Elements of Puritan Thought and Belief
1.
List the five elements of Puritan Thought and Belief
2.
Find at least one (1) example of each element in a text we’ve covered.
“Of Plymouth Plantation”
3.
Who wrote Of Plymouth Plantation?
4.
Where did the term “Puritans” come from?
5.
What was the name of the vessel on which the Puritans crossed the Atlantic?
6.
What unfortunate event happened to a Puritan on the journey to America? Did he die?
7.
Where were the Puritans sailing to? Where did they land?
8.
Why did about half of the Puritans die that first winter?
9.
What role did Squanto play in establishing a peace treaty? Why was he uniquely suited to the task?
“To My Dear and Loving Husband”
10.
Who wrote “To My Dear and Loving Husband”?
11.
What was the name of her book?
12.
To whom was this poem written?
13.
What kinds of metaphor did her descriptions of love tend to take?
14.
Give an example of another kind of metaphor that did not follow her usual pattern?
15.
What does manifold mean?
16.
What does recompense mean?
“Here Follow Some Verses Upon the Burning of Our House”
17.
Who wrote this poem?
18.
What is poetic inversion?
19.
What is an extended metaphor? What is the extended metaphor in this poem?
20.
What are the two French words for goodbye? Which one was used in this poem? What is the significance of it?
21.
Briefly explain the plot of this poem.
22.
What does pelf mean?
“Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God”
23.
Who preached this sermon?
24.
List three metaphors for God’s wrath.
25.
What was the author’s purpose in preaching this sermon?
26.
The author used animal imagery several times in the poem. Explain one of them.
“A Journey Through Texas”
27.
Who wrote this story?
28.
What does his name mean in English?
29.
What was the name of the monster that would sneak into your dwelling at night and stab you?
30.
What made this monster so unusual?
31.
What event led to the capture of the author of this story and his captivity?
32.
What miraculous event did the author claim he could perform?
“A Narrative of the Captivity and the Restoration of Mary Rowlandson”
33.
Who wrote this story?
34.
What event led to the capture of the author of this story?
35.
List three unusual food items that the author ate.
36.
What is an allusion?
37.
Identify two allusions in this story and how they functioned.
“The Life of Olaudah Equiano”
38.
Who wrote this story?
39.
What makes the author of this captivity narrative different from the other two?
40.
What does the author mean by calling his captors “nominal Christians”?
Elements of Puritan Thought and Belief
1.
List the five elements of Puritan Thought and Belief
1.
Original sin
2.
The elect
3.
The Puritan work ethic
4.
The importance of education
5.
The Supremacy of Divine Will
2.
Find at least one (1) example of each element in a text we’ve covered.
Various answers
“Of Plymouth Plantation”
3.
Who wrote Of Plymouth Plantation?
William Bradford wrote Of Plymouth Plantation. He served as governor of the Plymouth colony for 30 years. He
kept a diary of his life and times that was published under this title.
4.
Where did the term “Puritans” come from?
Starting with King Henry VIII, there was religious upheaval in England. Many people were unhappy (aren’t they
always). A group of separatists desperately wanted to reform the Church of England. They sought to purify the
church from its corrupt practices. These separatists were later called Puritans based on their desire to purify the
church. Since grade school you’ve been calling them pilgrims.
5.
What was the name of the vessel on which the Puritans crossed the Atlantic?
Everyone knows that the Mayflower was the name of the ship. Even more importantly, it lent its name to the
document that established the early form of government for the separatists.
6.
What unfortunate event happened to a Puritan on the journey to America? Did he die?
Here, of course, I am referring to the Puritan who fell overboard but did not drown. He was able to catch on to
one of the lines that the ship was trailing in the water and pull himself up (with help from others). I pointed this
out to you to show the Puritan belief in the Supremacy of Divine Will.
7.
Where were the Puritans sailing to? Where did they land?
The Puritans had set out for Virginia. They had a charter to establish a colony there. They ended up landing in
Massachusetts. Maybe they were following an Apple map.
8.
Why did about half of the Puritans die that first winter?
Sickness and disease claimed about half of the Puritans. I suppose that it didn’t help that they were prepared to
face a Virginia winter, but wholly surprised by the cold of New England.
9.
What role did Squanto play in establishing a peace treaty? Why was he uniquely suited to the task? Squanto
was a Native American who had previously learned English from explorers. His knowledge of the English
language enabled him to diffuse the tensions that had arisen between the Puritan settlers and the local Native
American tribes.
“To My Dear and Loving Husband”
10.
Who wrote “To My Dear and Loving Husband”?
Anne Bradstreet wrote this poem about her husband, Simon.
11.
What was the name of her book?
Her book has a long and not catchy title: The Tenth Muse Lately Sprung up in America. Her editor should be
ashamed.
12.
To whom was this poem written?
She wrote this poem about her husband, Simon.
13.
What kinds of metaphor did her descriptions of love tend to take?
Most of the metaphors she used to describe the love she felt toward her husband had to do with money or
wealth. Somehow, given how well-off the Bradstreets were, it does not strike me as unusual that she would
adopt this language.
14.
Give an example of another kind of metaphor that did not follow her usual pattern?
The metaphor she used that bucked this pattern was comparing her love to a thirst that even drinking all of the
water in a river would not be able to quench. (Never mind that she would have died of hyponatremia.)
15.
What does manifold mean?
It means varied, many, or multiple times.
16.
What does recompense mean?
Recompense means to pay back or make amends for.
“Here Follow Some Verses Upon the Burning of Our House”
17.
Who wrote this poem?
Anne Bradstreet again is the guilty party.
18.
What is poetic inversion?
Poetic inversion is the rearranging of words in a sentence. In this particular poem, the subject and the verb
were inverted in many (manifold) lines in order to create poetic effects. This is also called anastrophe.
19.
What is an extended metaphor? What is the extended metaphor in this poem?
An extended metaphor is also known as a conceit or sustained metaphor. It is when the author makes a
comparison between two things (that’s just simple metaphor, so far). But then the author keeps embellishing it.
She adds on to it. She includes extra details that provide further points of comparison. We saw this with two
poems in this unit. Ann Bradstreet did it with this poem with her extended metaphor of the heavenly home and
then Edward Taylor did it in “Huswifery.”
20.
What are the two French words for goodbye? Which one was used in this poem? What is the significance of it?
As I mentioned in class, French has two words for goodbye: au revoir and adieu. Au revoir is a more casual
goodbye—something along the lines of “see you later.” Adieu is more of a final goodbye. One would say
“Adieu, ma chère,” when wishing a lover goodbye once and for all. In this poem, Bradstreet uses adieu to signal
a final parting to her material possessions.
21.
Briefly explain the plot of this poem.
It is relatively simple as these things go. The speaker is asleep. She is awakened when her house burns down.
She goes outside and watches her house burn down. Initially, she is very upset by the loss of her possessions,
but then she takes some comfort in her spiritual teachings. She reminds herself that everything she had came
from God, so it is proper that he could take everything away as well. This epiphany lasts until later in the poem.
Some time later, she walks by the ruins of her house and starts feeling nostalgic about her possessions and, as
an added dimension, she is sad for the things she will never get to do in the house: she’ll never have another
Christmas dinner, she’ll never be able to welcome her daughters’ future husbands over, that kind of thing. After
acknowledging her feelings, she once again is able to dismiss them by recalling the teachings of her faith. She
reminds herself that she has a heavenly home which will be far better than the one she lost on earth. With this
realization, she is able to (finally) move on.
22.
What does pelf mean?
Pelf means ill-gotten gains.
“Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God”
23.
Who preached this sermon?
The famous Puritan minister Jonathan Edwards preached this sermon.
24.
List three metaphors for God’s wrath.
One of the metaphors for God’s wrath is the waters being held back by a dam. Another of the metaphors is the
bow and arrow pointing at your heart. A third metaphor for God’s wrath is being held over the fiery pit of hell
by the hand of God.
25.
What was the author’s purpose in preaching this sermon?
Put simply, the author was preaching the sermon to convince his congregation of the very real dangers of hell.
He further wanted to convince his congregation to change their sinful ways.
26.
The author used animal imagery several times in the poem. Explain one of them.
There were many detestable creatures mentioned in the poem. One of them was a spider. Another one of
them was a snake. Edwards brought up these reviled creatures and compared them to sinners. His purpose
seemed to be to make people view sin and sinners the same way that they viewed these hated creatures.
“A Journey Through Texas”
27.
Who wrote this story?
La Relacíon is the name of the book written by Alvar Nunez Cabeza de Vaca. “A Journey Through Texas” is the
name given to a small excerpt (vocabulary word) from the longer text.
28.
What does his name mean in English?
In English, Cabeza de Vaca would seem to mean cow’s head.
29.
What was the name of the monster that would sneak into your dwelling at night and stab you?
If you will recall, the monster that presented such a fright to that tribe of Native Americans was Evil Thing.
30.
What made this monster so unusual?
In addition to being a little person (such as a dwarf or midget), Evil Thing also lacked arms.
31.
What event led to the capture of the author of this story and his captivity?
De Vaca was a Spanish explorer and adventurer. His ship wrecked off the coast in late season storms. Some of
his crew members died, but a handful were saved by Native Americans.
32.
What miraculous event did the author claim he could perform?
Although the editors of your book only give him credit for performing the first recorded surgery in North
America, de Vaca gives himself more credit than that. He claims to have performed resurrections.
“A Narrative of the Captivity and the Restoration of Mary Rowlandson”
33.
Who wrote this story?
Mary Rowlandson wrote this story.
34.
What event led to the capture of the author of this story?
Rowlandson, and others in her village, were taken as hostages by a Native American raiding party.
35.
List three unusual food items that the author ate.
Where to begin? Let’s start with pancakes fried in bear-fat. Then we will add ground-nuts to the mix. And to
round out the meal, let’s have unborn baby deer. Dig in!
36.
What is an allusion?
An allusion is a reference to another work. The work referenced is usually one of three things: the Bible,
Shakespeare, or classical mythology.
37.
Identify two allusions in this story and how they functioned.
Two allusions that I took notice of were references to Job and Moses. The Job reference was to indicate that she
felt like she was going through trials of faith like Job did. The Moses reference was probably because she felt like she’d
been wandering around in the wilderness for forty years. (Although she was only held captive for eleven weeks.)
“The Life of Olaudah Equiano”
38.
Who wrote this story?
Olaudah Equiano himself is the author of this story.
39.
What makes the author of this captivity narrative different from the other two?
Equiano was an African. Our other two captivity narratives were written by Puritans.
40.
What does the author mean by calling his captors “nominal Christians”?
The point that Equiano is emphasizing is that people who cling to the title of Christian while displaying patently
un-Christian behavior are, in fact, Christians in name only.