Essential Question Answer for Puritan Literature

I think that the American Dream has changed from William Bradford's time to Jonathan Edwards's time in that in Bradford's time people were God-fearing, and believed that God caused everything that happened, and that if something happened, then it took place in order to please God. Then we move to Anne Bradstreet's time, where people hold to their beliefs, but have lost the belief that God causes things to happen. Next we go to Edward Taylor's time, when people wanted to become tools of God, and have God act through them. The reason for this being that they believed that if God chooses to act through them, then they will be accepted into Heaven. Finally, we have Jonathan Edwards's time, when people took the fear of God and explained why they shoud fear God. Then the preachers went even farther by stating how you are going to hell, and there is nothing you can do to prevent this.
To sum up, Americans have gone from wanting to coexist with God and his actions, to wanting to be God's tool so that they can be accepted into Heaven instead of being doomed to hell.

Passage From "Sinners"

O sinner! Consider the fearful danger you are in: it is a great furnace of wrath, a wide and bottomless pit, full of the fire of wrath, that you are held over in the hand of that God, whose wrath is provoked and incensed as much against you, as against many of the damned in hell. You hang by a slender thread, with the flames of divine wrath flashing about it, and ready every moment to singe it, and burn it asunder; and you have no interest in any Mediator, and nothing to lay hold of to save yourself, nothing to keep off the flames of wrath, nothing of your own, nothing that you ever have done, nothing that you can do, to induce God to spare you one moment.

I chose this passage because of the way Edwards ended his sermon. He told these people about how they were being held up from hell by God, and only if they appease God can they be spared. Then he goes on to say what will happen if you do anything to anger God further. At that point, everyone in his audience is hanging on to his every word, waiting to hear how they can be spared from this doom. But, he just says how precarious their position over hell is, and that they are doomed to fall into hell, and nothing can save them from this fate. I thought that that ending seemed very ironic, and a bit of a let-down, and I laughed a little bit when I read that.

Reflection on Collage for "Sinners"

For my collage, I had a multitude of images. Allow me to explain the significance of these images, and connect them to “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God.”
First, at the bottom, I had rocks surrounded by fire. This is a representation of the lake of burning brimstone and the pit of glowing flames that Edwards mentions on Page 1, Paragraph 2.
Moving up, I had 4 people being held by someone else’s hands. These images are a representation of men being held in the hand of God mentioned on Page 1, Paragraph 1; Page 2, Paragraph 4; Page 3, Paragraph 6; and Page 3, Paragraph 7.
On the right side, I had a person being held up by a single rope. This signifies the final paragraph, where Edwards is stating that we hang by a slender thread, and only God can pull you out.
Finally, at the top, I have two pictures that are not specifically mentioned in the sermon. The first one is a cross, which signifies the faith that one can attain in God. The other image is a man preaching a sermon, which I found suitable for this assignment.
The overall theme is that hell is represented at the bottom of the page, while heaven is represented at the top. The area in the middle is where most of us humans reside, and it is only God holding us that keeps us from falling into hell.

Thesis Statement for "Huswifery"

In the poem “Huswifery,” Edward Taylor uses extended metaphors to better help the reader understand his journey from a sinner to a redeemed person. His main metaphor is that he wishes to be the spinning kit that God weaves His Word on.

Diary Entry for Anne Bradstreet

July 11th, 1666

I am doing better today. Yesterday, I suffered a tremendous loss, with my only home these past 26 years burning to the ground. All my worldly possessions were in it at the time, as well as countless memories of my children as the grew. However, I have now come to grips with this, as none of the belongings that perished matter. Once I die, I shall ascend to heaven, and no possession that I have lost upon this earthly plane will have mattered, as I will have anything and everything I could have ever wanted upon my ascension into the pearly gates of Heaven.

Anne Bradstreet Political Cartoon

Anne Bradstreet felt trapped by her feelings of loss after the fire, and by her Puritan beliefs. As shown in the cartoon, a person is trapped in their house while it is on fire. This represents that in the current housing market, once you buy a house, you are trapped with it. This connects to Anne's feelings in that she felt trapped because she was mourning the loss of her possessions, therefore giving value to them. However, Puritan beliefs state that possessions cannot have value, only God can have value. To sum up, the cartoon show someone trapped by the housing market, which connects to Anne's feelings trapping her.

Reflection on "In Reference To My Children"

This poem really speaks to Anne's pain, how she taught and raised her children as best as she could. Even though she taught them how to fend for themselves, she still worries as to whether or not they will be safe. she worries about her children being hurt, taken advantage of, or killed. However, she states at the end, "I am happy, if well with you." I took this to mean that, even though she is going to worry about her children, if they are happy and safe, then she will be also.