Puritan Unit Notes
Pilgrims Going to Church-George Henry Boughton
Huswifery-Edward Taylor
To My Dear & Loving Husband-Anne Bradstreet
Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God-Jonathan Edwards
Mrs. Rivers
George Henry Boughton
Pilgrims Going to Church
 He was born in England but lived in
Albany, NY
 At first concentrating on landscape
painting.
 After a year in NYC, he moved back to
Europe and settled back in England in
the 1860’s.
 Later, he became known primarily as a
painter of “subject pictures” like
Pilgrims Going to Church
Pilgrims going
to Church
1. What does the way
people are looking
around and holding
their guns tell you
about their state of
mind as they go to
church? Why might
they feel this way?
2. What do the
details of the
painting-the
weather, the posture
of the people-reveal
about life in the early
days of Puritan
settlement?
Puritan Plain Style
 Puritans, unlike most of us today, had few
possessions, dressed uniformly, and frowned on
creative expression.
 Puritans’ writing style reflected the plain style of
their lives-spare, simple, and straightforward.
 It is characterized by short words, direct
statements, and references to ordinary, everyday
objects
 Puritans believed that poetry should serve God by
clearly expressing only useful or religious ideas
 Poetry appealing to the senses or emotions was
viewed as dangerous.
 Puritan People
Edward Taylor &
Anne Bradstreet
Huswifery
To My Dear and Loving Husband
Edward Taylor
 Edward Taylor’s poetry expresses
intensity and a love of language
that contradicts the joyless
Puritan creed.
 Taylor thought of his poetry as a
form of personal worship.
 His work was generally unknown
during his lifetime because he
chose not to publish his poems
because their joyousness and
delight in sensory experience ran
counter to Puritan attitudes that
poetry be for moral instruction
only.
 Most of his poetry, like
“Huswifery” uses extravagant
comparisons, intellectual wit and
subtle argument to explore
religious faith and affection.
Anne Bradstreet
 Anne Dudley was 16 when she married
Simon Bradstreet. The couple
emigrated to America and lived in
Massachusetts
 Bradstreet knew that writing was
considered an unacceptable activity for
women, but she persevered
nonetheless, writing while children
slept or in moments between
household chores.
 Her best poems are those inspired by
the rhythms of daily New England life.
 Her later poems reveal her spiritual
growth as she came to embrace
Puritan beliefs
 “To My Dear and Loving Husband”
expresses her feelings about the joys
and difficulties of everyday Puritan life
 Her poetry reflects the Puritans’
knowledge of the stories and language
of the Bible, as well as their concern
for the relationship between earthly
and heavenly life.
“Huswifery” Edward Taylor
 focus on the simple, spare and straightforward writing
 focus on author’s use of short words, direct statements, and
references to ordinary, everyday objects
 Taylor’s apparent “extravagance” of his extended metaphor is offset by
the humble nature of the items he uses in his comparison.
-What is the poem about?
-Make a list in your notebook of cloth-making words
*Classwork
**Questions for Review & Assess in pp. 101
Huswifery
Apostrophe is a figure of
speech in which a speaker
directly addresses an absent
person or a personified object,
quality, or idea
E.g. Huswifery
Line 1: Make me, O Lord, Thy
spinning wheel complete
Line 8: And make Thy holy
spirit, Lord, wind quills
The extended metaphor may act
as a central theme, for example
where it is used as the primary
vehicle of a poem and is used
repeatedly and in different forms.
 Although Taylor’s poem uses
simple words to describe
common household items,
Taylor creates a rich, multilayered metaphor.
 Increasingly complex
connections-spinning wheel to
yarn to loom to cloth to holy
robes-represent steps the
speaker hopes he can follow in
life to glorify God and to
achieve a state of grace.
“To My Dear and Loving Husband” Anne Bradstreet
 Paraphrase Assignment
 Direct Address is when the
speaker in a poem talks directly
to someone or something.
Commas are used to separate the
word or phrase of the direct
address from the rest of the
sentence, regardless of its
position in the sentence.
E.g. May you be rewarded for
your love, dear husband.
-What is the poem about?
-How would you paraphrase
the first two lines?
*Paraphrase means to restate in
your own words.
Although these poems capture
the simplicity of Puritan life,
they are not necessarily easy to
understand. To help absorb the
meaning, take time to
paraphrase.
Paraphrase these passages
from the poems as though you
were explaining their meaning
to a friend “To My Dear and
Loving Husband” lines 9-12
AND “Huswifery” lines 9-12
*Questions on pp. 102 Review
& Assess
*Questions #2 & #4 on pp. 103
Sermon and Oratory
Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God
Jonathan Edwards
SERMON
 Sermon is broadly defined as
a speech given from a pulpit
in a house of worship.
 It conveys to an audience the
speaker’s message or point of
view.
 In colonial America’s religious
atmosphere, the sermon
flourished as a popular
literary form.
ORATORY
 Oratory is defined as formal
public speaking. Sermons are
one example.
 The best oratory almost always
displays the following elements:
-It is persuasive, inspiring
listeners to take action.
-It is emotionally appealing.
-It addresses the needs and
concerns of its audience.
-It involves the use of colorful
or rhythmic language.
 Although oratory is less common
in today’s society, it can still be
heard in Senate chambers,
courtrooms, and houses of
worship.
Jonathan Edwards
As he toiled to strengthen Puritanism against what he saw as new waves of
liberalism and rationalism, Jonathan Edwards deeply influenced American
religious history. He wrestled continually with the theological issue of free will:
if God determines all, how is human free will possible? Edwards concluded that
since God gives people the power to choose, they hold responsibility for their
acts and will ear God’s praise or wrath accordingly.
 Edwards was born in Connecticut and raised in a devout atmosphere.
 He went to the Collegiate School of Connecticut (now Yale University) at the
age of thirteen and graduated four years later as the valedictorian of his
class. He went on to earn a masters degree in theology.
 He began his preaching career in 1727 as his Grandfather’s assistant who
was a pastor of a Massachusetts church and later became church pastor after
his grandfather’s death.
 He became one of the prominent leaders of the “Great Awakening” – a
religious revival that swept the colonies in the 1730’s and 1740’s committed
to a return to the orthodoxy and fervent faith of the Puritan past.
 His sermons were filled with “fire and damnation” and stimulated religious
zeal and sparked conversions, often in a frenzied atmosphere.
 As pastor, he started disciplinary proceedings against members of his
congregation for reading improper books and denounced by name those he
considered sinners in his sermons.
 In 1750, he was dismissed as pastor, moved to Stockbridge, Mass and
preached to Native Americans.
Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God
 Edwards’ most famous work
 It was delivered to a congregation in Connecticut in 1741
 Surprisingly, Edwards preached this fire and brimstone sermon in
a quiet, restrained style. According to one account, he read the
six hour work in a level voice, staring over the heads of the
congregation at the bell rope that hung on the back wall.
 It is said to have caused listeners to rise from their seats in a
state of hysteria, scream in terror, and Edwards stopped several
times to ask for silence.
 It demonstrates Edwards’ power of persuasion and captures the
religious fervor of the “Great Awakening”
*Biblical Imagery
 Edwards’ frightening imagery of God’s potential for wrath and
destruction recalls stories of fires, floods, and divine retribution
in the Old Testament of the King James Bible.
 While this imagery terrified his audience, they would have been
quite familiar with it as this Bible with its haunting language and
powerful imagery would have been common daily reading for
most of his listeners.
Sinners in the Hands of an
Angry God
Remember:
 Edwards conceived the work
as a piece of oratory-spoken
text
 This is an excerpt from one of
the most famous sermons in
American history
 To look for colorful language,
the use of repetition and
alliteration.
 That the idea that the concept
of guilt, redemption, and
mercy do not become
outdated.
Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God
Questions to be Answered in Notebook
 What is the foundation of Edwards’ sermon? his intention? What
idea do you think his listeners found most dreadful?
 Make a list of images involving water. In what ways do the images
of the fury of water help convey Edwards’ message?
 What does Edwards say is the state of his congregation?
 What does Edwards say will happen when the day of mercy has
passed?
 On pp. 111, what action is the passage beginning “How dreadful is
the state…” designed to inspire?
 Questions for Review and Assess pp. 112 AND Questions for Review
and Assess pp. 113 #1-7