SEPTEMBER 11 T H , 2014

THE PURITAN EXPERIMENT

English III – Ms. Hill

The “Love Song”

Think about love songs you know, then read the line below:

Respond to this line in your notebook. How is it relevant today?

“If ever two were one, then surely we.” - Bradstreet

Puritans

People were not adventurers, explorers, or traders.

Primary reason they came to America = religious reasons. Yet, they do not tolerate others when they arrive.

Idea of struggle: conflict with worldliness/sin is ingrained in the literature and culture. (Deny the world and its pleasures.)

Joy comes for the redeeming power of Christ!

Puritans Con’t

Believed they were chosen/savedVictims of their environment, weather,

disease, infections, hard work, and oppressive daily life.

God’s Providence = divine planAll human life and time is seen as a

progression to the fulfillment of God’s design.God rewards the good and punishes the evil.“Community of saints”Cotton Mather = Belief in predestination

“Huswifery”

Read together as a classIn each stanza, pick out nouns/verbs that relate

to cloth makingIn what sense are the words: spinning wheel,

distaff, flyers, spoole, reel, and yarn symbolic of the Puritan Plain Style?

What is the multi-layered metaphor used throughout the entire poem?

What do the images suggest about the speaker’s relationship with God?

What does the title say about the poem?

“To My Dear and Loving Husband”

Woman, Puritan writers were NOT common. She wrote only during down times when her children were asleep.

Paraphrase the first stanza.Does Bradstreet seem to fit your image of a

Puritan woman? Why or why not?Does this poem’s ideals still hold true in

today’s society?