Edward Taylor Research Paper

Poems from the time of the Puritans usually were based on their religion. Anne Bradstreet and Edward Taylor both portrayed a Puritanical message in their poems. Edward did so more so than Anne. They both conveyed different types of love. Anne wrote about her husband and how much she loved him. While Edward wrote about his love for God and how he wanted God to use him for His glory.

Perry Miller was a professor of American literature at Harvard University when he wrote this book. It is one in a series of books he wrote on American Puritanism; this book in particular explores the intellectual history of the Puritans through an investigation of significant Puritan thinkers and their writings.

During the 1630’s, there was a group known as, the Puritans. The Puritans immigrated from England to America, for the sole purpose of religious freedom and their belief that the church of England needed reform. Puritan author’s, Anne Bradstreet and Jonathan Edwards, conveyed their messages and beliefs in their writing . For these two authors, they were working around the same foundation, Puritanism, for the intended messages. Admittedly, there is a disconnection in belief between the two. Edward’s writings take Puritanism to the extreme whilst Bradstreet’s works show a more traditional view in the religion while staying true to it.

Puritan literature captures not only their beliefs as a religion, but their beliefs as individuals. All Puritan literature is utilitarian, meaning it is useful, purposeful, and reflecting a non-ornate style of writing. One of the most prominent of early English poets was Anne Bradstreet. Her poems reflect the utilitarian style, but do so in a way that is entirely unique to herself and her emotions. Anne Bradstreet opens the bridge between her faith and her personal experiences in her poetry. In her poems “Upon the Burning of Our House” and “In Reference to Her Children” she reflects utilitarianism by recounting the conflicts between her love of her worldly things and her devotion to God’s eternity.

Through Puritan writers, literature is influenced by religious ideologies and philosophies. Puritans writers, beginning in about 1560, put most of their focus into making their work God centered. They believed in the “Elect” and that Jesus died only for these few people. Writers usually wrote in 1st

Anne Bradstreet and Edward Taylor are two of the most distinguished and fervent Puritan poets. Yet this similarity has proven to be one of the few, if not only between these two. One cannot help but find it intriguing that poets who belong to the same religious group and style would write so differently. Many of these differences are not even subtle or hidden beneath the text itself. The differences themselves hold implications and ideas that differ between each poet.

Sean Taylor, Sean Taylor is a very important person to me. Sean was a free safety the in the NFL, he played for the Washington Redskins, he was one of the best safeties to ever play football. The reason he is so important to me is he inspired me to play football, and he is the reason I play safety. Sean died on November 27, 2007, it was a tragic day For the NFL. He, to this day, is making an impact on my life and others who were a fan. Sean Taylor really impressed me in his career with two hundred thirty eight solo tackles. Prior to the start of his 2007 season, Sports Illustrated named Taylor the hardest-hitting player in the NFL. On December, 18, 2007, Taylor was posthumously voted to his second Pro Bowl, becoming the first deceased player

Sean Taylor once said, “I think I love it so much because they talk so much trash, they think they run us. They think they own us. I’m ready. We take little things like that and it adds to our fire. Our fire will start out small, but by game time, it will be blazing and ready to go.” This quote really goes deep into my soul because it tells me not to listen to other people and to always do my best in whatever I am accomplishing.

Puritains were religious individuals who believed that all things would occur for one particular reason. The Puritan term was established for two groups that believed, “they should separate themselves from the “corrupt” of England.” Some of their notions were, “ God has chosen a certain few of the “elect” for salvation” , and also unlike other christians the Puritans fancy that just having faith was not enough. Jonathan Edwards, a American revivalist preacher, Congregationalist Protestant theologian. Edwards strongly held to Reformed theology (includes any system of belief that traces it's roots back to the Protestant Reformation of the 16th century) , such as the Puritans. Jonathan Edwards wrote a sermon entitled, “Sinners in the Eyes of an Angry God” ministries his sermon to his congregation on July 8, 1741 in Northampton, Massachusetts. Anne Bradstreet was another author that wrote about Puritan beliefs, Bradstreet was the first in England’s North American colonies to be published. She wrote her poem, “ Upon the Burning of our House”, on July 10, 1666.

The Puritans are congregationalist, they believe that God has scripted out their entire life. A rhetorical device he incorporated was allusion to show their perspective and how many didn't know about the religion. "but here you are in the land of the living and in the house of God, and have an opportunity to obtain salvation." They are hopeless souls that one day will find salvation. Edward incorporated this to induce the audience about his religion.

Many of their writings were centered on the Northeastern original colonies within the United States, as well as, their Puritan religious convictions. For example, Edward Taylor left his family in 1668, “rather than compromise his religious principles as a Puritan, he preferred exile…” (Baym 143). In addition, they believed in education, hard work, order within the community, and a society centered on God. William Bradford was committed to the Puritan way. He self-educated himself and became skilled in different languages, with Hebrew being studied most (Baym 143). Lastly, Puritans believed that all man were inherently evil, only being rewarded by God for living an honorable life. However, a difference noted by Anne Bradstreet is that she wrote from the “wondrous works” she saw. She wrote “that I see, the vast frame of the heaven and the earth, the order of all things, night and day, summer and winter, spring and autumn, the daily providing for this great household upon the earth, the preserving and directing of all to its proper end” (Baym 110). To summarize, all three writers themes were influenced by their Puritan way of life, as well as, their religious

Correspondingly, since both Puritan writers describe their individual Gods in a certain light, it results in an unmistakable discrepancy among the audiences each type of writing is intended to be delivered to. To Edward Taylor, writing is purely for the glory of God and for the expression of feelings towards Him. Generally, Edward Taylor’s works are considered too bright and too jaunty for the Puritan conservatives at the time and do not serve for moral instruction as most literature should. In Taylor’s work “Upon Wedlock, and Death of Children” he describes,

Taylor use the ideal of perfectionism and the denial of sin to exaggerate his view of having a loving relationship with God in order to reach heaven. Moreover, Edward Taylor uses his abilities to make conceits to which he constantly refers to in his poems and makes them interesting and mentally appealing literary works. Nevertheless, Taylor never shared his work with publishers because his main purpose was to genuinely express his feeling to towards the valuable relationships he procreated. Equally important, Jonathan Edwards wrote most of his work during the time period of the Great Awakening. Edward’s writing was meant to preach about everlasting life in order to help lost Puritans establish a loving relationship with God. He did so by often depicting God as a stern, harsh, and sometimes furious character who wanted to bring them back to his glory but was also not shy from condemning the Puritans to hell. Edward’s audience was broad in spectrum and he had to appeal to a growing populations of Puritans while still being effective and motivating. Today, the Puritan religion is completely extinct from religious practice. Although its’ member have completely diminished, the legacy left behind by many of it’s

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

Religion and Puritan literature: an academic analyzation of the diverging interpretations of God, and the literary devices used to present them, of Bradstreet and Edwards. Religion is an important aspect of Puritan literature. But for every author writing about God there is a different interpretation of him. Case in point is two of the most prolific authors of the Puritan age, Bradstreet and Edwards. Bradstreet was born into a wealthy family in Britain.