Alessandra

__**RESPONSE 3- (REVISION)) 7/28/10**__

Jean De Crevecoeur’s first writings were done before 1774 and most of them were included in his Letters from an American Farmer. The importance of religion was looked at differently by the Puritans and by Crevecoeur. This series of letters shows the difference between Crevecoeur’s and the Puritan’s view of America and the importance of religion.

Crevecoeur’s, "What is an American?" (Letter III) presents an important historical example in describing the American Dream. It shows the many opportunities that Europeans had as they came over to the American colonies. America was described as a free society and close to perfection, more so than any other place in the world. Jean De Crevecoeur says in Letter III, “Here individuals of all nations are melted into a new race of men, whose labors and prosperity will one day cause changes in the world.”(598) In this quote, he is explaining the process of Americanization also known as “The Melting Pot.” Europeans were being transformed into Americans and going through drastic changes from having no opportunities available for them to eventually becoming very prosperous. They also understood that they would not only secure a better future for themselves, but for their children as well. A principle that became vivid for the Europeans was that hard work would be rewarded. Since this had happened during the time of the Enlightenment, religion was not looked at as strictly as it was perceived by the Puritans. The Enlightenment was represented as a new way of thinking about mankind and the environment. Crevecoeur thought that we didn’t have to rely on God to solve things for us. We have the ability to improve ourselves and improve our community. He was not saying that God wasn’t all powerful anymore, but in other words, he believed that once God created Earth, he left it up to the people to take care of it and show their independence.

 The Puritans’ view of America was different from Crevecoeur. The Puritan belief was that America had no King, and God was the only hope for America. Their vision was for the New World to be a “city set upon a hill” and a light to the world. Evidently, the main focus was religion and their belief in God. Many early Puritan settlers’ first impression on America was not a positive one as Crevecoeur’s is in, “What is an American?” (Letter III). For example, when William Bradford settled in America, he described in his work, Of Plymouth Plantation, the fact that he and many other Puritans objected to the Native Americans and put them on the same level as beasts and savages. Bradford also described the American land as being a hideous, desolate, and farmed wilderness. Most Puritan pilgrims had a mission; because of their strong religious faith, they believed they needed to go to this new land and practice their religion as they wanted to. They had a greater religious purpose, which was to create a religious community.

 In conclusion, Jean De Crevecoeur’s view of America and where religion stands and the Puritans’ view of this differ a reasonable amount. According to the Puritans, religion was the core aspect in their lives and they were trying to build their own community separated from the Native Americans, which is why they were called “separatists”. Crevecoeur, on the other hand, believes that America was a free society and the closest thing to perfection in the world. For him, religion did not play as big of a role as it did with the Puritan society.

__**RESPONSE 3- 7/26/10**__

Jean De Crevecoeur’s first writings were done before 1774 and most of them were about his //Letters from an American Farmer,// and the role that religion should play in it. This series of letters helps show the difference between Crevecoeur’s and the Puritan’s view of America and where religion stands.

Crevecoeur’s, "What is an American?" (Letter III) presents an important historical example in defining the American Dream. It shows the many opportunities that Europeans had as they came over to the American colonies. America was described as a free society and the closest thing to perfection than any other place in the world. Jean De Crevecoeur says in Letter III, “Here individuals of all nations are melted into a new race of men, whose labors and prosperity will one day cause changes in the world.” In this quote, he is explaining the process of Americanization also known as “The Melting Pot”. Europeans were being transformed into Americans and going through drastic changes from having no opportunities available for them to eventually becoming very prosperous. They also understood that they would not only have a better future for themselves, but for their children as well. An awareness that became vivid for the Europeans was that hard work would be rewarded. Since this had happened during the time of the Enlightenment, religion was not looked at as strictly as it was perceived by the Puritans. The Enlightenment was represented as a new way of thinking about mankind and the environment. Crevecoeur thought that we didn’t have to rely on God to solve things for us. We have the ability to improve ourselves and improve our community. He was not saying that God wasn’t all powerful anymore, but in other words, he believed that once God created Earth, he left it up to the people to take care of it and show their independence.

The Puritans view of America was slightly different from Crevecoeur. The Puritan belief was that America had no King, and God was the only hope for America. Their vision was for the New World to be a “city set upon a hill” and a light to the world. This later became known as Manifest Destiny, which suggested that America will lead the world into a new era of serenity and safety. Evidently, the main focus was religion and their belief in God. Many early Puritan settlers first impression on America was not a positive one as Crevecoeur’s was in, “//What is an American?//” (Letter III) For example, when William Bradford settled in America, he described in his work, //Of Plymouth Plantation//, the fact that he and many other Puritans objected to the Native Americans and put them on the same level as beasts and savages. Bradford also described the American land as being a hideous, desolate, and farmed wilderness. Most Puritan pilgrims had a mission, because of their strong religious faith, they believed they needed to go to this new land and practice their religion as they wanted to. They had a greater religious purpose, which was to create a religious community.

In conclusion, Jean De Crevecoeur’s view of America and where religion stands and the Puritans view of this differ a reasonable amount. According to the Puritans, religion was the core aspect in their lives coming to America and they were trying to build their own community separated from the Native Americans. Crevecoeur, on the other hand, believes that America was a free society and the closest thing to perfection in the world. For him, religion did not play as big of a role as it did with the Puritan society.

__**RESPONSE 2- (REVISION) 7/26/10**__

Anne Bradstreet and Edward Taylor are both famous American poets. Many of their poems are about their strong religious beliefs as Puritans, which they had felt strongly about. Bradstreet and Taylor differ in the fact that Bradstreet was a woman in the Puritan society and carried many struggles and Taylor was a male figure who people thought very highly of, holding his position as a minister.

Many of Anne Bradstreet’s poems had to do with her daily troubles in her life. She was an extremely religious woman and she had an amazing amount of love for her children and for her husband. In her first collection, //The Tenth Muse//, most of the poems were about her personal experiences as a woman trying to accept the difficulties of the Puritan colony. One poem in particular that shows Bradstreet’s feelings on being a woman poet is her “Prologue.” In the beginning of the poem, she runs herself down and agrees with men, in a sense, that women are incapable of writing great poetry and that their poems are not worth anyone’s time to read. Then, she completely turns and simply asks for some space. She wants men to accept her and let her do what she wants. As she says in stanza 7,

“Let Greeks be Greeks, and women what they are; / Men have precedency and still excel,/ It is vain unjustly to wage war; Men can do best, and women know it well/ Preeminence in all and each is yours;/ Yet grant some small acknowledgements of ours.”

This is a statement justly asking for some respect. She does not want to be criticized merely because she is a woman. Edward Taylor wrote mainly about religion. He had a few miscellaneous poems about various subjects, but his main focus was on his religious views. A certain set of poems that Taylor put together were the //Preparatory Meditations//. These poems are thoughtful self-observations, highlighting the Puritan obligation to prepare the heart and soul before entering the Church or participating in the Lord's Supper. All of the poems have a strong religious meaning in them. Meditation 38 (First Series) focuses on Judgment Day, which is the day at the end of the world when God judges each individual human. This poem separates God the Father from Christ. The line, “God’s Judge Himself: and Christ Attorney is” (ll 19, pg. 274) shows that God is the Judge and Christ is the lawyer that pleads the case for converted sinners and never loses. If one embraces Christ, He will plead that person’s case. The only way a human will be saved is through Christ. He is the enabler and the way to salvation, even though some people don’t deserve it. Taylor is very clever with his wording throughout this poem and spreads a good message to his readers.

In conclusion, Bradstreet and Taylor are similar in that they are both of the Puritan faith and many of their poems relate to their religion, but they also differ because Bradstreet feels compelled to address the question of gender in a way that Taylor does not. Since Bradstreet was a woman in her time of writing, much credit is given to her for standing up as a woman poet and becoming famous and well-known. Taylor, on the other hand, only published very few of his poems and was not as popular as Bradstreet was, even though he was looked at with more respect because he was a male minister.

__**RESPONSE 2- 7/21/10**__

Anne Bradstreet and Edward Taylor were both famous poets that are well known in today’s American Literature. Many of their poems were about their strong religious beliefs as Puritans, which they had felt strongly about. Bradstreet and Taylor also differ in the fact that Bradstreet was a woman in the Puritan society and carried many struggles and Taylor was a male figure who people thought very highly of, holding his position as a minister.

Many of Anne Bradstreet’s poems had to do with her daily troubles in her life. She was an extremely religious woman and she had an amazing amount of love for her children and for her husband. In her first collection, //The Tenth Muse//, most of the poems were about her personal experiences as a woman trying to accept the difficulties of the Puritan colony; Also, being a woman at this time as well. One poem in particular that showed Bradstreet’s feelings on being a woman poet was her “Prologue”. In the beginning of the poem, she runs herself down and agrees with men, in a sense, that women are incapable of writing such great poetry and it is not worth anyone’s time to read. Then, she completely turns and simply asks for some space. She wants men to accept her and let her do what she wants. As she says in verse 7, “Let Greeks be Greeks, and women what they are; / Men have precedency and still excel,/ It is vain unjustly to wage war; Men can do best, and women know it well/ Preeminence in all and each is yours;/ Yet grant some small acknowledgements of ours”, this is a statement justly asking for some respect. She does not want to be criticized and battled against just because she is a woman.

Edward Taylor wrote mainly about religion. He had a few miscellaneous poems about various subjects, but his main focus was on his religious views. A certain set of poems that Taylor put together were the Meditation Series. These poems are thoughtful self-observations, highlighting the Puritan obligation to prepare the heart and soul before entering the Church or participating in the Lord's Supper. All of the poems have a strong religious meaning in them. Meditation 38 (First Series) focuses on Judgment Day, which is the day at the end of the world when God judges each individual human. In this poem, it separates God the Father from Christ. The line, “God’s Judge Himself: and Christ Attorney is” (ll 19, pg. 274) shows that God is the Judge and Christ is the lawyer that pleads the case and never loses. If one embraces Christ, He will plead their case. The only way a human will be saved is through Christ. He is the enabler and the way to salvation, even though some people don’t deserve it. Taylor was very clever with his wording throughout this poem and spreads a good message to his readers.

In conclusion, both Bradstreet and Taylor are similar, in that they are both of the Puritan faith and many of their poems relate to their religion, but they also differ because of their gender and how they were looked upon and viewed by their society. Obviously, since Bradstreet was a woman in her time of writing, it was harder for her to publish her poetry and have people give it a chance. Taylor, on the other hand, had much more respect because he was a minister and also, a male figure.

__**Response 1- 7/12/2010**__

Christopher Columbus and William Bradford shared two exceptionally different views of the American landscape. Columbus tends to exaggerate in his letter when describing the landscape and the Native Americans. He does this to impress the King and Queen of Spain and to hopefully influence them to support his future voyages. William Bradford, on the other hand, was a Puritan and his view of the American landscape and the Natives was based more on a religious level more than anything else.

Columbus’s first impression of the American landscape was very positive. He described it as if he has just landed in paradise. A few things that seemed to amaze him were the trees not losing their leaves, the land being untouched, and how rich the land was in minerals and gold. This is not at all what he expected. Columbus was expecting to find big cities, kings and queens, and things comparable to where he came from, which was Europe. He arrived near the Caribbean Islands in the spring/summer, which is more of a reason the land looked so beautiful to him. In contrary, William Bradford did not think highly of the American landscape. He arrived near Massachusetts around the time of winter. As he explained it, there were already people settled on the land and it was an unsightly isolated wilderness. Bradford saw this land as being very diverse with people in different tribes and speaking different languages, which he was not used to at all. Being a Puritan, Bradford’s main concern was going to this new land to practice his religion as he wanted to and building a religious community for the Puritans.

Another aspect that differed between Columbus and Bradford was their depiction of the Native Americans. Christopher Columbus went to this land expecting to find monsters and strange looking people. Instead, he described the Natives as generous, artless, and innocent because they haven’t experienced many things. He also said that they were timid and did not have any metal weapons. Columbus got along with the Natives incredibly well and spoke rather highly of them. In his opinion, they were relatively descent people who spoke the same language as one another and shared the same beliefs. Bradford viewed the Natives much differently. He explained them as uncivilized people carrying disease that would infect the settler’s bodies. Bradford was outstandingly harsh in describing the Natives. For example, in this excerpt he said “...of the savage people, who are cruel, barbarous, and most treacherous, being furious in their rage, and merciless when they overcome; not being content only to kill and take away life...” (Of Plymouth Plantation, Bradford, 109). This description is extremely graphic in showing that Bradford held much fear and despise towards the Natives because they were different from the English settlers. They obviously had different ways of life, different religious beliefs, and a completely different culture. He thought because of this, they were horrific people and should be put on the same scale as savage beasts.

In conclusion, Christopher Columbus and William Bradford held two very different opinions of the American landscape and of the Native Americans. Columbus’s voyage being a more pleasant encounter and Bradford’s being a more dramatic and fearful experience. They both had different reasons for travel and that reflected their views of the New Land to a great extent.