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Did Anne Bradstreet write in plain style?
Most of her work is written in Puritan Plain Style, and reflects the strict Puritanical concepts through which she was raised. Anne Bradstreet, a mother of eight, underwent various hardships faced by all Puritans of her time, yet she still found the time to write.
What was Anne Bradstreet's purpose for writing?
She wrote to educate her children, share the hardships she faced with them and how she coped with her struggles. Her work circulated throughout her family and eventually her poems were published allowing anyone and everyone to become her audience.
Why was Anne Bradstreet different from other writers?
Anne Bradstreet wrote in a different format than other writers of her time. This mainly is due to the fact that she wrote her feelings in a book not knowing someone would read them. In her poem "A letter to my Husband" she speaks about the loss of her husband when he is gone.
What literary techniques did Anne Bradstreet use?
Literary Devices In the first line of the poem, Bradstreet uses a metaphor in the phrase, “ill-form'd offspring”. Here, the poet refers to her recently written book. It is also a personification. The poet uses irony in the following line, “Till snatched from thence by friends, less wise than true”.
What themes does Bradstreet focus on in her poems?
Major Themes, Historical Perspectives, and Personal Issues Bradstreet wrote on culture and nature, on spirituality and theology, on the tension between faith and doubt, on family, on death, on history.
What influenced Anne Bradstreet's poems?
Anne Bradstreet was confronted with two very different influences when she began writing her poetry. One was the Renaissance literary style that she encountered in her native England; the other was a strict Puritan upbringing that would be the controlling factor of her life in the colonies.
What made Anne Bradstreet unique?
Anne Bradstreet was the first woman to be recognized as an accomplished New World Poet. Her volume of poetry The Tenth Muse Lately Sprung Up in America ... received considerable favorable attention when it was first published in London in 1650.
How did Anne Bradstreet influence literature?
Anne Bradstreet defied the rules of her time by writing about whatever she wanted including personal thoughts, reflections, emotions, and events. Bradstreet was the first to write about personal matters, which is her greatest literary contribution in early American literature.
How was Anne Bradstreet a feminist?
Though outwardly conventional, Anne was certainly a feminist. In a poem about Queen Elizabeth the First, who Anne regarded as a hero and role model, she wrote “Let such as say our sex is void of reason / Know 'tis a slander now, but once was treason.”
What are Anne Bradstreet's feelings about her book?
Poem Analysis Bradstreet clearly has a strong attachment to her work, so much so that she refers to it as a child to which she's given birth. In the opening line, she refers to the book as 'thou ill-formed offspring of my feeble brain. '
How was Anne Bradstreet radical?
Anne Bradstreet was a revolutionary for her time in several ways, a few of those being first poet of the New World and feminist. The gender roles of her time did not allow room for women to oppose the roles that were set for them. However, Bradstreet did just that, and with great success.
How is Bradstreet personifying her book in the poem?
How Does Anne Bradstreet Use Personification In The Author To Her Book. By personifying her poems as “ill-formed offspring” she reference her Puritan upbringing. Puritan culture is notorious for being extremely anti-art and anti-woman.
How did Anne Bradstreet influence literature?
Anne Bradstreet defied the rules of her time by writing about whatever she wanted including personal thoughts, reflections, emotions, and events. Bradstreet was the first to write about personal matters, which is her greatest literary contribution in early American literature.
How did Anne Bradstreet impact society?
With time, however, Bradstreet warmed to her new life in the colony and became a significant voice for the Puritan outlook, both in the colonies and back in Britain. Anne Bradstreet was the first female poet of note in the New World and the first woman to be published in both the colonies and Britain.
How was Anne Bradstreet a feminist?
Though outwardly conventional, Anne was certainly a feminist. In a poem about Queen Elizabeth the First, who Anne regarded as a hero and role model, she wrote “Let such as say our sex is void of reason / Know 'tis a slander now, but once was treason.”
Who was Anne Bradstreet?
Simon Bradstreet. . ( m. 1628) . Anne Bradstreet ( née Dudley; March 20, 1612 – September 16, 1672) was the most prominent of early English poets of North America and first writer in England's North American colonies to be published. She is the first Puritan figure in American Literature and notable for her large corpus ...
Why did Anne Bradstreet write a letter to my husband?
In her poem "A letter to my Husband" she speaks about the loss of her husband when he is gone.
What does Bradstreet say about marriage?
In the lines, "And if I see not half my days that's due, what nature would, God grant to yours, and you;" Bradstreet is saying that if she was to die soon, what would God give her husband.
What was the role of women in the 1600s?
Women were expected to spend all their time cooking, cleaning, taking care of their children, and attending to their husband's every need. In her poem "In Honour of that High and Mighty Princess Queen Elizabeth of Happy Memory," Bradstreet questions this belief.
Why was Ann Hopkins criticised?
Because writing was not considered to be an acceptable role for women at the time, Bradstreet was met with criticism. One of the most prominent figures of her time, John Winthrop, criticized Ann Hopkins, wife of prominent Connecticut colony governor Edward Hopkins. He mentioned in his journal that Hopkins should have kept to being a housewife and left writing and reading for men, "whose minds are stronger." Despite heavy criticism of women during her time, Bradstreet continued to write which led to the belief that she was interested in rebelling against societal norms of the time.
Where is Anne Bradstreet buried?
The precise location of her grave is uncertain but many historians believe her body is in the Old Burying Ground at Academy Road and Osgood Street in North Andover.
Where is the Bradstreet Gate?
The Bradstreet Gate is located next to Canaday Hall, the newest dormitory in Harvard Yard .
Who compared Anne Bradstreet to?
In a statement of extravagant praise Cotton Mather compared Anne Bradstreet to such famous women as Hippatia, Sarocchia, the three Corinnes, and Empress Eudocia and concluded that her poems have "afforded a grateful Entertainment unto the Ingenious, and a Monument for her Memory beyond the stateliest Marbles.".
Why did Anne Bradstreet and her family move?
The situation was tense as well as uncomfortable, and Anne Bradstreet and her family moved several times in an effort to improve their worldly estates.
What does Bradstreet ask for in the Prologue?
In an ironic and often-quoted passage of "The Prologue," she asks for the domestic herbs "Thyme or Parsley wreath," instead of the traditional laurel, thereby appearing to subordinate herself to male writers and critics:
What is Bradstreet's personal feelings?
that reveals Bradstreet's personal feelings is " In Honor of that High and Mighty Princess Queen Elizabeth of Happy Memory ," written in 1643, in which she praises the Queen as a paragon of female prowess.
Who was the first woman to be recognized as an accomplished New World Poet?
Anne Bradstreet was the first woman to be recognized as an accomplished New World Poet. Her volume of poetry The Tenth Muse Lately Sprung Up in America ... received considerable favorable attention when it was first published in London in 1650. Eight years after it appeared it was listed by William London in his Catalogue ...
Who is considered to be the most important early American poet?
Eight years after it appeared it was listed by William London in his Catalogue of the Most Vendible Books in England, and George III is reported to have had the volume in his library. Bradstreet 's work has endured, and she is still considered to be one of the most important early American poets.
When was the poem "Upon a Fit of Sickness" written?
Bradstreet's earliest extant poem, "Upon a Fit of Sickness, Anno. 1632, " written in Newtown when she was 19, outlines the traditional concerns of the Puritan—the brevity of life, the certainty of death, and the hope for salvation:
What is the lesson about Anne Bradstreet?
At the end of this lesson, you'll be able to: Outline Anne Bradstreet's history and her impact on American literature. Express the way in which Bradstreet's Puritan faith influenced her writing. Summarize two of Bradstreet's famous poems and discuss her inspirations for writing them.
What was Bradstreet's faith?
As you can see, Bradstreet's faith played a key role in troubling times like when she lost her house. This was common among Puritans, whose belief in predestination meant that they were able to face hard knocks with the faith that it was part of God's plan.
Who was the first female poet?
Anne Bradstreet was America's first poet and the first female poet to be published in both the Old and New Worlds. Her Puritan faith informed much of her writing, though sometimes in very different ways.
Who was the first female poet to be published in England?
America's First Poet. Anne Bradstreet was a famous poet from the 17th century. She is the first American poet and the first female poet to be published both in England and America. Bradstreet was born in England, where her father worked as an administrator for an earl.
Does Bradstreet feel grief?
She even says that she blesses God's grace and comforts herself with the idea that the belongings now burning belong to God, not to her. Of course, being human, Bra dstreet does feel some gri ef.
Does Bradstreet have a Puritan faith?
Bradstreet reveals her Puritan faith in much of her writing .
Overview
Literary style and themes
Bradstreet let her homesick imagination marshall her store of learning, for the glory of God and for the expression of an inquiring mind and sensitive, philosophical spirit.
We see examples of this homesick imagination in her poem "Dialogue Between Old England and New" which emphasizes the relationship between the motherland and the colonies as parental; and gives assurance that the bond between the two countries will continue. It also implies that …
Background
In a portrait that was painted by her later poems, Bradstreet is described as 'an educated English woman, a kind, loving wife, devoted mother, Empress Consort of Massachusetts, a questing Puritan and a sensitive poet.'
Bradstreet's first volume of poetry was The Tenth Muse Lately Sprung Up in America, published in 1650. It was met with a positive reception in both the Ol…
Writing
Anne Bradstreet's education gave her advantages that allowed her to write with authority about politics, history, medicine, and theology. Her personal library of books was said to have numbered over 800, although many were destroyed when her home burned down. This event itself inspired a poem titled "Upon the Burning of Our House July 10th, 1666". At first, she rejects the anger and grief …
Selected works
• Before the Birth of One of Her Children
• A Dialogue between Old England and New
• A Letter to Her Husband, Absent upon Public Employment
• Another
Further reading
• Cook, Faith, Anne Bradstreet Pilgrim and Poet, EP Books, Darlington 2010 ISBN 978-0-85234-714-0
• Gordon, Charlotte, Mistress Bradstreet: The Untold Life of America's First Poet, Little, Brown, New York 2005 ISBN 0-316-16904-8
• Engberg, Kathrynn Seidler, The Right to Write: The Literary Politics of Anne Bradstreet and Phillis Wheatley. University Press of America, Washington D.C., 2009. ISBN 978-0761846093
External links
• Media related to Anne Bradstreet at Wikimedia Commons
• Works by or about Anne Bradstreet at Internet Archive
• Works by Anne Bradstreet at LibriVox (public domain audiobooks)
• Selected Works of Anne Bradstreet hypertext from American Studies at the University of Virginia.