Literature

• Preacher


  A person who delivered a sermon on religious topics addressing a group of people
• Objective


  • To introduce students to one of the major Puritan poets of the American colonies
  • To discuss how the puritan beliefs are reflected in the poem
• Outcome


  At the end of this course, students will be able to understand the influence of religious values on literature through the analysis of the themes and literary devices used by Edward Taylor
• Edward Taylor


  • Known as the best writer of the Puritan times
  • His poetry captures the attitudes of the second generation Puritans in its emphasis on self-examination, particularly in an individual's relations to God
  • Went down in history as one of the most honored American writers
  • Preparatory Meditations (1682) is a series of 217 verses exploring the Puritan soul
• Taylor's writing style


  • Metaphoric language that helped him convey his ideas about his religious faith
  • Used figurative language to communicate ideas beyond the literal meaning of words
• "The Prologue" to Preparatory Meditations

  An introductory poem in which Edward Taylor, as a puritan writer, explains how he considers poetry as a way to worship God

  
• The poem


  1. Spiritual conversation with God

  2. Reflecting the poet's deep thoughts and devotion to his faith

  3. Taylor asks God guidance to write the right words dedicated to Him

  
• The main question


  How Taylor as a puritan poet can best serve God and in what kind of language?
• Stanza 1


  • Taylor meditated upon natural creations (Earth, mountains, sky) to create a spiritual meaning about the greatness and superiority of God
  • He compares a crumb of dust (human being) to such magnificently large creations to show that even such large creations do not even compare to the Creator of everything (Boundless Deity)
  • He emphasizes the inferiority of human being compared to God's power and greatness
• Stanza 2


  The speaker claims that even if the quill of poet's pen come from an angel, be sharpened on the most precious stone, and write in pure gold liquid, it would still write nothing but errors ("It would but blot and blur, yea jag, and jar") unless God himself both makes the pen and guides the hand of the writer, or "scrivener"
• Stanza 4


  • The speaker asked God guidance, forgiveness for the poor attempts at glorifying God, and poetic inspiration
  • He claims that the mistakes and faults(slips), that are parts of this man created by God Himself (thy being), are worth pardoning
  • He has a trust in God that He will pardon His created man
• Stanza 5


  • The speaker prays God to guide him to write good poetry aiming to praise God and show His properties
  • For the speaker, his mission is to write poetry glorifying and praising God
• The Black Cat is a short story by Edgar Allan Poe, first published in 1843
• The original short story is in the public domain in the United States and most other countries
• The story is narrated by a man who describes a series of household events that have terrified, tortured, and destroyed him
• Narrator's disposition

  Noted for docility and humanity, especially fond of animals
• The narrator had many pets as a child, including a black cat named Pluto
• The narrator's temperament changed for the worse due to alcoholism, and he began mistreating his pets
• The narrator's mistreatment of Pluto the cat

  1. Seized the cat when it avoided him

  2. Cut out one of the cat's eyes

  3. Hung the cat from a tree
• After hanging Pluto, the narrator's house burned down, and an image of the cat appeared on the wall
• The narrator later acquired another black cat that resembled Pluto, but came to dislike it as well
• The narrator describes a "spirit of perverseness" that drove him to mistreat the innocent cat
• purchase it of the landlord; but this person made no claim to it—knew nothing of it—had never seen it before
• I continued my caresses, and, when I prepared to go home, the animal evinced a disposition to accompany me. I permitted it to do so; occasionally stooping and patting it as I proceeded. When it reached the house it domesticated itself at once, and became immediately a great favorite with my wife
• For my own part, I soon found a dislike to it arising within me

  This was just the reverse of what I had anticipated
• its evident fondness for myself rather disgusted and annoyed me
• Slave Narratives


  Autobiographical accounts of personal experiences as slaves and life after slavery, written by enslaved individuals of African descent
• Phillis Wheatley


  • First published African-American female poet
  • Born in Africa (probably in present-day Senegal or Gambia)
  • Captured by slavers and brought to Boston in 1761
  • Purchased by a wealthy tailor, John Wheatley, as a companion for his wife
  • Taught to read and write by her enslavers
  • Got her freedom in 1778 and married a free black man
  • Lived in poverty and lost 3 of her children
  • Died in 1784, aged 31
• Phillis Wheatley's poetry


  • Introduced issues such as slavery, white racism, and critique of Christians
  • Inspired other African-Americans to write about their experiences
• Phillis Wheatley: '"'Twas mercy brought me from my pagan land, Taught my benighted soul to understand That there's a God, that there's a Savior too: Once I redemption neither sought nor knew."'
• Phillis Wheatley addressed religious themes such as her conversion to Christianity and salvation, racism and how white people categorize others based on their skin color, and equality in her poem "On Being Brought from Africa to America"
• Slave writings, including slave narratives, were the beginning of African American Literature
• Themes in slave narratives

  • Slavery
  • Racism
  • Equality
  • Religious themes reflecting authors' beliefs and conversion to Christianity
• Slavery


  The possession of a person as property, where a slave was deprived of most of the rights ordinarily held by free persons
• Racism


  Discrimination directed against a person or people on the basis of their race or ethnic group, typically one that is a minority or marginalized
• Equality


  All people despite their races and ethnicity are equal in status, rights, and opportunities
• Changing names of the slaves and conversion to Christianity are owners' typical attitudes towards the slaves
• The categorization of people based on their skin color was first introduced in America by white people to justify the enslavement of African people
• Phillis Wheatley's poem "On Being Brought from Africa to America"


  Indicates the existence of slavery, racism, and the hypocrisy of white Christians