Fourteenth Set of Questions for EN 211

 

Above is a picture of a printing press that Benjamin Franklin may have used while he worked in London.  This machine is now at the Smithsonian!

Good evening :)

Today we began discussing the literature of the United States of America.  Benjamin Franklin's Autobiography is an excellent place to begin!  We will continue with the autobiography and discuss Olaudah Equiano's autobiography as well.  Equiano is claimed by both American and British literature.  Although he wrote that he had been born in Africa, his actual birthplace is unknown and may have been in the Americas.  Equiano's autobiography is an early example of the slave narrative, an important element in American literature.  This work was published during its author's lifetime and was incredibly popular!

Here are a few questions for you:

-- How does Benjamin Franklin's autobiography develop?  How does he change as a character?  as a narrator?  Does his audience or relationship to his audience change?  

-- What does BF's autobiography teach you about America in the author's lifetime?

-- How might BF's life have been different had he stayed in Boston?

-- Discuss BF's travels, especially to Philadelphia and to England.

-- Look at the 1862 link to the painting below:
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/2e/Men_of_Progress.jpg
Discuss the depiction of BF in this painting.  How does he fit with the scientists and inventors of 1862?

-- What is it like to live in 18th century Philadelphia?

-- Use the links at this entry to discuss both Franklin and Equiano's autobiographies:

http://en202.blogspot.com/2014/02/life-writing-from-2009.html

-- Discuss lifewriting as a genre.  What role does it play in literature?  in American literature?  or history?

-- Does it matter that we may not know where Equiano was actually born and that his autobiography may include fictions?  Why?  Why not?

-- Discuss the reasons why Equiano wrote his autobiography.

-- Compare/contrast Equiano's Interesting Narrative to Franklin's Autobiography or to other autobiographies that you have read.

-- How is Africa depicted in Equiano's autobiography?

-- How is America depicted?

-- For more information about Equiano and his Interesting Narrative, see this blog entry:
http://en202.blogspot.com/2014/02/olaudah-equiano.html

Watch for the midterm prompts!

Dr. Szlyk

Olaudah Equiano

Equiano was a chief's son who was kidnapped into slavery around 1755 or so.  He fortunately was able to buy his freedom.  He then became an anti-slavery activist in Britain, and he wrote his autobiography, which not only was popular but also helped to spark the movement to abolish slavery in the British Empire and eventually elsewhere.  I wonder if Equiano ever met the poet Mary Robinson, for they were contemporaries, and she became active in the movement that he inspired.

For a little more information about Equiano, see these sites:

 https://web.archive.org/web/20100630074731/http://www.black-history-month.co.uk/articles/olaudah_equiano.html

http://www.brycchancarey.com/equiano/index.htm

http://www.brycchancarey.com/Carey_1650-1850_2008.pdf

The second site includes excerpts from Equiano's Interesting Narrative.  

Below is a roster of other British abolitionists:

http://www.brycchancarey.com/abolition/index.htm

Equiano was not the first former slave who wrote his life story:

http://www.brycchancarey.com/cugoano/index.htm

Below is a timeline of events connected with slavery:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/africa/features/storyofafrica/9generic3.shtml

For more information on African history, see these sites:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/africa/features/storyofafrica/index_section10.shtml

http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/africa/features/storyofafrica/10chapter2.shtml

http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/africa/features/storyofafrica/index_section4.shtml

Life Writing (from 2009)

Life Writing

One genre that we'll be studying in EN 211 and that may seem new to you is life writing. Life writing includes autobiographies, biographies, journals, diaries, memoirs, oral histories, and even letters.  Although, at first glance, this genre seems to belong more to history or sociology, reading life history can shed light on the ways that literature shapes how we think and feel as well as influences on literature itself.  Some of the earliest novels like Aphra Behn's Oroonoko and Daniel Defoe's Moll Flanders even represent themselves as memoirs or autobiographies.  (A memoir covers a part of one's life whereas an autobiography treats the whole of one's life.)  And some life writing like Harriet Jacobs'  Incidents and Samuel Pepys' Diary is not only fascinating but well-written and worth studying as literature.  For example, how does Harriet Jacobs tell her life story in such a way that it appeals to her audience?!  How does she depict herself, Dr. Flint, and her grandmother?  (Note that although Pepys did not want people to read his diary, both Incidents and the Interesting Narrative were written to be read *and* to change people's minds about slavery.)

Here are some links on the study of life writing (or life history):

http://www.sussex.ac.uk/clhlwr/

 https://www.wolfson.ox.ac.uk/clusters/life-writing/about

For those of us who know (a little) French, this site is invaluable as it is associated with Philippe Lejeune, one of the literary scholars to focus on autobiography:

http://www.autopacte.org/

This list from California's Center for Autobiographic Studies explains the difference between autobiography and memoir as well as outlining the different forms of autobiography.  The audience is someone wanting to write and perhaps even publish an autobiography or memoir, but I think that you'll find this list to be useful.

 https://web.archive.org/web/20080409005826/http://www.storyhelp.com/autotypes.html

By the way, Beatrice Wood wrote her autobiography, I Shock Myself, when she was in her early nineties.  Almost ten years later she actively participated in a documentary on herself and her work.  Ms. Wood was also one of the models for Rose in Titanic.  Here is a link to a site with examples of her artwork:

http://artscenecal.com/ArtistsFiles/WoodB/WoodBFile/BWood.html

However, life writing is not simply published or unpublished autobiographies and memoirs.  Here is a link to a project from several universities in Hawaii.  It exemplifies the work that scholars are doing in this area.

 https://web.archive.org/web/20130110182000/http://www.hawaii.edu/biograph/cbrbiohiariyoshi.html
There is also the Legacy Project, a collection of correspondence between service members and their loved ones.

http://www.warletters.com/index.html

To read some of these letters, go to this site:

http://www.gilderlehrman.org/collection/battlelines/index_good.html

This database includes women's letters and diaries from the 1600s to 1950:

 https://web.archive.org/web/20081002173840/http://www.alexanderstreet2.com/NWLDLive/

Here writers discuss their motivations for keeping journals--and preserving their life writing:

http://fraglit.com/impassio/k-essay.htm

http://fraglit.com/lwc/archives/38

A literary scholar writes about her experience reading the published diaries of 18th c. novelist Frances Burney D'Arblay:

http://www.jimandellen.org/burney/fanny.divergent.html

Lifewriting is also an important part of national identity:

 https://web.archive.org/web/20080420043330/http://faculty.arts.ubc.ca/segan/CANLIN.HTM

Of course, we must not forget biography and collections of biographies.  Lucy Hutchinson's biography of her late husband continues to intrigue literary scholars:

http://faculty.goucher.edu/eng211/Lucy%20Hutchinson.htm

I've cited a number of works by women, but one of the most famous literary biographies is James Boswell's Life of Samuel Johnson...and earlier Johnson himself wrote a collection of literary biographies:
http://andromeda.rutgers.edu/~jlynch/Johnson/Guide/lives.html

I really am only scratching the surface, but I think that adding life writing to EN 202 gives us a much fuller and richer idea of world literature.  If you know French, Spanish, or another language, I would be interested in seeing what you might find in the area of life writing!

Thirteenth Set of Questions for EN 211

 

Can you see Benjamin Franklin's portrait in the painting "Men of Progress" (1862)?

For more information about this painting, see this link:  http://www.npg.si.edu/edu/brush/guide/unit2/progress.html

Good evening :)

Today we finished up our discussion of American literature before the United States (Native American myths & folktales, narratives of exploration, and Puritan literature) and did some review for our exam on Friday, March 14.

March 10 and 12 are good days for the first presentation, but we will do more reviewing.

For Friday we will be reading excerpts from Benjamin Franklin's autobiography, a window into a very different world.

Here are a few questions for further review as well as for the new reading.

-- Take a look at the attached picture (am lit.jpg) and apply some of the themes to our readings.  Which works and themes would be worth discussing in your papers?

-- Go to MyMC and take a look at the picture am lit review.  What would you add to this cluster?

-- How did today's review help you with your understanding of American literature?

-- How is your journal helping you?

-- What are the challenges of reading older literature?

-- What are the rewards of reading older literature?

 What are the challenges of reading literature that reflects a different attitude towards religion?

-- What are the rewards of reading literature that reflects a different attitude toward religion?

-- Compare/contrast Benjamin Franklin's autobiography to a relevant piece of writing that we have read in class so far.

-- What does Benjamin Franklin add to our exploration of American literature and America?

-- How does Franklin represent America?

-- How does he represent family?

-- How does he represent urban life?

-- His autobiography was originally written for his illegitimate son (who may not have read it).  How might this audience shape Franklin's narrative and tone?

-- Note that the autobiography was not published in Franklin's lifetime.  In fact, parts of it were first published in French.  How might this circumstance (the Autobiography) not being published under the author's direction and in his lifetime shape Franklin's narrative and tone?

-- Compare/contrast Franklin's self-presentation with what you know of him from history.

-- Have you been to historic sites in Boston or Philadelphia?  Discuss your impressions of these places.

-- Have you been to historic sites in the UK or France?  Discuss your impressions of these places.

-- How did Franklin shape the United States?

-- Compare/contrast Franklin's life writing with other life writing that you have read.

Am looking forward to seeing what you have to say!

Dr. Szlyk

Twelfth Set of Questions for EN 211

Above is a picture of Jonathan Edwards.

Good evening :)

We are coming to the end of our time with the Puritans.  On Wednesday we will move on to the birth of the United States with The Autobiography of Ben Franklin.  It is amazing to think that his lifespan and Jonathan Edwards' overlapped!

Here are links to the videos we watched in class:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n-dk4-HBNWQ

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NMiqF3CJGBc

This version is more dramatic, and it is slightly modernized:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k3FiN5v_orE

As we finish up the Puritan section of American Literature I, I would like you to answer some of the following questions:

-- Which themes are present in American Literature I so far (starting with the Native American myths)?

-- What have you learned from reading the early works in American Literature I (Native Americans, narratives of exploration, Puritan literature)?

-- How would you characterize American Literature I so far?

-- How would you characterize Puritan literature?

-- How would you characterize the Puritans?

-- How would you compare Puritan America to the Revolutionary Era?

-- Discuss the differences between public and private writing, between public and private genres.

-- Discuss the range of genres that we have read so far.

-- Discuss the part that poetry plays in American Literature so far.

-- Discuss the part that life writing plays in American Literature so far.

-- Discuss the role that metaphor and/or allegory play(s) in literature.  

-- Discuss Rev. Edwards' use of Christian imagery and/or Bible texts in his sermon.

-- How does listening to the reenactments of his sermon help you with understanding it more?

I'm looking forward to hearing what you have to say!

Dr. Szlyk 

Eleventh Set of Questions for EN 211

Above is a picture of a new statue of poet John Donne in the garden of St. Paul's Cathedral in London.  He served as the dean of this cathedral after he was persuaded to become an Anglican priest.  The statue below is of Donne's death effigy.  It was the only statue in the cathedral to survive the Great Fire of London.  Donne also preached his last sermon while wearing his shroud.

Good evening :)

I'm glad that we were able to spend time with two of Edward Taylor's poems ("Upon Wedlock, and the Death of Children" and "Meditation 8") as well as with John Donne's Holy Sonnet 14

http://www.poetryfoundation.org/poem/173362

George Herbert's "Altar Wings" and "Love (III)":

http://www.ccel.org/ccel/herbert/temple/Altar.html

http://www.poets.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/16121

and Robert Herrick's "To the Virgins..."
http://www.poets.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/15923

According to the author of Herrick's biography, the women mentioned in his poems were fictional!

Here are links to Michael Wigglesworth's "The Day of Doom," an exceedingly long poem but a best seller in Puritan America:

http://www.puritansermons.com/poetry/doom001.htm

http://www.puritansermons.com/poetry/doom026.htm

http://www.puritansermons.com/poetry/doom051.htm

http://www.puritansermons.com/poetry/doom076.htm

http://www.puritansermons.com/poetry/doom101.htm

http://www.puritansermons.com/poetry/doom126.htm

http://www.puritansermons.com/poetry/doom151.htm

http://www.puritansermons.com/poetry/doom176.htm

http://www.puritansermons.com/poetry/doom201.htm

Please don't feel that you have to read the whole poem.  Just skim over to get a taste!

It may help you as you read Jonathan Edwards' "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God," one of the most celebrated sermons from the Colonial era.  Interestingly, Edwards preached his sermon in 1741, after the Puritan era had ended.  Edwards, by the way, was the grandfather of Aaron Burr.  Burr served as Thomas Jefferson's vice-president and killed Alexander Hamilton in a duel.

Here are a few questions for you:

-- Compare and contrast American poets (Mrs. Bradstreet, Rev. Taylor) with their British contemporaries.  What is similar about their poetry?  What is different?

-- Compare/contrast Mrs. Bradstreet's poetry with Rev. Taylor's.

-- If you are Christian, what is it like to read religious poetry from the 1600s?

-- If you are not Christian, what is it like to read religious poetry from the 1600s?

-- Compare and contrast "The Day of Doom" with the Book of Revelations.

-- Compare and contrast "The Day of Doom" with current stories about the end of the world.  (Think of movies, TV shows, and novels.)

-- How does Michael Wigglesworth's perspective on religion differ from Edward Taylor (or John Donne. George Herbert, or Robert Herrick)'s?

-- Discuss Wigglesworth's rhyme scheme and imagery.

-- Discuss Rev. Taylor's use of Christian imagery.  How does he depict Holy Communion?

How does he depict his relationship with God?  Or humans' relationship with God?

-- How has language changed since Rev. Taylor's day?

-- Rev. Taylor's poetry was not published during his lifetime.  In fact, he did not allow his descendants to publish it until long after his death.  How do his poems reflect the fact that he was not writing for publication as Wigglesworth was?

-- Compare and contrast Jonathan Edwards' sermon with sermons that you yourself have heard.

-- What does Sinners add to your understanding of Colonial America and the Puritan mindset?

-- What seems to be Rev. Edwards' belief system and view of religion?

-- Compare and contrast Rev. Edwards' sermon with Rev. Taylor's poems or the poems by English clergymen.  Here is a link to one of John Donne's sermons:

http://www.ccel.org/ccel/donne/deaths_duel.i.html

http://www.theguardian.com/books/2013/nov/11/john-donne-virtual-reality-sermon

-- Discuss differences between public and private writing.

I'm looking forward to seeing what you have to say.  Watch our blog for your midterm prompts and study guides.

Dr. Szlyk

Tenth Set of Questions for EN 211

Good evening :)

Today we focused on Anne Bradstreet's poetry and various definitions of poetry, which we applied to her poems.  On Friday, we will look at some of her contemporaries (time permitting) and move on to the poetry of Edward Taylor -- and excerpts from Michael Wigglesworth's "The Day of Doom."

The Poetry Foundation has useful biographies of Mrs. Bradstreet and Rev. Taylor:

http://www.poetryfoundation.org/bio/anne-bradstreet#about

http://www.poetryfoundation.org/bio/edward-taylor

It also has some good critical essays.  The first is on reading Puritan poetry:

http://www.poetryfoundation.org/article/178361

The second on Edward Taylor's work is by contemporary poet Robert Hass:
http://mchoudini.montgomerycollege.edu:2048/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a9h&AN=6280601&scope=site

How do these biographies and essays help you understand Mrs. Bradstreet and Rev. Taylor's poems more fully?

How do they help you understand their world view more fully?

What could they have added to our conversation today?

What would you add to our conversation today?

-- Here are some examples of later poems by poetesses,  How do they compare to Mrs. Bradstreet's?

http://www.poetryfoundation.org/poem/173822

http://digital.library.upenn.edu/women/hemans/works/hf-mother.html

http://digital.library.upenn.edu/women/hemans/records/homes.html

-- Here are some examples of Metaphysical poems.  How do they compare to Mrs. Bradstreet's?

http://www.poetryfoundation.org/poem/173387

http://www.poetryfoundation.org/learning/guide/177309#poem

http://www.ccel.org/ccel/herbert/temple/Altar.html

Katherine Philips was a near-contemporary of Anne Bradstreet's, but she lived and worked in England.  Here are links to her poems.  What do they add to your understanding of Mrs. Bradstreet's poems?  of women's poetry?

Yes, even in England, female writers were rarely published.  Here is a link to poems by one contemporary of Mrs. Bradstreet's, Katherine Philips (aka Orinda):

http://www.luminarium.org/sevenlit/philips/antenorparting.htm

http://www.luminarium.org/sevenlit/philips/lucasia1.htm

Interestingly, unlike Mrs. Bradstreet, Philips was a Royalist.

-- What do you like best about Rev. Taylor's poetry?

-- What is most challenging about it?

-- Which definition of poetry does Rev. Taylor's work fit?  What does it not fit?

-- Compare/contrast Mrs. Bradstreet's poetry and Rev. Taylor's poetry.

-- Discuss how they depict marriage.

-- Discuss how they depict parenthood.

-- What jumps out at you as you read the excerpts from "The Day of Doom"?

-- In its day, it was an exceedingly popular poem.  What might people have liked about this poem?

-- Compare/contrast this poem with other depictions of the Last Judgment and/or Apocalypse.

I'm looking forward to seeing and hearing what you have to say!

Dr. Szlyk

Ninth Set of Questions for EN 211

Good evening :)

Today we moved on from Mary Rowlandson's captivity narrative to Anne Bradstreet's poetry. The present day is the perfect time to study Mrs. Bradstreet's poetry for so many ways, so on Wednesday I would like to discuss her poems, the concept of the poetess, and some of her contemporaries.  Today I alluded to the revitalization of rhyme.

We will not start discussing Edward Taylor's poetry and "The Day of Doom" until Friday.

Here are links to the videos we watched in class.  The first is an overview of King Philip's War.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jxVvD-0Jwjs

The second is an anime video of Mrs. Bradstreet's poem on the burning of her house:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S7bEKzp4Bpc

Here are a few questions for your journals.  How are they coming along, by the way?

-- Choose one of the questions I've asked about Mary Rowlandson's narrative.  Now that we've finished discussing this narrative, how would you answer this question?

-- Discuss Mrs. Rowlandson's personality.

-- Choose one of the Native Americans she encounters.  How does she portray him/her?

-- What may explain the Praying Indians' ambivalence towards the settlers?

-- What is it like for you to return to poetry with Anne Bradstreet?

-- What do you think of her poetry?  Why?

-- Which poems of hers do you prefer?  Why?

-- How do you respond to her poetic style?  Why?

-- Which type of poetry in general do you prefer?  Why?

-- How does Mrs. Bradstreet represent her poetry?  Why does she compare it to a "brat" at one point in "The Author to Her Book"?  Where is she proud of her poetry?

-- How does Mrs. Bradstreet represent Elizabeth I in "In Honor of..."?  Why do you think that she chose to write about that queen?  Consider what you know about Elizabeth I or do a little research on her.  Compare/contrast what you now know with what Mrs. Bradstreet focuses on.

-- What do you make of Mrs. Bradstreet's comparison of her husband to the sun in "A Letter to My Husband..."?  Why does she make this comparison?

-- What do you make of her references to the zodiac in this poem?

-- Take a look at the letter to her children, which she had written to them in the event of her death.  What does this letter add to your understanding of her and her relationship to her family?  of her as a human being?  as a poet?

-- Here are some examples of later poems by poetesses,  How do they compare to Mrs. Bradstreet's?

http://www.poetryfoundation.org/poem/173822

http://digital.library.upenn.edu/women/hemans/works/hf-mother.html

http://digital.library.upenn.edu/women/hemans/records/homes.html

-- Here are some examples of Metaphysical poems.  How do they compare to Mrs. Bradstreet's?

http://www.poetryfoundation.org/poem/173387

http://www.poetryfoundation.org/learning/guide/177309#poem

http://www.ccel.org/ccel/herbert/temple/Altar.html

-- Choose one of Mrs. Bradstreet's poems.  Which theme applies best to it?

See you on Wednesday!

Dr. Szlyk

Poetry and Puritanism for Spring 2014

While I’m going through the annotated bibliographies, I thought I’d post some sites from a student’s project on Puritanism.  The picture above is Augusta Bascombe’s “Puritan Thanksgiving,” a painting that I found at George Mason University’s site for History 120.  I am not able to find information about Ms. Bascombe, but I am guessing that she was active during the late 1800s or early 1900s.

This website (https://web.archive.org/web/20110209204523/http://annebradstreet.com/ ) is a good place to begin as it has a detailed biography, Anne Bradstreet’s poetry, and a bibliography. However, I’m not sure who put this site together even though it seems fairly professional.

Below are links to five of her poems. These would be interesting to compare to Rumi’s devotional poetry, John Donne’s Holy Sonnets, or even Petrarch’s poems written after the death of Laura.

 https://web.archive.org/web/20110912053202/http://www.annebradstreet.com/the_vanity_of_all_worldly_things.htm

 https://web.archive.org/web/20100917070932/http://annebradstreet.com/verses_upon_the_burning_of_our_house.htm

 https://web.archive.org/web/20100917071012/http://annebradstreet.com/before_the_birth_of_one_of_her_children.htm

 https://web.archive.org/web/20110912053830/http://www.annebradstreet.com/the_author_to_her_book.htm

https://web.archive.org/web/20110912053002/http://www.annebradstreet.com/in_honour_of_that_high_and_mighty_princess_queen_elizabeth.htm

Would you consider Anne Bradstreet a poetess?
 http://idhmc.tamu.edu/poetess/index.html
 http://web.archive.org/web/20071102170216/http://www.ablemuse.com/critique/a-finch_poetess.htm

Below is an image of her family's house.  Am not sure whether it still exists.

Could it be this house in Rowley that her descendants visited?

Here is a history of Puritanism, which traces the ideology’s origins and, yes, distinguishes the Pilgrims of Plymouth Rock from the Puritans. Some Puritans also settled in the New World, but others remained in England despite the political and religious persecution that they faced. (Also from 1642 to 1660, Britain was governed by Puritans.)
http://www.puritansermons.com/banner/logan1.htm

For more information on the English Civil War (in which the Puritans defeated the monarchy):

http://easyweb.easynet.co.uk/~crossby/ECW/

http://history.boisestate.edu/WESTCIV/english/

Here, Scott Atkins distinguishes between American Puritans and British Puritans in a paper that is part of the University of Virginia’s Capitol Project.

http://xroads.virginia.edu/~cap/puritan/purmain.html

This comprehensive site by Bill Carlson covers both American and British Puritans.
http://www.puritansermons.com/hist.htm

Here is a famous poem by a male Puritan poet and clergyman, Michael Wigglesworth. Stephen Lawson, its editor, believes that this poem, “The Day of Doom,” is more representative of Puritan poetry than Mrs. Bradstreet’s poems are:

http://www.puritansermons.com/pdf/doom.pdf

Wigglesworth’s biography follows:

http://www.puritansermons.com/poetry/wigglife.htm

OK, OK, the Puritans did not live in Plymouth, but here is a link to Plimoth Plantation, the recreation of the Pilgrims’ settlement.  You may remember it from the video we watched in class.

http://www.plimoth.org/

Postscript to Eighth Set of Questions for EN 211

Good morning :)

Since we will not meet today, I'd like to send you a few questions that pertain to Anne Bradstreet's poetry as well as links to relevant blog entries.

The first link is to an entry on Poetry and Puritanism.  I will probably repost it at Blogger:

 http://szlykworldlit.wordpress.com/2012/08/25/poetry-and-puritanism/

On our blog, I have a link to John Berryman's "Homage to Mistress Bradstreet":

http://en202.blogspot.com/2008/08/poetry-and-puritanism.html

Here is a direct link to Berryman's poem:

http://www.poetryfoundation.org/poem/177880

Although it does not mention Mrs. Bradstreet directly, I am linking to my entry on the poetess and poetry:

http://szlykworldlit.wordpress.com/2012/08/24/poetry-poets-and-poetesses-part-2/

Also, I am providing a direct link to the Poetess archive and two essays on the poetess as a concept:

http://idhmc.tamu.edu/poetess/index.html

http://web.archive.org/web/20071102170216/http://www.ablemuse.com/critique/a-finch_poetess.htm

http://www.erudit.org/revue/ron/2003/v/n29-30/007712ar.html

It turns out that Annie Finch has also written on Phillis Wheatley as a poetess, so when it is time for us to look at Miss Wheatley's work, I will have to look for that essay.

Now for a few questions about Mrs. Bradstreet's poems.

-- Compare your view of her with Berryman's.  He wrote his poem in the 1950s.  How might his view of her reflect his era and its beliefs about women (and class)?  Note that the 1950s was a more egalitarian era than our own (or was it?).  How does your view of her reflect our era?

-- How do Annie Finch's and Laura Mandell's essays help you think about women's poetry?  Is Mrs. Bradstreet a poetess?  Why?  Why not?

-- How do you feel about the word poetess?  Why?  Is it positive or negative for you?  Why?

-- Discuss Mrs. Bradstreet's relationship to her husband, her children, and her family.

-- Discuss her relationship to America and its landscape.

-- Discuss her relationship to other writing by women (poets and prose authors).

-- Which poems of Mrs. Bradstreet's do you like best?  Why?

-- What do you make of her rhyme scheme?  Consider that rhymed couplets are popular with young poets nowadays.

-- Discuss Mrs. Bradstreet's use of imagery.

-- Discuss her use of learned allusions.

-- Compare and contrast Mrs. Bradstreet's poems and Mrs. Rowlandson's narrative as American literature and/or women's writing.  Discuss the impact of class.

-- If you had to choose between including Mrs. Bradstreet's poems and Mrs. Rowlandson's narrative in a course on women's writing, which one would you choose?  Why?

-- If you had to choose between including Mrs. Bradstreet's poems and Mrs. Rowlandson's narrative in a course on American literature, which one would you choose?  Why?

Enjoy the snow, and see you on Monday!

Dr. Szlyk

Eighth Set of Questions for EN 211

Above is a picture where Mary Rowlandson was redeemed from captivity.  The rock is in Princeton, MA, near Mt. Wachusett.

We may or may not have class on Friday, everyone.  If we do, we will finish up Mary Rowlandson's narrative and move on to Anne Bradstreet's poems on Monday.  If we don't, we will try to start Mrs. Bradstreet's poems on Monday anyway.  We have quite a bit to cover, and I'm sure that you are looking forward to move on to poetry.  Anne Bradstreet is also a great favorite nowadays.

Here are some questions for you and your journal.

-- Compare and contrast Capt. Smith and Mrs. Rowlandson's depiction of the American landscape and/or American natives.

-- Compare and contrast Mrs. Rowlandson's captivity narrative to other memoirs or stories that you've read or movies that you've seen about someone's victimization.  What has changed since the 1600s?  What has stayed the same?

-- Compare and contrast Mrs. Rowlandson to other settlers who are in conflict with natives.

-- How does Mrs. Rowlandson's being a mother affect her narration of events?

-- How does her Christianity affect her narration of events?  

-- How do her references to the Bible affect your response to her narration and situation?

-- As a 21st century reader, what do you want to know about her experience?  what don't you believe in her narration?  where does she seem sympathetic?  where is she less sympathetic?  why?

-- Do some research on the Narragansett, the Nipmuc, and the Wampanoag, the Native Americans who captured Mrs. Rowlandson.  What do you learn about them?  about King Philip's War, the war that was going on in 1676?  What caused this war?  

-- Compare and contrast Mrs. Rowlandson's narratives to other narratives about war.

-- At one point, Mrs. Rowlandson is surprised that her captors are not punished for violating the Sabbath.  How do you think that this affects her?

-- How does the author of the prologue (probably Rev. Increase Mather) prepare you to read the narrative?  How does he show his bias?

-- Discuss the ending of the narrative.  How does it wrap up Mrs. Rowlandson's story?  Do you believe that her experience has changed her?  Why?  Why not?  

-- Discuss the format of her narrative (she divides it into a series of removes).

-- Locate literary themes and images in her narrative.

Good luck with the weather!