William Bradford

1. Thesis:

In an excerpt from William Bradford’s Of Plymouth Plantation, although the puritans experience hardship in their voyage to America, in their initial arrival and in their dealings with the Indians, they still maintain their reverence to God and to one another.

2. Excerpt From Of Plymouth Plantation:

"But here I cannot but stay and make a pause, and stand half amazed at this poor people’s present condition; and so I think will the reader, too, when he well considers the same, Being thus passed the vast ocean, and a sea of troubles before in their preparation (as may be remembered by that which went before), they had now no friends to welcome them nor inns to entertain or refresh their weather-beaten bodies; no houses or much less towns to repair to, to seek for succor. It is recorded in Scripture as a mercy to the Apostle and his ship-wrecked company, that the barbarians showed them no small kindness in refreshing them, but these savage barbarians, when they met with them (as after will appear) were readier to fill their sides full of arrows than otherwise. And for the season it was winter, and they that know the winters of that country know them to be sharp and violent, and subject to cruel and fierce storms, dangerous to travel to known places, much more to search an unknown coast. Besides, what could they see but a hideous and desolate wilderness, full of wild beasts and wild men, and what multitudes there might be of them they knew not. Neither could they, as it were, go up to the top of Pisgah to view from this wilderness a more goodly country to feed their hopes; for every which way they turned their eyes (save upward to the heavens) they could have little solace or content in respect of any outward objects. For summer being done, all things stand upon them with a weather-beaten face, and the whole country, full of woods and thickets, represented a wild and savage hue. If they looked behind them, there was the mighty ocean which they had passed and was now as a main bar and gulf to separate them from all civil parts of the world. If it be said they had a ship to succor them, it is true; but what heard they daily from the master and company? But that with speed they should look out a place (with their shallop) where they would be, at some near distance; for the season was such as he would not stir from thence till a safe harbor was discovered by them, where they would be, and he might go without danger; and that victuals consumed apace but he must and would keep sufficient for themselves and their return. Yea, it was muttered by some that if they got not a place in time, they would turn them and their goods ashore and leave them. Let it also be considered what weak hopes of supply and succor they left behind them, that might bear up their minds in this sad condition and trials they were under; and they could not but be very small. It is true, indeed, the affections and love of their brethren at Leyden was cordial and entire towards them, but they had little power to help them or themselves; and how the case stood between them and the merchants at their coming away hath already been declared."

3. Written Reflection:

This paragraph inspired me most because it showed how brave the puritans were when they got off the ship; they didn't have a home to go to, they were in the beginning of winter with no food, they had harsh weather conditions to endure, and they had Native Americans who weren't too friendly to them. They know they have to endure

4. Diary Entry:

This trip to the New World has been an exhausting one. To start, we had to be on a boat for so long that we


Extension:

Immigration has been an ongoing issue that the government is trying to prevent in the United States. For example, the political cartoon shows a border patrol man who has dropped off a foreign man in the middle of nowhere and has given the man a bill on immigration. This shows that the government wants to prevent the people coming to America and that they are using direct force to stop them. Also, the cartoon shows the border patrol saying “You can come back when you are able to read and understand that bill.” This shows that that particular immigrant probably won’t go back to the same area to try and immigrate because if he figures out what the bill means then he knows he has to go through the long process of immigrating legally.

Anne Bradstreet

The poem that impressed me most was "Upon the Burning of Her House" because I feel like it shows her struggles and inner feelings more than the rest. You can see her constant pulling from materialism to puritanism and the difficulty to not be upset.



Today, a lot more women feel the need to assert their rights in having a say in the government and trying to save the economy. For example, the political cartoon shows that the government has a meeting on family planning, and an old woman is standing up telling the people “I vote we outlaw thong underwear!” This shows that the woman is trying to address the underlying problems of women, not just the outward appearance. Also, the political cartoon shows Obama and many other younger members of the meeting looking at her with shock and disgust. This shows that they had not realized that the underlying problems have created such an uprising, because all people are doing in the government is looking at the surface and seeing new things that would improve the country instead of trying to figure out how to fix the old problems. This is very similar to Anne Bradstreet’s poetry because the poetry is about her love for her husband, her children leaving her nest, and her house burning down, which are all surface conflicts. However, the meaning of these poems are much deeper than that, and it takes a lot of analysis to determine the real meaning of them.

Jonathan Edwards

Passage:
"Your wickedness makes you as it were as heavy as lead, and to tend downwards with great weight and pressure towards hell; and it God should let you go, you wouls immediately sink and swiftly descend and plunge into the bottomless gulf, and your health constitution, and your own care and prudence, and best contrivance, and all your righteousness, would have no more influence to uphold you and keep you out of hell, than a spider's web would have to stop a falling rock. Were it not for the sovereign pleasure of God, the Earth would not bear you one moment; for you are a burden to it; the creation groans with you; the creature is made subject to the bondage of your corruption, not willingly; the sun does not willingly shine upon you to give you light to serve sin and Satan; the Earth does not willingly yield her increase to satisfy your lusts; nor is it willingly a stage for your wickedness to be acted upon; the air does not willingly serve you for breath to maintain the flame of life in your vital, while you spend your life in the service of God's enemies. God's creatures are good, and were made for men to serve God with, and do not willingly subserve to any other purpose, and groan when they are abused to purposes so directly contrary to their nature and end. And the world would spew you out, were it not for the sovereign hand of him who hath subjected it in hope. There are black clouds of God's wrath now hanging directly over your heads, full of the dreadful storm, and big with thunder; and were it not for the restraining hand of God, it would immediately burst forth upon you. The sovereign pleasure of God, for the present, stays his rough wind; otherwise it would come with fury, and your destruction would come like a whirlwind, and you would be like the chaff of the summer threshing floor."