The image of God is typically thought of as being loving and kind. However, this image is not always true. All people in this world, have many different ways of looking at things. In this essay I will compare two completely different humankind. Much can be gathered when comparing the poems written by Anne Bradstreet and the sermon by Jonathan Edwards. I will also explain a few of their differences. In life, people need inspiration to know that living is worth it, and each writer has a different way of portraying that. In the 1700’s, Bradstreet and Edwards were well known authors who focused their mind set in on God. They were both Puritans who revolved their life around religious freedom, but had very distinct ways of showing their recognition …show more content…
Although she is a female, Anne Bradstreet is a very affectionate writer. She is very loving and nurturing towards God and her sense of believing in him. It was very unlikely for a women to have the eligibility to become a writer, but her religious faith helped her to become a poet after her privileged upbringing. “A price so cast is unknown yet by his gift is made thine own,” (Line 50) says Bradstreet in Upon the Burning of Our House. Bradstreet's writing is very elementary. She has a way of portraying her love for god in a very loving manner that is very straightforward. On the other hand, Jonathan Edwards is not so sentimental. In the sermon, Sinner in the Hand of an Angry God, the Puritan minister preached a fiery sermon to dismay the congregation to be more spiritual. His style of writing is very fearful. He states, “You are ten thousand times more abominable in his eye than most hateful venomous serpent is in ours. You have offended him more than ever a stubborn rebel did his prince.” (Line…) He focused more on warning over rewards, meaning if you took his intimidating advice, the outcome would be the eligibility of going to heaven. Edwards forcefully declares, “there is nothing you can do to induce God to spare you a moment,” (Page 128) in Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God. If you were to picture his sermon in your head, the tone would be very aggressive. He also tends to use a lot of loaded …show more content…
Each author uses literary devices to portray their view on God and interpret their religious views. Bradstreet’s philosophy is that God rewards us. She represents her Puritan mindset by showing her love and happiness for him in a very hyperbol manor. She states, “my hope and treasure lies above,”(line 52) in Upon the Burning of Our House. She gives you a sense that worrying is not worth it. By the time you have reached the end of your life, everything that you could have mourned for is waiting for you in the house of God. She tended to use many biblical allusion, idioms, and metaphors to express her love and pure devotion. Furthermore, Edwards is very strict. He contributed his opinions in a way that is inconsiderate to others feelings. He is very persuasive in his doings. Edwards’ style of using a great deal of loaded language is visual in the sermon when he proclaims, “God has so many different unsearchable ways of taking wicked men out of the world.” (page 126) He conveys a lot of biblical allusions to influence your way of imagining God as
In his sermon, Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God, by Jonathan Edwards he displays the Puritan belief that men are saved by grace. Edward, however, use rhetorical devices to make his sermon persuasive by using vibrant images and figure of speech to make these men repent.
Anne Bradstreet’s inability to perfect her work before it was released frustrated her to the point where she internalizes the book’s imperfections as a reflection of herself. Bradstreet uses an extended metaphor of a mother and a child to compare the relationship between herself as the author and her book. Rather than investing her spirit in God, she repeatedly focuses on trying to improve the quality of her writing with no success, “I washed thy face, but more defects I saw” (Bradstreet 13). Like a mother protecting her child, Bradstreet’s attempts to prevent critics from negatively analyzing her work of art (20). Her continuous obsession about people’s opinions consumed in the Earthly world and essentially distracted her from developing a spiritual relationship with God. Bradstreet was enveloped by her dissatisfaction with her to the point of ridiculing herself, “Thou ill-formed offspring of my feeble mind” (1). It was obvious that her mind and spiritual
In the sermon, “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God” by Jonathan Edwards, he preached about a stricter Calvinist theology of Puritanism. Edwards delivered it at the Massachusetts congregation on July 8, 1741. He blatantly uses rhetorical strategies to instill fear into his audience if they are to continue to not be active Puritans in religion. Edwards uses polysyndeton, harsh diction and tone, and the appeal to emotion along with the use of semicolons to develop his message.
Edwards applied masses of descriptive imagery in his sermon to persuade the Puritans back to their congregation. For example, he gave fear to the Puritans through this quote, “We find it easy to tread on and crush a worm that we see crawling on the earth, so it is easy for us to cut a singe a slender thread that any thing hangs by, thus easy is it for God when he pleases to cast his enemies down to hell…” (pg. 153) In this quotation, he utilized vivid imagery because he wanted the Puritans to visibly imagine what he was saying through his sermon, on how angry God is with them, which made them convert back to Puritanism. Through the use of vivid imagery such as “crush a w...
To begin, both writings are based on being a good Puritan. This is justified by, “You find you are kept out of hell… as the good state of your bodily constitution” (Edwards 80). Furthermore, both the sermon and the poem’s language is stating that God is above all, thus he is the most powerful. Anne Bradstreet’s poem shows this when saying, “Yet by his gift is made thine own; there’s wealth enough, I need no more… My hope and treasure lies above” (Bradstreet 70). Lastly, the two authors, Bradstreet and Edwards, both were raised into a religious Puritan family. This can be observed in the sermon when, “However you may have reformed your life in many things, and may have had religious affections, and may keep up a form of religion in your families…” (Edwards 81). Growing up in a Puritan family shows ethos because the two authors are credible to explain Puritan behaviors and traditions. The similarities of the two passages tie the two together and convince the reader to become a
Both Bradstreet and Edwards believed in eternal life after death and they both saw life as a stage that needed to be passed through in order to get to Heaven. Both believed that God was the giver of all things good. Bradstreet rarely refers to hell but Edwards refers to it liberally. Edwards taught that bad pe...
John Edwards purpose in writing, “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God” was to wipe out any doubts the Puritans had about the existence of hell. To give affirmation of the truth of hell he uses anaphora, drilling the presence of this fiery world into his audience’s mind. Edwards also uses metaphors and polysyndeton to turn the imaginary world into the earthly world which then instills fear into the colonist’s minds, therefore making his argument stronger and more
Women have faced oppression in the literary community throughout history. Whether they are seen as hysterical or unreliable, women writers seem to be faulted no matter the topics of their literature. However, Anne Bradstreet and Margaret Fuller faced their critics head-on. Whether it was Bradstreet questioning her religion or Fuller discussing gender fluidity, these two women did not water down their opinions to please others. Through their writings, Bradstreet and Fuller made great strides for not just women writers, but all women.
Bradstreet also made it appoint to compare the sudden death of her grandchild to nature stating, “But plants new set to be eradicate, / And buds new blown to have so short a date, / Is by His hands alone that guides nature and fate”( lines 12-14). Conversely, Edward describes his loss of his child as a honor from God. Taylor states, “ Lord take’t. I thank Thee, Thou tak’st ought of mine: / It is my pledge in glory, part of me / Is now in it, Lord glorified with Thee” revealing his honor to have his child sitting with the lord (Edward lines 28-30). Both authors took their faith into great consideration when speaking of the loss of a family
Anne Bradstreet, Jonathan Edwards and Arthur Miller were authors of Puritan writing that all contained one major object, the Bible. Jonathan Edwards, the writer of “Sinners in the hands of an angry God” spoke of the audience being damned for not turning in the path of the Lord. The Crucible by Arthur Miller was over adultery, Witchcraft and discussed God. Anne Bradstreet’s poems, “To My Dear and Loving Husband” and “Upon the Burning of our House” discussed how worldly things do not matter, and that the love she has with her husband and her Lord are whats important. The three authors are very similar, they all speak of God and use biblical illusions in their writings and teachings, giving them all similar characteristics.
Religion was the foundation of the early Colonial American Puritan writings. Many of the early settlements were comprised of men and women who fled Europe in the face of persecution to come to a new land and worship according to their own will. Their beliefs were stalwartly rooted in the fact that God should be involved with all facets of their lives and constantly worshiped. These Puritans writings focused on their religious foundations related to their exodus from Europe and religions role in their life on the new continent. Their literature helped to proselytize the message of God and focused on hard work and strict adherence to religious principles, thus avoiding eternal damnation. These main themes are evident in the writings of Jonathan Edwards, Cotton Mathers, and John Winthrop. This paper will explore the writings of these three men and how their religious views shaped their literary works, styles, and their historical and political views.
Determining whether the God you praise and worship is choleric because of your presence by the sins you’ve created is at never ending battle in the 17th-18th centuries. Upon the Burning of Our House is a poem, with nine stanzas, written by Anne Bradstreet explaining her understanding and ability to live and learn from sin to God. Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God is a work, written as a sermon by Jonathan Edwards, who preaches to all the non-Puritan sinners. His belief is that if they don’t convert and take blame for their sins, God’s anger toward them will be unbearable and force them to the pits of hell. Analyzing Bradstreet’s and Edwards’ works, a reader can distinguish the personality of the two writers and the different views of God
Anne Bradstreet and Edward Taylor are two of the most recognizable poets from early American History; they were also both American Puritans, who changed the world with their poetry. We can see many similarities in their poetry when it comes to the importance of religion and also on having children and losing children. There are however differences in the audience of their poetry and their personal views on marriage. Bradstreet and Taylor both came over to America in the 17th century and settled in New England. Though Taylor came years later we can see the similarities through their poetry.
By reading Bradstreet’s work, a fair sense of what Mrs. Bradstreet was like can be grasped. She clearly stated her opinion of those who objected to her writing: “I am obnoxious to each carping tongue, / Who says my hand a needle better fits.” (Bradstreet,“ The Prologue”155). Bradstreet refused to give up her passion for writing even if it meant going against the opinions of anyone in her colony, including religious leaders. Although Bradstreet referred to herself as being obnoxious, her written works portray an entirely different Bradstreet. She seeks no reward or fame for her writing: “Give thyme or parsley wreath, I ask no bays” (155). Bradstreet seeks no reward for her writing because she doesn’t think her work is very good: “My foolish, broken, blemished Muse so sings” (154). She refers to her writing as her: “ill-formed offspring” (“The Author To Her Book”165). Even after her work is published she is ...
Class notes. Man’s Desperate Need of Righteousness and God’s Glorious Provision of Righteousness. Faith Christian University. Orlando, Florida. August 2011.