Dylan Roscover... again.

3rd hour AP Lingo

Sunday 24th September 2006

Delamar, Gloria. "Witch-Hunt in Philadelphia." 2002.

1. Witch-Hunt in Philadelphia discusses the witch-hunting mentality that existed around

two hundred years ago in the United States and that it has continued to this day,
regardless of morality or law. In 1787 a witch hunt took place in Philadelphia,
Pennsylvania, which led to the death of a poor, old, innocent woman. The local paper
barely covered the story and the the city government took no action whatsoever to
prevent it, despite her pleads for protection from them. The most ironic part of this
piece is how the witch-hunt occurred circa the drafting of the constitution, at a time
when supposedly freedom was flourishing along with the right to a fair trial and
protection under the law.

This essay is aimed at those who are misunderstood and independent of herd instinct:
the victims, the "witches," if you will, of the status quo of the United States. It's purpose
is to inform these victims that these "hunts" still take place, and that history has, if
nothing else, just repeated itself over and over, and that modern victims must keep
their eyes open for the hunters.

2. The main idea of Witch-Hunt in Philadelphia is that the witch-hunting mentality has
and continues to exist in the United States, regardless of time period. The piece uses a
specific example from 1787 in which an old lady was murdered with false accusations of
being a "witch." Though the act was condemned by the media, it was not prevented by
law nor punished as a crime. The author goes on to list the Ku Klux Klan, Joseph
McCarthy, various cross-burnings and political campaigns as alternative examples for
this mentality.

3. Witch-Hunt in Philadelphia is organized in a chronological fashion, starting with the

oldest example, thirteenth-century europe, and then the 1787 Philadelphia case with the
old lady. It then moves on to the post Civil War south, mid-twentieth century, and
finally present-day political campaigns. All of the post cases are related to the first one,
the witch hunt, as parallels. This contributes proof to the piece that the concept of the
witch-hunting mentality is timeless, not just.

4. Witch-Hunt in Philadelphia is written like a big constitution. Using words like

"appealed," "delegates," "charges," "testify," and so forth makes for lots of dry, simple
legal jargon. The purpose for this is of course to recognize one of the author's strong
desires: to have legal protection for those who are misunderstood and different from
the status quo. Many news-story quotes are used, making this essay all the more bland,
due to the grave neutrality of all news.

5. Witch-Hunt in Philadelphia uses a tone of disappointment with both the United States
government and it's citizens – the author is ashamed of the founding fathers for not
preventing this sort of thing, along with the people who killed the old lady in 1787 for
doing what they did. The author expresses no hope whatsoever, nor solution, for this
problem, aside from simply keeping an eye out for the haters.