Monday 31 October persuasive techniques

Bonus: 40 points...a bit different...quietly, subtlely and unobtrusively, discern of what my earrings (yes, you read that correctly) are made of today. And with equal circumspect, drop your response on the desk by the end of class. Do not divulge your answer to another, or you are disqualified.

REMINDERS: Essay DUE Friday 4 November; check last Thursday for detailed description; remember to staple your dialectical journal and completed corroboration table to your essay.

DUE Friday 4 November vocabulary 4

Note: Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God is a PERSUASIVE SPEECH, that is it attempts to convince listeners to think or act in a certain way. The effectiveness of a persuasive speech depends to a large extent upon the audience's perception of the speaker, the speaker's consideration of the audience and setting, and the choice of persuasive techniques.
The Speaker's Qualifications. A speaker must establish his or her qualifications to speak on the subject. In many cases the speaker's reputation alone convinces an audience of his or her qualifications. In other cases the speaker must gain the audience's trust by displaying his or her knowledge of the subject or presenting his or her credentials.

Audience. It is also important for the speaker to be aware of the audience he or she is addressing. The writer must take into account the backgrounds, ages, interest and beliefs of the audience.

Occasion. The time and place at which a persuasive speech is to be presented will also affect its content. Often the speaker will include references to current events or examples that will appeal to current interests.

Technique. Finally, the speaker must decide which persuasive techniques will best serve his or her purpose. A speaker may choose to present a logical argument or may appeal to past traditions or to the audience's emotions or sense or reason, or she or he may use a variety of other techniques.

MONDAY: in class application of the above to television commercials.

if you are absent: we are using the following three commercials, applying the above criteria. Classroom participation grade. Look at the commercials and apply the above.

1. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=owGykVbfgUE

2. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eTxT7feUlPg

3. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J4901K-ilIQ

Friday 28 October

Due today: questions relating to Jonathan Edwards Sinners at the Angry Hand of God We didn't get to them yesterday, so you have 15 minutes in class today to complete them.

We are then finishing up the corroboration table.

Due next Friday 4 November: paper on the relationships between the English colonists and the indiginous peoples. See Thursday's blog for details. Remember that you need to turn in your dialectical journal and your completed corroboration chart with your paper. These two are worth 20 points.

Due next Friday 4 November: vocabulary 4. As usual, 10 points off for each day late.

Please manage your time carefully this week, as both the vocabulary and the paper are due on the 4th.

What I am missing from folks. Please remember that you have 10 days to make up material with a legal absence.

Elijah- analysis questions from Plimouth reading

Kerri- religion in colonial America responses

Meghan- analysis questions from Plimouth reading

Kimicah- analysis questions from Plimouth reading

Quinton-Smith History of Virgina dialectical journal (we did this in class last Thursday / Friday); Smith vocabulary test (the words and definitions are only available on the blog- this was matching); corroboration table- first part done in class, the rest we'll finish today- turn in completed with your paper; analysis questions for Plimouth; religion in colonial America responses.

Linai- Plimouth analysis questions

.

Thursday 27 October Sinners

Bonus 40 points: Who said this? "It is precisely this encounter with the mental states of other generations which enlarges the outlook and sympathies of the cultivated man."

got it: Ashley, Kimicah, Mariah, Ty, Arieanna, Briana, Sharon; part credit Nah Tivah

In class reading of Sinners in the Angry Hand of God

Malik, Elijah, Rosie, Raphael, Zach, Joe, Linai (not in this order)--Thanks you folks!

Finishing up the corroboration table.

Paper assignment: DUE FRIDAY 4 November

In no less than 500 words, discuss the attitude of the early English settlers along the east coast, making sure you are specific as to physical locations. As well, note their objectives and reference interactions between the two peoples. Don't forget to include the responses from the indiginous peoples. Make sure you suppport your statments with specific textual evidence. Cite these with the author's surname in parenthesis after the quote. You must use all three texts: Pilgrims of Plimouth, History of Virginia and The Westover Manuscripts. Try to interweave the text with your own sentences. Remember: you need a solid thesis in your introduction. Moreover, within each paragraph, include a thesis and prove it with textual evidence. Don't forget an analysis statement within each paragraph.

BUILD AN OUTLINE. Write out your introduction and send it along for me to check, if you wish. An easy way to write this is divide up the three documents into three paragraphs. What point do you want to make in each and what information within the text supports your point? And, of course, what is the larger meaning of the point you are trying to make?

As a conclusion (and remember that you will not say in conclusion) synthesize the information- check the corroboration chart- and answer a question that you have posed.

remember MLA heading


When you turn in your paper, please staple your dialectical journal and corroboration table to the essay. This is 20 points out of 100 on your paper.
questions: contact me sooner than later.


HOMEWORK FOR FRIDAY October 28 tomorrow



Please respond to the following, as pertains to Sinners. (handout in class, copy below)


Please respond to the following questions pertaining to Jonathan Edwards’ sermon.
1. Why do you think Edwards begins his semon with a vivid description of Hell?

2. Describe God's wrath. Use specific text in your response.

3. How does this impact the speech?

4. What is the purpose of the sermon?

5. Do you think the approach Edwards takes would be effective in today's society? Explain your answer.



Homework for Friday 4 November: vocabulary 4. copy below. note the vocabulary and the paper will be the only outside classwork through the 4th. Plan your time accordingly.




Vocabulary 4: words and definitions

1. atrophy (noun) - the wasting away of a body organ or tissue, any progressive decline or failure; (verb) to waste
away; degenerate, deteriorate, wither
2. bastion (noun) – a fortified place; a stronghold, citadel, rampart, bulwark, parapet
3. concord (noun)- a state of agreement, harmony; a treaty, pact or covenant;
4. consummate (verb)- to bring to a state of completion; (adj) complete or perfect in the highest degree; (verb) clinch, conclude,
5. disarray (noun) –disorder, confusion; (verb)- to put into disorder; dishevel, mess up
6. exigency (noun; often plural- exigencies)- urgency, pressure, pressing need, emergencies; requirement, crisis;
7. flotsam (noun) –floating debris, homeless, impoverished people; floating wreckage
8. frenetic (adj) –frenzied, highly agitated; frantic, overwrought
9. glean ( verb) – to gather bit by bit; to gather in small quantities; collect, cull, pick-up
10. grouse (verb) –to complain; (noun) – a type of game bird; (verb) gripe, kvetch, belly-ache
11. incarcerate (verb) – to imprison, confine, jail; intern, immure
12. incumbent (noun) – one who holds a specific office at the time spoken of; (adj) obligatory, required; mandatory, necessary.
13. jocular (adj) – humorous, jesting, jolly, joking; waggish, facetious, droll, witty
14. ludicrous (adj)- ridiculous, laughable, absurd; risible, preposterous
15. mordant (adj) – biting and caustic in manner or style; sharply or bitterly harsh; acrimonious, acidulous, sardonic, scathing.
16. nettle (verb) – to arouse displeasure, impatience or anger; to vex; (noun) –a prickly, stinging plant
17. pecuniary (adj) –consisting of or measured in money; monetary, financial
18. pusillanimous (adj) – contemptibly cowardly or mean spirited; craven, lily-livered
19. recumbent (adj) – in a reclining position, lying down; in a posture of sleeping or resting, prone, prostrate, supine, inactive.
20. stratagem (noun) –a scheme to outwit or deceive an opponent; ruse, trick, ploy, subterfuge

Vocabulary 4, exercise 1 Use the correct form!
1. They will ______________________________ the felon at the state penitentiary.
2. When the court order was issued, the department made a _____________________________ search for the missing report.

3. It is often said that bullies, when tested, are the most ______________________________ people of all.
4. The patient’s leg muscles have ______________________ , and he can no longer walk.
5. The governor emphasized the __________________________ of the situation by requesting the immediate dispatch of rescue teams.

6. The tired toddlers were __________________________ on the couch after playing all afternoon in the yard.
7. Those who stand around and _______________________ about their low salaries are not likely to get raises.
8. The two lawyers could not ______________________ the settlement until the two parties met face to face.
9. The burgled apartment was in a state of _______________________________.
10. After receiving the news that she was ahead in the poles, the candidate was in a delightfully __________________________ mood.

11. The principle was __________________________ by the student’s disrespectful behavior.
12. After the two ships collided, the passengers clung to various pieces of _______________________ and hoped to be rescued.
13. The defense attorney used a clever _____________________________ to curry sympathy for her client.
14. Contrary to popular belief, the military is not always a ______________________ of conservative belief.
15. The couple was forced by _________________________ considerations to sell their large home and buy a smaller one.
16. By means of painstaking investigation, the detectives were able to ____________________ the truth.
17. A spirit of ________________________ was restored when the company compensated its employees.
18. The actor was upset by the _______________________ criticism of the gossip columnist who seemed out to ruin his reputation.
19. Her comment was so _______________________ that we finally understood that she was joking.
20. Voting on Election Day is a duty _____________________ on all Americans who value a democratic government.

Vocabulary 4, exercise 2
1. I get all my ideas by lying down; the _______________________ position seems to stimulate my brain.
2. It was pleasant to see the usually restrained and quiet Mr. Baxter in such a _________________ and expansive mood.
3. The _______________________ that we observed here and there in the harbor bore mute testimony to the destructive power of the storm.
4. Since I had only one year of high school French, my attempts to speak the language on my trip to Paris were ______________________________.
5. The high ground east of the river formed a natural __________________, which we decided to defend with all our resources.
6. I regret that that Nancy was _______________________ by unfavorable review of her short story, but I had to express my opinion honestly.
7. Almost every case of muscle or tissue _________________________ is the result of disease, prolonged disuse or changes in cell nutrition.
8. The ____________________________ of my present financial situation demand that I curtail all unnecessary spending for a month.
9. It is _________________________ on all of us to do whatever we can to help our community with this crisis.
10. Even critics of our penal system admit that so long as hardened criminals are ____________________ they cannot commit crimes.
11. Despite all their highfalutin malarkey about helping the poor, I suspect their interest in the project purely _________________________________.

12. The purpose of our________________________ was to draw in the safety so that Tom could get behind him to receive the long pass.
13. The defeated army fled in such ______________________ that before long it had become little more than a uniformed mob.
14. As soon as he struck the opening chords of the selection, we realized that we were listening to a _________________________ master of the piano.
15. Though next to nothing is known about Homer, historians have been able to ____________________ a few odd facts about him from studying his works.

16. Shakespeare’s Timon of Athens is a disillusioned misanthrope who spends his time throwing ___________________ barbs at the rest of mankind.

17. Peace is not just an absence of war, but a positive state of _____________________ among the nations of the world.
18. I have yet to meet an adult who did not _________________________ about the taxes he or she had to pay.
19. Most people regarded the government’s attempt to avert a war by buying off the aggressor as not only shameful but ______________________________________.

20. People who are used to the unhurried atmosphere of the country town often find it hard to cope with the _____________________________ pace of big city life.

Vocabulary 4, exercise 3
Synonyms

1. floating wreckage in the harbor ________________________________
2. gripes about every change in routine _________________________________
3. received financial compensation __________________________________
4. the ill-conceived ruse __________________________________
5. collected tidbits of information __________________________________
6. a longtime bulwark of resistance __________________________________
7. prostrate on a hospital bed __________________________________
8. craven behavior __________________________________
9. enthusiasm that withered _________________________________
10. left the room in a state of disorganization _________________________________
11. a handshake that clinched the deal ___________________________________
12. immured for years in a dark dungeon ___________________________________
13. irks her coworkers with senseless chatter _____________________________________
14. the obligatory responsibilities of the
new administrator. ______________________________________
15. the requirements of a wartime economy _____________________________________

Antonyms
16. maintained a leisurely pace _____________________________________
17. disagreement among the family members ______________________________________
18. the poignant story ______________________________________
19. a gentle reproof ______________________________________
20. a humorless manner ______________________________________

Vocabulary 4, exercise 4
1. We were fascinated by the (mordant, frenetic) scene from the floor of the stock exchange as brokers struggled to keep up with the sudden price changes.

2. Before the ceremony began, we all bowed our heads and prayed for unity, peace and (concord, atrophy) among all nations.

3. It has been said that the only way to handle a (nettle, stratagem), or any difficult problem, without being stung is to grasp it firmly and decisively.

4. There are few things in life as (frenetic, ludicrous) as an unqualified person trying to assume the trappings of authority.

5. In the shelter, I saw for the first time people who had been beaten and discouraged by life—the so called (flotsam, incumbents) of the great city.

6. Do you really think that those (jocular, recumbent) remarks are appropriate on such a solemn occasion?

7. The affairs of our city are in such (disarray, flotsam) that the state may have to intervene to restore some semblance of order.

8. I have always regarded out schools and colleges as citadels of learning and (bastions, stratagems) against ignorance and superstition.

9. The huge influx of wealth that resulted from foreign conquests led in part to the physical and moral (atrophy, flotsam) of the Roman ruling class.

10. A born leader is someone who can rise to the (incumbents, exigencies) of any crisis that he or she may be confronted with.

11. Comfortably, (recumbent, frenetic) in the shade of the elm tree, I watched the members of the football go through a long, hard workout.

12. In Victorian times, fashionable ladies (disarrayed, incarcerated) their waists in tight corsets to achieve a chic “hour glass” figure.

13. I noticed with approval that his (pecuniary, mordant) remarks were intended to deflate the pompous and unmask the hypocritical.

14. All that I needed to (consummate, nettle) the most important deal of my career was her signature on the dotted line.

15. During the 19th century, it was fashionable to spend a few weeks in the fall hunting (grouse, nettles), pheasants, and other game birds.

16. Of the ten congressional seats in our state, only one was won by a new member; all the other winners were (incumbents, bastions).

17. To feel fear in difficult situations is natural, but to allow one’s conduct to be governed by fear is (jocular, pusillanimous).
18. We were able to (consummate, glean) only a few shreds of useful information from his long, pretentious speech.
19. What we need to cope with this crisis is not cute (grouping, stratagems), but a bold, realistic plan, and the courage to carry it out.
20. The only way we’ll be able to increase productivity is to offer our employees a few solid (frenetic, pecuniary) incentives to work harder.

Wednesday 26 October Westover Chronicle - Metis

bonus: 20 Ashley; 20 Brianna

In class quiz on background material of religion in Colonial America. See yesterday's blog for the questions based upon your reading.

Finish up the corroboration chart.

HOMEWORK for THURSDAY: Sinners at the Angry Hand of God (copy below)

Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God - sermon given in 1741 by Jonathan Edwards


I. There is no want of power in God to cast wicked men into hell at any moment. Men's hands can't be strong when God rises up: the strongest have no power to resist him, nor can any deliver out of his hands.

He is not only able to cast wicked men into hell, but he can most easily do it. Sometimes an earthly prince meets with a great deal of difficulty to subdue a rebel, that has found means to fortify himself, and has made himself strong by the numbers of his followers. But it is not so with God. There is no fortress that is any defense from the power of God. Though hand join in hand, and vast multitudes of God's enemies combine and associate themselves, they are easily broken in pieces: they are as great heaps of light chaff before the whirlwind; or large quantities of dry stubble before devouring flames. We find it easy to tread on and crush a worm that we see crawling on the earth; so 'tis easy for us to cut or singe a slender thread that anything hangs by; thus easy is it for God when he pleases to cast his enemies down to hell. What are we, that we should think to stand before him, at whose rebuke the earth trembles, and before whom the rocks are thrown down?


II. They deserve to be cast into hell; so that divine justice never stands in the way, it makes no objection against God's using his power at any moment to destroy them. Yea, on the contrary, justice calls aloud for an infinite punishment of their sins. Divine justice says of the tree that brings forth such grapes of Sodom, "Cut it down; why cumbreth it the ground" (Luke 13:7). The sword of divine justice is every moment brandished over their heads, and 'tis nothing but the hand of arbitrary mercy, and God's mere will, that holds it back.

III. They are already under a sentence of condemnation to hell. They don't only justly deserve to be cast down thither; but the sentence of the law of God, that eternal and immutable rule of righteousness that God has fixed between him and mankind, is gone out against them, and stands against them; so that they are bound over already to hell. John 3:18, "He that believeth not is condemned already." So that every unconverted man properly belongs to hell; that is his place; from thence he is. John 8:23, "Ye are from beneath." And thither he is bound; 'tis the place that justice, and God's Word, and the sentence of his unchangeable law assigns to him.


IV. They are now the objects of that very same anger and wrath of God that is expressed in the torments of hell: and the reason why they don't go down to hell at each moment, is not because God, in whose power they are, is not then very angry with them; as angry as he is with many of those miserable creatures that he is now tormenting in hell, and do there feel and bear the fierceness of his wrath. Yea, God is a great deal more angry with great numbers that are now on earth, yea, doubtless with many that are now in this congregation, that it may be are at ease and quiet, than he is with many of those that are now in the flames of hell.


VII. It is no security to wicked men for one moment, that there are no visible means of death at hand. 'Tis no security to a natural man, that he is now in health, and that he don't see which way he should now immediately go out of the world by any accident, and that there is no visible danger in any respect in his circumstances. The manifold and continual experience of the world in all ages, shows that this is no evidence that a man is not on the very brink of eternity, and that the next step won't be into another world. The unseen, unthought of ways and means of persons going suddenly out of the world are innumerable and inconceivable. Unconverted men walk over the pit of hell on a rotten covering, and there are innumerable places in this covering so weak that they won't bear their weight, and these places are not seen. The arrows of death fly unseen at noonday; the sharpest sight can't discern them. God has so many different unsearchable ways of taking wicked men out of the world and sending


Closing:
And you that are young men, and young women, will you neglect this precious season that you now enjoy, when so many others of your age are renouncing all youthful vanities, and flocking to Christ? You especially have now an extraordinary opportunity; but if you neglect it, it will soon be with you as it is with those persons that spent away all the precious days of youth in sin, and are now come to such a dreadful pass in blindness and hardness.

And you children that are unconverted, don't you know that you are going down to hell, to bear the dreadful wrath of that God that is now angry with you every day, and every night? Will you be content to be the children of the devil, when so many other children in the land are converted, and are become the holy and happy children of the King of kings?

And let everyone that is yet out of Christ, and hanging over the pit of hell, whether they be old men and women, or middle aged, or young people, or little children, now hearken to the loud calls of God's Word and providence. This acceptable year of the Lord, that is a day of such great favor to some, will doubtless be a day of as remarkable vengeance to others. Men's hearts harden, and their guilt increases apace at such a day as this, if they neglect their souls: and never was there so great danger of such persons being given up to hardness of heart, and blindness of mind. God seems now to be hastily gathering in his elect in all parts of the land; and probably the bigger part of adult persons that ever shall be saved, will be brought in now in a little time, and that it will be as it was on that great outpouring of the Spirit upon the Jews in the apostles' days, the election will obtain, and the rest will be blinded. If this should be the case with you you will eternally curse this day, and will curse the day that ever you was born, to see such a season of the pouring out of God's Spirit; and will wish that you had died and gone to hell before you had seen it. Now undoubtedly it is, as it was in the days of John the Baptist, the ax is in an extraordinary manner laid at the root of the trees, that every tree that brings not forth good fruit, may be hewn down, and cast into the fire.

Therefore let everyone that is out of Christ, now awake and fly from the wrath to come. The wrath of almighty God is now undoubtedly hanging over great part of this congregation: let everyone fly out of Sodom. Haste and escape for your lives, look not behind you, escape to the mountain, lest you be consumed [Genesis 19:17].

Tuesday 25 October The Westover Manuscript

If you were absent yesterday, please see me to make up the vocabulary quiz.
Still missing some dialectical journals from Friday.
And last week's quiz on the background material to 1750.
HOMEWORK for Wednesday. (handout given out yesterday). Make sure you have read the background information on religion in colonial America. Note the following for a quiz.
1. Forced religious observances- attendance and taxes
2. Why there was a "driving need for rule and regulation."
3. Why did the "colonists frequently maintain[ ] restrictions against Catholics?"
4. Who were some of the Dissenters?
5. What further complicated Christianity?
6. What happened "at the heart of the calendar...the Sabbath?"
7. In what two colonies "was toleration rooted in principle rather than expedience?"
8. What were the two functions of the New England meeting house?
9. How did New England deal with Dissenters?
10. What was the Great Awakening?
11. How did the Great Awakening contribute to the revolutionary movement that would culminate with the American colonies separating from Great Britain?

In class: we are going to construct a corroboration table based upon the Jamestown material, the Plimouth reading and The Westover Manuscript, as well as some images of indiginous peoples drawn by Englishmen.
Please make sure you get a copy of the table. It will not format correctly on the blog.
You will be using this material to build a paper. If you are absent, or wish a copy of the images, I'll put them on your flash drive.

Directions: NAME on paper!
Topic: 17th century English and Native encounters
Question:
On the top row: fill in the question, (question 1: what was the purpose of the colony?; question 2? How did the English treat the native population?; question 3: How did the native population react to the English? then the prior knowledge for each of the three questions; then source 1: Jamestown; source 2: Plimouth; source 3: Westover Manuscript; source 4: images

Now answer the synthesis question for each of the initial questions. Finally, where do the sources disagree? What new question do we have?

Monday 24 September "Plimouth Plantation"

If you were absent from class today- Meghan, Dorothy and Quinton- please complete the dialectical journal we started in class on Thursday, making sure you have five examples and a response for each. This is a classroom participation grade.

VOCABULARY 3 IS BEING PASSED BACK TODAY. I HAVE ONE WITH NO NAME. MISSING: Darryl, Taquan, Julia, Amanda, Malik, Dorothy

Bonus: 40 points....Look at yesterday's blog and tell me the correct name of
this structure that was lived in by the Indians near Plymouth
Extra bonus: 40 points (vocabulary and current events connection- who gave an oration Saturday morning at the Eastman House as part of U of R's Meloria weekend?
.......the usual: e-mail or on my desk before class.

Friday bonus in class: 20 points to Ashley; 20 points to Ty
In class: VOCABULARY QUIZ- see Wednesday's blog for the list. (matching)
you were to have read Of Plimouth Plantation!
For Tuesday: read The Westover Chronicles. This material was given out last Thursday.
IN CLASS: 1. we are looking at a map of Cape Cod to establish the setting of the text you have read. 2. You are responding to 10 questions, due at the end of class, based upon the text. You must use specific evidence from the text for your reponses. Note please how the questions often have incorporated textual material. This is what you should be using in your essays. As well, there are a couple of analytical questions and a synthesis one. There is a copy below, if you are absent.

HOMEWORK FOR WEDNESDAY:
read the background information on religion in colonial America- (copy below; handout in class) expect a content quiz.

Religion in Colonial America: Trends, Regulations, and Beliefs in Religion United States [1600-1799]
To understand how America's current balance among national law, local community practice, and individual freedom of belief evolved, it's helpful to understand some of the common experiences and patterns around religion in colonial culture in the period between 1600 and 1776.
In the early years of what later became the United States, Christian religious groups played an influential role in each of the British colonies, and most attempted to enforce strict religious observance through both colony governments and local town rules.
Most attempted to enforce strict religious observance. Laws mandated that everyone attend a house of worship and pay taxes that funded the salaries of ministers. Eight of the thirteen British colonies had official, or “established,” churches, and in those colonies dissenters who sought to practice or proselytize a different version of Christianity or a non-Christian faith were sometimes persecuted.
Although most colonists considered themselves Christians, this did not mean that they lived in a culture of religious unity. Instead, differing Christian groups often believed that their own practices and faiths provided unique values that needed protection against those who disagreed, driving a need for rule and regulation.
In Europe, Catholic and Protestant nations often persecuted or forbade each other's religions, and British colonists frequently maintained restrictions against Catholics. In Great Britain, the Protestant Anglican church had split into bitter divisions among traditional Anglicans and the reforming Puritans, contributing to an English civil war in the 1600s. In the British colonies, differences among Puritan and Anglican remained.
Between 1680 and 1760 Anglicanism and Congregationalism, an offshoot of the English Puritan movement, established themselves as the main organized denominations in the majority of the colonies. As the seventeenth and eighteenth century passed on, however, the Protestant wing of Christianity constantly gave birth to new movements, such as the Baptists, Methodists, Quakers, Unitarians and many more, sometimes referred to as “Dissenters.” In communities where one existing faith was dominant, new congregations were often seen as unfaithful troublemakers who were upsetting the social order.
Despite the effort to govern society on Christian (and more specifically Protestant) principles, the first decades of colonial era in most colonies were marked by irregular religious practices, minimal communication between remote settlers, and a population of “Murtherers, Theeves, Adulterers, [and] idle persons.”[1] An ordinary Anglican American parish stretched between 60 and 100 miles, and was often very sparsely populated. In some areas, women accounted for no more than a quarter of the population, and given the relatively small number of conventional households and the chronic shortage of clergymen, religious life was haphazard and irregular for most. Even in Boston, which was more highly populated and dominated by the Congregational Church, one inhabitant complained in 1632 that the “fellows which keepe hogges all weeke preach on the Sabboth.”[2]
Christianity was further complicated by the widespread practice of astrology, alchemy and forms of witchcraft. The fear of such practices can by gauged by the famous trials held in Salem, Massachusetts, in 1692 and 1693. Surprisingly, alchemy and other magical practices were not altogether divorced from Christianity in the minds of many “natural philosophers” (the precursors of scientists), who sometimes thought of them as experiments that could unlock the secrets of Scripture. As we might expect, established clergy discouraged these explorations.
In turn, as the colonies became more settled, the influence of the clergy and their churches grew. At the heart of most communities was the church; at the heart of the calendar was the Sabbath—a period of intense religious and “secular” activity that lasted all day long. After years of struggles to impose discipline and uniformity on Sundays, the selectmen of Boston at last were able to “parade the street and oblige everyone to go to Church . . . on pain of being put in Stokes or otherwise confined,” one observer wrote in 1768.[3] By then, few communities openly tolerated travel, drinking, gambling, or blood sports on the Sabbath.
Slavery—which was also firmly established and institutionalized between the 1680s and the 1780s—was also shaped by religion. The use of violence against slaves, their social inequality, together with the settlers’ contempt for all religions other than Christianity “resulted in destructiveness of extraordinary breadth, the loss of traditional religious practices among the half-millions slaves brought to the mainland colonies between 1680s and the American Revolution.”[4] Even in churches which reached out to convert slaves to their congregations —the Baptists are a good example—slaves were most often a silent minority. If they received any Christian religious instructions, it was, more often than not, from their owners rather than in Sunday school.
Local variations in Protestant practices and ethnic differences among the white settlers did foster a religious diversity. Wide distances, poor communication and transportation, bad weather, and the clerical shortage dictated religious variety from town to town and from region to region. With French Huguenots, Catholics, Jews, Dutch Calvinists, German Reformed pietists, Scottish Presbyterians, Baptists, Quakers, and other denominations arriving in growing numbers, most colonies with Anglican or Congregational establishments had little choice but to display some degree of religious tolerance. Only in Rhode Island and Pennsylvania was toleration rooted in principle rather than expedience. Indeed, Pennsylvania’s first constitution stated that all who believed in God and agreed to live peacefully under the civil government would “in no way be molested or prejudiced for their religious persuasion of practice.”[5] However, reality often fell short of that ideal.
New England
Most New Englanders went to a Congregationalist meetinghouse for church services. The meetinghouse, which served secular functions as well as religious, was a small wood building located in the center of town. People sat on hard wooden benches for most of the day, which was how long the church services usually lasted. These meeting houses became bigger and much less crude as the population grew after the 1660s. Steeples grew, bells were introduced, and some churches grew big enough to host as many as one thousand worshippers.
In contrast to other colonies, there was a meetinghouse in every New England town.[6] In 1750 Boston, a city with a population of 15000, had eighteen churches.[7] In the previous century church attendance was inconsistent at best. After the 1680s, with many more churches and clerical bodies emerging, religion in New England became more organized and attendance more uniformly enforced. In even sharper contrast to the other colonies, in New England most newborns were baptized by the church, and church attendance rose in some areas to 70 percent of the adult population. By the eighteenth century, the vast majority of all colonists were churchgoers.

The New England colonists—with the exception of Rhode Island—were predominantly Puritans, who, by and large, led strict religious lives. The clergy was highly educated and devoted to the study and teaching of both Scripture and the natural sciences. The Puritan leadership and gentry, especially in Massachusetts and Connecticut, integrated their version of Protestantism into their political structure. Government in these colonies contained elements of theocracy, asserting that leaders and officials derived that authority from divine guidance and that civil authority ought to be used to enforce religious conformity. Their laws assumed that citizens who strayed away from conventional religious customs were a threat to civil order and should be punished for their nonconformity.
Despite many affinities with the established Church of England, New England churches operated quite differently from the older Anglican system in England. Massachusetts Bay and Connecticut had no church courts to levy fines on religious offenders, leaving that function to the civil magistrates. Congregational churches typically owned no property (even the local meetinghouse was owned by the town and was used to conduct both town meetings and religious services), and ministers, while often called upon to advise the civil magistrates, played no official role in town or colony governments.
In those colonies, the civil government dealt harshly with religious dissenters, exiling the likes of Anne Hutchinson and Roger Williams for their outspoken criticism of Puritanism, and whipping Baptists or cropping the ears of Quakers for their determined efforts to proselytize. Official persecution reached its peak between 1659 and 1661, when Massachusetts Bay’s Puritan magistrates hung four Quaker missionaries.
Yet, despite Puritanism’s severe reputation, the actual experience of New England dissenters varied widely, and punishment of religious difference was uneven. England’s intervention in 1682 ended the corporal punishment of dissenters in New England. The Toleration Act, passed by the English Parliament in 1689, gave Quakers and several other denominations the right to build churches and to conduct public worship in the colonies. While dissenters continued to endure discrimination and financial penalties well into the eighteenth century, those who did not challenge the authority of the Puritans directly were left unmolested and were not legally punished for their “heretical” beliefs.
Mid-Atlantic and Southern Colonies
Inhabitants of the middle and southern colonies went to churches whose style and decoration look more familiar to modern Americans than the plain New England meeting houses. They, too, would sit in church for most of the day on Sunday. After 1760, as remote outposts grew into towns and backwoods settlements became bustling commercial centers, Southern churches grew in size and splendor. Church attendance, abysmal as it was in the early days of the colonial period, became more consistent after 1680. Much like the north, this was the result of the proliferation of churches, new clerical codes and bodies, and a religion that became more organized and uniformly enforced. Toward the end of the colonial era, churchgoing reached at least 60 percent in all the colonies.
The middle colonies saw a mixture of religions, including Quakers (who founded Pennsylvania), Catholics, Lutherans, a few Jews, and others. The southern colonists were a mixture as well, including Baptists and Anglicans. In the Carolinas, Virginia, and Maryland (which was originally founded as a haven for Catholics), the Church of England was recognized by law as the state church, and a portion of tax revenues went to support the parish and its priest.

Virginia imposed laws obliging all to attend Anglican public worship. Indeed, to any eighteenth observer, the “legal and social dominance of the Church of England was unmistakable.”[8] After 1750, as Baptist ranks swelled in that colony, the colonial Anglican elite responded to their presence with force. Baptist preachers were frequently arrested. Mobs physically attacked members of the sect, breaking up prayer meetings and sometimes beating participants. As a result, the 1760s and 1770s witnessed a rise in discontent and discord within the colony (some argue that Virginian dissenters suffered some of the worst persecutions in antebellum America).[9]
In the Carolinas, New York, New Jersey, and Delaware, Anglicans never made up a majority, in contrast to Virginia. With few limits on the influx of new colonists, Anglican citizens in those colonies needed to accept, however grudgingly, ethnically diverse groups of Presbyterians, Baptists, Quakers, members of the Dutch Reformed Church, and a variety of German Pietists.
Maryland was founded by Cecilius Calvert in 1634 as a safe haven for Catholics. The Catholic leadership passed a law of religious toleration in 1649, only to see it repealed it when Puritans took over the colony’s assembly. Clergy and buildings belonging to both the Catholic and Puritan religions were subsidized by a general tax.
Quakers founded Pennsylvania. Their faith influenced the way they treated Indians, and they were the first to issue a public condemnation of slavery in America. William Penn, the founder of the colony, contended that civil authorities shouldn’t meddle with the religious/spiritual lives of their citizens. The laws he drew up pledged to protect the civil liberties of “all persons . . . who confess and acknowledge the one almighty and eternal God to be the creator, upholder, and ruler of the world.”[10]
Religious Revival
A religious revival swept the colonies in the 1730s and 1740s. Shortly after the English evangelical and revivalist George Whitefield completed a tour of America, Jonathan Edwards delivered a sermon entitled “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God,” stirring up a wave of religious fervor and the beginning of the Great Awakening. Relying on massive open-air sermons attended at times by as many as 15,000 people, the movement challenged the clerical elite and colonial establishment by focusing on the sinfulness of every individual, and on salvation through personal, emotional conversion—what we call today being “born again.” By discounting worldly success as a sign of God’s favor, and by focusing on emotional transformation (pejoratively dubbed by the establishment as “enthusiasm”) rather than reason, the movement appealed to the poor and uneducated, including slaves and Indians.
In retrospect, the Great Awakening contributed to the revolutionary movement in a number of ways: it forced Awakeners to organize, mobilize, petition, and provided them with political experience; it encouraged believers to follow their beliefs even if that meant breaking with their church; it discarded clerical authority in matters of conscience; and it questioned the right of civil authority to intervene in all matters of religion. In a surprising way, these principles sat very well with the basic beliefs of rational Protestants (and deists). They also helped clarify their common objections to British civil and religious rule over the colonies, and provided both with arguments in favor of the separation of church and state.

Rationalism
Despite the evangelical, emotional challenge to reason underlying the “Great Awakening,” by the end of the colonial period, Protestant rationalism remained the dominant religious force among the leaders of most of the colonies: “The similarity of belief among the educated gentry in all colonies is notable. . . . [There] seem to be evidence that some form of rationalism—Unitarian, deist, or otherwise—was often present in the religion of gentlemen leaders by the late colonial period.”[11] Whether Unitarian, deist, or even Anglican/Congregational, rationalism focused on the ethical aspects of religion. Rationalism also discarded many “superstitious” aspects of the Christian liturgy (although many continued to believe in the human soul and in the afterlife). The political edge of this argument was that no human institution—religious or civil—could claim divine authority. In addition, in their search for God’s truths, rationalists such as Thomas Jefferson and Benjamin Franklin valued the study of nature (known as “natural religion”) over the Scriptures (or “revealed religion”).
At the core of this rational belief was the idea that God had endowed humans with reason so that they could tell the difference between right and wrong. Knowing the difference also meant that humans made free choices to sin or behave morally. The radicalization of this position led many rational dissenters to argue that intervention in human decisions by civil authorities undermined the special covenant between God and humankind. Many therefore advocated the separation of church and state.
Taken further, the logic of these arguments led them to dismiss the divine authority claimed by the English kings, as well as the blind obedience compelled by such authority. Thus, by the 1760s, they mounted a two-pronged attack on England: first, for its desire to intervene in the colonies’ religious life and, second, for its claim that the king ruled over the colonies by divine inspiration. Once the link to divine authority was broken, revolutionaries turned to Locke, Milton, and others, concluding that a government that abused its power and hurt the interests of its subjects was tyrannical and as such deserved to be replaced.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[1] Patricia U. Bonomi, Under the Cape of Heaven: Religion, Society, and Politics in Colonial America (New York: Oxford University Press, 1986), 16.

[2] Bonomi, Under the Cape of Heaven, 18.

[3] Bonomi, Under the Cape of Heaven, 6.

[4] As one historian put it, it was “a holocaust that destroyed collective African religious practice in Colonial America.”Butler, Awash in a Sea of Faith, 157.

[5] Bonomi, Under the Cape of Heaven, 36.

[6] John Butler, Awash in a Sea of Faith: Christianization of the American People (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1990), 57.

Questions pertaining to "Of Plimouth Plantation"
“Of Plimouth Plantation” questions Use specific textual evidence to respond to the following
1. List three reasons why the Pilgrims of Plimouth “plant[ed] the first colony in the northern parts of Virginia”.


2. What is the purpose of a covenant?


3. Why did the Pilgims of Plimouth “enact, constitute, and frame such just and equal laws?”


4. (thinking question; not in the text) Why was “the water not being high enough?”


5. What were the Indian’s weapons?

6. Why did the Pilgrims shoot “off a couple of muskets?”


7. (analysis question; not in text) What is the significance of some of the Indian’s weapons being “headed with brass?”


8. Why were “none of [the Pilgrims] either hit or hurt?’


9. List five descriptors of the “savage”.


10. (synthesis question) What do the following words signify in terms of the Plilgrim’s relationship with the Indians?
“…they did eat liberally of our English victuals, they made semblance of friendship and amity.”

Friday 21 October finish Hamlet essay review

Finishing up day~~~~~~~~

Hamlet sentence corrections

Dialectical journals

For Monday: quiz on the vocabulary from Jamestown. It's on Wednesday's blog

Make sure you have read the Plymouth Mateial

For Tuesday: make sure you have read the Westover Chronicles.

Thursday 20 October Smith's History of Virginia.

Bonus (40 quiz points): identify the type of ship above; obviously it is related to the literature we are reading. e-mail before class or put on desk, as usual.
In class: we are looking at the first of three 17th century journals with the objective of understanding the relationships between the English settlers and the indiginous peoples. You will note that depending upon the purpose of the settlement, the interactions between the two groups of people will vary. This will impact both sides.

Step I: Defining any unfamilar words. (if you have looked at the blog, you haved saved time) NOTE: there will be a vocabulary quiz Monday on these words- simple matching.
1.conjurations- (noun) calling or invoking a sacred name
2. coronet- (noun) crown
3. invocation (noun) calling upon a deity for aid or inspiration
4. environed (verb) to form a circle or ring around
5, mutachatos (noun) archaic word meaning knife-like strokes
6. oration (noun) a formal public speech
7. trencher (noun) a rectangular, flat piece of wood to serve meat
8. courtier (noun) a person in attendance at the court of the king
9. barbarous (adjective) uncivilized, wild, savage
10. consultation (noun) a meeting to evaluate a situation
11. doleful (adjective) sorrowful, mournful
12. grindstone (noun) a large round stone used for shaping and grinding
13. to esteem (verb) to regard highly or favorably (archaic- to evaluate)
14. to mollify (verb) to soften in feeling, to appease
15. demicuverings (noun) 17th century firearm
16. combustion (noun) the act of burning; a tumult or violent excitement

Step II. Reflect upon for class discussion:

1. In general how are the Indians portrayed?






The Baptism of Pocahontas by John Gastby Chapman
This is in the Capital Rotonda painted 1839

2. How has the story of John Smith's capture been portrayed through British and American accounts?
Step III: Looking at the text. dialectical journal
Class handout. Each student is to review the "history of Jamestown" text and respond with five examples as follows.


Dialectical Journal_____________________________________________________

Source:

Part 1: Select quotes or pieces of text from the source provided…
® Look for quotes from the text that seem significant or powerful

Part 2:Respond with comments, connections, questions, and predictions…
® Why is this important?
® What questions do I have about this?
® How does this connect to what I know or have experienced?
® Do I agree or disagree with this?
HOMEWORK: For Monday read Plymouth Plantation; for Tuesday read The Westover Manuscript
see copies below:

Plymouth Plantation
Journal of the beginning and proceedings
of the English Plantation settled at Plymouth in NEW
ENGLAND, by certain English Adventurers both
Merchants and others.
With their difficult passage, their safe arrival, their
joyful building of, and comfortable planting themselves
in the now well defended town
of NEW PLYMOUTH.

Having undertaken for the glory of God, and advancement of the Christian faith,
and honor of our King and Country, a voyage to plant the first colony in the northern
parts of Virginia, do by these presents solemnly and mutually in the presence of God and
one of another, covenant, and combine ourselves together into a civil body politic, for our
better ordering and preservation, and furtherance of the ends aforesaid; and by virtue
hereof to enact, constitute, and frame such just and equal laws, ordinances, acts,
constitutions, offices from time to time, as shall be thought most meet and convenient for
the general good of the colony: unto which we promise all due submission and
obedience. In witness whereof we have hereunder subscribed our names Cape Cod 11 of
November, in the year of the reign of our sovereign Lord King James, of England,
France, and Ireland 18 and of Scotland 54. Anno Domini 1620.

About midnight we heard a great and hideous cry, and our sentinels called, Arm, Arm. So we bestirred
ourselves and shot off a couple of muskets, and noise ceased; we concluded, that it was a
company of wolves or foxes, for one told us, he had heard such a noise in Newfoundland.
About five o'clock in the morning we began to be stirring, and two or three which
doubted whether their pieces would go off or no made trial of them, and shot them off,
but thought nothing at all, after prayer we prepared ourselves for breakfast, and for a
journey, and it being now the twilight in the morning, it was thought meet to carry the
things down to the shallop: some said, it was not best to carry the armor down, others
said, they would be readier, two or three said, they would not carry theirs, till they went
themselves, but mistrusting nothing at all: as it fell out, the water not being high enough,
they laid the things down upon the shore, and came up to breakfast. Anon, all upon a
sudden, we heard a great and strange cry, which we knew to be the same voices, though
they varied their notes, one of our company being abroad came running in and cried,
They are men, Indians, Indians; and withal, their arrows came flying amongst us, our
men ran out with all speed to recover their arms, as by the good providence of God they
did. In the meantime, Captain Myles Standish, having a snaphance ready, made a shot,
and after him another, after they two had shot, other two of us were ready, but he wished
us not to shoot, till we could take aim, for we knew not what need we should have, and
there were four only of us, which had their arms there ready, and stood before the open
side of our barricade, which was first assaulted, they thought it best to defend it, lest the
enemy should take it and our stuff, and so have the more vantage against us, our care was
no less for the shallop, but we hoped all the rest would defend it; we called unto them to
know how it was with them, and they answered, Well, Well every one, and be of good
courage : we heard three of their pieces go off, and the rest called for a firebrand to light
their matches, one took a log out of the fire on his shoulder and went and carried it unto
them, which was thought did not a little discourage our enemies. The cry of our enemies
was dreadful, especially, when our men ran out to recover their arms, their note was after
this manner, Woath woach ha ha hach woach: our men were no sooner come to their
arms, but the enemy was ready to assault them.
There was a lusty man and no whit less valiant, who was thought to be their
captain, stood behind a tree within half a musket shot of us, and there let his arrows fly at
us; he was seen to shoot three arrows, which were all avoided, for he at whom the first
arrow was aimed, saw it, and stooped down and it flew over him, the rest were avoided
also: he stood three shots of a musket, at length one took as he said full aim at him, after
which he gave an extraordinary cry and away they went all, we followed them about a
quarter of a mile, but we left six to keep our shallop, for we were careful about our
business: then we shouted all together two several times, and shot off a couple of muskets
and so returned: this we did that they might see we were not afraid of them nor
discouraged. Thus it pleased God to vanquish our enemies and give us deliverance, by
their noise we could not guess that they were less than thirty or forty, though some
thought that they were many more yet in the dark of the morning, we could not so well
discern them among the trees, as they could see us by our fireside, we took up 18 of their
arrows which we have sent to England by Master Jones, some whereof were headed with
brass, others with harts' horn, and others with eagles' claws many more no doubt were
shot, for these we found were almost covered with leaves: yet by the especial providence
of God, none of them either hit or hurt us, though many came close by us, and on every
side of us, and some coats which hung up in our barricade, were shot through and
through. So after we had given God thanks for our deliverance, we took our shallop and
went on our journey, and called this place, The First Encounter.
Saturday and Sunday reasonable fair days. On this day came again the savage,
and brought with him five other tall proper men, they had every man a deer's skin on him,
and the principal of them had a wild cat's skin, or such like on the one arm; they had most
of them long hosen up to their groins, close made; and above their groins to their waist
another leather, they were altogether like the Irish-trousers; they are of complexion like
our English gypsies, no hair or very little on their faces, on their heads long hair to their
shoulders, only cut before some trussed up before with a feather, broad-wise, like a fan,
another a fox tail hanging out: these left (according to our charge given him before) their
bows and arrows a quarter of a mile from our town, we gave them entertainment as we
thought was fitting them, they did eat liberally of our English victuals, they made
semblance unto us of friendship and amity; they song and danced after their manner like
antics; they brought with them in a thing like a bow-case (which the principal of them
had about his waist) a little of their corn pounded to powder, which put to a little water,
they eat; he had a little tobacco in a bag, but none of them drunk but when he listed, some
of them had their faces painted black, from the forehead to the chin, four or five fingers
broad; others after other fashions, as they liked; they brought three or four skins, but we
would not truck with them at all that day, but wished them to bring more, and we would
truck for all, which they promised within a night or two, and would leave these behind
them, though we were not willing they should, and they brought us all our tools again
which were taken in the woods, in our men's absence, so because of the day we dismissed
them so soon as we could. But Samoset our first acquaintance, either was sick, or feigned
himself so, and would not go with them, and stayed with us till Wednesday morning: then
we sent him to them, to know the reason they came not according to their words, and we
gave him an hat, a pair of stockings and shoes, a shirt, and a piece of cloth to tie about his
waist.
The Sabbath day, when we sent them from us, we gave every one of them some
trifles, especially the principal of them, we carried them along with our arms to the place
where they left their bows and arrows, whereat they were amazed, and two of them began
to slink away, but that the other called them, when they took their arrows, we bade them
farewell, and they were glad, and so with many thanks given us they departed, with
promise they would come again.


The Westover Manuscripts:
Containing the History of the Dividing Line Betwixt Virginia and North Carolina;
A Journey to the Land of Eden, A. D. 1733; and A Progress to the Mines.
Written from 1728 to 1736, and Now First Published:
Byrd, William, 1674-1744
HISTORY
OF
THE DIVIDING LINE:
RUN IN THE YEAR 1728.
BEFORE I enter upon the journal of the line between Virginia and North Carolina, it will be necessary to clear the way to it, by showing how the other British colonies on the Main have, one after another, been carved out of Virginia, by grants from his majesty's royal predecessors. All that part of the northern American continent now under the dominion of the king of Great Britain, and stretching quite as far as the cape of Florida, went at first under the general name of Virginia.
The only distinction, in those early days, was, that all the coast to the southward of Chesapeake bay was called South Virginia, and all to the northward of it, North Virginia.
The first settlement of this fine country was owing to that great ornament of the British nation, sir Walter Raleigh, who obtained a grant thereof from queen Elizabeth of ever-glorious memory, by letters patent, dated March the 25th, 1584.
But whether that gentleman ever made a voyage thither himself is uncertain; because those who have favoured the public with an account of his life mention nothing of it. However, thus much may be depended on, that sir Walter invited sundry persons of distinction to share in his charter, and join their purses with his in the laudable project of fitting out a colony to Virginia.
Accordingly, two ships were sent away that very year, under the command of his good friends Amidas and Barlow, to take possession of the country in the name of his royal mistress, the queen of England.
These worthy commanders, for the advantage of the trade winds, shaped their course first to the Charibbe islands, thence stretching away by the gulf of Florida, dropped anchor not far from Roanoke inlet. They ventured ashore near that place upon an island now called Colleton island, where they set up the arms of England, and claimed the adjacent country in right of their sovereign lady, the queen; and this ceremony being duly performed, they kindly invited the neighbouring Indian to traffick with them.
These poor people at first approached the English with great caution, having heard much of the treachery of the Spaniards, and not knowing but these strangers might be as treacherous as they. But, at length, discovering a kind of good nature in their looks, they ventured to draw near, and barter their skins and furs for the bawbles and trinkets of the English.
These first adventurers made a very profitable voyage, raising at least a thousand per cent upon their cargo. Amongst other Indian commodities, they brought over some of that bewitching vegetable, tobacco.
…like true Englishmen, they built a church that cost no more than fifty pounds, and a tavern that cost five hundred. They had now made peace with the Indians, but there was one thing wanting to make that peace lasting. The natives could, by no means, persuade themselves that the English were heartily their friends, so long as they disdained to intermarry with them. And, in earnest, had the English consulted their own security and the good of the colony--had they intended either to civilize or convert these gentiles, they would have brought their stomachs to embrace this prudent alliance.
The Indians are generally tall and well-proportioned, which may make full amends for the darkness of their complexions. Add to this, that they are healthy and strong, with constitutions untainted by lewdness, and not enfeebled by luxury. Besides, morals and all considered, I cannot think the Indians were much greater heathens than the first adventurers, who, had they been good Christians, would have had the charity to take this only method of converting the natives to Christianity. For, after all that can be said, a sprightly lover is the most prevailing missionary that can be sent amongst these, or any other infidels. Besides, the poor Indians would have had less reason to complain that the English took away their land, if they had received it by way of portion with their daughters. Had such affinities been contracted in the beginning, how much bloodshed had been prevented, and how populous would the country have been, and, consequently, how considerable? Nor would the shade of the skin have been any reproach at this day; for if a Moor may be washed white in three generations, surely an Indian might have been blanched in two.
The French, for their parts, have not been so squeamish in Canada, who upon trial find abundance of attraction in the Indians. Their late grand monarch thought it not below even the dignity of a Frenchman to become one flesh with this people, and therefore ordered 100 livres for any of his subjects, man or woman, that would intermarry with a native.
By this piece of policy we find the French interest very much strengthened amongst the savages, and their religion, such as it is, propagated just as far as their love. And I heartily wish this well-concerted scheme does not hereafter give the French an advantage over his majesty's good subjects on the northern continent of America.
About the same time New England was pared off from Virginia by letters patent, bearing date April the 10th, 1608. Several gentlemen of the town and neighborhood of Plymouth obtained this grant, with the lord chief justice Popham at their head.

Wednesday 19 October pre 1750 colonial lit

In class: quiz on the reading material based upon the colonial literature before 1750.

Practice review of Hamlet essays.

For Thursday. Make sure you have read carefully the Johsn Smith's The History of Virginia. (class handout and copy on Monday's blog). The expectation is that you have looked up any unfamiliar words.

Tuesday 18 October

In class: finishing up those folks that did not have the opportunity to present their sonnets.

If you were asked to present and were not ready for whatever reason, you need to see me to make it up. You are deducted 20 points. Get these done quickly.

Going over the Hamlet essays: things we can do to tidy up our skills.

FOR WEDNESDAY: MAKE SURE YOU HAVE READ THE BACKGROUND MATERIAL ON THE LITERATURE PRIOR TO 1750. QUIZ TOMORROW!

Thursday; have read John Smith's account. If you lost your copy, check Monday's blog.

Monday 17 October colonial literature pre 1750

ASSIGNED SEATS TODAY
DUE TODAY: vocabulary 3 anything after class is 10 points off
In class; finishing up (I hope) the sonnet presentations
New material
FOR WEDNESDAY: We are beginning a unit on colonial literature prior to 1750. Please read the background information on the handout carefully. We'll have a quiz on Wednesday. (copy below)
Tomorrow, Tuesday, we'll review the Hamlet essays.
For Thursday: read John Smith's Generall Historie (copy below) Make sure read actively, that is to underline and define any words which you are unsure of. Note in the margins any questions or comments that come to mind as you read.

(Wednesday's reading)The New Land to 1750

Let England know our willingnesse,
For that our worke is good:
Wee hope to plant a nation,
Where none before hath stood
Thomas Dale
Governor of the Jamestown Colony

More than a century after European explorers discovered North America, there were no permanent settlements in the New World north of St. Augustine, Florida. By 1607, however, a small group of English settlers was struggling to survive on a marshy island in the James River in the present state of Virginia. In 1611, Thomas Dale, governor of the colony, wrote a report to the king expressing the colonist’s determination to succeed. Despite disease and starvation, Jamestown did survive.
The first settlers were entranced by the presence and, to them, the strangeness of the native inhabitants. They did not at first realize that these earlier Americans, like Europeans, had cultural values and literary traditions of their own. The literature was entirely oral, for the tribes of North America had not yet developed writing systems. This extensive oral tradition, along with the first written works of the colonists forms the beginning of the American literary heritage.

The Historical Setting:

When Christopher Columbus reached North America in 1492, the continent was already populated, though sparsely, by several hundred Native American tribes. Europeans did not encounter these tribes all at once. Explorers from different nations came into contact with them at different times. As we now know, these widely dispersed tribes of Native Americans differed greatly from one another in language, government, social organization, customs, housing and methods of survival.
What we do know is that the Native Americans usually, but by no means always, greeted the earliest Europeans as friends. They instructed the newcomers in New World agriculture and woodcraft, introduced them to maize, beans, squash, maple sugar, snow shoes, toboggans and birch bark canoes.
A small group of Europeans sailed from England on the Mayflower in 1620. The passengers were religious reformers, who were critical of the Church of England. Having given up of or “purifying” the church from within, they chose instead to withdraw from the church. This action earned them the name Separatists. We know them as Pilgrims. They established a settlement at what is now Plymouth, Massachusetts. Eventually, it was engulfed by the Massachusetts Bay Colony, the much larger settlement to the north.
Religion affected every aspect of Puritan life, although the Puritans were not always as stern and otherworldly as they are sometimes pictures. Their writings occasionally reveal a sense of humor, and the hardships of daily life forced them to be practical. In one sense, the Puritans were radical, since they demanded fundamental changes in the Church of England. In another sense, however, they were conservative. They preached a plain, unadorned Christianity that contrasted sharply with the cathedrals, vestments, ceremony and hierarchy of the Church of England.
What exactly did the puritans believe? Their beliefs were far from simple, but they agreed that human beings exist for the glory of God and the Bible is the sole expression of God’s will. They believed in predestination--John Calvin’s doctrine that God has already decided who will achieve salvation and who will not. The elect, or saints, who are to be saved, cannot take election for granted, however. Because of that, all devout Puritans searched their soul with great rigor and frequency for signs of grace. The Puritans believed in original sin and felt that they could accomplish good only through continual hard work and self-discipliner. When people speak of the “Puritan ethic,” that is what they mean.
It was an oddly assorted group that established the foundations of American literature: the Native Americans with their oral traditions, the Puritans with their preoccupation with sin and salvation and the Southern planters with their busy social lives. Indeed, much of the literature that the colonists read was not produced in the colonies. It came from England. Yet by 1750 there were the clear beginnings of a native literature that would one day be honored throughout the English-speaking world.

Note: The Puritans in general had a theory of literary style. They believed in the plain style of writing, one in which clear statement is the highest goal. An ornate or clever style would be a sign of vanity and, as such, would not be in accordance with God’s will.

The important literature of the pre-Revolutionary South can be summed up in one name-William Byrd. Byrd lived at Westover, a magnificent plantation on the James River bequeathed to him by his wealthy father. Commissioned in 1738 to survey the boundary line between Virginia and North Carolina, he kept a journal of his experiences. That journal, never intended for publication, was found among his papers after his death. Published nearly a century later as The History of the Dividing Line, it was immediately recognized as a minor humorous masterpiece.

(Thursday's reading)
Excerpt from Captain John Smith, The Generall Historie of Virginia, New England & the Summer Isles (1624)

Then they led him to the Youthtanunds, the Mattapanients, the Payankatanks, the Nantaughtacunds, and Onawmanients upon the rivers of Rappahannock, and Potomac, over all those rivers, and back again by divers other several nations, to the King's habitation at Pamaunkee, where they entertained him with most strange and fearful conjurations:
As if near led to hell,Amongst the devils to dwell.
Not long after, early in a morning a great fire was made in a longhouse, and a mat spread on the one side, as on the other; on the one they caused him to sit, and all the guard went out of the house, and presently came skipping in a great grim fellow, all painted over with coal, mingled with oil: and many snakes' and weasels' skins stuffed with moss, and all their tails tied together, so as they met on the crown of his head in a tassel; and round about the tassel was as a coronet of feathers, the skins hanging round about his head, back, and shoulders, and in a manner covered his face; with a hellish voice, and a rattle in his hand. With most strange gestures and passions he began his invocation, and environed the fire with a circle of meal, which done, three more such like devils came rushing in with the like antique tricks, painted half black, half red, but all their eyes were painted white, and some red strokes like mutchatos along their cheeks. Round about him those fiends danced a pretty while, and then came in three more as ugly as the rest, with red eyes, and white strokes over their black faces. At last they all sat down right against him, three of them on the one hand of the chief priest, and three on the other. Then all with their rattles began a song, which ended the chief priest laid down five wheat corns; then straining his arms and hands with such violence that he sweat, and his veins swelled, he began a short oration. At the conclusion they all gave a short groan, and they laid down three grains more. After that, began their song again, and then another oration, ever laying down so many corns as before, till they had twice encircled the fire; that done, they took a bunch of little sticks prepared for that purpose, continuing still their devotion, and at the end of every song and oration they laid down a stick betwixt the divisions of corn. Till night, neither he nor they did either eat or drink; and then they feasted merrily, with the best provisions they could make. Three days they used this ceremony; the meaning whereof, they told him, was to know if he intended them well or no. The circle of meal signified their country, the circles of corn the bounds of the sea, and the sticks his country. They imagined the world to be flat and round, like a trencher, and they in the midst.
After this they brought him a bag of gunpowder, which they carefully preserved till the next spring, to plant as they did their corn; because they would be acquainted with the nature of that seed.
Opitchapam, the King's brother, invited him to his house, where, with as many platters of bread, fowl, and wild beasts as did environ him, he bid him welcome; but not any of them would eat a bit with him but put up all the remainder in baskets.
At his return to Opechancanoughs, all the King's women, and their children, flocked about him for their parts, as a due by custom, to be merry with such fragments.
But his waking mind in hideous dreams did oft see wondrous shapes,Of bodies strange, and huge in growth, and of stupendous makes.
At last they brought him to Meronocomoco, where was Powhatan, their emperor. Here more than two hundred of those grim courtiers stood wondering at him, as he had been a monster till Powhatan and his train had put themselves in their greatest braveries. Before a fire upon a seat like a bedstead, he sat covered with a great robe made of rarowcun skins, and all the tails hanging by. On either hand did sit a young wench of 16 or 18 years, and along on each side the house, two rows of men, and behind them as many women, with all their heads and shoulders painted red, many of their heads bedecked with the white down of birds, but every one with something, and a great chain of white beads about their necks.
At his entrance before the King, all the people gave a great shout. The Queen of Appamatuck was appointed to bring him water to wash his hands and another brought him a bunch of feathers, instead of a towel, to dry them. Having feasted him after their best barbarous manner they could, a long consultation was held; but the conclusion was, two great stones were brought before Powhatan: then as many as could laid hands on him, dragged him to them, and thereon laid his head, and being ready with their clubs, to beat out his brains, Pocahontas, the King's dearest daughter, when no entreaty could prevail, got his head in her arms, and laid her own upon his to save him from death, whereat the Emperor was contented he should live to make him hatchets, and her bells, beads, and copper, for they thought him as well of all occupations as themselves. For the King himself will make his own robes, shoes, bows, arrows, pots; plant, hunt, or do any thing so well as the rest.
They say he bore a pleasant show,But sure his heart was sad.For who can pleasant be, and rest,That lives in fear and dread:And having life suspected, dothIt still suspected lead.
Two days after, Powhatan, having disguised himself in the most fearfulest manner he could, caused Captain Smith to be brought forth to a great house in the woods, and there upon a mat by the fire to be left alone. Not long after, from behind a mat that divided the house, was made the most dolefulest noise he ever heard; then Powhatan, more like a devil than a man, with some two hundred more as black as himself, came unto him and told him now they were friends, and presently he should go to Jamestown to send him two great guns, and a grindstone, for which he would give him the country of Capahowosick, and for ever esteem him as his son Nantaquoud.
So to Jamestown with 12 guides Powhatan sent him. That night they quartered in the woods, he still expecting (as he had done all this long time of his imprisonment) every hour to be put to one death or other, for all their feasting. But almighty God (by his divine providence) had mollified the hearts of those stern barbarians with compassion. The next morning betimes they came to the fort, where Smith, having used the savages with what kindness he could, he showed Rawhunt, Powhatan's trusty servant, two demiculverings and a millstone to carry Powhatan. They found them somewhat too heavy, but when they did see him discharge them, being loaded with stones, among the boughs of a great tree loaded with icicles, the ice and branches came so tumbling down that the poor savages ran away half dead with fear. But at last we regained some conference with them, and gave them such toys; and sent to Powhatan, his women, and children such presents, as gave them in general full content.
Now in Jamestown they were all in combustion, the strongest preparing once more to run away with the pinnace; which with the hazard of his life, with Sakre falcon and musket shot, Smith forced now the third time to stay or sink.

Tuesday 11 October sonnet performances and...

"The most incomprehensible thing about the world is that it is all comprehensible"

~ Albert Eistein.

Fifty point quiz bonus for identifying in detail this image. The usual: send along before school or drop the note on the desk before class. Some folks could really use this!

In class: sonnet performances. As everyone is ready, we'll just pick names from the hat.

Wednesday is :PSAT day.

Thursday and Friday we'll continue with the sonnets. Marking period closes this Friday. If we get through all the sonnets, that will be the last grade; otherwise the essay will close this marking period 1.

DUE MONDAY 17 October -- vocabulary 3..copy below of class handout
Vocabulary 3 definitions

1. articulate – verb – to pronounce distinctly; to express will in words; pronounce; elucidate;
- adj- (note different syllabic stress)- synonym= eloquent

2. cavort – verb – to romp or prance around exuberantly; gambol

3. credence – noun – belief, mental acceptance; trust; credence

4. decry – verb – to condemn, express strong disapproval; to officially depreciate; denounce; censure; devalue

5. dissemble –verb- to disguise or conceal; deliberately give a false impression; dissimulate; mask; feign

6. distraught – adj – very much agitated or upset as the result of emotion or mental conflict; frantic; distracted

7. eulogy –noun – a formal statement of commendation or high praise; panegyric, encomium, tribute, testimonial

8. evince -verb- to display clearly, to make evident, to provoke; exhibit, manifest, occasion

9. exhume – verb- to remove from a grave; to bring to light; disinter, unearth, uncover

10. feckless – adj –lacking in spirit and strength; feeble, incompetent, helpless, weak, unreliable

11. murky – adj- dark and gloomy, obscure, lacking in clarity and precision; dim, cloudy, obscure

12. nefarious – adj- wicked, depraved, devoid or moral standards; iniquitous, reprehensible

13. piquant – adj –stimulating to the taste or mind; spicy, pungent, appealingly provocative; tangy; zestful

14. primordial – adj – developed or created at the very beginning, going back to the most ancient times or early
stages; original, primeval, primal

15.propinquity- noun – nearness in place or time; kinship; propinquity; similarity

16. unwonted –adj – not usual or expected; not in character; unusual, uncommon, unexpected, atypical

17. utopian –adj – founded upon or involving a visionary view of an ideal world; impractical; idealistic

18. verbiage –noun – language that is too wordy or inflated in proportion to the sense or context; verbosity, prolixity,
diction, jargon

19. verdant –adj – green in tint or color; immature in experience or judgment; artless, naïve

20. viscous – adj – having a gelatinous or gluey quality; lacking in easy movement or fluidity, gummy, sticky, thick


Vocabulary 3, exercise 1 Use the correct form!
1. The _________________________________ of the two cities has created a greater metropolitan area that is in
effect one city.
2. The crowd did not _______________________ any signs of panic but moved in an orderly fashion to the nearest
exit.
3. The varnish left a _________________________ residue on the wood that was hard to remove.

4. The workforce became ________________________ in the wake of the 1929 stock market crash.

5. Few people can ____________________________their emotions during times of stress.

6. Many visitors have claimed to see a mysterious creature in the ______________________ waters of Loch Ness in
Scotland.
7. The ____________________________ stages of most civilizations are founded on common needs met by common
goals.
8. The actors in the musical _______________________ around the stage.

9. The young man was unable to _______________________ his feelings and admitted to having committed the
crime.
10. The contract was full of meaningless _____________________ that seemed designed to confuse the lay person.

11. A number of American religious groups like the Shakers have built separate communities based on ______________________ schemes.

12. Brutus and Cassius hatched a _______________________plot to assassinate Julius Caesar on the steps of the
Roman Senate.

13. The listless student answered with ________________________ spirit when the subject of military tactics was
raised.

14. Every arm of government and every educational institution should _____________________ bigotry in all its
forms.
15. The tourists on safari traveled over the ______________________ grasslands of Kenya in search of native
wildlife.
16. Although a ______________________________ youth, he eventually matured into a hard-working and
responsible citizen.
17. The best friend and longtime law partner of the deceased delivered the _________________ at the funeral.

18. The chef was an expert in making those _____________________ dishes that are characteristic of South Indian
cooking.
19. Suspecting foul play, the coroner issued an order to _________________________ the body immediately.

20. The government and the public failed to give _______________________ to the reports of an impending water shortage.

Vocabulary 3, exercise 2; Use the correct form!
1. The assembly speaker couldn’t be understood because he mumble his words instead of _____________________________ them clearly.
2. For as far as the eye could see, ______________________ fields of unripe corn swayed gently in the morning breeze.
3. An educated citizenry will not give ________________________ to wild charges of extremists seeking to undermine our political and economic system.
4. How could we draw any clear ideas from a talk that was so disorganized, confused in language and generally ____________________.
5. Sadly, the _______________________ schemes of high-minded idealists usually founder on the rocks of practical realities.
6. Such spices as red pepper make many of the sauces used in Cajun cooking delightfully _______________________________.
7. I believe there is an overall design to the universe that has been visible ever since the first thing crawled out of the ______________________ ooze.
8. In the hands of our hopelessly __________________________ producer, what should have been a surefire hit turned into a resounding fiasco.
9. When new evidence turned up in the case, the court ordered the coroner to __________________________ the victim’s body and reexamine it.
10. Though diesel fuels are not as thick as motor oil, they are a good deal more _______________________ than regular gasoline.
11. Though I prefer to be as open and aboveboard as possible, I have learned that it is wiser or more tactful to __________________________.
12. When Bill was told that he had made the varsity wrestling team, he began to _______________________ around the gym like a young colt.
13. The NCAA has in recent years cracked down hard on such _______________________________practices as “shaving points.”
14. He clothes his puny ideas in such highfalutin _________________________that they resemble gnats in top hats and tails.
15. The new chairman _____________________________ what she called the “deplorable tendency of so many Americans to try to get something for nothing.”
16. Even at an early age, my sister ____________________________ a strong interest in studying medicine.
17. When news of the school fire ran through town, _______________________ parents rushed to the scene of the blaze.
18. Every Memorial Day, the Mayor delivers a(n) ________________________ extolling the selfless devotion of those who have died in the defense of their country.
19. Since my apartment is in such close ____________________________ to my office, I usually walk to work.
20. I have always regarded the man as something of a daredevil, but on this occasion he approached the problem with ________________________ caution.

Vocabulary 3, exercise 3
Synonyms
1. did exhibit true remorse _____________________________________
2. primeval history ________________________________
3. burdened by unnecessary verbosity ______________________________________
4. a very tangy salad dressing _____________________________________
5. distinguished by uncommon courtesy ___________________________________
6. full of idealistic plans ___________________________________
7. the iniquitous traitor and spy _______________________________________
8. a slightly gummy coating of wax __________________________________
9. gamboled in the wading pool _________________________________
10. tried to dissimulate when confronted __________________________________
11. uncovered the buried treasure __________________________________
12. feared for the helpless child _________________________________
13. an unwelcomed proximity ________________________________
14. tried to calm the frantic parents ________________________________
15. could not make out the unclear images _________________________________

Antonyms

16. watered the arid lawn ________________________________
17. managed to mumble a quick response _______________________________
18. rose to commend the new regime ______________________________
19. published her lengthy diatribe ______________________________
20. treated the idea with skepticism ________________________________

Vocabulary 3, exercise 4
1. Far from being unpleasant, her slight foreign accent added an extra dash of spice to her already (primordial, piquant) personality.
2. Trying to read your (viscous, utopian) prose is just like trying to swim upstream through custard.
3. An accomplished hypocrite usually finds it very easy to (dissemble, decry) his true feelings as circumstances dictate.
4. The new mayor is a curious mixture of hardheaded pragmatist and the (utopian, murky) reformer.
5. The book has an interesting plot, but the author has practically smothered it in endless (verbiage, eulogy).
6. Though the work hadn’t seen the light of day for over a century, a daring impresario (cavorted, exhumed) and staged it to great public acclaim.
7. Not surprisingly, the address was notably evenhanded affair in which the speaker cleverly mixed (eulogy, verbiage) with admonition.
8. The investigating committee (decried, dissembled) the use of substandard materials and slovenly workmanship in the housing project.
9. One of the duties of the president is to (cavort, articulate) the policies and programs of his administration in a forceful and convincing way.
10. The United States is cooperating with the other nations in an effort to check the (feckless, nefarious) trade in narcotics.
11. (Exhumed, distraught) with grief, they sat motionless for hours, staring blankly into space.
12. The extraordinary musical talents of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (evinced, dissembled) themselves at an amazingly early age.
13. Despite the reports of “miraculous” cures, you would be well advised to withhold (verbiage, credence) until the drug has been fully tested.
14. The behavior of armies in war time often evinces the (murky, primordial) blood lust that civilized people have not yet overcome.
15. When life was easy, he was all dash and confidence, but in times of trouble his essentially (piquant, feckless) character comes to the fore.
16. The (credence, propinquity) of our ideas on handling the problem made it very easy for my colleague and me to produce the report in record time.
17. From the bridge, the rescue team could just make out the blurred image of a car beneath the (murky, unwonted) waters of the river.
18. Unfortunately, the (nefarious, verdant) hopes and aspirations of my youth have been somewhat blighted by the icy blasts of reality.
19.From the deck of out luxury liner, we occasionally caught sight of schools of porpoises (cavorting, evincing) playfully in the waves.
20. His (viscous, unwonted) interest in the state of my finances strengthened my suspicions that he was about to ask for a loan.