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Anne bradstreet Padlit By Andrew Lal

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Her house burning down means she is not an ideal Puritan, and she is not one of the elect.

"That laid my goods now in the dust/Yea, so it was, and so twas just" (Bradstreet 15-16).

If she were a really good Puritan, she wouldn't be here in this situation where she has nothing left in her life. She would still have her goods if she was an ideal puritian.

Also, Puritians did not believe in eternal life - She subtly believes in it.

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-Puritians published her work without her consent

"Till snatched from thence by friends, less wise than true" (Bradstreet 3).

- shows the hidden evils of Puritan society; (Value of image ofver character).

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Personal Connection with God:

Reason: Puritians did not believe much in a deep personal connection with God, yet Bradstreet seems to have one.

Evidence: “My hungry Soul he fill’d with Good;/ He in his Bottle put my tears”(9-10).

Explanation: God shouldn't be specifically bottling her tears. While she should advocate to be loyal to god, she shouldn't have her soul be filled with good. She should already be an elect if she's going to Heaven.

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Reasons: She was lost in her own thoughts, but knew she could handle it with God's help. God has given her enough to survive on, even though she has lost everything.

Evidence: "My home and treasure lies above" (Bradstreet 54).

Optional Evidence: 50-51

Explanation (brief): She is going to heaven where god is. Her true belongings are in heaven. This also means she would be an elect.

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-Supports Puritan beliefs and shows the conversion narrative. -They are speaking on discarding non-Puritian writings.

Her offspring in the book are her writings.

"Till snatched from thence by friends, less wise than true. / Who these abroad, exposed to public view." (4-5).

This directly parallels what happens to her writings when her brother-in-law publishes it in England.

Also talks about clensing her writings

"Washing" her child's face is figurative for attempting to clense her writing.

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Reason: Bradstreet is an Ideal Puritan because she grounds herself, a key belief of the Puritan people.

Evidence: Bradstreet exclaims, “My smarting wounds were washed in his blood/And banished thence my doubts and fears” (11-12).

Explanation: This is a core Puritan belief in salvation through God's sacrifice. They believed that faith in god brings spiritual healing and removes fear and doubt.

The poem focuses on her personal struggle to acknowledge and repay God for his work in her life, but as a Good Puritan, she realizes that to truly repay God, she must serve him and love God as seen through the text.

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Connection to Puritan Beliefs and/or Time Period

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Connection to Puritan Beliefs and/or Time Period

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Reasons/connections made:

She reveals how faith and religion shape people's lives by helping them overcome loss and focus on God through her repetition of justifying God's works.

-Sorrow into Gratitude

-Feeling heartbroken watching her house burn, but her religion teaches her to trust God's control over both blessings and hardships.

-Feels appreciative, not sad

The poem portrays the role of women in society - She doesn't let any man know how she is feeling.

Women were the ones who cooked, cleaned, and entertained. She will no longer be able to do these things in her house.

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Connection to Puritan Beliefs and/or Time Period

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Connection to Puritan Beliefs and/or Time Period

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-criticizes her own writing, which shows puritan beliefs.

-Shows the embarrassment Anne felt regarding her own works

-The Puritans' strict rules made her unable to express her true thoughts.

-She thought her writing had many flaws and blemishes and wasn't perfect enough.

-She was expected to be an ideal puritian as she was connected to the higher-ups.

-She is an elect.

-Challenge the belief of pure destination since her child is flawed and not one of the elect.

-Someone who is wrong cannot be fixed to be part of the elect.

"I wash thy face, but more defects I saw. / And rubbing off a spot still made a flaw" (13-14).

Connects to the purtian belief that humans were not perfect.

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Connection to Puritan Beliefs and/or Time Period

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Connection to Puritan Beliefs and/or Time Period

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Service, commitment, and worship to god. Faith is lifelong and active, not temporary. Also highlights the Puritan belief that obedience to God is necessary. Puritan life was not just about strict rules and church attendance but about cultivating a sincere, ongoing connection with God that guided one’s thoughts, actions, and sense of purpose.

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What role does Faith/Religion play in general:

Faith/Religion has come to help accept loss and focus on god by justifying his works/actions.

-Her religion teaches her to trust god's control even though her house has burned down

-Comforts herself by saying that she will be picturing eternal life with God.

Faith/Religion role for literature:

It may have also enabled the ability to discuss controversial topics through fears and perspectives in society.

Subtle contradictions may have shaped and allowed literature to be an expression to contradict norms in society.

How can Faith/Religion blind people from the truth:

People may seek other spiritual explanations for events that are completely normal. The fire likely could've been an accident, but instead, Bradstreet's faith led her to view the fire as an intentional act by God.

How can Faith/Religion reveal the truth:

Faith/Religion allows people to understand what is truly important to them. Bradstreet should feel more sorrowful for what happened to her house. Instead, her religion allows her to understand what is truly important to her and reveals her fulfillment in being with god.

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What role does religion play in the lives of people?

Faith and Religion guide people to remain humble and shape their views on their accomplishments. In the poem, Bradstreet remains humble about her writing and heavily critiques it. She compares her work to a flawed child and never wanted it to be published.

How can faith and religion blind people from the truth:

Her faith and religion blinded Bradstreet to the fact that she believed her poems were good, and she only saw imperfections in them.

Her works were also taken from her without her consent

How faith and religion reveal the truth:

Her religion helped her realize the imperfections in her writing. From Puritan beliefs, she knows her writing isn't perfect and is seeking to cleanse and improve it.

How can faith and religion impact literature?

It advises other authors to be like an ideal Puritan and critique their own work. Other authors should remain humble and always strive to be better. They should ground themselves.

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What does it play in the role people play in general:

It teaches people about God's goodness. God comforts those who go through hard times. He will heal you and forgive your sins. He will comfort you and take away your tears. It also teaches people that devotion to god is a lifelong duty

What does it play in shaping literature:

Let's people be more personal in their worship. It teaches people/literature to be loyal and to give thanks to god for all he does for you. Encourages being an ideal Puritan.

Blind people:

People may not see the true values of faith in god. Since everyone was asleep while Bradstreet was reflecting, they were blind to self-reflection. They should try to be more like an ideal Puritan.

Reveal Truth:

Since Bradstreet was awake and not asleep, it revealed that to be an ideal Puritan, you may need to go above and beyond to connect to God. Technically, this does subtly oppose Puritan belief.

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How has faith and religion come to shape American literature?

The story shaped American literature by encouraging multiple opinions on a topic. Bradstreet doesn’t just write about the spirit, but instead includes the flesh as another outlook. This inclusion could encourage other writers to include mutiple opinions about a topic or to have conflicting views in their own writing.

What role do faith and religion play in the lives of people in general?

The story may have helped people realize to stay true to their religion. The flesh provides an outlook on opposing puritan views, while the spirit provides an outlook on having ideal puritan views. In the poem, Bradstreet writes the spirit as winning. This tells people not to listen to their “flesh-like” thoughts and to be loyal to god.

The story helped people realize

How can faith and religion blind people from the truth?

The story is likely written to guide people to not be blinded by these thoughts, and to be loyal to god. People who have thoughts of “the flesh” are blinded in Puritan society.

How can faith and religion reveal truth to people?

The story reveals the truth and guides people to follow true puritan values. It reveals that we shouldn’t have thoughts like the flesh, and should stay true to our own beliefs. (Aka not following our intrusive thoughts)

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Purpose:

The purpose of the stanza is to dwell on Bradstreet's loyalty and commitment to god. She explains that what shall she give in return for her god, and she will serve him for eternity. She also reiterates her true love for God and that God is her savior.

What role does it play in the whole poem:

In the poem, stanza 4 is a conclusion of Bradstreet's thoughts. It acts as her final words and her final true statements of love.

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Line By Line meaning:

13. Bradstreet asks herself what she can give for God's support and love.

14. A continuation of line 13, where she asks a rhetorical question about what god has done for her.

15. Bradstreet declares her loyalty and answers her own question. While she is living on earth, she will serve god and be his subject.

16. Bradstreet will love god for eternity, not just her presence on earth. When she goes to heaven, she will continue loving god.

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Support or oppose puritan views:

Lines 13/14: These lines both oppose Puritan views. Puritans focused less on their own relationship with god, and would only go to heaven if they were elect.

Line 15: This supports Bradstreet being an ideal Puritan because the Puritans were all about doing good things and keeping themselves moral. All she is saying is that she will serve god, not that she will individually focus on her relationship with him.

Line 16, this line is opposing because the Puritans believed that you had to be an elect to go to heaven. She is saying that if you believe in god, you can go to heaven for eternity.. In Puritan society, this was not possible since you had to be one of the elect..

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Word Choice:

Saviour - She defines God as her saviour, not her god. It shows how she puts him on a pedestal above her and values god above anything else.

Eternity - Her love is everlasting for as long as she is on earth and even in heaven. She will never give up on god no matter what.

These words impact the reader/purpose by emphasizing her true love for god. It supports the Puritan belief that God is above anyone.