1. America’s Puritan Roots

2. Stereotype of the Puritans is based upon 16 th Century Puritans

3. Our Puritan Roots Values Hard Work Thriftiness God Family Life Community Service Art Literature Material Wealth is a reward of a virtuous life Negative Characteristics Intolerant of different viewpoints Arrogant about religious faith “A Puritan is one who suspects that ‘someone somewhere is having a good time.’” H.L. Menckan Accomplishments 1 st printing press in the colonies Free, public grammar schools College—Harvard

4. Puritan Beliefs = Religious Beliefs Human beings are inherently evil and so must struggle to overcome their sinful nature. Belief in Original Sin Guilt and remorse = Good Things because they were a sign of God’s Grace Constantly examining themselves

5. New England Primer

6. Puritan Beliefs = Religious Beliefs Personal salvation depends solely on the grace of God, not on individual effort. Predestination—People “elected” by God go to Heaven Only knew if saved if directly experienced God’s grace in a religious conversion

7. The Bible is the supreme authority on Earth: Moral Spiritual Church Society Resulted in: Democratic churches Repressive political systems Intolerant of others Justified force and oppression of Native Americans Puritan Beliefs = Religious Beliefs

8. Puritan Plain Style Puritan writing generally followed as style now call Puritan Plain Style: –Simple, direct statements –References to everyday objects Anne Bradstreet wrote about her home, children, and husband

9. Inverted Syntax Inverted Syntax: words of a sentence in reverse order. I ate burgers for lunch. Ex: Burgers for lunch I ate. Invert this sentence: I walked by her house. By her house I walked.

10. Archaic Language Archaic Language: words and phrases no longer in common use. Examples Thee Thou Thy Shalt Didst Abide = You = Your = Shall = Did = Live

11. Apostrophe Apostrophe: ‘ - use to show missing letter(s) in words. Cannot = Can’t E’er = “ever” ‘gin = “begin”

12. Focus for Anne Bradstreet’s Poetry: In Anne Bradstreet’s poetry, what Puritan values does she convey? How?