Ability 's Inability ( Rough Draft )

In early American literature, religion is one of the more consistent as well as prevalent themes. This is primarily due to the fact that early settlers of the American colonies were seeking to escape religious persecution, as well as to find a place to freely develop and expand their religious convictions. Despite sharing common English heritage as well as branching from the Anglican and Catholic church, religious views on liturgy and deontological ethics differed greatly amongst the settlers. This can be seen in the works of John Winthrop and Roger Williams. While both men’s religious beliefs stemmed from the same roots, each held different opinions on how rigid religion and liturgy should be held throughout the community.

The Puritan’s voyage to the New World in 1620 is one of the most well known pilgrimages throughout history. However, there are two different accounts of the events to be discussed: one by William Bradford himself and another in the form of a documentary. Bradford was one of the 102 people to voyage across the Atlantic in order to start the Plymouth colony in Cape Cod. He would later become a very influential leader. His version of the events, entitled Of Plymouth Plantation, is his first-hand account of the voyage and settlement of Plymouth. Bradford wrote his chronicle in plain style, a type of writing that is simplistic and very straightforward. History Channel’s A Desperate Crossing: The Untold Story of the Mayflower shows the events from an outside point of view and uses multiple sources.

John Winthrop’s “Model of Christian Charity” was delivered to the colonists bound for Massachusetts Bay Colony to unite them and help them become a model community for England. Through his use of metaphors and biblical allusions, Winthrop is able to thoroughly convey the importance of remaining unified to his very religious Puritan audience. Previous attempts of colonization in America, such as Roanoke, the lost colony, had created a negative view of colonization. Previous colonists were also only focused on profit and did not build a stable community, which led to their downfalls. Therefore, Winthrop tells his audience that they must work together “as one man”. This metaphor compares the group of colonists to a single person who has one mind

The path of the modern pilgrim can be as self-realizing as those who follow the path of saints. Matt says he has come to know himself intimately by walking in the shoes of over 8.4 million New Yorkers. Dalya has found peace and freedom that lies within her, irrespective of worldly comforts. Indeed, the message of these pilgrims is that life itself can be a pilgrimage—if we just surrender to it.

John Bunyan's The Pilgrim's Progress is an allegorical story about the Christian religion. It allegorizes the journey of a Christian into "the Celestial City, which represents heaven. Although Pilgrim's Progress may seem simple and straightforward, there are many deeper meanings throughout the whole story. Bunyan uses the names of his characters to signify whom the character represents in the story, for example, the character Hopeful represents hopefulness, Help represents people who are willing to help others in need of assistance, Faithful represents people who are faithful to whatever they are associated with, and the main character, Christian, represents all young

A religious group wanted to break away from England to practice and relish in their religion their own way. They were call the puritans and set sailed out to America for their religious reasons. With what little they had they believed strongly in God that he will help them out through everything they need. Religion being taken seriously as if it was a law was noticeable in two texts, William Bradford's Of Plymouth Plantation and Arthur Miller’s The Crucible, where religion over the years help the colonists and so forth help shape America’s identity.

Bradford’s style is very different from Edwards’. Bradford conveyed his message by describing the pilgrims’ voyage to America. His text is written as diary entries that include stories from their travels. In paragraph two, Bradford describes an event where a man was thrown over the boat. His vivid descriptions of the “fierce winds” allow the reader to picture this story. His use of imagery helps readers imagine and understand what the pilgrims faced while on their voyage and even after the reached their destination.

The hero’s journey is a general template of many stories of a hero, that goes on an adventure, and comes back with clear vision, or transformed. In the dystopian novel, Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury, the main character, Guy Montag, goes on his own hero’s journey to learn of literature that has been long outlawed and burned by firemen, including him. In his oppressive society, reading and owning books is illegal. Montag goes through a series of transformations in each stage of his journey, from the dissonance he experiences when he realizes he is not content with his life, to the trials of the wilderness, and down to the abyss. He eventually becomes a master of both worlds with sharper vision, and gains a new perspective of the fire that he

There is no doubt that writings of Jonathan Edward’s and John Winthrop had a tremendous influence in the Puritan movement in the new world. They helped set values and establish order in the new communities. Both writings deliver on puritan principles and had a critical role in shaping much of the puritan religious beliefs, but granting all this they are tremendously different. The reason why these writings have so little in common, despite both being puritan doctrines, is because of the different situations each was written in. “A Model of Christian Charity” and “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God” were written about one hundred years apart, in two different centuries, and most importantly at two different stages of the puritan movement.

There are many writers (works) who have contributed to American Literature with their Puritan ideals. Furthermore, two of the main Puritan standouts of this time were John Winthrop (“A Model of Christian Charity”) and Samuel Sewall (“The Selling of Joseph”). Although, both writers showed differences in their style of writing, they both try to spread a greater message: that the world should be unified and just in their dealings with one another, because this is the only way God would allow for their success. To visualize a clear picture of this unification and justification, Winthrop and Sewall organized the structure of their works in stating a thesis/purpose for their writing, proof of evidence using biblical

William Bradford wrote, ‘Of Plymouth Plantation’ written sometime between the years 1630-1651 serves as an historical account of the Pilgrims’ voyage and colonization in America. Bradford was born in England but became a separatist, and in 1620, sailed with his wife for America aboard the Mayflower in search of religious freedom. Bradford was a prominent member of the colony, even becoming governor for many years. His written account is still largely considered one the most important historical documents of the Colonization period. However, although viewed as an established historical piece, Bradford exhibits some bias in his historical accounts. His main purpose in writing the book was to convey his world-view/ideology of the Puritan lifestyle and to demonstrate his belief that the establishment of the colony was directly carried out according to God’s divine will. His religious beliefs were demonstrated in the language of the text through the use of a plain-style, third person narrative writing along with his use of biblical illustrations.

Although this two groups had the same desire to apply the protestant reformation to the new world, certainly they differ in so many ways. First and foremost the terms and their meanings differ. In fact, while the term pilgrim indicates the one who made a journey for religious purposes, the term puritan defines the one that wants to reform and purify the church.

Puritan values, ideas, and beliefs are evident in the works of Anne Bradstreet, William Bradford, and Jonathan Edwards. Through her poetry, Bradstreet reveals her Puritan values and ideals. Bradstreet was aware of a woman’s role in Puritan society and tried to portray herself as a humble, pious, obedient, and modest wife. William Bradford’s work also encompasses beliefs, values, and ideas of Puritan life. One can see that in Bradford’s writing such as Of Plymouth Plantation, Bradford emphasizes Puritan suffering specifically through the Mayflower journey and how, with the grace of God, they prevailed. Jonathan Edwards’ work also displays Puritan beliefs, values, and ideals through the installation of fear. In an excerpt from Sinners in the

The author of The Pilgrim's Progress is well described by Coleridge's remark: "His piety was baffled by his genius; and Bunyan the dreamer overcame the Bunyan of the conventicle." This remark points out the difficulty that Bunyan faces when he attempts to write a religious piece of work in the style of allegory. The Pilgrim's Progress is "pious" because it is a piece written in dedication to God. It contains important religious teachings -- what a good Christian should do and what he should not do. What Coleridge means by Bunyan's "genius" is basically the story itself. The story is so well written that people become so interested in the story and forget the whole spiritual truth behind and this worry Bunyan.

Two influential pieces of English literature, both focusing on the topic of salvation, are The Pilgrim’s Progress, written by John Bunyan in 1678 (2269), and Paradise Lost, composed in the previous decade by poet John Milton in 1667 (1945). While these two works both pay special attention to mankind’s preoccupation with being saved, they differ vastly from one another in the language and literary style used in each respective piece, the way in which salvation itself is portrayed, and also in how the salvation of each story’s characters is determined through their resistance to temptation and the state of their relationship with God.