PURITAN/COLONIAL LITERATURE

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PURITAN/COLONIAL LITERATURE

• NOTES

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WHY DO WE BOTHER READING THIS?

• AS THE FIRST COLONISTS, THEY LAID THE FOUNDATION
  FOR OUR AMERICAN CHARACTER
• MORAL, ETHICAL, AND RELIGIOUS CONVICTIONS
• PURITAN VALUES ARE PART OF OUR AMERICAN
  CHARACTERISTICS

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PURITAN VALUES

• SELF RELIANCE
• INDUSTRIOUSNESS
• SIMPLICITY IN ALL THINGS
• LANGUAGE
• CLOTHING
• LIFESTYLE
• TEMPERANCE
• MODERATION WITH ALCOHOL AND FOOD

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A BRIEF HISTORY OF PURITANS AND THEIR BELIEFS

• THE TERM PURITAN REFERS TO A GROUP OF PROTESTANT
  REFORMERS WHO SOUGHT TO PURIFY THE CHURCH OF
  ENGLAND (NATL GOVT RELIGION OF ENGLANDHEADED
  BY KING/QUEEN).
• EVENTUALLY SOUGHT TO SEPARATE THE CHURCH FROM THE
  GOVT COMPLETELY
• FACED PERSECUTION AND TORTURE IN ENGLAND FOR
  TREASON
• They called themselves pilgrims
• Pilgrim one who goes on a physical or spiritual
  journey to a holy place for the purposes of
  salvation

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Why did the Puritans come to the Colonies?

• WANTED A SIMPLER FORM OF WORSHIP
• WANTED TO FOCUS ON THE INDIVIDUAL RELATIONSHIP
  WITH GOD
• WANTED TO EXPUNGE ALL CORRUPTION FROM THE CHURCH

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Arrival in American Colonies

• Led by Bradford, the Separatists, a group of
  pilgrims, try to find religious freedom in
  Holland
• Left Holland after 12 years for American Colonies
• Bradford is elected governor of Massachusetts Bay
  Colony in 1621held position for next 30 years
• Wrote Of Plymouth Plantation for the express
  purpose of inspiring future generations of
  Puritans
• Understanding what their ancestors had endured
  for religious freedom
• Maintain the faith

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KEY BELIEFS

• PROVIDENCE DIVINE DIRECTION OR GUIDANCE THE
  WILL OF GOD
• BRADFORD ATTRIBUTES SEVERAL EVENTS, BOTH GOOD AND
  BAD, TO PROVIDENCE
• SQUANTOS ARRIVAL
• DEATH OF THE PROFANE SAILOR AND THE RESCUE OF
  HOWLAND

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Key Beliefs

• PREDESTINATION The doctrine that God has
  foreordained all things, especially that God has
  elected certain souls to eternal salvation.
• http//www.youtube.com/watch?vfy1IOIlpKaw
• THIS WAS ESPECIALLY DIFFICULT FOR PURITANS,
  BECAUSE THEY NEVER REALLY KNEW IF THEY WERE SAVED
  OR DAMNED
• IF YOU WERE SAVED.
• YOU WOULD FEEL GODS GRACE
• YOUR OUTWARD BEHAVIOR WOULD BE A LIVING
  MANIFESTATION OF GODS GRACEYOU ARE REBORN AND
  BEHAVE LIKE A SAINT

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Problems with Predestination?

• SINCE NO ONE EVER REALLY KNEW IF THEY WERE SAVED
  OR DAMNED, SOME WOULD FAKE IT FOR THEIR
  NEIGHBORS
• LED TO CLOSE SPIRITUAL EXAMINATION OF DAILY LIFE,
  LOOKING FOR EVIDENCE OF GODS GRACE
• ALSO LED TO THE JUDGING OF OTHERS AND THE CONCERN
  ABOUT HOW YOUR NEIGHBORS PERCEIVED YOU

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CHARACTERISTICS OF PURITAN WRITING

• BORINGDRYBLAH!
• WHY?
• USED GENEVA BIBLE AS A MODEL
• DIRECT, SIMPLE LANGUAGE
• DID NOT UTILIZE METAPHOR OR ANY OTHER FIGURES OF
  SPEECH
• PLAIN STYLE STRESSED CLARITY OF EXPRESSION AND
  AVOIDED COMPLICATED FIGURES OF SPEECH

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CHARACTERISTICS OF PURITAN WRITING

• SAW EACH INDIVIDUAL LIFE AS A JOURNEY TO
  SALVATION (OR DAMNATION) AND DREW PARALLELS
  BETWEEN THEIR OWN LIVES AND STORIES IN THE BIBLE
• EXPLORED BOTH THEIR INNER, PERSONAL RELATIONSHIP
  WITH GOD AND THEIR OUTWARD BEHAVIOR FOR SIGNS OF
  GODS GRACE
• BECAUSE THEY SPENT SO MUCH TIME IN SELF
  REFLECTION, THEIR WRITING COMES IN 4 FORMS
• LETTERS
• DIARIES AND JOURNALS
• HISTORIES
• CAPTIVITY NARRATIVES
• These are considered to be PRIMARY SOURCES
  because they offer direct, first hand knowledge
  of events

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Of Plymouth Plantation

• Table Work
• With your table, discuss the nature of the treaty
  between the Puritans and the Native Americans.
  This treaty clearly favors one sidehow so?
• List out each of the six terms of the treaty and
  for each term, decide if it favors the colonists
  or the Native Americans. Explain your reasoning
• Then, Rewrite the treaty to be equally favorable
  to both the Native Americans and the colonists.
• TURN IN TABLE WORK BY END OF MOD!

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Mary Rowlandson

• Background
• King Phillips War 1675-1678
• PhillipMetacomet, Chief of Wampanoag
• First Indian War after treaty between Bradford
  and Squanto in 1621
• Rowlandsonwife of Puritan Minister
• Captivity lasted 11 weeks
• Credits her survival during captivity to her
  sustained faith in God

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A Narrative of the Captivity

• Book is broken into 20 removes, or journeys, the
  Wampanoag took MR on
• First American best seller
• Purpose to thrill, to titillate, to reinforce
  notions of savage Indian
• In what way would this benefit the colonists?
• Themes in narrative
• Fear and revulsion of New World
• How does Rowlandson learn to adapt and survive
  while with the Native Americans? Where is there
  evidence that she does learn to adapt?
• In what ways does the tribe seem to allow
  Rowlandson some freedom, either mental or
  physical, during her captivity? What does this
  tell us about her captors?

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A Narrative of the Captivity

• Table work
• Follow Rowlandsons changing attitudes toward her
  captors
• During initial kidnapping and 1st 3rd Removes
• During 5th and 6th Removes
• Ashuelot Valley
• For each instance, have a marked text reference
• What do you think was the primary reason for
  Rowlandsons change in attitude toward her
  captors?

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Olaudah Equiano

• Grew up in Eastern Nigeria
• Father was a tribal leader in village
• Kidnapped by African slave traders at age 11
• Family owned slaves too constant fear of
  kidnapping and enslavement
• Enslaved first in Africa for approx. 7 months
  before taken to the coast and sold to New World
  slave traders
• First taken to Barbados, then to Virginia
• Purchased his freedom after 7 years in slavery
• Moved to England and became an active
  abolitionist

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Olaudah Equiano

• The Middle Passage
• Two month voyage from African West Coast to North
  America
• Overcrowding
• Lack of food
• Harsh treatment
• Disease
• Despair
• http//www.youtube.com/watch?vmXS6JAhMe1Q

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ANNE BRADSTREET

• CONSIDERED TO BE THE FIRST EVER AMERICAN POET
• DAUGHTER OF PURITAN SEPARATISTS IN ENGLAND
• MARRIED AT 16 TO A PURITAN MINISTER
• EMIGRATED TO COLONIES AT 18
• MOTHER OF 8
• EXPOSED TO CONTEMPORARY POETRY OF WILLIAM
  SHAKESPEAREONE OF HER INFLUENCES

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Anne Bradstreet

• POETRY WAS FROWNED ON BY THE PURITAN
  COMMUNITYIT WAS CONSIDERED TO BE AN IDLE VANITY
  THAT OPENED THE MIND TO THE DEVIL
• BRADSTREETS POETRY WAS NEVER INTENDED FOR AN
  AUDIENCE
• SHE VIEWED POETRY AS A TOOL FOR SELF REFLECTION
• POEMS WERE TAKEN WITHOUT HER PERMISSION BY HER
  BROTHER IN LAWHE PUBLISHED THEM IN ENGLAND
  WITHOUT HER CONSENT
• THE TENTH MUSE LATELY SPRUNG UP IN AMERICA

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LITERARY ELEMENTS

• INVERSION CHANGING THE NORMAL WORD ORDER OF A
  LINE OF POETRY IN ORDER TO ACCOMMODATE RHYME
  SCHEME OR METER
• EXTENDED METAPHOR JUST LIKE A REGULAR METAPHOR,
  BUT IT IS DEVELOPED OVER SEVERAL LINES OF POETRY
• ALLITERATION REPETITION OF CONSONANT SOUNDS AT
  THE BEGINNINGS OF WORDS

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LITERARY ELEMENTS

• METER PATTERN OF UNSTRESSED AND STRESSED
  SYLLABLES IN POETRY
• IAMB A FOOT OF POETRY CHARACTERIZED BY ONE
  UNSTRESSED SYLLABLE FOLLOWED BY A STRESSED
  SYLLABLE
• ASSUME FIRST THAT THE POEM IS WRITTEN USING
  IAMBSTHEN FIGURE OUT HOW MANY STRESSED SYLLABLES
  THERE ARE TO DETERMINE THE METER
• --3 STRESSED SYLLABLES/LINE TRIMETER
• --4 STRESSED SYLLABLES/LINE TETRAMETER
• --5 STRESSED SYLLABLES/LINE PENTAMETER
• RHYME SCHEME pattern of end rhyme used in a poem
• Assign first line the letter a
• If the second line rhymes with the first line, it
  is also a
• If the second line doesnt rhyme with the first,
  label it b

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To My Dear and Loving Husband

• P. 139due by end of mod
• Table work partner upno more than three
• Read thru poem
• 1. Complete analysis of rhyme scheme and write
  out rhyme scheme pattern
• 2. write out first two lines of poem and scan the
  meter (unstressed/stressed)then determine what
  the meter of the poem is (trimeter, tetrameter,
  or pentameter)
• 3. list all archaic language used in poemand
  translate the archaic language to regular English
• 4. list out three comparisons (similes or
  metaphors) that Bradstreet makes when comparing
  her love
• 5. What do the last two lines of the poem mean?
  

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Upon the Burning of Our House

• Table WorkPartner Up and turn to p. 140
• Paraphrase (summarize in your own words) the
  following lines
• 1-12 37-42
• 13-36 43-54
• Write out two lines of the poem, scan them, and
  determine the meter
• Write out the rhyme scheme of the poem (hint
  pattern repeats in each stanza)
• Explain how Bradstreet feels at the end of the
  poem about
• Her attitude toward wealth and material
  possessions
• Her religious beliefs and values
• Identify and explain the extended metaphor in
  lines 43-50. How does Bradstreet continue the
  metaphor over 7 lines of poetry?
• Find one example of
• Alliteration
• Visual imagery
• Auditory imagery

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Edward Taylor

• Puritan Minister
• Like Bradstreet, wrote poetry for self reflection
• Also wrote to instruct congregation in Puritan
  values
• Never published, just shared with friends and
  community

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Huswifery

• Definition the business of a housewife female
  domestic economy and skill
• Compares the household task of making clothing
  with the gift of Gods salvation.
• This extended metaphor expresses Edward Taylors
  deep belief in God and celebrates the divine
  presence in daily life.
• The poem is like a prayer imploring God to guide
  the speaker to do Gods will.
• By submitting to Gods will, the speaker hopes to
  achieve eternal salvation.

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Huswifery Analysis

• Extended Metaphor/Conceit (an extended metaphor
  that covers the entire poem)
• Speaker compares herself to
• spinning wheel to yarn to loom to cloth to holy
  robes
• represent steps the speaker hopes she can follow
  in life to glorify God and to achieve a state of
  grace.
• Theme What message is Taylor trying to send to
  Puritan women through this poem?
• That every aspect of their daily like should
  revolve around glorifying God and preparing
  themselves for salvation

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Huswifery Copy Change

• Now, try your hand at poetry.
• Consider some activity you love to do
• Playing video games
• Talking/Texting/Tweeting using your cell
• Watching tv and chilling
• Break the activity down into its component parts
• The tv, the controllers, the game disc
• Plug in the components into the copy change
  template

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Jonathon Edwards

• The Great Awakening
• Religious revival of Puritan values
• After 100 or so years in colonies, conservative
  Puritans felt that the faith was waning
• 1734-1750
• Wanted to persuade Puritans to return to values
  of the Church

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Sinners in the Hands

• Persuasive Writing intended to convince the
  reader to adopt a particular opinion or to
  perform a certain action
• Loaded language words with strong emotional
  associations, meant to sway the reader
• Focus on word choice
• Child vs. brat or cherubwhat emotional
  connotations do brat and cherub evoke?

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Sinners in the Hands

• Logical vs. Emotional Appeals
• Logical imply the reader is a reasonable person
  and will listen to facts, figures, and data that
  support purpose
• Emotional usually contain very little factual
  information and rely on loaded language that
  triggers fear, insecurity, etc.
• Always consider the purpose in persuasive
  writingWhat does Edwards want his congregation
  to do and why?