Student Name
American Literature I
Dr. Diane Drake
9 January 2001
Anne Bradstreet’s Life and Poetry
Anne
Bradstreet uses her writings to express herself when women were unable to
express themselves and their feelings verbally.
Bradstreet
lived in a time totally dominated by males.
Males were the ones to go to school to get an education; they were the
ones who ran businesses, governments, and families.
The women had one purpose in this time period, and that was to give
birth, raise children, and take care of their husbands until they were unable
physically to do so or they died. Women
did not have the luxury of attending public schools.
If they were fortunate enough, like Bradstreet, women received
home-schooling, but most of the women were not fortunate enough to receive an
education, because their families were not able to teach them.
Fortunately for Bradstreet, her parents were educated Puritans, who
wanted her to be able to read and write so she could read the Bible and
understand God’s word. She was
also fortunate to have a husband who was educated and allowed her to write, but
if her writing would have begun to interfere with her household duties, he
probably would not have allowed her to continue.
However, she was allowed to continue and therefore had the chance to
describe expressions of her life that she is unable to communicate verbally with
anyone, especially her husband, who would not have felt such communications were
seemly.
In
“Before the Birth of One of Her Children,” readers can see how Bradstreet
expressed feelings on paper that today a wife would discuss with her husband.
She was writing to her husband in this instance because she is worried
about her pregnancy. She fears she
may not make it through, and she is telling her husband to remarry a woman like
her. One thing about this poem that
could be seen as unacceptable is that it goes against her religion.
She is a Puritan, and she should not be concerned about death, because it
is God’s will, and therefore, it is good.
This
is also not the only work she writes that deals with death.
“In Memory of My Dear Grandchild,” the reader sees a very meaningful
two-verse poem telling of a young child who has passed away.
Bradstreet is sad to see the child go, but also sees it as a gift because
the child has not had the chance to sin and, therefore, will go straight to
heaven. Unlike in the poem about
her own dying, she is willing to follow the strict Puritan belief that death is
good because it takes the dead to be with God.
Bradstreet
does not only express feelings she has towards her family in her writings, but
she also deals with the facts of the world in which she lives.
Men, at this time, are seen as the “Superior Beings,” and women are
seen as possessions with really nothing to offer except child bearing.
In the “Prologue,” Bradstreet sends a mixed message, first
apologizing for the quality of work she does in comparison to a man’s, and
then she goes on to state how women can write just as well as a man; they just
do not receive credit for it. This
is a contradiction to her first several statements, but she knows her place in
society and does not go past those boundaries.
This is probably why in verse eight she gives men an ego boost and says
there isn’t a comparison between her works and theirs; theirs is and always
will be better. This admission
probably also keeps men reading her works.
Bradstreet
has an excellent way of expressing her feelings through her writings.
This is fortunate for her because it is a way to keep the world from
“getting to her.” She knew that
literally speaking out about her feelings was unacceptable, but she could not
hold them in, so she put them into writing.
This gave her a sense of relief, and now it gives readers an
understanding of a woman’s life in Bradstreet’s lifetime.
Student Name
Dr. Drake
American Literature
13 January 2001
Slave Auction
I could hardly
fall asleep last night because I was so anxious for today to come. You see, today is the first time that I get to go with father
and help in the purchasing of new slaves for our plantation.
The first slave-trading ships of the season arrive today, and most of the
plantation owners from the region are expected to be in town and attend the
auction. The spring planting time
is here and all of the plantation owners are eager to get slaves in the field to
ensure a long enough growing period for all of the crops.
Many
plantation owners are feeling the loss of slaves to death. Several slaves died from the frigid winter and the numerous
fires that engulfed slave shacks. The
slaves, in an attempt to stay warm, often put too much wood in their fireplaces
and some of the slave quarters burned down.
In our plantation alone, we lost three slave shacks to fire, and only one
slave was able to escape, but unfortunately, he eventually died from the
severity of his burns. We also lost
several due to natural causes. Most
of the plantations experienced similar situations, so the auction today is
expected to be quite an affair. Everyone
is eager to see what condition the new slaves are in.
I have
paid careful attention to father and the conversations he has had with fellow
plantation owners. Father is
looking to buy several women of child bearing age, children who can handle the
day-to-day chores, and as many other young men as he can get to do field work.
When father talks with the other plantation owners, he continually
insists that you can tell in slaves’ eyes whether they will be good slaves or
not. He thinks that the look in
their eyes is just as important as their strength in determining if they have
the ability to be good, hard-working slaves.
I asked father what to look for in their eyes.
He says that the best slaves he has ever owned had a little bit of a
sparkle, but also some anger. Father
believes that the sparkle shows they have a good personality and attitude
towards life. The anger in their eyes shows that they will work long and
hard. These traits, he believes, gives insight into their inner being and tells
him whether or not they will be faithful servants.
Father hopes that all of his slaves will be happy while working at our
plantation. He says that happy
slaves are good slaves and that usually, if they are happy, they work harder and
can be trusted to do more difficult tasks.
When
we got to the auction, we could see the slaves standing in the merchant’s
yard. Since it was a little bit
before the auction began, we took our time to view prospective slaves.
Father pointed several out to me and said, “That will be a good
slave—the look in his eyes, you can just tell he’ll be a good one.”
When I viewed the same slave, I struggled to look at his eyes. I just
couldn’t get past the ravaged bodies of all the soon-to-be slaves.
I questioned father about the seemingly thin shape and unhealthy look of
their bodies. I was told that on the ship, the slaves were seldom fed enough and
often became ill, but once they were purchased and had a chance to recover and
eat a few meals, they would be okay.
After looking around, father told me we had to go get a good spot so we
could rush into the yard when the signal was given and, hopefully, get the
slaves that we wanted. Father saw
eleven slaves that he thought had the potential to be good slaves, but he
figured we would maybe only get six or seven of them because other plantation
owners would probably beat him to some that he wanted.
When the signal was given—the beating of a drum—everyone who wanted
to purchase slaves rushed into the yard and started picking their merchandise.
Father was excited when he got some of his top picks, and eventually we
were able to get nine of the eleven slaves that he wanted.
He was extremely happy and, after paying his bill, we took them to our
plantation and let them see their new living quarters, and home.
Student Name
Dr. Drake
5 March. 2001
Comparison Between the Jamestown and Plymouth Settlements
In the early
1600’s, English colonists began settlements in America.
The first permanent settlement was Jamestown and was located in present
day Virginia. This settlement was considered unsuccessful, even though it
lasted for nearly 90 years. The second permanent settlement, the Plymouth
settlement, is located in present day Massachusetts. Today, it is considered to
be the first successful settlement. The
reasons for the settlements are why Jamestown failed and Plymouth succeeded.
Jamestown was
founded in May of 1607 when three ships carrying 105 people arrived in the New
World (“Jamestown”). The early settlers came in hopes of finding gold and
silver and were considered to be more adventurers than actual settlers.
This in itself nearly led to the demise of the settlement because the
colonists were not devoted to the colony. The
colonization of the area was started with hopes that the Native Americans would
provide cheap labor. From the
writings of John Smith, it is discovered that this was not the case. In The
General History of Virginia, New England, and the Summer Isles and even in
“John Smith’s relation to Queen Anne of Pocahontas,” it can be inferred
that the settlers lived in constant fear of the natives.
The natives seemed to terrorize the people, and even though they were
known to be nice at times, the Europeans didn’t trust them and continued to
view them basically as barbarians whom they could potentially use for manual
labor (12-19).
Failure of
the settlement can also be linked to the eagerness of adventurers who were in
search of gold and silver, which could bring them great monetary wealth. Their
unwillingness, however, to do manual labor such as building proper shelters and
growing necessary food caused their efforts to fail. Other reasons that the settlement failed was that the people
were very dependant on the arrival of supplies from England, which were very
inconsistent, and also the terrain. The
settlement had been built in a swampy area, and the drinking water was impure.
This led to malaria, pneumonia, and dysentery that often threatened the entire
settlement (“Jamestown”). These
challenges were too great for the early adventurers who did not have enough
incentive to overcome the mounting odds, and this, ultimately, led to the
failure of Jamestown.
Pilgrims who were seeking freedom from religious persecution founded the
Plymouth settlement in 1619. The
Pilgrims were separatists who were having a tough time in Europe and decided
things might be better for them in America.
Upon their arrival in America, the men agreed upon the Mayflower Compact
that stated that no one person could have total control, but rather the
decisions would be up to a group of men. These
men would then make decisions that would be in the best interest of the entire
group. This allowed more people to have a say in the self-government of the
small group in America that, at times, were threatened with mutinous speeches
and conflicts among the settlers (Bradford 33).
Another reason the settlement was successful was that the settlers did not have
a choice. Because they arrived late
in the season and would not have been able to return due to the weather; failure
was not an option. They had originally planned on arriving farther south along
the coast where it was warmer. However,
due to navigational errors and adverse winds, the Pilgrims landed in the New
England area (“Plymouth”).
The
Pilgrims are lucky to have survived not only the crossing of the Atlantic Ocean,
but also overcoming relationships with the natives.
Bradford writes that upon reaching the New World, the “barbarians
showed them no small kindness in refreshing them, but these savage barbarians,
when they met with them were readier to fill their sides with arrows than
otherwise” (28). The Pilgrims,
like the settlers of Jamestown, had to deal with encounters with the Native
Americans of this nature. The colonists of Plymouth realized they had to
persevere. They realized the
Natives were not going to leave and that they could not leave either, so in a
sense, they had to learn to live around each other.
The earliest they could return to England, had they wanted to, would have
been after winter. Even then, though, they had nothing to return to.
Ultimately,
the fact that the Pilgrims were seeking religious freedom and not monetary
wealth was one of the biggest differences as to why they succeeded and the
Jamestown adventurers failed. The
Jamestown settlers tried to recreate everything they had in England by
exploiting the natives as slaves. When the Native Americans did not cooperate,
this frustrated the settlers and played a part in Jamestown’s demise.
The Pilgrims were not looking for help from the natives, but rather to
create a new life in America that was different from what they had in Europe.
This led them to be self-sufficient and helped create the first successful
settlement in America.
Works
Cited
Bradford, William.
“Of Plymouth Plantation.” The
American Tradition in Literature.
Ed.
George Perkins and Barbara Perkins. 9th
ed. Shorter ed.
Boston:
McGraw-Hill, 1999. 26-33.
“Jamestown.” World Book
Encyclopedia. 1990 ed. Chicago:
World Book, Inc., 1990.
"Plymouth Colony," Microsoft® Encarta® Online Encyclopedia.
Microsoft Corporation,
1997-2000.
12 Jan. 2001 http://encarta.msn.com/find/Concise.asp?ti= 03E9E000>.
Smith, John. “The General
History of Virginia, New England, and the Summer Isles.”
The
American Tradition in Literature. Ed.
George Perkins and Barbara Perkins.
9th
ed. Shorter ed.
Boston: McGraw-Hill, 1999.
12-24.
Return to syllabus.