Name:_____________________________________________
Date:______________
“Upon the Burning Our House” & “To My Dear and Loving Husband”
Anne Bradstreet pg. 76
The Time and Place
1) What set Bradstreet apart from most writers during this time period?
Vocabulary
2) Inversion –
3) Extended metaphor –
4) Paradox –
Questions
5) In “Upon the Burning Our House,” how can you infer the speaker felt about losing her possessions in
the fire? Use at least one specific line that made you think this.
6) What extended metaphor does Bradstreet us in “Upon the Burning Our House”? (Hint: reread lines
43-50.) In your own words, summarize what you think the speaker is describing in the extended
metaphor.
7) In the last line of “Upon the Burning Our House,” Bradstreet seems to accept the loss of her house and
possessions as God’s will and her treasures wait for her in heaven. How do you think this compares to
how people accept or deal with a similar situation of loss today? Would their reaction be different than
Bradstreet’s? Explain.
8) How does the speaker feel about her husband in “To My Dear and Loving Husband”? Use at least one
line of evidence from the text to support your answer.
9) In “To My Dear and Loving Husband,” what is the paradox in the last line? What does this
contradiction mean?
__________________________________________________________________________________________________
“Huswifery” John Edwards
Vocabulary
10) Conceit –
Questions
11) What does Edwards ask God to make him in the first line? How was this odd for a man of this time
period?
12) Why might Edwards have chosen this sort of comparison?
13) What is the end result of the weaving?
Name:_____________________________________________
Date:______________
“Upon the Burning Our House” & “To My Dear and Loving Husband” KEY
Anne Bradstreet pg. 76
The Time and Place
1) What set Bradstreet apart from most writers during this time period?
Any of these: woman, first American poet, shared emotions instead of just God
Vocabulary
2) Inversion – changing the usual order of words
3) Extended metaphor – a comparison that extends throughout a whole paragraph, stanza, or text
4) Paradox – seems to be impossible but upon closer inspection is true
Questions
5) In “Upon the Burning Our House,” how can you infer the speaker felt about losing her possessions in
the fire? Use at least one specific line that made you think this.
Two possibilities: regret/sorrow or resigned to the fact that God gives and God takes away
MUST HAVE SUPPORTING QUOTE FOR CREDIT.
6) What extended metaphor does Bradstreet us in “Upon the Burning Our House”? (Hint: reread lines
43-50.) In your own words, summarize what you think the speaker is describing in the extended
metaphor.
Two parts: God is the master builder (architect). He’s building and paying for a house for her in
Heaven.
7) In the last line of “Upon the Burning Our House,” Bradstreet seems to accept the loss of her house and
possessions as God’s will and her treasures wait for her in heaven. How do you think this compares to
how people accept or deal with a similar situation of loss today? Would their reaction be different than
Bradstreet’s? Explain. Answers will vary.
8) How does the speaker feel about her husband in “To My Dear and Loving Husband”? Use at least one
line of evidence from the text to support your answer.
She loves/adores him. MUST HAVE SUPPORTING QUOTE FOR CREDIT.
9) In “To My Dear and Loving Husband,” what is the paradox in the last line? What does this
contradiction mean?
Then while we live, in love let's so persevere/That when we live no more, we may live ever.
They may not live on Earth, but they will live in Heaven forever.
__________________________________________________________________________________________________
“Huswifery” John Edwards
Vocabulary
10) Conceit – an elaborate, fanciful metaphor
Questions
11) What does Edwards ask God to make him in the first line? How was this odd for a man of this time
period?
A spinning wheel—Women spun yarn, not men
12) Why might Edwards have chosen this sort of comparison?
Vary—should be supported
13) What is the end result of the weaving? He will be clothed in robes for glory.