Of Plymouth Plantation by William Bradford and A Description of New England by John Smith are essentially irrelevant to one another in the way that each piece has a very different point of view. The author John Smith was a pilgrim who arrived in the Americas and wrote a description of the new land. William Bradford was also a pilgrim who arrived at Plymouth and wrote more about the realities of his personal journey. The purpose of this essay is to contrast the purposes of the writers, their intended audiences, and how each writer gives out a specific feeling. Smith’s and Bradford’s individual descriptions are simply two categories; fiction and nonfiction. Smith’s intention for his audience is that the new land is everything you can wish for without a single fight. Smith starts by describing the content and pleasure that risking your life for getting your own piece of land brings to people. He is luring his audience in by telling that it is a wonderful world of vast food and gratification. Smith wants his audience to be more of the joyful individuals who look for the good in everyt...
Nathaniel Philbrick tells the story of the Pilgrims, beginning with them breaking away from the Church of England, emigrating to Holland, and eventually to America on the Mayflower. He talks about the relationship they had with the "Strangers" or nonbelievers that accompanied them on their adventure. He tells stories about disease, death, deception, and depression. I had never thought about it, but you know some of those people had to be suffering from depression. He tells of joys but mostly of hardships and as he describes some of the first meetings with the Native Americans. His description of the first Thanksgiving is not the same as the pictures I have seen all of my life.
A Declaration in 1622 is a piece of history that will forever be debated. It was written by Edward Waterhouse who was a prominent Virginia official. In a Declaration in 1622, he describes his first-hand accounts of English genocide and the relationship between the Powhatan and settlers. The point of this paper is to claim that Waterhouse’s portrayal is realistic due to his factual perspective of the time period on the contrasting aspects of the Powhatan and settlers. Diving into Edwards historical accounts can show the hardships of the settlers, the varying characteristics of both groups, the importance of tobacco, and the demonization of Native Americans. The characteristics will conclude the factually sound delineation of Edward Waterhouse.
As the regions began to expand and develop, their motivations for settlement helped to mold their societies. New England was a place where men sought refuge from religious persecution and was established as a haven for religious refugees. Despite this reason for settling, the New Englanders still attempted to spread their own beliefs of religion. As illustrated by John Winthrop in his Model of a Christian Charity, he preached to his fellow colonists that “we shall be a city upon a hill” (Doc A) exemplifying the Puritans’ aspirations of a Holy Utopia. He and countless other New Englanders practiced the belief that they must all work together. They were determined to “mourn together, labor and suffer together, always having before our eyes our commission and community in the work.” The Articles of Agreement plainly laid out the basis for the New England region. These articles made New England a cosmopolitan mix of rich and poor families, all being in possession of land and resolute in doing God’s work (Doc D). However, while the New Englanders settled to create a Holy Utopia, the people of the Chesapeake were concerned not only with their religious freedom, but also ...
Mary Rowlandson’s “A Narrative of the Captivity and Restoration of Mrs. Mary Rowlandson” and Benjamin Franklin’s “Remarks Concerning the Savages of North America” are two different perspectives based on unique experiences the narrators had with “savages.” Benjamin Franklin’s “Remarks Concerning the Savages…” is a comparison between the ways of the Indians and the ways of the Englishmen along with Franklin’s reason why the Indians should not be defined as savages. “A Narrative of the Captivity…” is a written test of faith about a brutally traumatic experience that a woman faced alone while being held captive by Indians. Mary Rowlandson views the Indians in a negative light due to the traumatizing and inhumane experiences she went through namely, their actions and the way in which they lived went against the religious code to which she is used; contrastingly, Benjamin Franklin sees the Indians as everything but savages-- he believes that they are perfect due to their educated ways and virtuous conduct.
...ve Indians. From the copious use of examples in Winthrop's work, and the concise detail in Rowlandson's narrative, one can imbibe such Puritans values as the mercy of God, place in society, and community. Together, these three elements create a foundation for Puritan thought and lifestyle in the New World. Though A Model of Christian Charity is rather prescriptive in its discussion of these values, Rowlandson's captivity narrative can certainly be categorized as descriptive; this pious young woman serves as a living example of Winthrop's "laws," in that she lives the life of a true Puritan. Therefore, both 17th century works are extremely interrelated; in order to create Winthrop's model community, one must have faith and closely follow Puritan ideals, as Rowlandson has effectively done in her A Narrative of the Captivity and Restoration of Mrs. Mary Rowlandson.
I rose from the sweet sands and soon the warmth of the land’s impression had lost its heat (Of Plymouth Plantation, page 8). We have been building houses and freezing and had sacrificed ourselves to labor’s tiresome definition (Of Plymouth Plantation, page 9). Now, labor’s meaning has washed to a numbing survival amongst everyone in our settlement. However, we have settled on these soils comfortably enough to call it home. A few months into the settlement lived a temporary famine and devilish plague that kept some civilians dropping like flies (Of Plymouth Plantation, page
Based on the excerpt from "Of Plymouth Plantation" by William Bradford and from the videos, the message that William Bradford is trying to convey in this narrative is despite the hardships being faced, one should never give up on their aspirations. At the beginning of the excerpt the passengers, and Bradford were still aboard the Mayflower and on their journey to America. On September 6th, he wrote about how many of the passengers were afflicted with sea sickness, but, there was one man who continued to lift peoples spirits, despite the sickness. This man died of disease and was the first among many thrown overboard. The other passengers knew the chances of dying of disease, but continued to be hopeful about the journey to America. After 66
In the tale of his experience with the freedom of a clean slate and the ability to be entirely individualistic out in the empty expanse of Wyoming, Ehrlich shows us that while this freeing but also emptier than normal life, we can and all should open ourselves up further to seeing beyond what has become a race to “strangle ourselves with what we can buy” (Ehrlich 476). As his story out on the open plains progressed, one could see this greedy and blinding race for material goods further even out in this area renowned for open spaces. Over the years, it too had become a place where “barbed wire abrogated space … the ‘anything is possible’ fever — the lure of a new place — was constricted. The integrity of the land … and the freedom to ride anywhere
In the New World Bradford and Morton were both important men of our history. The stories of both great men give us an insight into the way religion and influence affected Puritan life.
William Bradford and his fellow Separatists faced many challenges in their fight for religious freedom. Bradford, In Of Plymouth Plantation, gives the reader insight into the Separatist’s trial and tribulations beginning with a brief history of Christianity. Bradford states, “it is well known unto the godly and judicious, how ever since the first breaking out of the light of the gospel in our honorable nation of England, what war and oppositions ever since Satan hath raised, maintained ever since, Satan hath raised maintained and continued against the Saints.” (3) Bradford is explaining how Satan worming its way into Christianity is not a new problem but one that has and will continue to persist. Bradford mentioning this is significant, by
In “ A Description of New England ”, Smith starts by describing the pleasure and content that risking your life for getting your own piece of land brings to men. On the other hand, Bradford reminds us how harsh and difficult the trip to the New World was for the p...
Language is the main boundary between those of the human species, it divides them, making communication difficult, seizing productivity. Language is, as best explained by Roger Williams, is a key that may be used to unlock mysteries. The early colonials of the 15th century utilized the one of the unique attributes of language, rhetoric, and its implementation into the ‘New World’ to communicate with the natives as well as their countrymen. Most notable of these colonists are William Bradford, author of Of Plymouth Plantation, and Roger Williams author of A Key to the Language of America. 193
In Of Plymouth Plantation (1630), the author, William Bradford exhibits the struggles he and his group went through to survive their exploration. Bradford led a group of Puritans and traveled on a disease-infested ship with poor conditions in order to arrive at Cape Cod. Upon their arrival, they were greeted with almost no civilization and nobody to aid them. They soon realized the land that they arrived on was abandoned Native territory, but still decided to settle there. Throughout their stay, they struggled with starvation, disease, and fear of being attacked by the savages. They eventually undertook a minor attack from the savages and had a small battle where no one was injured, and a little while later, a bold Native presented himself to the explorers and spoke to them with broken English. It turned out that he had come to make peace and help the Europeans. The Pilgrims began to get along with
Fuller, Edmund and B. Jo Kinnick in “Stories Derived from New England Living.” In Readings on Nathaniel Hawthorne, edited by Clarice Swisher. San Diego, CA: Greenhaven Press, 1996.
In his biographies of Samuel Johnson--Journal of a Tour to the Hebrides (1785) and The Life of Samuel Johnson, LL.D. (1791)--James Boswell has presented a portrait of Samuel Johnson that contemporary audiences found compellingly realistic and that modern audiences continue to find "lifelike." I propose in this current study to study the narrative structure of Boswell's work, examining the elements of story and discourse that make up his his florid yet mild, his outdated but effective, in short, his successful technique. In a careful, comparitive analysis of several works, fiction and non-fictional, I will search for the elusive ingredient that makes Boswell's work "real." The works to be discussed including three by Boswell and one by Henry Fielding.