The modern puritan in my opinion, is a stereotypical high school. By that I mean, not ours, but what you might commonly see in movies and TV shows, e.g- Mean Girls. I'll start off with characteristics of a Puritan. They're strict in what they believe, children are expected to-not act like children- be stone faced, quiet and basically attract no attention. And to be general-they make a mountain out of a molehill. Now with all due respect, that was a huge generalization, however, based on the one and a half stories we read about puritans, that generalization has been true. In the Crucible, the entire town had a fit when one man found some girls dancing in the woods and several of them cried witchcraft. In the Scarlet Letter something similar happened when a woman committed adultery. Now how does this compare to a stereotypical high school? well there are different cliques, and if you are unique to all of them, you have no place to go. You stand out because you don't conform. Puritans were all expected to live similar lives with humility, thriftiness, and not standing out. If you did something out of the ordinary, it was obvious, people noticed and it was a big deal. If you do something or wear something out of the ordinary at a stereotypical high school, it's going to make a scene, and you possibly won't be accepted into certain cliques because you aren't conformed. Another example is gossip. Gossip spreads like wild fire and if someone hears something from someone else, the entire school could know about it by the end of the week. Little, unimportant things become a huge deal just like in the Crucible. the last example I have is about how puritan children are supposed to act. I compare this to freshman and the upperclassmen. Now I wouldn't say freshman are supposed to act solemn and quiet, but they are treated like that. They are treated as inferiors to the seniors and not included in certain activites etc..
So, ultimately I don't believe there is any group of people as extreme as the puritans were, however the examples I gave were pretty close in some aspects.
* also just to clarify yet again, i was talking about stereotypical high schools, so no offense meant to anybody.
So, ultimately I don't believe there is any group of people as extreme as the puritans were, however the examples I gave were pretty close in some aspects.
* also just to clarify yet again, i was talking about stereotypical high schools, so no offense meant to anybody.
Wow I really like your writing style, it's fun to read and feels really natural! I agree with everything you said although a stereotypical high school and Puritans seems to be a HUGE leap. On the other hand you had some good examples to support your view and by the end I could see the connection. Nice job Bebe!
ReplyDeleteI totally agree with your comparison about the puritans and high schoolers! ( especially Mean Girls :) ) I saw the connection right away and you gave many details supporting your side, Great Job!
ReplyDeleteI really like the comparison of underclassmen/upperclassmen to how the Puritan societies have different levels people are expected to fall under (children vs. adults for example). My favorite comparison is standing out at school because of how you act or dress to becoming an outcast in Puritan society; because for kids in highschool it's sortof their world so feeling unwelcome is the equivalent of being a pariah in Puritan times.
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