Anne Bradstreet: To My dear and Loving Husband

Diary: It depresses me how often I am away from my husband after moving to this new land. My love for him is so great and I could never picture being with anyone else. I do not feel that any woman could feel as strong as I do for my husband, but yet I still love God more. God is the reason for the love I have for my husband and answers to all the questions I have about my love.
- Anne Bradstreet

Reflection: The poem by Bradstreet exposes many different aspects of the Puritan life style. First this woman shows how she can be “human” and not hold God responsible for all of the things that happen in her life. Yet she also realizes that this is not the way that her religion is supposed to work. Finally she does acknowledge God for the things that have happened in her life. This poem gives me hope and insight because I realize that even though people may be very religious, they still hold common human flaws that all of us have, such as selfishness.

Anne Bradstreet: The Night When Others Soundly Slept

Diary: More and more often I find myself being vain, and then I realize I am living in Gods world. When I am missing something it is because God wants it to be this way. Everything that happens in my life is because of him. I do not know how to repay him. He is my savior, and the one who fills my body with hope. If there was a way I could repay him I wish I could, but he has done too much for me now.
-Anne Bradstreet

Reflection: This poem really exposes Bradstreet’s belief in God, as she starts to feel lost and depressed because of suffering, but then regains her faith in God. She begins to show her human qualities as she begins to feel sympathy for herself, because of the things she does not have. After realizes how vain she is being she begins to focus on her religion and enforce how God is responsible for everything that does happen. This poem also makes me realize that everyone can be vain at some time, even the most religious people.

Anne Bradstreet: Upon the Burning of our House

Diary: I have lost my house in a horrible fire! I have lost everything that I worked so hard for. All of my belongings are gone, all my memories, this fire has been a devastation to me. Just how could all that I love be gone with one simple fire? And yet this must be the will of God. God please forgive me for being so vain. This fire was part of your plan in my life, and all is good because you are in my life. I have not lost anything because I still have my faith in you dear Lord.
-Anne Bradstreet

Reflection: This poem really exposes Bradstreet’s belief in God, as she starts to feel lost and depressed because of suffering, but then regains her faith in God. She begins to show her human qualities as she begins to feel sympathy for herself, because of the things she does not have. After realizes how vain she is being she begins to focus on her religion and enforce how God is responsible for everything that does happen. This poem also make me realize that everyone can be vain at some time, even the most religious people.

Edward Taylor: Huswifery

Diary:Dear lord please embrace yourself in every aspect of my body. Make all of my actions, decisions, and words reflect you. I want to be guided by you sequentially to make me all that I can. I want to resemble you in everything that I do. I know with you as my guldens tool I will receive not only your grace but also the opportunity to be all that I can.

-Edward Taylor

Reflection: While the poem “Huswifery” is about a man’s prayer for God’s grace, it took me several readings of this poem to understand the message. One of the most outstanding parts of the poem is the author’s use of metaphor as he compares his struggle to receive God’s grace to the time consuming task of making cloth on a spinning wheel. Once we discussed this in class, I found the way Taylor compared himself to a spinning wheel and all the aspects of the spinning wheel to receiving the grace of God to be a very interesting comparison device. After understanding this comparison I realized the importance of God in this mans life, through the importance of different parts of the spinning wheel.

Mimic:

I am thy lord the seed you have planted and forgotten
Make me grow to be the tallest tree in fall
Your words are to be my roots
Make my roots the sturdiest of all
My branches are what you make of me
Make my branches brighten

Cover my roots with the finest soil
Make them grow longer then any other
And reach and touch the others

From your words my roots will have grown
And make I grow beneath your sun, and rain
Make my branches sturdy and flow with the pace of your wind
My branches will be so beautiful I will inspire others
To grow from only the finest roots

Jonathan Edwards: Sinners at the Hand of an Angry God

Diary: I do not understand why people will not listen to me. God is the only way, ONLY WAY, you hear me. If they do not find their faith they will die in hell. How could a person say that God does not exist, that is just asking to be killed. They must find their faith in me soon, because they are really making me made. I preach to them everyday telling them that God is the only way, and yet they choose not to listen to me, and rather say he does not exist. What am I to do with these people?

-Jonathan Edwards

Reflection: After reading Sinners At the Hand of an Angry God I realized that the pursuit of one’s religion has always been an issue as many people feel the need to force others to believe what they believe. Edward Taylor is a great example of this as he wants to chase his religion to its full extent but also captivates and force others in doing so. I really do not feel that this is the way to go about influencing your religion on others, because at the same time it is presenting your religion as very controlling.

Essential Question: Slave Narrative

In the American Dream hope can be more accessible to some then other, but there is often a fear created leading to racial intolerance. This racial intolerance can be shown through the African American culture, like in ”Equiano Narrative”, where the African American Equiano’s hope is not as easily accessible as the white mans, and he must fight for his hope of freedom through his beliefs. This hope that is offered to him, though it is more difficult to achieve, confirms that the American Dream is accessible to all. Likewise the American Dream is not as easily accessible to the African American culture because of the white mans fear of a minority succeeding. With this fear the white men create racial intolerance, because of their own personal fear. “Equiano Narrative” is good example of the American Dream being easier for some to achieve then others, and how the fear of minorities succeeding results in racial intolerance.

Slave Narrative

Equiano Narrative

"'Sometimes when a white man take away my fish, I go to my maser, and he get me my right; and when my maser by strength take away my fishes, what me must do? I can't go to any body to be righted; then,' said the poor man, looking up above, I must look up to God Almighty, in the top, for right.' This artless tale moved me much, and I could not help feeling the just cause Moses had in redressing his brother against the Egyptian. I exhorted the man to look up still to the God on the top, since there was no redress below."

Diary: I do not care of the opinion people have of me, because of how I feel about slavery and racism. Slavery is not only morally wrong; but it is economically not beneficial to the economy. We have to stop slavery all together. When slaves are freed they become better people, which no longer feel the need to steal. Honestly the best way to solve the racial problems we have is to have interracial marriages occurring more and more often.
-Equiano

Reflection: This narrative opened a new perspective of the impact that one person can have of society. Equiano was a very brave man who spoke up for his beliefs about slavery and racism, and inevitable made a change. Though many people may not see it this way this showed me that every opinion counts for something, and if you have the will to speak out against something you can make an impact. Equiano believed so strongly in anti-slavery that he spoke out was not afraid of how others viewed him. To me this is very inspirational.