Week 3: The Literature
of Colonial America
Study Guide
(Return
to the Week 3 Schedule)
.
Read the introductions to Roger Williams and
Cotton Mather. Also read the introductions to John Winthrop and his
essay "A Model of Christian Charity" to better understand the concept of
the "theocracy," a "nation led by God," that remained the focus of the
English coastal colonies for more than 100 years. For a sense of
the Puritan reaction to social dissenters, read the selection from Thomas
Morton's "New English Canaan," a trader who trafficked with the Indians
outside the strictures of the colonial governors of Massachusetts Bay Colony
and Plymouth Colony.
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Study Questions Over Readings
.
Anne Bradstreet’s Poetry
1) Identify neo-classical poetic patterns
and motifs in “Letter to Her Husband.”
2) What factors in the “Prologue” suggest
contemporary values?
Cotton Mather’s “The Wonders of the
Invisible World”
1) Characterize the evidence of witchcraft
charged against Bridget Bishop. What is “spectre evidence”?
2) Describe the relationship between witchcraft
and the belief in the devil.
Basic Concepts Related to the Readings
.
The
Renaissance
Puritanism
Classicism
and Neo-Classicism
Scansion
The
Salem Witch Trials: Witchcraft, Magic, and Spectral Evidence
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This page was last modified
on August 27, 2004,
and is maintained by
Dr. Geoffrey A. Grimes.
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