The four Ages of Man, which are child, teen, adult, and elder as Seasons of the Year which are Fall, Spring, Summer and Winter were described and explained. The Constitutions were the four temperaments of man kind as they were seen by medieval and Renaissance physiology, choleric, melancholic, phlegmatic, and sanguine. The first of these poems was the Four Elements, which are fire, water, earth, and air. In England in 1650, some of Bradstreet's poems compiled together by her brother-in-law who named them The Tenth Muse. In contrast, works of Winthrop and Bradford were written for historical purposes and to express their positions and political beliefs on certain positions. Anne Bradstreet was unique to authors of her time because her work had literary creativity and artistic merit and was written for literature. They were a part of society that believed in solid work such as building homes, trading, farming, and government. Winthrop has also portrayed that Puritans were neither visionaries nor self-conscious heroes. Winthrop was considered to be a contributor to the concept of American exceptionalism, the idea that the New World is unique to other countries by ideology based on laissez-faire and egalitarianism along with liberty. Order custom essay Puritanism in American Literature In this book, the struggles that were to be faced in the New World are discussed along with Winthrop’s ideas and plan’s to overcome them. John Winthrop wrote A Modell of Christian Charity either before he crossed into America in 1630 or along his journey to the New World. His principles established religious freedom and self-government that later shaped American colonial government. ("The Influence of Puritanism on American Literature”) In this journal, he exhibited diplomacy and integrity, the ability to assure the colony’s survival, and made a contribution in avoiding potential disasters. Plain speech was the high literary value of this society, as expressed by William Bradford, who enjoined “a plain style, with singular regard to the simple truth in all things. Bradford kept a journal that chronicled the first 30 years of Plymouth Colony. In only a year, their number of survivors decreased by half. (“American Puritanism: A Brief Introduction”) In 1620, William Bradford formed the Plymouth Plantation with a group of Europeans that came with him to America. Puritans also believed in typology, the belief that God's intentions are present in human action and in natural phenomenon.įailures to understand these intentions are human limitations. Puritans believed in working hard, and doing selfless things to help others. The Puritans had secular concerns as well as religious. Perseverance of the “saints” is the ideological belief that elected individuals have the power to interpret the will of God and to live in an upright fashion. The ideology of irresistible grace is that “the saving and transfiguring power of God,” cannot be either earned or denied. This also ties in with limited atonement, the ideology that Jesus only died for a selected group of individuals, not for everyone. Unconditional election means that God chooses who he wants to save and also contains the concept of predestination, which is an ideology that God damns certain individuals for the salvation of others. ” Total depravity is the idea that all humans are born sinful. Gelernter 25)The Calvinist ideology, which was popular in Puritanism was based off of the Five Points, which are total depravity, unconditional election, limited atonement, irresistible grace, and the perseverance of the “saints. It did so on the basis not of philosophical or legal argument, but of Christian belief based on the Bible. Puritanism thus laid the basis for Americanism. Pragmaticism and both political and religious Idealism are frequently themes in Puritan literature. Common styles of Puritan writing are protestant, Calvinist, purposiveness, and the writings also directly reflected the character of the readers who were literate and strongly religious. Perkins B. Perkins Phillip Leininger 888) Puritanism is a collection of many different religious and political beliefs. “Puritanism as a historical phenomenon and as a living presence in American life has enriched American literature in ways far too numerous to detail here. Puritan literature was commonly a realistic approach to life. Puritan writing was used to glorify God and to relate God more directly to our world. The Puritans had a large influence in American literature and still influence moral judgment and religious beliefs in the United States to this day.
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