Film Montage

Thesis Statement William Bradford

William Bradford's Of Plymouth Plantation discusses how the Puritans are faced with calamities and terrible events that put them on the edge of destruction, but they still manage to keep their sanity and their faith in God.

Reflection

The passage I read is my favorite because it conveys God's mercy towards the Puritans. The seasons were kind to the Puritans by the success of the corn crop. The corn kept the Puritans from suffering malnutrition and is one of the few objects that kept them alive. This passage displays the Lord's affection to the Puritans by giving them better surroundings than the cold one they just had. It implements the usage of the Lord's Grace as the saving benefactor of the striving Puritans.

Diary Entry William Bradford

Ah Yes............the voyage was rough. My brethren are glad to be rid of the confines of a ship and my sisters are joyful at finding land. I agree with both of them and I am ready to start life anew. After a most horrific journey, I am glad to be in this New World, away from prosecution. I have observed the most unusual specimens of wildlife in this strange land. New edibles have been found like this one that has particularly odd kernels.

I still believe in this new land because it is a safe haven from the Anglican church. The church has become the tyrant of England and they mock us as "heretics". Those singled-minded men preach untruths and are separated from God due to their unBiblical doctrines and teachings.
While we "Separatists" are safe from the despotic King, we have issues such as food to solve.

We have made discoveries, but I am afraid they will not save us from starvation. We have seen dark-skinned men come from the woods and my community is quizzical about these men. These "aliens" appear friendly but are shrouded in mystery. Only time will tell if they are friend or foe.

Bradford Political Cartoon

In 1642 the Pilgrims landed at Plymouth Rock and if they had been greeted with all of the same obstacles todays immigrants are, they probably would have not been allowed in this country. In this political cartoon, a lone Native American chief welcomes the boatload of Pilgrims with a laundry list of requirements that must be met if the English settlers are allowed to stay in the New World. This isslustrates that the whole cartoon is a spoof on today's politics regarding illegal aliens and others who try to seek asylum and opportunity in our great country. The Pilgrims, even in their august clothing, have emigrate back to their country due to the fact they have nothing the Chief indian wants. This shows illegals in this country are always told to depart back to their country of origin correlates to the fictionious information the Pilgrims had to go back to their home country. The United States' infrastructure is able and will support more illegals if they are able to come to this country.

http://iamashadow.files.wordpress.com/2008/07/immigration-pic-7.jpg

"Upon the Burning of Our House"

"Upon the Burning of our House" was the poem by Anne Bradstreet that impressed me the most. The reason this poem is so compelling is Anne is conflicted between forgetting her old possessions due to her Puritan faith and becoming sorrowful due to her materialistic ways. She is in a state of melancholy at the beginning, but then wavers to forgetting her old possessions because it is sinful in the Puritan religion to care about Earthly objects. She then convinces herself of God's Grace and realizes that he giveths away and takeths away. By the end of the poem, Anne Bradstreet looks forward to her life in heaven but obviously will look back and will be saddened about her losses.

Diary Entry

It is a dark lonely night. How I long for my husband for he is almost always away. It is because of political business and his job to soothe relations between the colonies. The reason I stay active is through writing and reading. If it wasn't for my departed father's vast collection of novels and such, I would be a languishing spouse. Along with this collection, my poems also keep me sane and through this poetry I can release my tensions of desolation since I can not share my feelings of being a household wife to the community. I love my eight children, but due to the death of my daughter, I could barely stand one of my offspring to depart this world. I am weak and sickly, and yet I may be dammed due to my materialistic tendancies. Simon I miss you so and this barren nest shall be welcomed to have its lord back.