1. Unit 2 – Part 1 American Literature Stepp
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From Colony to Country
The Language of Literature American Literature / McDougal Littell
The Lord will make our name a praise and glory, so that men shall say of succeeding plantations: “The Lord make it like that of New England.”
For we must consider that we shall be like a City upon a Hill; the eyes of all people are on us.
-John Winthrop
1st Governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony
The image of the ‘city on a hill’ comes from a passage in the New Testament book of Matthew (v. 13 – 16) called The Similitudes. Puritans believed that the Christian faith had become corrupted, and these verses reinforced for them the importance of purifying themselves for God’s service. What literary device is Winthrop using here?
Unit 2 – Part 1
American Literature
Stepp
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The information herein is for informational purposes only and represents the current view of Microsoft Corporation as of the date of this presentation. Because Microsoft must respond to changing market conditions, it should not be interpreted to be a commitment on the part of Microsoft, and Microsoft cannot guarantee the accuracy of any information provided after the date of this presentation. MICROSOFT MAKES NO WARRANTIES, EXPRESS, IMPLIED OR STATUTORY, AS TO THE INFORMATION IN THIS PRESENTATION.

2. From Colony to Country 1620 -1800
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From Colony to Country
Events in American Literature
Bay Psalm Book is 1st book printed in America.
st American newspaper – Boston Newsletter.
In a speech to the 2nd Virginia Convention, Patrick Henry makes a plea (“Give Me Liberty, or Give me Death” speech) for armed resistance against the British.
North America Events
1630 –Nearly 1000 Puritans establish Massachusetts Bay Colony
1775 – “The Shot heard ‘round the world” is fired on Lexington Green in Massachusetts starting the American Revolutionary War.
The phrase “The Shot heard ‘round the world” is from Ralph Waldo Emerson’s poem “Concord Hymn” (1837), which was about the beginning of the American Revolution. In Europe, many use this phrase to reference the assassination of Archduke Ferdinand, one of the proximal events that launched WWI. The phrase has been used since to refer to Bobby Thomson’s game-winning home run in the 1951 playoffs, or the 2008 knockout of Chuck Liddell by Rashad Evans at UFC 88.
How could a person know which usage is being referenced?
© 2007 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved. Microsoft, Windows, Windows Vista and other product names are or may be registered trademarks and/or trademarks in the U.S. and/or other countries.
The information herein is for informational purposes only and represents the current view of Microsoft Corporation as of the date of this presentation. Because Microsoft must respond to changing market conditions, it should not be interpreted to be a commitment on the part of Microsoft, and Microsoft cannot guarantee the accuracy of any information provided after the date of this presentation. MICROSOFT MAKES NO WARRANTIES, EXPRESS, IMPLIED OR STATUTORY, AS TO THE INFORMATION IN THIS PRESENTATION.

3. From Colony to Country 1620 -1800
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From Colony to Country
World Events
1632 – Indian Emperor Shah Jahan
commissions the building of the
Taj Mahal, which takes 21 years.
1687 – Sir Isaac Newton posits the “Law of
Gravity.”
1721 – Edo (Tokyo), Japan becomes the world’s largest city.
1789 – French Revolution begins (to 1794)
The Taj Mahal is a mausoleum for the Shah’s third wife, Mumtaz.
© 2007 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved. Microsoft, Windows, Windows Vista and other product names are or may be registered trademarks and/or trademarks in the U.S. and/or other countries.
The information herein is for informational purposes only and represents the current view of Microsoft Corporation as of the date of this presentation. Because Microsoft must respond to changing market conditions, it should not be interpreted to be a commitment on the part of Microsoft, and Microsoft cannot guarantee the accuracy of any information provided after the date of this presentation. MICROSOFT MAKES NO WARRANTIES, EXPRESS, IMPLIED OR STATUTORY, AS TO THE INFORMATION IN THIS PRESENTATION.

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From Colony to Country
Unit Two presents some of the great minds that shaped the early years of the colonies that would, one day, become the United States.
Between Heaven & Hell (Part 1)
This part of the unit contains literature from Puritan writers. We will read sermons,
poetry, and nonfiction.
For example,
Anne Bradstreet (Poet)
Salem Court Documents, 1692
Jonathan Edwards (Sermon)
Not all of the influential documents were political or even revolutionary in tone. Bradstreet’s poems are evocative Puritan love poems, while the deadly record of Salem Court documents preserve a time of temporal horror, and Jonathon Edwards evokes the images of the timeless torment of Hell.
© 2007 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved. Microsoft, Windows, Windows Vista and other product names are or may be registered trademarks and/or trademarks in the U.S. and/or other countries.
The information herein is for informational purposes only and represents the current view of Microsoft Corporation as of the date of this presentation. Because Microsoft must respond to changing market conditions, it should not be interpreted to be a commitment on the part of Microsoft, and Microsoft cannot guarantee the accuracy of any information provided after the date of this presentation. MICROSOFT MAKES NO WARRANTIES, EXPRESS, IMPLIED OR STATUTORY, AS TO THE INFORMATION IN THIS PRESENTATION.

5. Historical Background – The Puritan Tradition 1620 -1800
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Historical Background – The Puritan Tradition
Puritans have the reputation of being black-clad moralists who self-righteously proclaim the virtues of thrift and hard work.
“A Puritan is one who suspects that
somewhere someone is having a good time.”
American writer & humorist, H.L. Mencken
To call someone a Puritan is not usually a compliment.
© 2007 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved. Microsoft, Windows, Windows Vista and other product names are or may be registered trademarks and/or trademarks in the U.S. and/or other countries.
The information herein is for informational purposes only and represents the current view of Microsoft Corporation as of the date of this presentation. Because Microsoft must respond to changing market conditions, it should not be interpreted to be a commitment on the part of Microsoft, and Microsoft cannot guarantee the accuracy of any information provided after the date of this presentation. MICROSOFT MAKES NO WARRANTIES, EXPRESS, IMPLIED OR STATUTORY, AS TO THE INFORMATION IN THIS PRESENTATION.

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The Puritan Tradition
The negative image of Puritans is based largely on a stereotype of the 16th-century Puritans that, like most stereotypes, is full of half-truths and misconceptions.
Puritan Values Firsts
hard work establish a printing press
self-sacrifice free public grammar schools
family life a college (Harvard)
community service
art and literature
material success. Puritans believed wealth was a reward to a virtuous life.
On the other hand, many Puritans were arrogant in their religious faith and completely intolerant of viewpoints different from theirs.
© 2007 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved. Microsoft, Windows, Windows Vista and other product names are or may be registered trademarks and/or trademarks in the U.S. and/or other countries.
The information herein is for informational purposes only and represents the current view of Microsoft Corporation as of the date of this presentation. Because Microsoft must respond to changing market conditions, it should not be interpreted to be a commitment on the part of Microsoft, and Microsoft cannot guarantee the accuracy of any information provided after the date of this presentation. MICROSOFT MAKES NO WARRANTIES, EXPRESS, IMPLIED OR STATUTORY, AS TO THE INFORMATION IN THIS PRESENTATION.

7. Puritan Religious Beliefs
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Puritan Religious Beliefs
The key to the Puritan heart and soul is religious belief.
Basic Puritan Convictions:
Human beings are inherently evil and so must struggle to overcome their sinful nature. This belief in the original sin was one of the 1st things a Puritan child learned. “In Adam’s fall / We sinned all” is the rhyme that teaches the letter A in The New England Primer.
Personal salvation depends solely on the grace of God, not on individual effort. Puritans believed in predestination, the doctrine that only those people who are “elected” by God are saved and go to heaven. The only way an individual could know that he or she was saved was by directly experiencing God’s grace in a religious experience.
Journaling and meditation in prayer was a Puritan staple. The recording of one’s life is why we have so many records of Puritan society today. Ironically, the purpose for the journaling and meditation was to spend time examining one’s life for signs of God’s grace. If God did not extend grace to an individual, then that person was doomed.
© 2007 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved. Microsoft, Windows, Windows Vista and other product names are or may be registered trademarks and/or trademarks in the U.S. and/or other countries.
The information herein is for informational purposes only and represents the current view of Microsoft Corporation as of the date of this presentation. Because Microsoft must respond to changing market conditions, it should not be interpreted to be a commitment on the part of Microsoft, and Microsoft cannot guarantee the accuracy of any information provided after the date of this presentation. MICROSOFT MAKES NO WARRANTIES, EXPRESS, IMPLIED OR STATUTORY, AS TO THE INFORMATION IN THIS PRESENTATION.

8. Historical Background - Puritan Religious Beliefs
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Historical Background - Puritan Religious Beliefs
Basic Puritan Convictions: (continued)
The Bible is the supreme authority on earth. Puritans argued that the Bible was the sole guide, not only in governing the moral and spiritual life, but also in governing the church and society as a whole.
One effect of this belief was to make Puritan churches more democratic, organized around ruling bishops.
On the other hand, it led to the Puritans being more repressive in their political systems and more intolerant of others.
© 2007 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved. Microsoft, Windows, Windows Vista and other product names are or may be registered trademarks and/or trademarks in the U.S. and/or other countries.
The information herein is for informational purposes only and represents the current view of Microsoft Corporation as of the date of this presentation. Because Microsoft must respond to changing market conditions, it should not be interpreted to be a commitment on the part of Microsoft, and Microsoft cannot guarantee the accuracy of any information provided after the date of this presentation. MICROSOFT MAKES NO WARRANTIES, EXPRESS, IMPLIED OR STATUTORY, AS TO THE INFORMATION IN THIS PRESENTATION.

9. OBJECTIVES Understand and appreciate lyric poetry (literary analysis)
Appreciate author’s use of meter (literary analysis)
Meter is the repetition of a regular rhythmic unit in a line of poetry.
Clarify meaning of archaic language (active reading)
Archaic language consists of words that were once commonly used in the past but are now considered old-fashioned or out-of-date.
For example,
thee means “you” (singular) and
ye is the plural form of “you”
thy means “your”
doth means “does”

10. Background - Puritan Poetry
Anne Bradstreet was not only the first notable American woman poet—she essentially was the first notable American poet.
Poetry in the 17th-century New England was almost exclusively devotional in nature and as such was high recommended reading in the Puritan community.
Bradstreet’s poems focused on the realities of life (husband, children, house). However, being a Puritan Bradstreet viewed her life within a spiritual context.
In other words, every event, no matter how trivial, bore a divine message; every misfortune served to remind her of God’s will and the path to salvation.
Bradstreet’s poetry leaves a lasting impression of what it felt like to be a Puritan.

11. Other terms to know and be able to identify…
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Bradstreet often uses inverted syntax- meaning that she reverses the expected order of words.
For example, in the first line of “Upon the Burning of Our House,” she writes “when rest I took” rather than “when I took rest.”
© 2007 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved. Microsoft, Windows, Windows Vista and other product names are or may be registered trademarks and/or trademarks in the U.S. and/or other countries.
The information herein is for informational purposes only and represents the current view of Microsoft Corporation as of the date of this presentation. Because Microsoft must respond to changing market conditions, it should not be interpreted to be a commitment on the part of Microsoft, and Microsoft cannot guarantee the accuracy of any information provided after the date of this presentation. MICROSOFT MAKES NO WARRANTIES, EXPRESS, IMPLIED OR STATUTORY, AS TO THE INFORMATION IN THIS PRESENTATION.