Wednesday, September 26, 2012
Assertion final
Anne Bradstreet uses dramatic words and phrases to illustrate the creed that the Puritans live by. She paints a mental picture of the burning of her house, whether it be real or figurative, no on knows. Her use of the verses "Then coming out, behold a space/ The flame consume my dwelling place". These verses depicts the fire. "And when I could no longer look/ I blest his grace that gave and took. These verses tell about how Anne begins to change her thoughts on what is happening, and realizes that the fire is God's doing. "That laid my goods now in the dust/ Yea, so it was, and so 'twas just"; these verses are displaying how absolute the Puritan tenets are, especially the plain lifestyle of the group. "It was his own; it was not mine/ Far be it that I should repine", this part of the poem indicates how everything is God's and that Anne should not be worried about her loss. "He might of all justly bereft/ But yet sufficient for us left", these verses correlate to God burning Anne's house, and how it was justly done, but also how he leaves the bare essentials of life so that she may live simply. Anne's reaction is to, for a moment, sink into sorrow, but then realize that God had punished her for not living simply. She continues to reinforce her views in the verses, "Adieu, Adieu, All's Vanity", "Didst fix thy hope on mouldring dust", "Thou hast a house on high erect", and "There's wealth enough; I need no more". These verses convey the Puritan ideals of simple living, that all material objects are worth nothing in the end, and that God gives them all that they need.
Tuesday, September 25, 2012
Assertion Paragraph
In Anne Bradstreet's confessional poem, "Upon the burning of our house", she is expressing her sorrow, and how it is connected with God punishing her. Anne writes about this "Fire" that is occurring in her poem, which is evident in the verses, "Then coming out, behold a space/The flame consume my dwelling space/And when I could no longer look/ I blest his grace that gave and took". The first two verses describe a fire at her house, and the last two describe how she feels about the incident, and how it is connected to God. The last two verses stand out the most because of her controversial reaction to the fire, which is gratitude for supposed punishment by God. She continues to express how her house is the element of frivolous living, instead of how God wants her to live: "Adieu, Adieu, All's Vanity/ Then straight I 'gin my heart to chide:/ And did thy wealth on earth abide/ Didst fix thy hope on mouldring dust,/ The arm of flesh didst make thy trust?/ Raise up they thoughts above the sky/ That dunghill mists away may fly/ Thou hast a house on high erect/ Fram'd by that mighty Architect". She's conveying to the reader that all material objects are worthless in the eyes of the Lord. This is the tenet of simple living that the Puritans chose to live by, believing that this was what their God wanted, and this is the tenet that Anne Bradstreet wrote of.
Monday, September 24, 2012
Anne Bradstreet's "Upon the burning of our house" uses its unpleasant diction of words, such as "Piteous shrieks of dreadful voice", "That fearful sound of 'fire' and 'fire'", and "And to my God my heart did cry". This use of words is showing a very raw and harsh attitude about how the author is feeling. This poem, a confessional poem, is conveying a Puritan tenet, which is the law of simple living. According to Puritan belief, everyone must live simply and not frolic in material possessions. This belief that Bradstreet is trying to deliver to the audience, is evident in the verses, "There's wealth enough; I need no more/Farewell my pelf; farewell, my store/ The world no longer let me love/ My hope and Treasure lies above".
"Therefore, let every one that is out of Christ, now awake and fly from the wrath to come. The wrath of Almighty God is now undoubtedly hanging over a great part of this congregation: let every one fly out of Sodom: "Haste and escape for your lives, look not behind you, escape to the mountain, lest you be consumed."~ Jonathan Edwards, "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God"
This quote is telling people to repent from their evil ways, and start fearing the Lord. The first sentence is saying that everyone that is not with Christ, start following the word of God, and ergo avoid his wrath. The second sentence is straightforward: God's hand of judgement is looming over you, and the only way to escape calamity is to do what he wants you to do, and that is to follow his word. The first part after the colon is where Edwards is telling his congregation to get out of their sinful ways. the second part after the colon is Edwards telling his congregation to flee from sin quickly, don't look back at your trail, and go to the mountain (a very symbolic element in the Bible as a refuge from evil) or you will be taken back into sin.
I believe that these words and phrases are important to this quote: Christ, wrath, Almighty God, congregation, Sodom, Haste and escape for your lives, mountain, and consumed.
Starting with Christ, this is the area where every puritan, or just Christian in general wants to be. "Christ" is the main figure of Christianity, and he is the savior of them. Edwards uses his name to emphasize how out of line the sinners are, that they are not following Christ, and therefore God.
Wrath is a very main theme in this quote. Wrath is another word for "God is going to kick your ass and then burn you alive". This is what Edwards' entire sermon is based upon. He's telling his audience, his congregation, that unless you follow God's laws, then you are sinning, and are subject to some hardcore punishing by God.
Almighty God is what the Christians think of their deity: Almighty. His word is absolute, his laws are what you follow, and it co-supports the punishment of sinners if you don't follow his laws.
Congregation is important because this is Edwards' audience, the people he's warning of God's wrath. His descriptive words are his way of trying to tell them that they are sinning, and they must repent and reform their ways.
Sodom is very vital in the phrase, because this is another way of symbolizing sin, evil, and straying from God. Sodom was a city in which it was supposedly destroyed by flaming brimstone falling from the sky, and that God had a hand in it. The reason that Sodom was destroyed was that it's residents were sinners, and therefore were subject to doom by God's will. This word is placing the sinners of Edwards' congregation in that idea, that they are sinning and they ought to be changing their ways before they are doomed.
"Haste and escape for your lives" is Edwards saying that you better stop sinning, and stop fast, for God has no patience and he will strike you down quickly if he wants.
The word, "mountain" is the symbol of the Christian refuge from evil. If one is "flying out of Sodom", then where does a Christian go? To the mountain. That is where they achieve salvation and are safe from sin and all things bad to a Christian.
The word "Consumed" is basically Edwards telling his congregation that they will be devoured by their own vices, and that unless you follow the tenets of the Puritans, you're going straight to Hell, one way or another.
This quote is Edwards' way of saying "Follow God's word, or go to Hell".
This quote is telling people to repent from their evil ways, and start fearing the Lord. The first sentence is saying that everyone that is not with Christ, start following the word of God, and ergo avoid his wrath. The second sentence is straightforward: God's hand of judgement is looming over you, and the only way to escape calamity is to do what he wants you to do, and that is to follow his word. The first part after the colon is where Edwards is telling his congregation to get out of their sinful ways. the second part after the colon is Edwards telling his congregation to flee from sin quickly, don't look back at your trail, and go to the mountain (a very symbolic element in the Bible as a refuge from evil) or you will be taken back into sin.
I believe that these words and phrases are important to this quote: Christ, wrath, Almighty God, congregation, Sodom, Haste and escape for your lives, mountain, and consumed.
Starting with Christ, this is the area where every puritan, or just Christian in general wants to be. "Christ" is the main figure of Christianity, and he is the savior of them. Edwards uses his name to emphasize how out of line the sinners are, that they are not following Christ, and therefore God.
Wrath is a very main theme in this quote. Wrath is another word for "God is going to kick your ass and then burn you alive". This is what Edwards' entire sermon is based upon. He's telling his audience, his congregation, that unless you follow God's laws, then you are sinning, and are subject to some hardcore punishing by God.
Almighty God is what the Christians think of their deity: Almighty. His word is absolute, his laws are what you follow, and it co-supports the punishment of sinners if you don't follow his laws.
Congregation is important because this is Edwards' audience, the people he's warning of God's wrath. His descriptive words are his way of trying to tell them that they are sinning, and they must repent and reform their ways.
Sodom is very vital in the phrase, because this is another way of symbolizing sin, evil, and straying from God. Sodom was a city in which it was supposedly destroyed by flaming brimstone falling from the sky, and that God had a hand in it. The reason that Sodom was destroyed was that it's residents were sinners, and therefore were subject to doom by God's will. This word is placing the sinners of Edwards' congregation in that idea, that they are sinning and they ought to be changing their ways before they are doomed.
"Haste and escape for your lives" is Edwards saying that you better stop sinning, and stop fast, for God has no patience and he will strike you down quickly if he wants.
The word, "mountain" is the symbol of the Christian refuge from evil. If one is "flying out of Sodom", then where does a Christian go? To the mountain. That is where they achieve salvation and are safe from sin and all things bad to a Christian.
The word "Consumed" is basically Edwards telling his congregation that they will be devoured by their own vices, and that unless you follow the tenets of the Puritans, you're going straight to Hell, one way or another.
This quote is Edwards' way of saying "Follow God's word, or go to Hell".
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