Puritan Review
Short Answer
Short Answer
Write your responses to the questions in this section on the lines provided.
1. To whom is the poem “Huswifery” addressed?
2. Huswifery means “housekeeping.” What major form of
housekeeping is described in the poem?
3. To which two housekeeping devices does the poet compare
himself in the first two stanzas of “Huswifery”?
4. What religious value of the time does the poem “Huswifery”
reflect?
5. As you read “Huswifery,” you notice many words that need
explanation, and there are unusual sentence structures.What
reading rate would you use to get the most from the poem?
6. What does the poet imply has been made by the end of the first
stanza of “Huswifery”?
7. What does the poem imply has been made by the end of the
second stanza of “Huswifery”?
8. What does the poet do with the finished clothing in stanza
three that helps him become more worthy and also honors
God? Use a quote from the poem in your answer.
9. Reread line 10 of the poem “Huswifery.” Use the definitions
below the poem to help you figure out what the poet is saying
in this line.
10. How does the poem “Huswifery” use the extended comparison
of the poet with a spinning wheel/loom to express the ideas of
the Puritan work ethic?
11. How would you restate the first two lines on the poem “To My
Dear and Loving Husband” by putting the words in a different
order?
12. What kind of feeling do you get from the style of the inverted
lines in the first stanza in “To My Dear and Loving Husband?”
Is it formal or informal?
13. How are the words inverted in line 4 of the first stanza of “To
My Dear and Loving Husband?” How might you restate the
line?
14. The writer in “To My Dear and Loving Husband” describes her
love for her husband in three ways in the first stanza. List the
ways in the Graphic Organizer below and then state the
message she conveys in this stanza.
15. How does the speaker communicate the depth of her love for
her husband in lines 5 and 6 of “To My Dear and Loving
Husband?” What descriptions does she use?
16. How would you paraphrase the lines “My love is such that
rivers cannot quench,/ Nor ought but love from thee, give
recompense” from “To My Dear and Loving Husband?”
17. What does the poet ask in the first line of stanza 3 in the poem
“To My Dear and Loving Husband,” and whom is she
addressing?
18. What is the message the poet gives in lines 9 and 10 from the
poem “To My Dear and Loving Husband?”
19. How would you paraphrase the final lines of the poem “To My
Dear and Loving Husband?”
20. What other word in stanza 2 of “To My Dear and Loving
Husband” gives you a clue to the meaning of the word
recompense? What relationship does this clue word have to
the word recompense?
21. In paragraph 1 of Of Plymouth Plantation, the sailors work to
deal with the peril of storms and threats to the ship. What
were they hoping for that means the opposite of peril?
22. Reread the sentence beginning “And truly there was great
distraction and difference of opinion. . .” in the first paragraph
of Of Plymouth Plantation. What is the difference of opinion, or
conflict, among the sailors in this sentence?
23. Reread paragraph 4 in Of Plymouth Plantation, which begins
“Being thus arrived. . .”. What is Bradford’s religious purpose in
writing this paragraph?
24. Reread the section beginning “Besides, what could they see
but a hideous and desolate wilderness. . .” through the end of
the section from Chapter 9 of Of Plymouth Plantation. To whom
is Bradford addressing his words and what is his purpose in
writing this section?
25. Break down the passage from Of Plymouth Plantation in this
graphic organizer. As you break it down, fill in the Who, What,
and Why boxes. Then fill in the Main Idea box.
26. Reread the second paragraph under Book 2 of Of Plymouth
Plantation. What message is Bradford giving to his audience
about the presence of God in the midst of sickness and death?
27. Reread the sentence beginning “But now amongst his company
there was far another kind of carriage . . .” in Of Plymouth
Plantation. Identify who is being described in this passage.
Then describe the attitude of these people to their companions
when everyone is healthy and the attitude of these people to
their companions when illness strikes.
28. The final paragraph in the selection from Of Plymouth
Plantation tells you that there was no want in the summer
months, because the company fished, hunted, and grew corn.
Elsewhere, Bradford says that they learned these things from
Squanto. What would have been his purpose for writing this
information in his narrative?
29. Read statements 1 and 2 in Of Plymouth Plantation of the
peace agreement between Bradford’s company and Massasoit.
Do these statements describe a mutual situation? Why or why
not?
30. The first paragraph in the selection from Of Plymouth
Plantation tells of “desperate and inevitable peril.” What
synonym for the word peril does the context of the paragraph
provide?
31. What are some examples from the first paragraph in the
sermon Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God that tell you that
a sermon is a kind of religious writing?
32. What context clues do you see in the first sentence of
paragraph 3 of Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God that help
you determine the meaning of the word gulf in the same
sentence?
33. In the second part of paragraph 3 of Sinners in the Hands of an
Angry God, what metaphors does Edwards use for human
beings and for God’s wrath in the face of human beings’
wickedness?
34. Use the graphic organizer below to find context clues to the
meaning of the word waxing in paragraph 4 of Sinners in the
Hands of an Angry God. The word waxing is in the first box. In
the second box, write at least two context clues from the
sentence that hint at the meaning of waxing. Finally, in the
third box, write your definition of the word waxing.
35. What does Edwards mean in paragraph 5 of Sinners in the
Hands of an Angry God when he refers to the members of his
congregation as “dead in sin”?
36. In paragraph 5 of Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God,
Edwards lists several ways in which members of his
congregation may have become better people and more
religious people. Based on the rest of the paragraph, why
would these statements probably not be comforting to his
listeners?
37. In paragraph 8 of Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God, how
does Edwards characterize the individuals in his congregation?
What word does he repeat several times in order to persuade
his listeners of God’s feeling toward them?
38. Reread the paragraph toward the end of Sinners in the Hands
of an Angry God that begins “And now you have an
extraordinary opportunity . . . .” What effect do you think this
change in approach had on Edwards’s congregation?
39. To which emotion in his congregation does Edwards appeal to
most in his sermon Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God?
40. What synonym for the word dolorous can you find in paragraph
10 of Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God? What other
synonym that is not in the paragraph can you also suggest for
dolorous