experience of factory work and the living conditions of the poor that created in Dickens theRead More3.03b Charles Dickens665 Words   |  3 PagesCharles Dickens Questions 1. From the biography, what incident changed Dickens life and helped to shape him as a writer?  · His father was imprisoned and he was forced to work at Warren’s Blacking Factory 2. How old do you think Pip is?  · Seven 3. Quote the specific language in the selection that leads you to this conclusion.  · â€Å"As I never saw my father or my mother, and never saw any likeness of either of them (for their days were long before the days of photographs), my first fancies regardingRead More Charles Dickens Essay2085 Words   |  9 PagesCharles Dickens Charles John Huffam Dickens was born February 7, 1812, in Ports Mouth, Hampshire. In his infancy his family moved to Chatham, where he spent his happiest years and often refers to this time in his novels (1817-1822). From 1822 to 1860 he lived in London, after which he permanently moved to a quiet country cottage in Glads Hill, on the outskirts of Chatham. He grew up in a middle class family. His father was a clerk in the navy pay office and was well paid, but hisRead MoreAnalysis Of Charles Dickens s Dickens 1765 Words   |  8 Pagestowards her Maker (Oliver Twist, Dickens 302 revised). Throughout Oliver Twist, Charles Dickens uses his characters and props to symbolize purity, even though the environment would seem to denote everything and everyone. Incontro-vertibly, some certainly conform to their environment; for example, as part of the lower class, Fagin and Sikes turn to thieving, lying, and even murder, instead of earning an honest living. Throughout the first half of the book, Dickens leads one to believe Nancy followsRead MoreCharles Dickens Essay2389 Words   |  10 PagesBiographical Summary Charles Dickens is one of the most influential writers in history and was â€Å"born in Landport, now part of Portsmouth, on February 7th, 1812†(Priestly 5). Despite being the successful writer that he was in life, Dickens had very humble beginnings and because his Father, John Huffman Dickens, â€Å"lacked the money to support his family adequetly† , Dickens lived in poverty through out most of his childhood (Collins). Matters only got worse, however, when Dickens’s Father had toRead MoreCharles Dickens and A Christmas Carol1613 Words   |  7 PagesCharles Dickens and A Christmas Carol: Famed British author, Charles Dickens was born on February 7, 1812, in Portsmouth, England. He was the second of eight children, living in a poor neighborhood in London. His parents were John Dickens, a naval clerk, who always lived beyond his means. Married to his mother Elizabeth Dickens, who aspired to be a teacher and a school director. Dickens went to William Giles’ school in Chatham, Kent, for approximately one year before his father’s money habitsRead MoreCharles Dickens And The Victorian Era1643 Words   |  7 PagesCharles Dickens and the Victorian Era The various themes and ideas of the Victorian era are perfectly showcased in the many novels and short stories of Charles Dickens. The writers of the Victorian era produced an enormous amount of the greatest novels to ever be written- those that were realistic, thickly plotted, crowded with characters, and long. They, more often than not, showed the characteristics of the different social classes in society. Generally humorous

Say No to One Night Stand Free Essays

Attention Grabber Do you know what does one night stand means? The term ‘one night stand’ means that you have a sexual relationship with a person you meet or possibly a person you never meet before and both of you have no intention to ever meet again or to continue the relationship. It can happen anytime. II. We will write a custom essay sample on Say No to One Night Stand or any similar topic only for you Order Now Reveal Topic Today, I would like to talk about some of the harms of one night stand and persuade all of you to stay away from having this kind of action. III. Relevance Statements There are various reason people having a one night stand such as too much of drink, trips away from home, curiosity about one night stand and the likes. Some people who involved in the one night stand are sensible and happy with the situation where no harm is done. Nowadays, this phenomenon is getting more serious than ever. My suggestion is that every human being should prohibit themselves from having one night stand, consider that it could lead to several serious consequences. IV. Preview of Main PointsSome of the harms of having one night stand are: (a) infection of virus and disease (b) unexpectedly pregnancy (c) regretting and guilty feeling BODY I. One night stand causes virus and disease (Packerpack, 2010). * This is the most danger risk of having one night stand. i. He or she may enjoy having sex with you without telling you that he or she is infected. ii. The people might leaving you with some deadly virus like AIDS or HIV. II. One night stand causes pregnancy accidently (Mary, 2009). * Another result of one night stand is a child born. i.Mostly, you can’t get to contact the people you having one night stand because he or she possibly not leaving any contact ways for you since the person has no intention to ever meet you again. ii. You may abortion the baby or give a birth to baby that the child may never know who their father or mother is. III. One or both of the parties regretting what they have done. (Paul, 2008) * Some of the people will say, ‘I know what I’m exactly doing and not regretting of having one night stand. i. They forget that this guilty feeling come after the night goes by. ii.Some of the people involved in one night stand because they are drunk or trips away from home. iii. This will make them regretting and feel guilty to betray their partner of having one night stand with others if he or she are already into a relationship. CONCLUSION I. Summary of Main Points In conclusion, one night stand brings us a lot of negative effects such as: (a) it causes infections and virus diseases (b) it may cause unexpected pregnancy, and (c) it causes us to feel guilty. II. Memorable Concluding Statement Having a one night stand is not love, not a pleasure, not attraction or relationship.If someone is inviting you to have a one night stand whether he or she is your friends or someone you just met, please be polite and just say no to the person.REFERENCES Mary, P 2009, â€Å"Pregnant after a one-night stand: the accidental mother†, viewed 20 November 2010, from lt;http://women. timesonline. co. ukgt; Pakerpack, 2010, â€Å"The one night stand†, viewed 18 November 2010, from lt;http://hubpages. com/hub/The-One-Night-Standgt;. Paul, S 2008, â€Å"The one-night stand blues: How girls are left to regret brief encounters†, viewed 18 November 2010, from www.dailymail. co. uk How to cite Say No to One Night Stand, Papers