Colonialism

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Colonialism

• 1492-1770

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Unit Objectives

• RI 11.1 Cites strong and thorough textual
  evidence to support analysis of what the text
  says explicitly and through inference
• RI 11.3 Analyze a complex set of ideas or
  sequence of events and explain how specific
  individuals, ideas, or events interact and
  develop over the course of the text.
• RI 11.4 Determine meanings of words
  connotative and denotative figurative language
  analyze how word choice affects tone

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Focus Skills

• Use quotes correctly
• Explain how the author builds an idea
• Identify bias, subjective and objective writing
• Explain how authors use figurative language to
  affect tone, mood, and meaning

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Voice

• Voice is the author's way the author makes his or
  her writing unique and which conveys the author's
  attitude, personality, and character.
• Tone is the authors emotional attitude towards
  the subject he/she is writing about. It will be
  an emotion word.

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Bias

• Bias - is defined as a personal and sometimes
  unreasoned judgment. Bias can thus be found in
  content through an examination of the information
  the writer included or excluded, and it can also
  be found in tone through an examination of the
  language used. Identifying bias thus involves
  reading between the lines and distinguishing
  between objective and subjective ideas

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Purpose

• Purpose - An authors purpose is the reason an
  author decides to write about a specific topic.
  Then, once a topic is selected, the author must
  decide whether his purpose for writing is to
  inform, persuade, entertain, or explain his ideas
  to the reader. The authors purpose may be
  indicated through bias.

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Memoirs

• A Memoir is a piece of autobiographical writing,
  a form of personal narrative. It often tries to
  capture certain highlights or meaningful moments
  in one's past, often including a contemplation of
  the meaning of that event at the time of the
  writing of the memoir.
• Characteristics Memoirs focus on a brief period
  of time , have a narrative structure, are
  emotional, and contain authors reflection on
  event.

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Memoirs cont.

• Memoirs can sometimes have bias.
• Bias is a strong opinion about something. You can
  be biased in favor of something or biased against
  it. In either case, you may have some facts to
  support your position, but a bias is based more
  on feelings and opinions than on facts.

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Puritans

• - Puritans were a Christian sect that believed
  that worship and the Church could be simplified
  in order to more closely resemble biblical
  models.
• - Puritans were persecuted in Europe for beliefs
  and fled to New World, settling in what became
  New England.
• Puritans became pilgrims people who make a long
  journey for a religious reason. Puritans were
  pilgrims, but not all pilgrims are Puritans.

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Puritan Writings

• - Puritans used Bible as a model for writing
  there were direct connections between Biblical
  events and their lives.
• - Puritans used writing to explore their inner
  and outer lives for signs of God
• - Diaries and histories were most common forms
  of Puritan expression and writing often
  published as memoirs

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Puritan Writings, cont.

• - Puritans favored a plain style similar to the
  Geneva Bible. Plain style plain way of writing
  with clarity of expression and no figures of
  speech
• Has archaic writing words suggestive of an
  earlier time period
• - Writing was for education education was
  necessary to understand the Bible

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Major Genres of Writing

• Journals/Diaries - memoirs
• Historical documents
• Sermons
• Historical poems
• Bible most read book

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Colonial Beliefs

• Freedom of religion (for the Puritans)
• Adam and Eves sin damned most people for all
  eternity
• Puritan beliefs the Elect were a select few
  people who were predetermined by God to be saved
  good/holy behavior was the result of being
  saved, or elected.
• Native Americans polytheistic

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Colonial American Dream

• The Puritans who fled religious persecution in
  England became self-made successes throughout New
  England largely on the strength of their
  spiritual beliefs that it was preordained. For
  them, life on earth was a constant battle between
  the forces of good and the forces of evil, and
  the only way to battle evil was to be ambitious,
  work hard, and always strive for success.
• Other colonists believed that the American Dream
  meant a new start, where hard work was enough to
  ensure success, regardless of background.

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Puritan Beliefs

• The Puritan lifestyle was a demanding one where
  there was not much time, nor was it accepted, to
  be creative.
• The Puritans wanted to be controlled by God and
  everything that happened to them was the fate of
  God.
• Strict Puritan code was far from tolerant.
• Any show of emotion. Such as excitement, fear, or
  anger was discouraged, and disobedience was
  severely punished.

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Puritan Beliefs cont.

• Children rarely played, as toys and games were
  scarce. Puritans saw these activities as sinful
  distractions.
• People were expected to work hard and repress
  their emotions or opinions.
• Individual differences were frowned upon. Even
  the dark, somber Puritan dress was dictated by
  the church.
• They believed that all sinsfrom sleeping in
  church to stealing foodshould be punished.

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Historical Background

• Mayflower compact Puritans
• Discovering colonies creating colonies
  Jamestown settlement (English merchant class) and
  Massachusetts colony (Puritans)
• Types of people who came
• Indentured Servants and Slaves
• Criminals debtors
• Those looking for a new start or money

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Historical Background, cont.

• Salem Witch trials
• Colonialism ends with American Revolution and the
  Age of Reason

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• Elements of Literature, 5th course. Austin Holt,
  Rhinehart, and Winston, 2000.
• Flowers, Darlene. The Puritans. Powerpoint.
  2009.
• Livaudais, Kimberly. Class Lecture notes. 2008.