Carnival Post: Am. Lit. to 1700s

Our class' time with the early years of American literature may have been brief, but it had no short supply of interesting conversation. Partially due to the nature of many of the writings that we read, Christianity and faith were commonly blogged about. The writings of Anne Bradstreet, Edward Taylor, and John Winthrop were inspirational to the faith of many bloggers:

I really appreciate that a lot of Edward Taylor's writings/meditations were not written for the public, or to make himself look better, but they were written during his personal time with the Lord. (Crista's Blog)

The more I read, the more I connected with Anne and her upbringing. I was able to empathize with much of her life and thoughts about God. (Julia's Blog)

Although faith was probably the most common theme in blogging/class discussion, the inner strength and character of Anne Bradstreet was a close second. Many of us identified with how approachable Anne Bradstreet is, and how her poetry gets down to the common person's level (at least in terms of themes). Feminism, inner strength, and Anne's Bradstreet's own personal suffering were all popular topics as well.

 Anne Bradstreet was lucky to receive a higher education than most women of her time. I feel like she made such bounds through being able to be a women writer. Even with the Puritan beliefs that she believed, she kept with her writing as well as with the household duties of the Puritan age and I find that very admirable. (Nicole's Blog)

Bradstreet endured a lot in her life. She had ups and downs just as any person does. Hearing about her faith and the challenges that arose within it gave me a better idea of what type of person she truly was. I think all people can connect with what she went through in some way. (Tanisha's Blog)

One final theme that was present in a few blogs was about the social/political norms of the time we were reading from. The Americas at this point were a unique time in history, and understanding the context from which many of these writings came from was important to a few of our bloggers.

 Before this class, if I thought of Anne Bradstreet at all, I thought of her as a stereotypical Puritan woman. To my mind, this meant she was a model of submission, obeying her husband to the point of reverence, and quietly bowing to all his desires and wishes.(Esther's Blog)

Darn colonists. You can't get captured by natives and let them out of your sight even for a minute.One would think Captain Smith single-handedly saved New England. (Nikki's Blog)

What does this all say about our class? I believe that the variety of topics, conversations, and interests present in our blogs and classroom discussions (hopefully) exemplifies the type of discussion that will we have throughout the rest of the semester. Here's to three more months of exciting American lit discussion!