English 338
Study Questions for ENGL 338
NOTE: the symbol ¶ means "paragraph." "ff" means "and following."
WEEK ONE
The Iroquois Creation Story
General Questions: How does this creation story compare to the Judeo-Christian creation story in Genesis? Compare Genesis 1, Genesis 2 and Genesis 3 (King James Version, courtesy of the University of Virginia). Compare in terms of:
• Gender (Male and Female)
• Good and Evil
• The Role of Animals
• The Nature of Power, including Creative Power
• The Meaning of Story-Telling
• Other comparisons of your choosing
Christopher Columbus, "Letter....Regarding the First Voyage."
32: Discuss the significance of the way(s) in which Columbus takes possession of the land.
32: Interpret the significance of the naming that goes on in the first paragraph.
32, second full paragraph: what does this paragraph reveal about Columbus and his preconceptions? What is Columbus looking for, and why? What does he mean when he says he finds "nothing of importance"?
33 last full ¶: how would you characterize the language and imagery Columbus uses to describe the new world?
Columbus, "Letter...Regarding the Fourth Voyage."
What is the tone of this letter, and how does it compare to the "Letter....Regarding the First Voyage"?
34: According to Columbus, what is the main motive of others on seeking permission to travel to the new world? Do you think that these motives differ materially from Columbus′s own?
34, 2nd full ¶: what is the effect of the phrase "down to the very tailors"?
34: what does this section of the letter suggest about discipline, the power of law, and the force of old world hierarchies in the new world?
35, 1st full ¶: how would you characterize Columbus′s lament?
Las Casas, from The Very Brief Relation of the Devastation of the Indies
36-7, 1st ¶: how do you make sense of the "enormous appetites" described? How might this seemingly literal description be understood in metaphorical terms?
37-38: what kind of language, terms, and imagery does Las Casas use to highlight the horror of the treatment of the Indians?
37-38: Europeans were deeply afraid of cannibalism. How do Las Casas′s descriptions of the treatment of the Indians invoke and/or reverse these fears?
38-39: how does Las Casas create sympathy for the Indians? How does he highlight their humanity?
General question: how do you understand Las Casas′s relation to the Indians and their plight? Does he see them as fully equal to Europeans? Why or why not?
Exemplary Answers from the Practice (Diagnostic) Quiz of 28 August 2008.
1. "The islands and all the others are very fertile to a limitless degree, and this island is extremely so. ...All [its mountains] are accessible and filled with trees of a thousand kinds and tall, and they all seem to touch the sky. And I am told that they never lose their foliage...."
Describe how Columbus’s language shapes his description of the New World.
Columbus describes the islands as "fertile to a limitless degree." This language suggests to his reader that the islands have limitless resources and are of great monetary value to his patrons, and to Spain. When he claims that one of the island's "[mountains] are accessible," he suggests that the island's resources are easily gained. All these descriptions make the case that the money spent exploring the New World is well spent.
2. "And the Christians attacked them with buffets and beatings, until finally they laid hands on the nobles of the villages. Then they behaved with such temerity and shamelessness that the most powerful ruler of the islands had to see his own wife raped by a Christian officer."
Identify and discuss the specific words that Bartolomé De Las Casas uses to frame an appeal on behalf of the Natives.
Las Casas uses violent words to portray the plight of the natives. Instead of writing that the "Christians" killed the natives, Las Casas claims that they "attacked...[with] buffets and beatings." The word "attack" illustrates that the Christians took an offensive stance. The words "buffets and beatings" suggest continued torture. The Christians did not capture the natives, but "laid hands on the nobles of the villages." The phrase "laid hands" also suggests violation.
Las Casas also uses terms like "Christians," "nobles," and "ruler of the islands." In Las Casas's world nobles and rulers were inviolate. By noting that the Christians violate the rulers of the New World, Las Casas appeals to the nobles of Spain. He plays on the nobles's fear of overthrow by naming the natives in the same way that the Europeans are named.
WEEK TWO
Cabeza de Vaca, excerpt from The Relation....
41-42, Dedication: How does Cabeza de Vaca present himself? How does he represent the question of equality/ inequality among people? How does is his self-presentation both like and unlike the other explorers in this section? What is the significance of the last sentence of the dedication, and how does it cohere with later descriptions?
42: Cabeza de Vaca speaks the "The people" he and his men "came to know." What is the significance of his language here? How does he "come to know" the native Amerindians?
42-43: what is the significance of the description of customs in these paragraphs?
43, 3rd ¶ from the bottom of the page: two languages are named. How does the significance of naming here compare to what you′ve seen Columbus, for example?
44-45: how might descriptions of nakedness, hunger, and the eating of strange foods be understood in both literal and symbolic terms?
46: Why are Cabeza de Vaca′s countrymen "dumfounded at the sight" of him?
47, last ¶ of :The Falling-Out" section: Compare and contrast the competing definitions of Cabeza de Vaca′s identity.
47-48: what has been the effects of colonialism and the spread of empire on the native peoples, according to Cabeza de Vaca?
General Q: this work could be considered an early "captivity narrative," a genre that became increasingly important in the early literatures of new world discoveries.
John Smith, from The General History of Virginia....
57-58: what is the general condition of those who survive the voyage to the New World? What resources are available to them?
58, 3rd full ¶: when the Indians are helpful (bringing food), to whom does Smith ascribe agency (i.e. do the Indians act as agents, or are they symbols or representatives of some other power)? Why does the issue of agency matter here?
59: Aside from individual suffering, what other problems arise from the hunger of the English? Who gets credit (agency) when the Indians bring food to the starving English?
61: Smith′s story could here be called an early "captivity narrative"... what, if anything, does Smith seem to learn from his adventures?
62: what kind of words are used to describe the Indians, and why are these terms important?
62, 65: what does Smith fear from the Indians? Do his fears seem realistic given the rest of his narrative? Why or why not?
WEEK THREE
William Bradford, from "Of Plymouth Plantation"
In the preceding pages, Bradford describes the religious persecution that the Pilgrims experienced in England. This persecution caused them to leave for Holland.
107-109: According to B, why did the Pilgrims leave Holland? How might those reasons help us understand the ideal community that powered their vision of the future, as well as explain some of the conflicts they experienced in the New World?
108-109, ¶ beginning "The place they had thoughts on...": How does B. describe the New World? How does B. describe the Natives who live in the New World? How do his descriptions contribute to the justification of what could be called a land-grab (from the Indian point of view)?
109, first full ¶: How does B. differentiate the Pilgrims and their motives from those of other explorers?
110: B alludes to the book of Ezra, in the Old Testament, in which the Israelites return to Jerusalem from Babylonian captivity. What is the general significance of this allusion? B also alludes to Hebrews 11.13, where the term "pilgrims" is mentioned. How might this allusion enable us to understand how the Pilgrims saw themselves and their journey to the New World?
114, first ¶: Why does B. tell the tale of the "lusty" sailor, the "very profane young man"(114)? How does this story encapsulate both the strengths and the weaknesses of the Pilgrim point of view?
115-116 (long ¶ beginning "being thus arrived in a good harbor.."): What is the effect of all the negatives ("no," "nor") in the second sentence of this ¶? What are some of the repeated terms B. uses to describe nature and/or the Indians? Are the Indians separate from his description of nature?
115-116 (long ¶ beginning "being thus arrived in a good harbor.."): In this section B. uses typology—comparing the material history of the Pilgrims in terms of Old Testament events, which themselves may be the "type" or the pre-figuration of New Testament ("anti-type") events. What does the use of typology reveal about the Pilgrims′s view of their journey to the New World? B. ends w/ various allusions, including one to Deut. 26.6-8
[6] And the Egyptians evil entreated us, and afflicted us, and laid upon us hard bondage:
[7] And when we cried unto the LORD God of our fathers, the LORD heard our voice, and looked on our affliction, and our labour, and our oppression:
[8] And the LORD brought us forth out of Egypt with a mighty hand, and with an outstretched arm, and with great terribleness, and with signs, and with wonders:
bottom half of 117 ¶: Identify the use of the typology, and discuss the significance of the use this interpretive method.
118, first full ¶: From whom do the Pilgrims receive the seed "to plant them corn the next year" (118)? Whose agency does B. credit? How might the question of agency here help shape relations with the Indians in years to come?
118-119: How would you characterize "the First Encounter" (119) with the Indians?
120-121, The Mayflower Compact: According to your notes in the Norton, "Among the hundred people on the Mayflower there were almost three times as many secular settlers as Separatists" (10). What language do the Pilgrims use to create themselves as a distinct community? What do they give up, and what do they gain? How do they deal with dissent?
120: why is this compact made before the Pilgrims land in the New World?
Top of 121: Why do the Pilgrims find it necessary to make a "compact"?
121: what is a "civil body politic"? (this term was developed by Bradford’s contemporary Thomas
Hobbes in his 1640 Elements of Law, and his classic book, 
Leviathan [1651]. Yet please note that Hobbes was emphatically NOT a
Puritan—he was an emphatic supporter of monarchy).
121: to whom or to what is "submission and obedience" promised?
121-122: B. tells the tale to two different communities (the Pilgrims and the sailors), both of whom suffer. What are the main differences between these communities? What values and practices sustain the Pilgrims?
126-129: Thomas Morton commits a number of acts that annoy the Pilgrims. What are these? (list them) Why do the Pilgrims decide to attack Morton?
129-130: According to B., how does success hurt the Pilgrims? What does he most fear, and what are the key words he uses to express that fear?
136-137: B. narrates an episode of Pilgrim history that does not recount one of their finer moments. What are the reasons why he might include this story in his history? Who is to blame for the young man′s "crime"? How does B. interpret this event in terms of typology?
Thomas Morton, from New English Canaan ****NOTE **** Please read the prose carefully, but just SKIM over the poem and song—it is not worth your while to ‘puzzle your brains’ over the deeper meanings of the poem or its footnotes—just think of it in terms of the classical learning that Morton displays. He makes many references to classical literature. How about Bradford? Why does Morton make such a point of displaying his knowledge of the classics? So please--Skim chapter XIV, Read chapter XV, Skim chapter XVI).
General: What is the significance of the title of Morton′s work?
143-146: How does Morton frame his side of the dispute? Does Morton have a critique of the Pilgrims, or is he just a complainer?
Winthrop, from "A Model of Christian Charity"
147: why are class distinctions important to Winthrop? What language does Winthrop use to describe these distinctions, and why is this language significant?
General: what metaphor does Winthrop use throughout to describe the ideal bond between different members of an ideal community? What vision does Winthrop articulate? Does his ideal vision of a community still have resonance today?
156: consider the metaphor of being "knit" together (156, 157).
158: What does it mean to form "community as members of the same body"?
157-158, paragraph beginning "Now the only way to avoid this shipwreck": this full ¶ is a classic definition of the Puritan ideal. How does Winthrop galvanize his hearers? It has also been read as a classic example of what would later be called "American exceptionalism"--the notion that America is different from all other countries. What do you think of Winthrop’s vision in the context of American exceptionalism—the idea that American is different from all other nations?
Winthrop, excerpt from his Journals
General Q: why did the Puritans keep journals?
159: How do the Puritans interpret events in the natural world?
159-160: why is Roger Williams banished? What language does Winthrop use to describe him, and why might these terms be important?
160-164: Why is Anne Hutchinson banished?
Winthrop's "Speech to the General Court"
166: What are the two kinds of liberty that Winthrop defines? Which is most conducive to law and order, in his view?
166: How do you understand Winthrop’s articulation of marriage as a paradigm for the relation between the individual and the state? Does his description of marriage seem realistic to you?
Edward Taylor, "Huswifery"
285-286, l.1-6: what is the central metaphor that Taylor develops in this stanza?
286, l.8: who is the weaver, and who is the "Web"?
286, l. 11: how might the term "dye" be understood in this line?
286, l.13-18: what happens to the speaker/ self in the last stanza?
General: what does it mean for a male Puritan poet to write a spiritual ode in terms of women’s work? How are terms of gender used to re-make the speaker’s relationship to his God?
General: Taylor uses an "AB AB CC" rhyme scheme in this poem, and the poem is complete in three stanzas that all follow the same pattern (with a little off-rhyme in the third stanza, "Memory"/ "glorify"). How does the form of the poem complement its themes?
Exemplary Answers from the first Quiz.
Make me, O Lord, Thy Spinning Wheel Complete.
Thy Holy Word my Distaff* make for me. * the distaff holds the raw wool
Make mine Affections Thy Swift Flyers* neat * flyers regulate the spinning
And make my Soul Thy holy Spool* to be. * the spool twists the yarn
My conversation make to be Thy Reel* * the reel takes up the finished thread
And reel the yarn thereon spun of Thy Wheel.
1. How does this Puritan poet emphasize the theme of spiritual transformation in this stanza?
Edward Taylor represents the theme of spiritual transformation through word choice and the metaphor of being woven into a robe/ garment of righteousness. The poet uses the first person "me," "mine" and "my" to emphasize the personal spiritual transformation taking place. The poet also uses phrases such as "And make my soul thy holy spool to be" in order to show the twisting and turning of the soul/ spirit of the Puritan in the transformation process. Additionally, the wool is originally raw but gets turned into a garment, showing the rawness and the malleability of the Puritan soul during the transformation process. Finally, the Puritan speaks of each part of the self that he needs God to transform--"affections," "soul," and "conversation"--in order to become a "Complete[ly]" sanctified person, not just a Puritan who is partially sanctified. The poet uses word choice and imagery to clearly convey the theme of spiritual transformation.
The woman’s own choice makes such a man her husband, yet being so chosen he is her lord and she is to be subject to him, yet in a way of liberty, not of bondage, and a true wife accounts her subjection her honor and freedom, and would not think her condition safe and free but in her subjection to her husband’s authority.... On the other side, you know who they are that complain of this yoke and say: let us break their bands, etc., we will not have this man to rule over us. Even so, brethren, it will be between you and your magistrates.
2. Analyze the metaphor that Winthrop uses to describe the relationship between citizens and the state under Puritanism.
Winthrop argues that just as a wife is subject to her husband and he is "her lord," so is the relationship between the sovereign body and its subjects. Yet in Winthrop's view, this relationship is not one of true subjection by autocratic force, but one which is to be undertaken gladly for the "subjection [is one's] honor and freedom," and one could not feel "safe and free but in [one's] subjection." By way of these principles, the "subjection" is actually a form of puritanical "liberty." While his argument is rather convincing when applied to the state and subject, and echoes authors like Hobbes, the imagined surrender of woman to man in marriage is highly questionable.
WEEK FOUR
Anne Bradstreet: for futher research, see scholarly articles about Bradstreet on our main page (web.uccs.edu/english338)
"The Flesh and the Spirit," (202-204).
l.1-2: Where or what is the place in which the speaker "stood" when she hears the dialogue recorded in the poem?
l.5-8: what language does Bradstreet use to establish the differences between the two "sisters"?
General: how sisterly are these two? How deeply intertwined?
l. 9-36: how does Flesh taunt Spirit? How does Bradstreet use diction to heighten Flesh′s temptation of Spirit?
l. 37: what do you make of Spirit′s use of the word "part" to describe Flesh, especially in light of Winthrop?
l. 39 ff: how does Spirit describe her relationship with her "sister"?
l. 45ff: how are these sisters related?
l. 60ff: what is Spirit′s ambition? How might her ambition be understood in the midst of a very clever poem by a very clever poet?
l. 60ff: why does Spirit wish to take her sister captive? What sort of "laurel crown" does the speaker/poet desire?
l. 71ff: what are the limits of language and diction to describe heavenly riches in these lines?
l.107-108: These lines sound almost like a vanitas, a meditation on the emptiness of material things....would it be possible for Bradstreet to publish a poem that espoused a different view?
General: how does the AA BB rhyme scheme compliment and/or undercut the poem?
Bradstreet, "The Author to Her Book," (204-205). Written in heroic couplets.
The title identifies the speaker as female. What sort of restrictions would Bradstreet face as a Puritan woman who wrote? Bradstreet′s father, Thomas Dudley, was Deputy Governor of Massachusetts under John Winthrop, and was one of those who condemned Anne Hutchinson. How might this fact inform your understanding of the poem?
1. 1: Not only is the book the speaker′s child, but it is an "ill-formed" one at that. Why?
Identify some of the other textual metaphors Bradstreet uses along with "feet" in l. 15.
l. 22-4: what is another name for a fatherless child? What does it mean for Bradstreet′s "child" to be both "cast out" and "fatherless"?
Is the speaker apologetic, or actually proud of her creation? How would you characterize the speaker's ultimate stance toward her work?
Compare and constrast stanza 5 from Bradstreet's "The Prologue" (189)
Bradstreet, "To My Dear and Loving Husband" (206). Written in heroic couplets.
Possible Biblical sources echoed in this poems include the Song of Solomon and Genesis 2.23: And Adam said, This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man.
l.5-9: Puritans typically valued the spiritual over the material. How do you understand the references to material riches in these lines? How does the poet transform the material into the spiritual?
General: Is this a private love poem from a wife to her husband? How might Bradstreet's portrait of the "covenant" of marriage speak to larger Puritan ideals? (recall that Bradstreet was a passenger on the Arbella, where Winthrop likely preached his "Model of Christian of Charity" sermon. Additionally, consider the parallels between this sermon and the marriage metaphor developed by Winthrop in his Speech to the General Court.
Bradstreet, "...upon the Burning of Our House..." (212-213).
General: what would be the significance of a house fire for a Puritan woman in Massachusetts in the mid 1666"? Why does she include a specific date, and the phrase "copied out of a loose paper"?
l. 13 –14: compare these lines to the New England Primer rhyme for the letter J :
"Job feels the rod/ Yet blesses God" (attached to your syllabus). What do you make of the similarity between the AA BB rhyme scheme of the Primer, and the scheme used by Bradstreet?
l. 25ff: what is the significance of this list, and its negatives?
l. 37: how might this line be used to characterize the poem as a whole?
General: how do the Puritans understand the process of mourning, and how might their complex attitudes toward mourning inform this poem?
Do the last two line of the poem sum it up for you? Why or why not?
The New England Primer (353-355).
Compare/ Contrast: How does the style of verse in The New England Primer allow us to reflect on Anne Bradstreet's style? The Primer is obviously a didactic work--meaning it strives to teach. What sort of "lessons" are being taught here? Is Bradstreet's poetry "didactic"? Why or why not?
What does The Primer tell us about how Puritans wished to educate their children?
Mary Rowlandson, A Narrative.... (235-255). Compare an article on our course web page about Puritans and the pracice of mourning for the dead (web.uccs.edu/english338)
236-238: the burning house again, and more....what is signified with the horror of this chapter? What terms are used to describe the Indians?
238, beginning of the first remove: "and our hearts no less than our bodies": why does Rowlandson add this?
238: How is the "enemy" described--what terms are used, what connotations evoked?
238-239, 2nd remove: how does Rowlandson feel about God at the end of each ¶?
239-242, 3rd remove: how would you describe R′s emotions surrounding her survival? What is the most significant event described in the 3rd remove?
243, fourth remove: how does R describe the hunger that she experiences? What does her hunger symbolize?
243-244, 5th remove: why is R′s hunger so central? Who else is hungry?
244, end of 5th remove: How does R portray Godly agency at this stage of her captivity?
244, 6th remove: Is R angry? How would a Puritan woman cope with anger? Compare R to Bradstreet. What is the significance of the last sentence of this remove?
244-245, 7th remove: Like Cabeza de Vaca, R eats something strange. How does she understand this event?
245-287, 8th remove: how does R describe her treatment by the Indians in this remove?
What does R mean by the words "redemption" (249, end of what would be the first ¶ on that page) and "restoration" (first ¶ of 13th remove, 250)?
251-252, ¶ beginning "I went to see...": how does R report the sufferings of an "English" child and that of an "Indian" child?
252, ¶ begining "That night...": how does R report the death of an "Indian" child?
253, end of 13th remove: How would you describe the condition to which is R reduced?
253-254, 14th and 15th removes: How can R′s hunger be understood in terms beyond its literal facticity? What does it symbolize?
255, 18th remove: what does the central episode here reveal about R′s state? Why would R include this episode in her narrative?
WEEK FIVE
Rowlandson, cont. (256-267).
256, first ¶ of 19th remove: what do you make of Rowlandson’s decision to end this ¶ with a quotation from Psalms?
256-258, 19th Remove: discuss the question of agency, both human and divine, in this remove.
258, end of 19th remove: how does R. negotiate the question of divine agency? How does she understand God's providence when applied to the Natives? What terms does she use to refer to her body, and what do these terms tell us about Puritan values and/or Puritan anxieties?
258-259, first ¶ of 20th Remove: discuss the significance of divine agency in R′s account of events. Who hangs the Indian?
260, "God showed His power...": discuss the significance of agency, divine and human, for R.
261ff (list of 5 points): what is R′s attitude toward divine power and intervention?
261-263, including this quote on 261: " ‘But what shall I say? God seemed to leave his people to themselves, and order all things for His own holy ends." What is R′s attitude toward her God in this passage and on this page more generally? How would a proper Puritan woman express doubt, anger, grief? Would these expressions even be possible?
263,¶ beginning "But to return...": something quite astounding is reported here. Why does R choose to act as she does? What does this tell us about Puritan attitudes toward personal suffering and humiliation? COMPARE TO HANNAH DUSTAN. Why does R choose NOT to escape?
266: to what extent may the last two paragraphs be understood as a vanitas—a meditation on the "vanity" or "vainness," emptiness, of the things of this world? To what extent might R′s captivity narrative also be understood as a vanitas? Why do you think this work was a bestseller?
Cluster of Primary Sources on Hannah Dustan (343-353): Independent Work in preparation for your first paper.
Cotton Mather, excerpt from The Wonders of the Invisible World (307-313).
A few things to keep in mind: John Locke published his "Essay on Human Understanding" in 1690—it was widely read in the Colonies. During the witch trials, to have one′s confession believed in court, one′s confession needed to repeat or include conventional ideas of witchcraft (such as signing the devil′s book, flying by a broom or pole, etc.). Also keep in mind that if you were accused, and then implicated another person in your confession, you were generally pardoned because you "confessed" to the bad behavior of someone else. So if you were accused, there was a good deal of incentive to widen the circle by implicating others. General question: our notes tell us that "Everything that Mather wrote can be seen as a call to defend the old order of authority against the encroachment of an increasingly secular world" (307). To what extent can Mather′s defense of the witch trials be understood as a defense of the old Puritan way?
308: what is the assumption that Mather makes right from the outset of the excerpt regarding the land that the New Englanders have settled? Is his version of events different from or similar to what the early Puritans believed?
308-309: Mather describes a history—but it is a history of invisible forces. What does it mean for Mather to be so heavily invested in the forces of the invisible as he describes the causes the of the witch outbreak? How does Mather construct the history of the Puritans? How does his version of history differ from the ways in which histories are constructed today?
310: Mather tells us that he reports only "the chief matters of fact," and that he "report[s] matters not as an advocate, but as an historian." Do you agree with his assessment? Why or why not?
310-313, The Trial of Martha Carrier: when animals or people become ill, how do we explain the forces of the unseen? How are these forces explained in this trial? Why would Mather have a stake in defending the explanations for unseen events that appear in this trial? How could Carrier defend herself from the charges leveled against her? General Question: Mather himself never stopped believing in witches , even after the trials were long over—and he never apologized for his role, as some others did (such as Samuel Sewall). Why do you think Mather refused to admit that he might have been wrong?
**Please skim pages 357-367**
Benjamin Franklin, The Autobiography (449-451, 472-491)
General: Cotton Mather was already 43 years old when Franklin was born. Yet those years encompass some huge changes in the colonies. How do Franklin's enlightenment values differ from those of his Puritan elders?
General: the genre of Autobiography offers the opportunity for an individual to literally write ("graph—") or re-write the self. Where are those moments in the text where you become aware of Franklin′s participation in a process of self-making, self-creation?
General: Franklin is quite the humorist—often using irony to make a joke. Make a note of those places in the text where Franklin′s humor is revealed. How does he poke fun at others? Is he capable of making jokes at his own expense?
General: Where do women fit into the model of self-making offered by Franklin?
473, 1st ¶: To whom is The Autobiography putatively addressed? How does this address and the putatively epistolary (letter) form of The Autobiography shape our responses to the work?
What is the relationship between ancestry and the power of self-making that Franklin posits in these opening pages?
473, first ¶: Analyze Franklin′s use of the metaphors of printing ("Authors," "second Edition") in his discussion of his Autobiography. Why are these metaphors significant? What is his attitude toward "Faults"? Is this attitude different from what we′ve seen before in the Puritans?
474, second full ¶: What are the implications of being "bred" to a particular profession? Are we "bred" to professions today? Why or why not?
474, second full ¶: "I was the youngest Son of the youngest Son for 5 Generations back." Why does Franklin include this detail—what is its significance?
476, second full ¶: What is Franklin′s attitude toward "Liberty of Conscience," and how does it compare/ contrast to that of the Puritans?
477, first full ¶: How does Franklin gloss (i.e. explain) some of his youthful "Scrapes"? How does his father react to his scrapes? How does he conclude the episode? What is the significance of Franklin′s rebellion against the trades his father proposes for him?
477, first full ¶: How does Franklin′s father treat his children at table, and what does that suggest about differences between Puritan and Enlightenment attitudes?
479, top: Using a metaphor to describe different styles of writing, Franklin notes that "one does not dress the private Company as for a public Ball." Analyze this statement in terms of the verbal "dress" Franklin wears in The Autobiography.
479-483: Analyze the significance of Franklin′s interest in books and reading.
481-482, ¶ beginning "My Time...": Discuss Franklin′s attitude toward time. Is it
familiar or unfamiliar to you? What are the key terms that he uses in
mentioning questions of time?
482: Why does Franklin become a vegetarian, and what do his reasons tell us
about his character?
484, and 484, note8, : What is the event that pushes F to the breaking point? What is the significance of this episode? What are the implications of F′s reference to this event as an "Errata"? Note that footnote 8 is Franklin's own note (not from the editors of the Norton). Why does he include it?
485, bottom: what are the reasons that young men run off or run away?
487: What does the old woman give F to eat for dinner, and why is it significant?
488, first full ¶: make a note of who sees F for the first time. How much does she feature in
his story?
489, first full ¶: How does old Bradford conduct business, and what lessons are taught regarding the ethics of business?
491, second full ¶: Analyze the significance of F′s return to his brother′s shop.
WEEK SIX
Franklin, from The Autobiography, continued.
494, first full ¶: note the next "Errata," and consider the symbolic significance of that term.
494-495 ¶: Analyze the significance of this ¶ about vegetarianism.
495: why does F subject Keimer to vegetarianism?
496, first full ¶: note the word "convenient," and discuss F′s relationship to the question of convenience throughout The Autobiography.
496-497: Analyze the importance of readers and reading.
497-498 ¶, and 500, bottom: Analyze the significance of gender in these passages.
499-500 and 501-502: Discuss F as a working man in London. Why are these pages significant in The Autobiography?
505 second full ¶: note the personal events here recounted.
507-508: Analyze the significance of F′s break with Keimer.
509-510: How does F prepare to enter into business on his own?
512, first two ¶s: Discuss the significance of "Industry"--a key term in Franklin's era.
512-515: how does F advance socially and economically? Consider the power of appearances.
516-517: what is the relationship between economics and marriage? How does parental power effect the situation?
517, first full ¶: Do you think F manages to "correct" a "great Erratum"? why or why not?
523-534: Analyze the significance of reading and literacy.
526, first full ¶: think carefully about F′s scheme to achieve "moral Perfection." Is F serious, or joking?
526-529: Analyze the "virtues" (1-13) on F′s list. How might these virtues reflect the values of an emerging republic?
526-529: Analyze F system for achieving perfection/ personal change. Does his system seem familiar or unfamiliar to you?
530 second full ¶: what is the symbolic significance of F′s use of a pencil to mark his faults?
531, the ordered day: what does this diagram tell us about enlightenment values and processes? Looking at this illustration of a day, what sort of connotations or analogies do you see?
533-534: How does F. poke fun at himself? Does he ever achieve Humility?
Thomas Paine, excerpts from Common Sense
General: think about the title of this work: why are both these words ("Common" and "Sense") key words for Paine, and what do they symbolize?
630-631, Intro.: What are some of the key words and phrases that Paine uses to persuade readers to join the Revolution?
What is the role of emotion in decision making, according to Paine?
631, from part III: Paine claims that in Common Sense, he offers "nothing more that simple facts, plain arguments, and common sense." Analyze this claim.
631, last full ¶: how does Paine emphasize the importance of the Revolution? How do his terms compare to Winthrop's famous vision of a "city on a hill" in "A Model of Christian Charity"?
632, third full ¶: Analyze the analogies that Paine uses to argue for separation from England.Why would these analogies be appealing to his audience?
632-633: Paine offers a number of analogies that speak to the cause of separation: analyze the significance of these analogies.
635, ¶ beginning "Men of passive tempers"-636, break in text: consider these key ideas, and how Paine uses them to argue his cause: passion/ feeling/ sentiment, "natural right" (636, after break), parent-child relations, marriage relations. What is revolutionary about Paine′s rhetoric?
Adams Letters, ATTACHED TO YOUR SYLLABUS. One page: there are three short letters. Read what may be Abigail Adams's most famous letter in its entirety.
Letter from Abigail to John: What is the tone of her letter? Is she serious?
What are the key terms that she borrows from revolutionary language to make her case?
John’s Letter to Abigail: What is the tone of his response? What is his overall opinion of her call for a new "Code of Laws"? With what other groups does he class women? He claims that men "have only the Name of Masters," and would be prepared to take up arms against the "Despotism of the Peticoat" (sic) if necessary. What do you make of his boast here? How hard is it to contain revolutionary ideas once they’re let loose?
John’s letter to James Sullivan: the founders did not allow white males who did not own property to vote. What are Adams’s arguments for the exclusion of men without property from full citizenship/ enfranchisement? What do his arguments tell us about his attitudes toward other disenfranchised groups? Where do you stand in relation to Adams’s arguments?
WEEK SEVEN
Phillis Wheatley, "On Being Brought from Africa to America" (752-7530)
What is the significance of the passive voice in the title?
What is the tone of the poem?
l.1: discuss the word "mercy" in this line—what possible interpretations might be offered here?
l.2: what is the denotation of the word "benighted" in this line? What are the connotations of the word?
l.4: what is the tone of this line? Does it mark a change in the poem, or is it in concert with the poem as a whole?
1.6: In a startlingly modern act, Wheatley includes a quotation here. Why does she use quotation marks? How would the line be different without them?
l.7: consider the placement of commas in this line. How do these commas effect your interpretation of the line?
What is the effect of the AA/ BB rhyme scheme?
Phillis Wheatley, "Letter to Samson Occom" (763-764) [note that as an Indian, Occom would not be enfranchised after the Revolution]
Also note that this letter was written a little over two years before the Declaration of Independence was signed.
764: Mark those words and phrases that invoke revolutionary language as you′ve seen it used by Jefferson, Franklin & Paine.
764: The Puritans often invoked the escape from Egypt as a typological version of their escape from the Old World. How does Wheatley make reference to the Egypt of the Exodus? How might the average reader of newspapers in New England understand her reference to Exodus?
WEEK EIGHT
Washington Irving, "Rip Van Winkle"
General: Review the Adams letters attached to your syllabus. How might some of the key terms and issues raised in these letters be applied to "Rip"? What would Rip the character have to say about John Adams′s joke about "the Despotism of the Peticoat" (sic)?
980-981, and last ¶: discuss the framing device the Irving uses at the beginning and at the end of the tale. What is the effect of this device? How does this device invite us to question history itself? What is the role of fiction in a narrative that purports to be a "true history"/
981-982: what is the significance of the setting?
983-83: How is Rip′s character discussed and defined? What
is the role of storytelling? Is Rip a child or an adult?
983: under whose portrait do the men of the sit at the bottom of the page? What
is the fate of this portrait after Rip returns from his sleep?
984-986: Where is Rip when he becomes enchanted, and how does the setting contribute to his enchantment?
987-989: list the changes to the town and the people that Rip notices upon his return. Why are these changes included by Irving? What do they signify? Are the changes fundamental, or merely superficial? Find specific passages to answer this question.
990: what do you think of the town "historian" and his "facts"?
991: compare Rip′s compliant with the Adams letters. How much has the nation changed since the Revolution?
"The Legend of Sleepy Hollow"
General: where is a new nation to find its stories, legends, myths?
General: are any of you planning to go into teaching? What do you make of Ichabod as an educator?
992-93: why does Irving name his fictional town "Tarry Town"? What are the symbolic connotations of all the sleepiness mentioned here? How does dreaminess coincide with legend?
994: About what year do the events of the story take place?
994, third ¶: pay careful attention to the way Ichabod is described. What terms would you use to describe the way Ichabod is characterized within the story?
994-995: what sort of teacher is Ichabod? What teaching methods does he use? Many of the great American Romantics and their circle (Emerson, Thoreau, Bronson Alcott, Elizabeth Peabody, Horace Mann) were believers in educational reform. What would they have thought about Ichabod Crane′s teaching methods? See also page 1002.
996: Crane is a reader... what does he read, and what does this tell us about the kind of reader he is? Is he a model for the reader of Irving′s fiction? Why or why not? See also 1008 and 1011,
997: what are the pleasure of fiction in these passages?
997 bottom: how would you characterize the language used to describe Katrina?
998: characterize the brand of humor used to describe the Van Tassel farm. Consider also the Mock Heroic; look this term up in a Handbook to Literature, if you own it. Note other instances of the Mock Heroic in the story.
999: why does Crane fall for Katrina?
1000-1001: Would you call Crane the "hero" of the tale? Why or why not? Is Crane an anti-hero? How does Irving call our attention to this question?
1003: what is the effect of the lengthy description of Crane here? What makes it funny?
1004: What is the symbolic significance of Crane′s enormous appetite?
1006: what is the role of tall tales? Is Irving′s story a tall tale? If so, what is its place in the world in which it was written and published?
1006: what is the role of Cotton Mather in this tale? See also 1011,
1006: who is the author of the tale′s mischief?
1009: discuss the tension between history and fiction.
1011: Is there are rational explanation for the events that transpire? What conclusion do the people embrace, and why?
1012: who are the best readers?
1012-1013: why does Irving again include a framing device? How does this device change your relationship to the story?
Week Nine
Emerson, "Self-Reliance"
General: Emerson opens with three epigraphs. Think carefully about them especially the last stanza of verse, written by Emerson. In his essay "Walking, Emerson′s disciple, Henry Thoreau, states that "The story of Romulus and Remus being suckled by a wolf is not a meaningless fable" (2004). What is meaningful about this fable for the transcendentalists, and why does Emerson invoke it at the beginning of "Self-Reliance"?
General: do you find this essay stirring? Hopeful? Persuasive? Why do you think it was relatively popular in Emerson′s day?
1160: how do Emerson′s claims speak to romantic and transcendental values?
1161: what are the examples Emerson provides of the self-reliant individual? Are these examples persuasive?
1162: What are the most salient characteristics of self-reliant manhood according to Emerson?
1162-3: How do self-reliant people cope with the demands and desires of others?
1164: A very famous line from this essay is the first line of the last ¶ on the page. What is the proper self-reliant attitude to making mistakes, being contradictory, changing one′s mind?
1164-5: what′s wrong with conformity?
1165: "Always scorn appearances..." (1165). How might these sentiments be compared to those of Ben Franklin′s? What do you think Emerson′s toward Franklin might be?
1166-67: what are the hallmarks of proper manliness according to Emerson?
1168-69: How do romantics and transcendentalists reconfigure their relationship to the past? Is this a liberating philosophy? Why or why not?
1170-71: what is the value of isolation here? Is it possible to be a "self-reliant" person as defined in this essay and still have a family? Or be part of a community?
1171: How might this essay appeal to young men?
1173: what′s wrong with travel for Emerson?
1174-1175: What is the romantic/ transcendentalist critique of society?
1176: Does Emerson acknowledge that there might be a dark side to self-reliance?
Thoreau, excerpts from Walden.
General: Although Thoreau found a "champion" (1790) in Emerson, he was also deeply influenced by his older and widely published neighbor. Make note of all those moments in Walden where the influence of Emerson is apparent.
General: What makes Walden a romantic and transcendental work?
General: Thoreau is a great user of metaphors and puns. Make note of many of these metaphors and puns: discuss their significance.
General: How might Walden be understood as a romantic/ transcendental revision of Franklin′s Autobiography? Is Walden an autobiography? Why or why not?
1808: who is the "I" of the book, and why is this a question that Thoreau calls to our attention?
1809-1810: what′s wrong with conventional labor?
1811: what is the role of the past? Of experience? Which statements on this page are particularly romantic, and why?
1812ff: how does Thoreau redefine the necessities of life?
1814-1815: Thoreau is opposed to slavery. Why?
1816, bottom of page: consider the significance of the metaphor here.
1818, bottom-1821, top: consider the significance of Thoreau′s discussion of clothing.
1821-1831: consider the significance of Thoreau′s discussion of shelter.
1826, 1828: analyze the significance of the metaphors on these pages.
1831-1842: consider the lists, the expense accounts, etc.
1834: what is the romantic view of education? Of "improvement"? How might these attitudes compare or contrast with authors we′ve read before?
1836ff: how does Thoreau define independence?
1838ff:why does the speaker feel guilt and shame at times? What triggers those feelings?
1844ff: what is the "payoff" for living an abstemious life?
1875-1881: consider this chapter as a manifesto of transcendentalism. How does it help us to define the movement′s key ideas?
1881-1888: How does the speaker of Walden understand visitors? What do you think of the attitudes he expresses? What is appealing about these attitudes?
1917-1924: Ponder Thoreau′s definition of "higher laws."
1974-1982: What is the significance of travel for Thoreau?
1977: Is Thoreau′s writing "extra-vagrant"? What is the meaning of his pun?
1981-1982: Thoreau ends Walden with a New World fable of sorts. Discuss this fable and its importance.
Week Ten
Frederick Douglass, Narrative.
All General Questions:
- Consider the importance of the title, and particularly the tag, "written by himself."
- Consider the significance of the prefaces to this text. Are these like or unlike other prefaces we′ve seen so far?
- Consider the importance of the phrase "the double relation of master and father" (2041).
- Discuss the power of literacy for Douglass. To what extent can his work be understood as a literacy narrative?
- Why does Douglass include the whipping of Aunt Hester early in his narrative?
- Consider the white people in Douglass′s narrative—how are they changed by slavery?
- What are the key horrors of slavery according to Douglass?
- What are some of Douglass′s most effective passages, in your opinion?
- What is the role of feeling and/or sentiment in the Narrative?
- Recall that many slaveholders taught their slaves that Bible enjoins servants to obey their masters. How and why does Douglass critique religion in a slaveholding America?
- Is there a turning point in Douglass′s narrative? If so, locate that moment or moments.
- Locate those passages where Douglass invokes revolutionary rhetoric in the service of abolitionism.
- According to Douglass, what sort of circumstances increase his desire for freedom? (2084). How might this paradox be linked to The Confessions of Nat Turner?
- Trace the use of hunger in the Narrative as both a literal condition and a metaphor. What does hunger symbolize?
Thomas R. Gray, The Confessions of Nat Turner (attached to your syllabus).
427-429 (Gray′s Introduction): According to Gray, what is the main mystery of Turner′s revolt? How does reading The Confessions solve that mystery? How does Gray characterize Nat and his accomplices, and more importantly, why does he characterize them as he does? Do you agree with his assessment of the causes of the revolt? Why or why not? Do you agree with his assessment of Nat? Why or why not?
429-442: How does Tuner describe his motive for orchestrating the revolt? Why was he unfit to be a slave? (430). What is the role of literacy in the revolt? How does Turner understand religion? 437—how does Turner respond to the murders?
440: note the sudden break in the narrative between Turner′s voice and Gray′s voice.
441ff: how would you characterize the language that Turner uses to discuss the revolt?
Week Eleven (Happy Halloween!)
Poe, "The Tell-Tale Heart."
General: to what extent is this tale a confession?
General: what is the effect of first-person narrative in this tale?
1572: How does the narrator characterize himself?
1572: does this murderer have a motive for his actions?
How would you characterize the relationship between the narrator and the old man?
1573: consider the state of terror, awe, and fear described by the narrator. Is the old man already fearful, even without the machinations of the narrator?
1574: how does the murderer respond to the act of murder?
How might you understand the narrator′s discomfort in the second to last paragraph psychologically and/or symbolically?
Poe. "The Fall of the House of Usher."
1534-35: consider the meanings of the title phrase, "the House of Usher." Is it just a building?
1535: what is the "mystery all insoluble"?
1535-1536: Use close reading to analyze the problems of the Ushers. What are the key words and phrases used by Poe?
1536: Pay careful attention to the description of the house. What are its salient features?
1536 bottom: what is both familiar and unfamiliar?
1537: consider the description of Roderick (R.)
1538: How are family problems described?
1538-1539: Consider the description of Madeline (M.). What are the characteristics of M′s malady? How might we analyze disease symbolically in this tale?
Why does R ignore M?
1539ff: R is an artist. How does his art prepare us for the rest of the tale? What does his art tell us about the process of "reading" and/or interpreting works of art (including fiction?). Usher is also a poet. What is the function of the ballad within this story? Who is actually the author of the ballad?
1542-3: how is the death of M revealed? Do R′s actions make sense given what we know of M′s maladies?
1545ff: the narrator attempts to soothe R by reading a Romance. (Consider that Hawthorne typically called his works "romances"). What is the function of the story-within-a story at this juncture of the tale?
Week Twelve
Melville, Benito Cereno. As in your head notes, by the time Melville write this novella he was aching to "deceive—egregiously deceive—the superficial skimmer of pages" (2289). This story would benefit from a second reading! Try if at all possible to do a bit of re-reading. What is the significance of the name of Cereno′s ship?
--opening pages: how might you interpret the overwhelming gray colors, the ship that "showed no colors" (2372), the "vapors" (fog, 2372), and the "shadows" (2372) in symbolic as well as literal terms?
2373: we see the ship come into view from Delano′s eyes. What does his perspective tell us about his perceptions? What of his personality, described as "singularly undistrustful" (2372)?
2373-74: What are the salient features of the description of the ship?
2375: How are the Africans described on this page? Where might you differentiate between objective description, and description that reflects Delano′s point of view?
2376-78: How is Cereno described? Again, is it possible to differentiate between objective description and Delano′s subjective perceptions? What are the salient terms used to depict Cereno? How is the relationship between Cereno and Babo depicted?
2378: How is the ship understood by Delano? Note the word "doubtless" here—it will be repeated more frequently later in the story.
2378-2381: Imagine the encounter between Delano and Cereno as if it is being played out for you on a stage. In imagining the encounter theatrically, how might Cereno′s gestures, his "body language," be understood? Why does he seem to be strange from Delano′s point of view? What do you make of Cereno′s story? How does Delano understand it?
2381-82: How does Delano feel about the hatchet polishers? Why do you think Melville includes this scene?
2382-83: "Doubtless." What is the significance of the scene of insubordination, and Cereno′s response?
2384-85: what is the significance of these scenes?
2385: "incapable of satire or irony." What sort of a reader is Delano?
2386: analyze Delano′s thoughts.
2387-90: Analyze "the mysterious demeanor of don Benito Cereno" (2388) and the "tranquilizing" thoughts of "the American" (2390). Why does Melville highlight the relationship between these two seemingly dissimilar nationalities? –see also Delano′s thoughts on 2397.
2393: Analyze the "sunny sight" observed by Delano.
2395-96: Consider the symbolism of the "knot"—how many times is this word repeated? And through repetition, what other associations may be invoked?
2398: Note the sudden moment of pausing—what does this moment signify?
2399: consider Cereno′s tale. Why does this dialogue immediately precede the shaving scene?
2400-04: what is the significance of this lengthy scene? How does Delano understand it? How do you?
2406-2407: What is Delano′s view of the lunch that follows? Who is present, and why?
2410-11: How does Delano understand Cereno′s seemingly rude behavior? How do you?
2413: Note the moment of revelation, and the many things that are revealed in this scene.
2416ff: why does Melville include the deposition section? How does the "truth" of this section compare with the story you′ve just read? As Carolyn Karcher points out, in his review of Hawthorne′s collection of stories, Melville calls literature "the great Art of Telling Truth" (2297). How might Benito Cereno be understood in these terms?
Is Benito Cereno related to the Amistad case? Read a scholarly answer to this question here.
Here is a comparison of Benito Cereno to the original account used by Melville in the crafting of his fiction.
Study Questions for The Scarlet Letter : General.
1. In "The Custom House," Hawthorne suggests that there are historical documents that tell Hester′s story, including a faded scarlet letter made out of red cloth: "The original papers, together with the scarlet letter itself,--a most curious relic,--are still in my possession, and shall be freely exhibited to whomsoever...may desire a sight of them" (1351). Like the fictional papers of the fictional Diedrich Knickerbocker in Irving′s stories, Hawthorne sets up an elaborate framing device for the novel. Why would he do so, and how does this change your relationship to the novel proper?
2. The Scarlet Letter is powered by a secret—the secret of Pearl′s paternity. Which characters seem to divine the secret, and why? When do you as a reader begin to divine the secret, and why?
3. In the opening pages of the tale, the narrator drops several hints about Pearl′s paternity—hints that seem self-evident to the uninitiated reader, but that become saturated with meaning once we know the secret of Pearl′s paternity. How do these hints reflect the overall narrative and/or plot structure of the novel?
4. In the opening pages of the novel, the prison guard lauds the Puritan state as a place where "iniquity is dragged out into the sunshine!" (1362). How does the rest of the novel either affirm or deny the association of light (sunshine) with the revelation of the truth?
5. Consider the difference between the forest and the town in this novel. What sort of events take place in town, and what sort scenes take place in the forest? Who lives in or near the forest, and why? How does the novel develop these two locations as symbols? What do these locations symbolize?
6. Like a novelist, Dimmesdale communicates through words, as exemplified by his sermons. Carefully examine the descriptions of Dimmesdale′s sermons. In what way might his sermons be linked to the narrator of the novel?
7. Despite his fading physical health, Dimmesdale becomes an increasingly popular minister. What is it that accounts for Dimmesdale′s popularity?
8. Consider the relationship between Dimmesdale and Chillingworth. How would you characterize their relationship, and why?
9. Consider the characterization of Hester early in the novel. Does Hester grow or change based on her experiences, or does she remain essentially the same? Use quotes from the novel to justify your argument.
General Questions on Leaves of Grass.
Consider certain quotes from Emerson′s "The Poet." Emerson had a profound influence on Whitman′s development as a poet. Yet Whitman also goes beyond Emerson′s ideas to create his own version of American poetry. Consider the ways in which Whitman both builds on Emerson yet moves beyond his ideas to formulate his own vision.
- Pay attention to Whitman′s use, misuse, and/or abuse of punctuation. How does his eccentric use of punctuation speak to the experimentations of his poem, his ideas about poetic form, and his vision of the U.S.?
- What does it mean to celebrate the self? How would the transcendentalists you′ve read (Emerson, Thoreau) respond to that dictum? Consider also the issue of self-promotion in Whitman.
- An Epic is a long narrative poem, typically featuring a hero, whose success in battles become transformed into foundational national myths (summary based Harmon and Holman). To what extent can Leaves be considered an America epic poem? Consider Whitman′s dictum in the second ¶ of the preface: "The United States themselves are essentially the greatest poem."
- Consider Whitman′s celebration of the body in Leaves. How do his attitudes compare or contrast with the other authors we′ve read during the semester?
Week Sixteen
Davis, "Life in the Iron Mills."
General Questions:
1. Trace the use of animal imagery throughout the story, and analyze its significance. An extended question: How does Davis′s use of animal imagery compare with other authors we′ve read—both early American and antebellum—who also use animal imagery?
2. Trace the references to hunger throughout the story—both literal and metaphoric. An extended question: How to references to hunger compare with other authors we′ve read—both early American and antebellum—who also make reference to hunger both literally and metaphorically?
3. Hugh′s nickname is "Molly." The sculpture he fashions--a sort of self-portrait--is of a woman, though one whose musculature is very strong, almost masculine. How do issues of gender and power figure in the roles that the characters assume? Meanwhile, Deborah is consumed with envy over Hugh′s attentions to Janey—a detail of the story not to be missed. How do the strong emotions of adult love play into the fates of the main characters?
4. Money, wealth, power, labor—these are key questions raised by the story. Trace the interrelations between these often competing interests in the story. Is it possible to achieve the American dream of self-making in the world of the iron mills? How would the questions raised by this story compare to the views expressed by other authors we′ve read, such as John Winthrop, Captain John Smith, Benjamin Franklin, Ralph Waldo Emerson, and/ or Henry Thoreau?
5. Davis's story is poised on the boundary between two major American literary movements--romanticism, which was in full flower from approx. 1820-1860, and realism, which flourished after the end of the Civil War (post 1865). How would you classify Davis's story in terms of the romantic writers you've read so far, including (Irving, Poe, Emerson, Thoreau, Melville, Hawthorne, Whitman)? What are the most romantic features of the story? Where are those moments where Davis might seem to go beyond romanticism, toward a newer, more "realistic" mode of fiction writing?