The Puritans

The Puritans:

To study the Puritans' literature, we must first understand who they were as people. The Purtitans' core beliefs were as follows:

Total Depravity - through Adam and Eve's fall, every person is born sinful - concept of Original Sin.

Unconditional Election - God "saves" those he wishes - only a few are selected for salvation.

Limited Atonement - Jesus died for the chosen only, not for everyone. Irresistible Grace - God's grace is freely given, it cannot be earned or denied. Grace is defined as the saving and transfiguring power of God.

Perseverance of the "saints" - those elected by God have full power to interpret the will of God, and to live uprightly. If anyone rejects grace after feeling its power in his life, he will be going against the will of God - something impossible in Puritanism.

You should read more here. You should also read more about the Puritans in an American Literature textbook.

For some more real fun, check out some of these Puritan names.

YOUR TASKS:
Read some of this excert of William Bradford's Of Plymouth Plantation . You do not necessarily need to start at the beginning; just find a section that appeals to you. When you are through, you should post the following to your blog:

1. Briefly summarize the Puritans' beliefs. This should be a paragraph or two.

2. Write a 4-5 paragraph response to the Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God and Of Plymouth Plantation. Explain your thoughts about how these people lived. Better responses will have some direct textual evidence to support what you say. You may want to review these texts before writing your response.

3. Choose two of the four beliefs at the beginning of this post of which you saw examples in Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God, or Of Plymouth Plantation. Provide these examples with direct textual evidence.

Continue with The Rationalists:

Do you want to make an "A" on this and your next literature projects? Grades of 93 and up will be reserved for those who complete a better project. Details here.

SELF-EVALUATE YOUR WORK!!

ELAALRL1 The student demonstrates comprehension by identifying evidence (i.e., examples of diction, imagery, point of view, figurative language, symbolism, plot events and main ideas) in a variety of texts representative of different genres (i.e., poetry, prose [short story, novel, essay, editorial, biography], and drama) and using this evidence as the basis for interpretation.

ELAALRL2 The student identifies, analyzes, and applies knowledge of theme in a work of American literature and provides evidence from the work to support understanding.

ELAALRL3 The student deepens understanding of literary works by relating them to their contemporary context or historical background, as well as to works from other time periods.

ELAALRL5 The student understands and acquires new vocabulary and uses it correctly in reading and writing.

ELAALRC2 The student participates in discussions related to curricular learning in all subject areas.