Beginning paragraph
In romantic relationships, it’s often the case that the person who wants the least has the most power. This is true of the relationship between Ishmael and Hatsue, though this is not something Ishmael yet understands. He’s lost in yearning, caught up in a sort of angst-ridden bliss, at once content to simply be with Hatsue, filling up his senses with the sights and sounds of her body, and yet not content at all, sensing that there is more to her than he realizes and yearning to know all of her. Using the images of clam digging and the mingling of ocean waters, Guterson expresses both Ishmael’s quest to dig for something delectable below the surface and his mystical longing for something vast and unlimited. Unfortunately, Hatsue feels about things quite differently than Ishmael does, and this passage offers a series of contrast between them.
Poem by Robert Frost
Poem by Thomas Hardy
Resources
Benjamin Franklin
The “Laws of Life”
Martin Seligman’s list of virtues
Aristotle’s Virtue Ethics
Patrick Henry
http://history.org/media/audio.cfm
The actor discusses the character of Patrick Henry: http://www.history.org/Almanack/people/bios/biohen.cfm
Listen to an Independence Day Interview: Richard Schumann on Patrick Henry and Independence. Whenever there was trouble in Williamsburg, it’s a sure bet Patrick Henry was in the middle of it.
AND
Listen to a Behind the Scenes Interview: Interpreting Patrick Henry. Richard Schumann discusses the intensity and passionate character of Patrick Henry.
Thomas Jefferson: The Declaration of Independence
Student Writing
This is a clumsy sentence: Fellow players have been telling me for years that I suck at football and you want to know what I think about those people is that they are scared, jealous and feel threatened by me and you what I’m not playing to take others positions I’m playing because I love this game and know that I don’t suck.
This would be better: Fellow players have been telling me for years that I suck at football. Do you know what I think about that? I think those people are scared or jealous or feel threatened by me. I’m not playing for their benefit. I’m playing because I love this game. I don’t believe that I do suck.
----------------------------------------------------------------
If we all had a little more patience with things and people then maybe we wouldn’t get so upset over things so easily. I remember sitting in class when I was younger and the person sitting a few desks down from me kept interrupting the teacher again and again. I wanted very badly to just yell at him and tell him to stop, and wondered why the teacher would be so patient with them. The person kept interrupting the teacher till class got over and it was time to leave. When I left class I remember being very annoyed with how that person was acting, so after class I asked someone why the teacher was being so patient with the person instead of getting upset with them and sending them to the office. The person I asked told me that the person who had been interrupting the teacher had a slower learning ability then the rest of us. After hearing this I was upset with myself for feeling so angry with that person.
----------------------------------------------------------------
It is simple, if a person doesn’t have determination they won’t get far in life.
----------------------------------------------------------------
It is always smart to laugh at yourself more then others, because
----------------------------------------------------------------
Eating right, exercise, sleep and stress relief are some of the things that will help to keep you healthy. You can work out by going on runs or walks, or even play an active game.
----------------------------------------------------------------
If someone does not have a good sense of humor than that person is either a really boring person
----------------------------------------------------------------
For instance this summer I was determined to get a job and work the whole summer, and I did. I’m not saying that it was hard, but I am saying that there were many times this summer that i just wanted to take a day off or just not show up. But I was determined to do my best and it has payed off, because when it came to the time that they started to lay people off where I work my name wasn’t on the list.
----------------------------------------------------------------
Also determination has helped me alot with school work.
----------------------------------------------------------------
I thought that this was bologna at first, but after watching the video I thought hey lets give it a shot.
----------------------------------------------------------------
someone who takes things to literally.
----------------------------------------------------------------
Next thing I knew me and my friend were in a serious argument.
----------------------------------------------------------------
Tension wouldn’t of built up between us and that argument would of never happened.
----------------------------------------------------------------
I am a very self sufficent person in everyday tasks. during school hours I make sure I go above and beyond to acheive the best grade I can recieve, while I also do my own laundry, dishes and cook.
Permalink • Printer-Friendly • E-mail this page
Samples of student writing •
from Nichomachean Ethic
| Sphere of Action | Excess | Mean | Deficiency |
| Fear and Confidence | Rashness | Courage | Cowardice |
| Pleasure and Pain | Licentiousness/Self-indulgence | Temperance | Insensibility |
| Getting and Spending (minor) | Prodigality | Liberality | Illiberality/Meanness |
| Getting and Spending (major) | Vulgarity/Tastelessness | Magnificence | Pettiness/Niggardliness |
| Honour and Dishonour (major) | Vanity | Magnanimity | Pusillanimity |
| Honour and Dishonour (minor) | Ambition/empty vanity | Proper ambition/pride | Unambitiousness/undue humility |
| Anger | Grouchiness | Patience | Lack of spirit |
| Self-expression | Boastfulness | Truthfulness | Understatement/mock modesty |
| Conversation | Buffoonery | Wittiness | Boorishness |
| Social Conduct | Obsequiousness | Friendliness | Cantankerousness |
| Indignation | Envry | Righteous Indignation | Maliciousness, Spitefulness |
| Shame | Shyness | Modesty | Indignation |
Taken from p. 104 of translation by J.A.K. Tomson
Dangling modifiers, parallelism, active voice
The OWL at Purdue has good overviews of many basic writing topics
Dangling modifiers
Parallel structure
Active and passive voice
Samples from your essay questions
When the snow is falling hard, like in the first three chapters of this book, it symbolizes harshness, cold, and tension. “The wind drove steadily inland, hurling them against the fragrant trees, and the snow began to settle on the highest branches with a gentle implacibility.” This quote shows the snow “hurling against the fragrant trees,” which makes the snow seem harsh, like the feelings about the trial, or the tension between the defendant’s wife and the reporter. Although the snow is harsh, it also may be a symbol of simplicity, like in the quote; “He hoped it would snow recklessly and bring to the island the impossible winter purity, so rare and precious, he remembered fondly from his youth.”
While he is sitting in court, Kabuo, the defendent, sees the snow falling outside and realizes he missed winter. He remembers spending 77 days in his windowless cell, and this is the first time he has seen the outside. The snow “struck him (Kabuo) as infinately beautiful.” I don’t believe that snow is used as a symbol in the next two chapters. It is used mostly to set a setting in the second chapter and the weather is not mentioned at all in the third chapter.
In Snow Falling On Cedars the snow begins falling when the first murder trial in decades begins. The change of seasons and falling snow represents the innocence of Kabuo Miyamoto. He was locked up for all of autumn, and his first view of outside was a “snow blurred” image of the cedar hills.
The snow in the novel Snow Falling on Cedars is a symbol for justice. I believe that the snow is a symbol for justice because whenever the author brings up the snow, the characters are always in the courtroom by saying “In the meantime he sat facing the wind-driven snowfall, which had begun to mute the streets outside the courthouse windows.”
As the snow falls over San Piedro Island, it brings a beautiful purity to the island. It struck people as “infinitely beautiful” and brought an “impossible winter purity - so rare and precious” to the island. As a man is brought to trial for murder, the snow falls, washing Puget Sound with its white beauty.
Permalink • Printer-Friendly • E-mail this page
Samples of student writing •
The Puritan Mind
Proofreading Checklist
Ideas and organization
☐ Somewhere in the first paragraph, I state my thesis in a simple, direct sentence. (Unity)
☐ My thesis expresses an opinion rather than summarizes the story or states something that is simply factually true. (Unity)
☐ The body of my essay consists of three or four reasons that “prove” my these or examples that support it. Quotations are introduced correctly and then discussed, to make it clear what the reader is supposed to notice. (Development)
☐ Transitions are used between paragraphs. (Coherence)
☐ Every paragraph has a topic sentence which states the main idea of that paragraph. Everything in the paragraph relates to that topic sentence. (Unity and Coherence)
☐ The points are organized in a way that a reader can easily follow the argument. (Coherence)
Style
☐ Every sentence is clear and graceful.
☐ Most sentences have active verbs rather than “being” verbs, such as “is,” “was,” “were,” “are,” etc.
☐ My nouns are specific rather than vague or abstract. (“tree” is vague; “willow” is specific֓trouble” is abstract; the death of her daughter is specific)
Conventions and Usage
☐ Every word is spelled correctly
☐ Every sentence is complete (no fragments).
☐ I have no fused sentence or comma splices. I’ve changed run-on sentences with too many jumbled together ideas into simpler sentences.
☐ Possessive nouns have apostrophes. Conjunctions have apostrophes.
☐ Proper nouns are capitalized, and every sentence begins with a capital.
Setting up a real blog
I’ve decided that advanced class members should have their own blogs.
1. Whatever writing you create over the next 2 years will always be available to you. It’s on the Internet, so wherever you go you will be able to access it.
2. It’s good practice. Much of the world uses blogging technology for all sorts of professional reasons.
3. By setting up a blog outside our password-protected sites, we can use Diigo to comment on writing. This is similar to the Revizr site I showed you, except with Diigo I can comment directly on your blog post. Only someone logged on to Diigo can see my comments. You can also comment on each other’s posts. We can also do group work on other web pages.
So.
1. Get a WordPress blog (there are others, such as Blogger, but Wordpress is very large and if you get sophisticated you can install a more robust version on your own server and have almost unlimited control over the appearance and functionality. Might as well use the real tools.)
2. Use discretion in identifying yourself. I need to be able to tell who you are--a first name--but you should consider keeping your identity a little vague. Everything you post on this site will be linked to you via Google forever. Later (like when you’re 30) if you want to change your profile information to identify yourself, you can.
3. Post the url of your blog in the Discussion Forum entitled WordPress Blogs. Just copy the url and paste it into the comment form on the discussion. That’s it.
4. I will subscribe to all the blogs via an rss reader. This is free and easy, and I’ll show you how to do it, if you want.
5. I registered you on Diigo, so you can see my comments on your blog posts (and so you can see one another’s). You’ll need to get your user names and passwords from me.
5. Consider subscribing to a free password protected management website such as BackPack. It lets you keep online all sorts of information, such as your various websites and usernames etc. (I edited this link--it now takes you directly to the sign-up page for the free version).
6. Also, consider changing your homepage on your school netbook to Homepage Startup, so all the websites we use are readily available.
Narrative of the Captivity
The introduction lists four reasons or motivations that the editors suggest for Mary Rowlandson’s decision to publish an account of her captivity. What are these reasons or motivations? According to the introduction, why was Rowlandson’s work accepted for publication even though it was unsual for women to be permitted pbulications in Puritan New England?
Identify the following characters: Mary Rowlandson, King Philip, Wampanoeg tribesmen, Robert Pepper, Weetamo, John Gilberd of Springfield, Wattimore
Vocabulary
wearisome: (adj.) fatiguing; exhausting
tedious: (adj.) tiring; dreary
lamentable: (adj.) regrettable; distressing
entreated: (v.) asked sincerely; prayed to
plunder: (n.) goods seized, especially during wartime
melancholy: (adj.) sad; sorrowful
decrepit: (adj.) run down; worn out by age or use
savory: (adj.) appetizing; agreeable
affliction: (n.) pain; hardship
bewitching: (adj.) enticing; irresistible
Study Questions
1. How does the Narrative demonstrate Puritan theology and thinking at work?
2. In what ways does Rowlandson use her experience to reaffirm Puritan beliefs? How does she view herself and her fellow Christians? How does she see the Indians? What do her dehumanizing descriptions of the Indians accomplish?
3. Are there any instances where she seems to waver in her faith?
4. Why does Rowlandson distrust the “praying Indians”?
5. How does she use the Bible and varied scriptural allusions in her analysis of her captivity and restoration?
6. Does her world view change at all during her eleven weeks of captivity? Why or why not?
7. How does the Narrative combine/demonstrate/refute what Bradford in Of Plymouth Plantation and John Winthrop in A Modell of Christian Charity had to say about the Puritan’s mission in the New World?
8. The subject of food receives a great deal of attention in Rowlandson’s Narrative. How does Rowlandson’s attitude toward food change over the course of her captivity? Why is she so concerned with recording the specifics of what she ate, how she acquired it, and how she prepared it? What kinds of conflicts arise over food? What do her descriptions of eating tell us about Native American culture and about Rowlandson’s ability to acculturate?
9. How does Rowlandson use typology within her Narrative? What kinds of biblical images does she rely on to make sense of her captivity? How does her use of typology compare with that of other writers in this unit (Winthrop or Taylor, for example)?
10. In his preface to the first edition of Rowlandson’s Narrative, published in 1682, Increase Mather describes her story as “a dispensation of publick note and of Universal concernment” and urges all Puritans to “view” and “ponder” the lessons it holds for them. Does Rowlandson always seem to understand her captivity in Mather’s terms? How do the moments when Rowlandson narrates her experience as personal and individual complicate this imperative to function as a “public,” representative lesson for the entire community?
11. Many scholars view the captivity narrative as the first American genre and trace its influence in the development of other forms of American autobiographical and fictional writings. Why do you think the captivity narrative became so popular and influential? What might make it seem particularly “American”? Can you think of any nineteenth- or twentieth-century novels or films that draw on the conventions of the captivity narrative?
A Captivity Narrative
The introduction lists four reasons or motivations that the editors suggest for Mary Rowlandson’s decision to publish an account of her captivity. What are these reasons or motivations? According to the introduction, why was Rowlandson’s work accepted for publication even though it was unsual for women to be permitted pbulications in Puritan New England?
Identify the following characters: Mary Rowlandson, King Philip, Wampanoeg tribesmen, Robert Pepper, Weetamo, John Gilberd of Springfield, Wattimore
Vocabulary
wearisome: (adj.) fatiguing; exhausting
tedious: (adj.) tiring; dreary
lamentable: (adj.) regrettable; distressing
entreated: (v.) asked sincerely; prayed to
plunder: (n.) goods seized, especially during wartime
melancholy: (adj.) sad; sorrowful
decrepit: (adj.) run down; worn out by age or use
savory: (adj.) appetizing; agreeable
affliction: (n.) pain; hardship
bewitching: (adj.) enticing; irresistible
Study Questions
1. How does the Narrative demonstrate Puritan theology and thinking at work?
2. In what ways does Rowlandson use her experience to reaffirm Puritan beliefs? How does she view herself and her fellow Christians? How does she see the Indians? What do her dehumanizing descriptions of the Indians accomplish?
3. Are there any instances where she seems to waver in her faith?
4. Why does Rowlandson distrust the “praying Indians”?
5. How does she use the Bible and varied scriptural allusions in her analysis of her captivity and restoration?
6. Does her world view change at all during her eleven weeks of captivity? Why or why not?
7. How does the Narrative combine/demonstrate/refute what Bradford in Of Plymouth Plantation and John Winthrop in A Modell of Christian Charity had to say about the Puritan’s mission in the New World?
8. The subject of food receives a great deal of attention in Rowlandson’s Narrative. How does Rowlandson’s attitude toward food change over the course of her captivity? Why is she so concerned with recording the specifics of what she ate, how she acquired it, and how she prepared it? What kinds of conflicts arise over food? What do her descriptions of eating tell us about Native American culture and about Rowlandson’s ability to acculturate?
9. How does Rowlandson use typology within her Narrative? What kinds of biblical images does she rely on to make sense of her captivity? How does her use of typology compare with that of other writers in this unit (Winthrop or Taylor, for example)?
10. In his preface to the first edition of Rowlandson’s Narrative, published in 1682, Increase Mather describes her story as “a dispensation of publick note and of Universal concernment” and urges all Puritans to “view” and “ponder” the lessons it holds for them. Does Rowlandson always seem to understand her captivity in Mather’s terms? How do the moments when Rowlandson narrates her experience as personal and individual complicate this imperative to function as a “public,” representative lesson for the entire community?
11. Many scholars view the captivity narrative as the first American genre and trace its influence in the development of other forms of American autobiographical and fictional writings. Why do you think the captivity narrative became so popular and influential? What might make it seem particularly “American”? Can you think of any nineteenth- or twentieth-century novels or films that draw on the conventions of the captivity narrative?
Be ready to discuss the following passages
A. On the tenth of February 1676, Came the Indians with great numbers upon Lancaster. Their first coming was about sunrising; hearing the noise of some guns, we looked out; several houses were burning, and the smoke ascending to heaven. There were five persons taken in one house; the father and the mother and a suckling child they knocked on the head; the other two they took and carried away alive.
B. We had six stout dogs belonging to our garrison, but none of them would stir, though another time, if any Indian had come to the door, they were ready to fly upon him and tear him down. The Lord hereby would make us the more to acknowledge His hand, and to see that our help is always in Him.
C. I had often before this said that, if the Indians should come, I should choose rather to be killed by them than taken alive; but when it came to the trial, my mind changed; their glittering weapons so daunted by spirit that I chose rather to go along with those (as I may say) ravenous beasts, than that moment to end my days. . . .
D. The next day was the Sabbath. I then remembered how careless I had been of God’s holy time, how many Sabbaths I had lost and mis-spent, and how evilly I had walked in God’s sight, which lay so close unto my spirit that it was easy for me to see how righteous it was with God to cut off the thread of my life and cast me out of His present for ever. Yet the Lord still shewed mercy to me, and upheld me; and as he wounded me with one hand, so he healed me with the other.
E. This was the comfort I had from them; “miserable comforters are ye all,” as he said. Thus nine days I sat upon my knees, with my babe in my lap, till my flesh was raw again; my child being even ready to depart this sorrowful world, they bade me carry it out to another wigwam (I suppose because they would not be troubled with such spectacles), whither I went with a very heavy heart, and down I sat with the picture of death in my lap. About two hours in the night, my sweet babe like a lamb departed from this life, on February 18, 1676, it being about six years and five months old. It was nine days from the first wounding in this miserable condition, without any refreshing of one nature or other except a little cold water.
F. Oh the hideous insulting and triumphing that there was over some Englishmen’s scalps that they had take (as their manner is) and brought with them, I cannot but take notice of the wonderfull mercy of God to me in those afflictions, in sending me a Bible. . . .
G. And here I cannot but take notice of the strange providence of God in preserving the heathen: They were many hundreds, old and young, some sick and some lame; many had papooses at their backs; the greatest number at this time with us were squaws, and they traveled with all they had, bag and baggage; and yet they got over this river aforesaid; and on Monday the set their wigwams on fire, and away they went. On that very day came the English army after them to this river and saw the smoke of their wigwams, and yet this river put a stop to them. God did not give them courage or activity to go over after us; we were not ready for so from great a mercy as victory and deliverance; if we had been, God would have found out a way for the English to have passed this river, as well as for the Indians with their squaws, and children, and all their luggage.
H. Then I went to see King Philip. He bade me come in and sit down, and asked me whether I would smoke it (a usual compliment nowadays amongst saints and sinners) but this no way suited me. For though I had formerly used tobacco, yet I had left it ever since I was first taken. It seems to be a bait the devil lays to make men lose their precious time. I remember with shame how formerly, when I had taken two or three pipes, I was presently ready for another, such a bewitching thing it is. But I thank God, He has now given me power over it; surely there are many who may be better employed than to lie sucking a stinking tobacco-pipe.
I. I went to see an English youth in this place, one John Gilbert of Springfield. I found him lying without doors, upon the ground. I asked him how he did? He told me he was very sick of a flux, with eating so much blood. They had turned him out of the wigwam, and with him an Indian papoose, almost dead (whose parents had been killed), in a bitter cold day, without fire or clothes. The young man himself had nothing on but his shirt and waistcoat. This sight was enough to melt a heart of flint. There they lay quivering in the cold, the youth round like a dog, the papoose stretched out with his eyes and nose and mouth full of dirt, and yet alive, and groaning. I advised John to go and get to some fire. He told me he could not stand, but I persuaded him still, lest he should lie there and die.
J. They would pick up old bones, and cut them to pieces at the joints, and if they were full of worms and maggots, they would scald them over the fire to make the vermine come out, and then boil them, and drink up the liquor, and then beat the great ends of them in a mortar, and so eat them. They would eat horse’s guts, and ears, and all sorts of wild birds which they could catch; also bear, venison, beaver, tortoise, frogs, squirrels, dogs, skunks, rattlesnakes; yea, the very bark of trees; besides all sorts of creatures, and provision which they plundered from the English. I can but stand in admiration to see the wonderful power of God in providing for such a vast number of our enemies in the wilderness, where there was nothing to be seen, but from hand to mouth.
K. Before I knew what affliction meant, I was ready sometimes to wish for it. When I lived in prosperity, having the comforts of the world about me, my relations by me, my heart cheerful, and taking little care for anything, and yet seeing many, whom I preferred before myself, under many trials and afflictions, in sickness, weakness, poverty, losses, crosses, and cares of the world, I should be sometimes jealous least I should have my portion in this life . . . .
Short version for printing (it leaves out the quotations)
Slide show of introduction and conclusion
Unity, Coherence, Development
Unity: A good paragraph is unified around a single topic, which is stated clearly in the topic sentence.
Okay: The Puritans were a very religious people that believed that God overlooked and controlled every little thing in their lives. They thought that the things they did either pleased or angered God. If the Puritans were good they were rewarded, but if they were bad they thought that God would harshly punish them. “There was a proud and profane young man… he would always be condemning people with their sickness and cursing them… but it pleased God… to smite this young man.” William Bradford is showing his total belief that God controls everything in everybody’s lives. From the little things like getting a cold, to the big things like being killed.
Weak: The Puritans were not a particularly clean or strong people for all their Godliness. They rarely bathed, and their sanitation was always in question. But their faith in God was obviously enough to pull them through. Though over half their population died from cold, starvation, and sickness during their first winter, which Bradford describes as, “… they that know the winters of that country know them to be sharp and violent...” and, “… subject to cruel and fierce storms...”, they suffered through and eventually flourished, though eventually being swallowed up by the Massachusetts Bay colony. The Pilgrims may not have done much, but their example and ability left a mark on the face of America that will never be forgotten, and their Faith in God was representative of the Pinnacle of human piety.
Coherence: A good paragraph coheres, with all the parts fitting together so that the reader moves through it without becoming lost or confused.
Weak: The Puritans had a mind set of casting opinions on groups of people. For, after all, they were leaving there own country because of their conception of the English government. Even before meeting the natives, the cast of pilgrims had made their own judgments of the Indians, Most thought the Native American race to be wild and uncivil, “...Barbarous and most treacherous, being most furious in their rage and merciless where they overcome....” As you can see, the pilgrims expected to arrive to a land filled with these unknown ravenous beings. It was made clear to all the pilgrims that Indians were not to be trusted because of their unruly ways.
Permalink • Printer-Friendly • E-mail this page
Samples of student writing •
Unity, Coherence, Development
Unity: A good paragraph is unified around a single topic, which is stated clearly in the topic sentence.
Okay: The Puritans were a very religious people that believed that God overlooked and controlled every little thing in their lives. They thought that the things they did either pleased or angered God. If the Puritans were good they were rewarded, but if they were bad they thought that God would harshly punish them. “There was a proud and profane young man… he would always be condemning people with their sickness and cursing them… but it pleased God… to smite this young man.” William Bradford is showing his total belief that God controls everything in everybody’s lives. From the little things like getting a cold, to the big things like being killed.
Weak: The Puritans were not a particularly clean or strong people for all their Godliness. They rarely bathed, and their sanitation was always in question. But their faith in God was obviously enough to pull them through. Though over half their population died from cold, starvation, and sickness during their first winter, which Bradford describes as, “… they that know the winters of that country know them to be sharp and violent...” and, “… subject to cruel and fierce storms...”, they suffered through and eventually flourished, though eventually being swallowed up by the Massachusetts Bay colony. The Pilgrims may not have done much, but their example and ability left a mark on the face of America that will never be forgotten, and their Faith in God was representative of the Pinnacle of human piety.
Weak: They travel across the perilous ocean, being stricken with disease and death, praying to make it to the shores of America, the promised land. When near the coast, they began to sail towards the Hudson River entering danger along an already dangerous trip, Bradford states, “but after they had sailed the course for about half the day, they fell amongst dangerous shoals and roaring breakers. . . .” continuing, “they resolved to bear up again for the Cape and thought themselves happy to get out of those dangers before night overtook them, as by God’s good grace they did.” When they finally landed on the shore, they believed their troubles to be over and the end of the apocalypse, “They fell upon their knees and blessed the God of Heaven who had bought them over the vast and furious ocean. . . .”
Coherence: A good paragraph coheres, with all the parts fitting together so that the reader moves through it without becoming lost or confused.
Okay: To the Puritans, God had his hand in everyday happenings. Bradford shows his belief that God punishes people who are in the wrong and spares the innocent. On board the Mayflower, a rude arrogant seaman harasses the sea sick passengers, threatening to throw them over board. But Bradford shows his faith that God is watching over the Pilgrims. “He would curse and swear most bitterly. But it pleased God before they came half seas over, to smite this young man with a grievous disease, of which he died in a desperate manner, and so was himself the first that was thrown overboard.” The people on the Mayflower and Bradford see this as a sign from God, that He will take matters into His hands.
Weak: The Puritans had a mind set of casting opinions on groups of people. For, after all, they were leaving there own country because of their conception of the English government. Even before meeting the natives, the cast of pilgrims had made their own judgments of the Indians, Most thought the Native American race to be wild and uncivil, “...Barbarous and most treacherous, being most furious in their rage and merciless where they overcome....” As you can see, the pilgrims expected to arrive to a land filled with these unknown ravenous beings. It was made clear to all the pilgrims that Indians were not to be trusted because of their unruly ways.
Weak: William Bradford is a Puritan who comes to America with other Puritans, to flee religious prosecution from the king of England. In the movie, Desperate Crossings, the Puritans flee England because the king has soldiers hunting down the religious followers of anything but Anglicans. To the Puritans, they believed that this was the apocalypse mentioned in the New Testament of the Bible. Before they leave for America, they flee to Holland, where their is a greater deal of religious freedom for the time being in Europe. However, the king of England eventually finds out about them their and demands for them to be put to trial back in England. The Puritans decide it is time to leave Europe to go to what they believe is the promised land, America. On the ship passage over, Bradford believes that they are being tested by God when they continue sailing after a broken mast as he says, “they committed themselves to the will of God and resolved to proceed.”
Development: A good paragraph has enough supporting detail to make it clear what the topic sentence means and to persuade the reader that the topic sentence is correct.
Okay: Before the Puritans traveled to America, they believed that the Indians were nothing more than barbaric savages. Although they had never met or even seen the natives, they made inferences from what they had heard from other travelers. “The place they had thoughts on was some of those vast and undeveloped countries of America, which are fruitful and fit for habitation, being devoid of all civil inhabitants, where there are only savage and brutish men which range up and down, little otherwise than the wild beasts of the same.”(Page 10) Not only did the Puritans think that the Indians were uncivil, but they believed that they were dangerous and intimidating. It was made clear that they thought the natives were no better than the wild animals roaming the untracked land.
Weak: Puritans lived in a rather simple manner full of beliefs, although at times it still led them to be in many predicaments that could have broken them apart. “[They] were hunted and persecuted on every side… For some were taken and clapped up in prison, others had their houses beset and watched night and day....” (p. 5*) Even with these hardships in England, which forced them to move to Holland, they still were determined “to walk in all His ways… whatsoever it should cost them...” (p.5)
Fatal Errors: Not writing English sentences. Not spellchecking. Sentence Fragments. Careless capitlalization. Not proofreading.
And their thoughts of the New World “Being devoid of all civil inhabitantsŔ Only led the Pilgrims aboard the Mayflower to expect nothing but the worst upon arrival to the New World, ultimately already creating a void between the two cultures.
Once the Puritans landed at Cape Cod they immediately encountered the Native Americans, “;;; the Indians came skulking about them, and would sometimes show themselves aloof off, but when any approached near them, they would run away… .” This troubled the settlers a lot. This gave them the assumption that the Native Indians were mindless savages, however; this opinion was soon changed.
As a Puritan, William Bradford believed something called covenant theolody. Covenant theology is the idea that God enters into a covenant or contract with mankind. These people believed God would fulfill his divine plan on earth through them.
Even before meeting the natives, the cast of pilgrims had made their own judgments of the Indians, Most thought the Native American race to be wild and uncivil, “...Barbarous and most treacherous, being most furious in their rage and merciless where they overcome....”
Study Guide for the video
Objectives: Know these words:
blasphemous
habeas corpus
inscrutable
magistrate
manifest
non-conformity
persecution
repression
seditious
theology
tolerant
Be able to answer these questions:
1. What was the core philosophy of the Separatists? Why were they so frustrated with the Church of England?
2. Why was King James I so opposed to the Separatists’ philosophy and practices? What was his philosophy of obedience?
3. Why do you think Bradford and his followers moved to Holland? What explanation is given for the tolerance of many religious views in Holland?
4. Why were Bradford and his followers unable to make their community work in Holland? How did they convince investors that they could be prosperous in the New World?
5. What were three unexpected events that occurred in this documentary? How do you think the story of the Mayflower could have been different?
6. What was the Mayflower Compact and why was it important?
7. Before the arrival of the Mayflower, over 50 million Native Americans inhabited North America. What did the British think or know about these groups before
they arrived?
8. Describe the early encounters between the British and the Native Americans. How did they communicate with one another?
9. Do you think the Native Americans stood to benefit anything from cooperating with the British and vice versa? What obstacles prevented them from living peacefully?
10. At what point do you think the foundation of Plymouth was most imperiled? At what point do you think it was clear that Plymouth would survive?
11. How did this documentary change your view of the Mayflower and its journey?
Google Apps
Writers' Studio
PHS Online (Moodle)
OurSpace (Ning)
PHS Flickr
Photography Club (Google)
Photography Club (MySpace)
Find more photos like this on OurSpace
Today's Assignments
English 11:
Wed, Oct 28
Assignment: Eng11: Thomas Paine
Objectives:
1. Analyze the author’s style
2. Recognize modes of persuasion
3. Understand and use new words
Go over vocabulary for Paine and Henry
Read pages 106-112, taking notes
Advanced English 11:
Fri, Oct 30
Assignment: Adv11: Wind From an Enemy Sky
Assignment sheet and study questions
Watch Part 3, The Place of Falling Waters
and complete the worksheet
AP English 12:
Thu, Oct 29
Assignment: AP12 Writing Prompt
Q2 style prompt on a passage from Snow Falling on Cedars.
Table of Contents
(all posts, sorted by category}
Category Menu
Most recent entries
- “A River Runs Through It” Student Resources
- Wind From an Enemy Sky Resources & Study Guide
- Poems for Class
- Puritan resources
- Snow Falling on Cedars
- Charles Dickens
- Films available
- Things Fall Apart
- Vocabulary: Red Badge of Courage
- Red Badge of Courage Resources
- F. Scott Fitzgerald
- Great Gatsby Resources for Advanced English 11
- Ralph Waldo Emerson
- Emerson resources
- Huckleberry Finn Resources
Archives
- Complete Archives
- May 2011
- March 2011
- September 2010
- August 2010
- June 2010
- April 2010
- March 2010
- February 2010
- January 2010
- December 2009
- November 2009
- October 2009
- September 2009
- August 2009
- May 2009
- April 2009
- March 2009
- February 2009
- January 2009
- December 2008
- November 2008
- October 2008
- September 2008
- August 2008
- June 2008
- May 2008
- April 2008
- March 2008
- February 2008
- January 2008
- December 2007
- November 2007
- October 2007
- September 2007
- June 2007
- May 2007
- April 2007
- March 2007
- February 2007
- January 2007
- December 2006
- November 2006
- October 2006
- September 2006