Anne Bradstreet: Changing the Country, One Work at a Time

When we were assigned this blog, I thought finding an interesting topic about Anne Bradstreet and the Puritans would be fairly easy, but I was proved wrong. I finally found a question that interested me about Anne Bradstreet when I was searching Anne Bradstreet on Google. 

How did Anne Bradstreet influence/change the country through her writings?

Anne Bradstreet, as we have already discussed slightly, was the first woman poet in America (New England), as well as the first "American" poet, period. She was also a Puritan, and their society was very hostile to any imagination whatsoever. According to http://www.english-e-corner.com/americanliterature/contents/ColonialPeriod/default.htm, her writings were unsurpassed by any American women until Emily Dickinson 200 years later. The first book published by an English settler was Bradstreet's The Tenth Muse Lately Sprung Up in America (1650), and most of her poems were imitative. In http://www.reformation21.org/shelf-life/anne-bradstreet-the-guided-tour-of-the-life-and-thought-of-a-puritan-poet-1.php, Heidi L. Nichols allows Bradstreet's work to speak for itself in her book Anne Bradstreet: A Guided Tour of the Life and Thought of a Puritan Poet. According to Nichols, Bradstreet's deep intellectualism along with her love for her husband and children oppose the common misconceptions of Puritans as being unfriendly, narrow minded people. Bradstreet was also significant in church history because she can still relate to today's readers and emphasize the need for God. Nichols believes that Bradstreet's writings were a letter to the nation and about her faith that still speaks to us through her works. I found a website completely dedicated to Bradstreet's works at http://www.annebradstreet.com/. On this website, the authors say that Bradstreet's works serve as a testimony to the struggles of a Puritan wife against the adversity of New England colonial life in the seventeenth century. Most of Bradstreet's poems were written when she was lonely because her husband was away on political affairs. This website said that Bradstreet is a positive, inspirational role model because of her disregard to material wealth, humility, and spirituality (regardless of religion).

So, in conclusion, I think that Bradstreet's writings greatly influences our country because different works can relate to different emotions. I really enjoyed learning about her and how we can relate to her works even today. She was prominent in history both in literature and in the history of the church, and I really thought that was impressive considering what time period she lived in and the face that she was a woman.

  

John Smith Reading

When I found out that our first reading would be from John Smith, my immediate thought was the Disney movie Pocahontas. As I was reading, I began to wonder exactly how much of the movie was fact versus how much of the movie was fiction, so that is the question I will be asking and hopefully answering in this blog.
How much of Disney's Pocahontas is historical fact?
In http://pocahontas.morenus.org/ the author gives a great chart as to what was fact and fiction between reality and fantasy. According to this chart, the spirit of Pocahontas and her tribe are portrayed correctly, along with the settings of Fort James, Powhattan village, London, the Virginia wilderness, and the ship know as Susan Constant. The rest is the combination of the minds of Disney thinkers wanting to make a "Romeo and Juliet" movie and a movie about the American Frontier. In http://www.dove.org/columns/1995/column9507.htm the author notes three facts that may or may not have been presented correctly in the film. First, Pocahontas was about 12 and Smith was almost 30, making the "love connection" false. Second, Pocahontas did step in to save Smith's life. Third, Pocahontas converted to Christianity rather than Smith converting to the tribe's culture. I think this is much better that she converted to Christianity because in the long run, a relationship with Christ is better than anything else. I also found the segment of the movie that is actually historical, the part where Pocahontas tries to save Smith's life. It honestly makes me want to sit down and watch Disney movies all day. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6sI0ce7-BNI&feature=related

About Me

Hi everyone! My name is Brittany Correll. I am a freshman here at JSU planning on majoring in Secondary Education with a concentration in social science. I honestly chose this major because I knew I wanted to teach, and I can only handle little kids for so long. I chose social science because I can get a job easier with it than with history, and I did not want to learn any more English, science, or math than I would normally have to. I am from Bessemer, Alabama. For those who do not know where it is, Bessemer is between Birmingham and Tuscaloosa. I am the oldest of three, even though I might not look like it, as you will see in the picture that is attached. My brother will be sixteen in May and my sister just turned thirteen. I am a Phi Mu here at JSU and becoming one has probably been one of the best things in my life. I have gained so many new friends and have gotten to know so many more people than I think I would have if I had not.


I am looking forward to learning many new and exciting things in this class and will hopefully have many good things to write about in the next blogs that are assigned to us!