Unit 1: Early American Literature review questions

Study the handouts "Encounters and Foundations to 1800" (including the Mayflower Compact), the chart on Bradford, reading guide questions on Edwards, chart on Rowlandson, and your notes on Puritanism, both the Guided Notes worksheet and notes from PowerPoint & the board. In addition, use these questions to review the following

  1. Bradford, Of Plymouth Plantation
    2.

    What attitudes does Bradford display toward the various difficulties the colonists encountered?

    What does the treaty with Massosoit’s tribe reveal about the Pilgrims’ relationship with and attitude toward the Indians?

    How does Bradford describe Squanto’s role in the colony’s survival?

  2. Bradstreet, "Upon the Burning of Our House"
    3.

    What is the role of God and purpose in Bradstreet going through this experience?

    Trace her movement through the mourning process by looking at the three parts of the poem, lines 1-20, 21-36, 37-54.

    Explain the use of the house metaphor in the last section of the poem.

  3. Bradstreet, "The Author to Her Book"
    4.

    What was the situation and reason for writing this poem?

    What is meant by line 16?

    Explain use of personification & apostrophe in this poem.

  4. Bradstreet, "For Deliverance from a Fever"
    5.

    How does Bradstreet use hyperbole in this poem?

    What are the speaker’s beliefs about the purpose of her suffering?

    What does the mention of the "rod" in line 21 suggest about her Puritan beliefs?

  5. Bradstreet, "The Flesh and the Spirit"
    6.

    Explain the use of multiple personas—distinguish among the three.

    Identify at least two Biblical allusions and explain what they add to the poem’s meaning

    Explain the use of dichotomies to express the main idea.

  6. Bradstreet, "Before the Birth of One of Her Children"
    7.

    Explain the identity of speaker, audience, subject, & purpose of this poem

    What are the speaker’s fears?

    What, according to the speaker, is inevitable?

  7. Bradstreet, "To My Dear and Loving Husband"
    8.

    Describe the quality of the speaker’s relationship to her main audience, her husband. What is his relationship with her like?

    How does Bradstreet use figurative language to convey the depth of that relationship (hyperbole, paradox)?

  8. Bradstreet, "In Memory of My Dear Grandchild"
    9.

    To what extent does the poem reflect the natural, human side of the speaker? How does it at the same time reflect her Puritan beliefs?

    What explanation is given for what happens to the trees, plums, apples, and so on?

    What explanation is given for what has happened to Elizabeth Bradstreet?

  9. Taylor, "Huswifery"
    10.

    What common process is described in the poem (list the three stages of the process)

    How does Taylor use each stage of this process to explain the speaker’s relationship to God?

    What dominant Puritan belief is reflected in this poem?

  10. Taylor, "Upon Wedlock and Death of Children"
    11.

    Explain the use of metaphor to describe the beauty of his marriage and the birth of his children.

    Describe the stages of grief Taylor experiences in losing one daughter, and then another.

    What consolation does Taylor find, particularly after the second daughter’s death?

  11. Taylor, "Meditation One"
    12.

    What key Puritan beliefs are reflected in this poem?

    What does Taylor seek to change about his relationship with God?

    Explain the metaphor used in the second stanza of the poem

Discussion

Be prepared to answer each question in at least 6-8 complete sentences using your best formal writing style. Begin with a topic sentence that states author, title, and main idea; organize your paragraphs clearly; use the literary present and quotations for support. (15 points each)

  1. Choose one literary work by one of the writers we studied—Bradford, Bradstreet, Taylor, Edwards, and Rowlandson—and analyze the use of rhetorical and/or poetic devices to develop the main ideas. Include specific detail and at least one quotation for support. Hint: rhetorical devices—allusion, contrasting ideas (dichotomies), exemplum, organization of ideas; poetic devices—structure (rhyme, rhythm, stanza structure) and figures of speech
  2. Choose one of the poems we studied. In your paragraph, analyze how Puritan values and beliefs are reflected in the poem. Include specific detail and at least one quotation for support. Note: do not choose a poem by the same writer you chose for question #1.