American Literature Week Two－To 1820 and Poetry by Anne Bradstreet

A. Correction of Quiz and Overview
a. Puritans took May Flower to Northern America cuz King Henry the eighth wanted to marry Anne Boleyn and make her to be the queen. However, getting divorced is not allowed for a Catholic at the moment, so he decided to divide from the Pope. After that, he created an English religion called Church of England (Pilgrims). When this new religion came to the US, they called it Episcopal Church. Nowadays, Queen and the royal family is the head of  Church of England and Episcopal Church.

Henry VIII Boleyn

b. From 1770 to 1820, there can be separate into two different periods. Literature in these periods are something like propaganda or political belief.

*  Propaganda is information that is not impartial and used primarily to influence an audience and further an agenda, often by presenting facts selectively (thus possibly lying by omission) to encourage a particular synthesis, or using loaded messages to produce an emotional rather than rational response to the information presented.

c. The first city in American is St. Augustine in Florida which is established by Spanish.

 St. Augustine City

d. The first democracy country is the Great Britain because of their successful parliamentary politics. 

* The reason that Scottish would dare to fight for independence is because they got lots of oil fields in their region and they're rich. (Programme on BBC)

e. Prohibition is the legal act of prohibiting the manufacture, storage, transportation and sale of alcohol including alcoholic beverages. The main reason is that Puritans considered that alcohol drinks was bad for human body and drinking them was an unrespectable behaviour to their God in 1920s.

f. The concept of "predestined"-- Who would be redeemed or who would become election(the chosen people) is destined.

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B. The file of American Literature made Simple (Colonial Period)
a. Johnathon Edwards and his best work- the Freedom of the Will.
Quotation- "The God that holds you over the pit of hell, much as one holds a spider or some loathsome insect over a fire, abhors you, and is dreadfully provoked."(Page 166)
* It was first published in 1754 and examines the nature and the status of humanity's will. The book takes the classic Calvinist viewpoint on total depravity of the will and the need of humanity for God's grace in salvation.
b. "Jamestown" this name is originated from the King James the first edited the first English version of Bible (King James Version). (Page 165)

c. When British came to American, no matter they were Puritans or Pilgrims, all regarded them as British.

d. Virginia, a city located in the middle of the northern US and southern US. Many presidents of United States were born here. (Page 165)

Virginia State

e. Anne Bradstreet is the Tenth Muse Lately Sprung Up. She represented the women's subjective angles (subjectivity) at the time. (Page 165-166)

* The Muses are the goddesses of the inspiration of literature, science andthe arts. They were considered the source of the knowledge, related orally for centuries in the ancient culture, that was contained in poetic lyrics and myths.

     Anne Bradstreet

                                            Muses

f. Edward Taylor wrote a lot of meditations (冥思文). (Page 166)

g. Sinner and original sin-- Because human are the sons of Adam and Eva, God sent Jesus to relieve our sin. (Page 166)

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C. The file of American Literature made Simple (Revolution Period)

a. Thomas Jefferson and the Declaration of Independence-- We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. (Page 166)

                                                             Thomas Jefferson

Declaration of Independence

b. Benjamin Franklin-- Who knows almost everything and is a optimistic religious scholar. Famous works-- Poor Richard's Almanack and Autobiography. (Page 166)

                            

c. Common Sense (Thomas Paine)-- The least government is the best government. (Page 167)

d. James Madison  and The Federalist  -- Legislative, Executive, and Justiciary (The Separation of Powers)

e. In 1603, John Smith is the first colony government and he is also the first American author. He cultivated tobacco to earn money and bought a land named Virginia. Cuz both Pilgrims and Puritans are regarded them as a part of the Great Britain.

f. In American literature, "fathers" are not mentioned.

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D. Vocabulary and Building Vocabulary for College

a. pilgrim--someone who travels a long way to a holy place for a religious reason 

   Pilgrims-- the religious of Church of England

b. propaganda-- "pro" stands for "on favor of"

c. subversive-- trying to destroy or damage something, especially an established political system

d. steeple-- a pointed structure on the top of a church tower

e. emigrate-- "emi" stands for moving.

f. abolish-- "ab" contains negative meanings. eg. abbore you 怨恨你

g. ratification and congress-- legislative

* ratify-- to make an agreement official

h. domain-- "dom" stnads for house.

i. acquitted-- accept quitting

j. referendum-- refer to your approval/agreement

k. offspring-- a person's children

l. didst = did (old german word)