Comparison To America And In Memory Of My Dear Grandchild

Anne Bradstreet’s feelings about her home represent the most material conflict. When her home burned down she wrote the poem to voice these feelings of hers. She describes the awakening to the “shrieks of dreadful voice” and going out to watch “the flame consume” her “dwelling place”. But she comforts herself with good Puritan dogma. The burning of the house is God’s doing and his doings should not be questioned. In looking over the stanzas where she

Anne’s Bradstreet’s greatest influence on her writings was religion. As a child she was brought up as puritan therefore she has puritan beliefs that was showed in her poems. However, In some of her writings it seems she was struggled with her belief in God. Just like Phillis Wheatley, Anne Bradstreet used a literal device called inversions and also used many religious references. In Anne’s Bradstreet’s poem “Here Follow Some Verses upon the Burning of out House, July 10TH, 1666” Anne Says “It was His Own, it was not mine, Far be it that I should Repine.” (122). Here she was making references to her God and realizes that her stuff that was lost in the fire was not

Bradstreet´s, “Before the Birth of One of Her Children” is a letter written to her husband expressing true concern of her probability to pass away during labor. Birth rate during the seventeenth century in England ranged from five to eight children per women. The limitations in health care during that period increased the probability of maternal death to one per eight births. Uncertain whether she would withstand her upcoming labor, Bradstreet is motivated to show her concerns and at the same time deliver a farewell message to her husband. As a result, the author achieves to surprise the lector by her ability to convey a direct message in this melancholic memorandum. Bradstreet expresses her acceptance of death as she points out three personal principles: believe that all things in life will end, ask that virtues remain while forgiving flaws, and embrace the idea that loved ones will eventually overcome a painful loss and proceed with their lives.

The poem I chose as my favorite was, Sign for My Father, Who Stressed the Bunt by David Bottoms. The poem is about a young boy who played baseball with his father being his coach. Constantly, his father with stress the importance of bunting; yet, the son never understood why. The son continued wanting to hit his home runs and scoring for the glory. As the boy grew into a man he finally understood why his father had stressed the bunt all those years. The father was trying to show the boy sacrifice. The person who bunts normally is thrown out. When the boy was younger he did not understand this, but as he grew older he understood the message his father was trying to show him. This poem is my favorite because I can see some of my own actions throughout

Anne Bradstreet’s poem “In Reference to her Children” (1659) encapsulates timeless themes regarding life and death, motherhood, and immortality alike. Bradstreet makes use of extended metaphor and personification to illustrate the speaker’s (Bradstreet, presumably) relationship with her children as well as the chronology of life and motherhood.

In Anne Bradstreet’s poems over the deaths of her grandchildren, the reader is able to see that she is struggling to find a balance between her grief and her faith. This can be seen in each one of her poem’s, as Bradstreet tries to justify the Lord allowing her grandchildren to die at such a young age. She is shown to be wracked with grief at each death, and seems to question why it happens more and more each time. She describes her “troubled heart and trembling hand” as well as her “throbbing heart.” She is somewhat cheered in her knowledge that she will meet the children again some day, after she passes. This can be seen in the lines “Farewell dear child, thou ne’er shall come to me, But yet a while, and I shall go to thee.” In her final poem Bradstreet can be seen to struggle even more as this is the third of her grandchildren that has passed away so far. She states that the children were “Cropped by th’ Almighty’s hand; yet He is good.” She knows that God has a reason for allowing her grandchildren to die at such a young age, however she is seen to be disturbed by the fact that He is the one that has taken the lives of someone so close to her.

The first passage I chose was #73 – Elena. This reading was very touching and was about a mother’s struggle with adapting while her children grow older. To some degree, it is very realistic. Many immigrants struggle to come to America with hopes to provide a better life for their

I chose to read “Champion Of The World” by Maya Angelou. This is the story of a great accomplishment made by a man who did not only want to win, but needed to for the sake of his people. It grabbed my attention because he was risking himself in the selfless intension of helping his people as a whole. This courageous man’s name was Joe Louis; and he was fighting to prove that his people were stronger than they received credit for. Throughout “Champion Of The World,” hope was very prevalent but it didn’t fully show what hope can truly do.

Bradstreet displays her Puritan values by almost immediately looking to God after the fire, writing “I blest His name that gave and took,/ That laid my goods now in the dust/ Yea, so it was, and so ‘twas just” (14-16). One who goes through the traumatic experience of their house burning down typically would question why it happened to them, but Anne is instantly thankful that God’s providential care kept her safe. She blesses his name, signifying that she still has a devoted care for Him, despite the fact that he took away her possessions and memories. She reveals her belief in the divine mission by saying that it was just for God to take her house, as it was his plan for her. Her beliefs in God’s providential care during the burning of her house kept her hopeful and thankful.

If God is overly praised in her faith. Bradstreet also says, “Such was his will, but why, let’s not dispute.” In this quote she sounds almost as she is being suppressed or shushed. She says it sarcastically as if she is saying what she is supposed to say after stopping herself. From the poem, “Oh My Dear Grandchild…..”

For instance, Bradstreet begins the poem by lamenting her troubles to God. Similar to Mary Rowlandson, Bradstreet

The two poems I chose to analyze were “Curandera” by Pat Mora and “Loose Woman” by Sandra Cisneros. They were an interesting read and made sure to reread several times to make sure I got everything I could from them. Both poems are so unique from other poems I have read; they are also unique from each other yet share similarities as well.

Have you ever been consumed by strong, bitter disappointment brought on by the belief that your work was not good enough? Poet Anne Bradstreet felt the same feeling, as described in her poem "The Author to Her Book. " She focuses on the creative process, relating her final work to children. As any artist would know, the hard work and effort put into a poem, story, or painting is similar to that of raising a child – giving it life and affection. There is also the more negative aspect of this, feeling as if you aren't doing a good enough job, that your work is inadequate.

Bradstreet does mourn at the loss of her possessions. She described it has a flame that consumed her dwelling place. She tries to stay away from mourning and says “Yea, so it was, and so ‘twas just” “It was His own, it was not mine”(Bradstreet, 29). Bradstreet is saying that it was God’s stuff, not hers. She was trying to accept what happened in a positive way.

As I thinking about the different kinds of poetry to choose from to do an anthology, I started thinking about some of the poetry that I have read in my past. I remember in eighth grade reading some of Maya Angelou's work. I know that it had an impact on me years ago, and so I started to research some of her poems. Every time I read about her suffering and oppression, I am struck all over again about how unfairly and mistreated African American people have been in our country. I highly respect her for rising above her circumstances and becoming a leader in the African American community and a worldwide author, impacting people's lives all over the world. In my research, I realized that her life and writing was influenced by African American authors who had a major impact in the time that they lived and wrote. One of those authors, Paul Laurence Dunbar, was Maya's inspiration for titling her autobiography and her poem “I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings.” In reading some of Dunbar's poetry I realized that he _____. Another African American poet that impacted Angelou was Langston Hughes. Hughes was an extremely well-known author in the African American community and a leader in the Harlem Renaissance. He has written many poems about racial expression and any inequality. He brought much attention to the suffering of black people in this country through the years and prior history, with slavery.