American Literature 1 Exam 1
origin stories correct answers tales that a group of people tell about where they came
from and how the earth came to be
Puritan Theology correct answers Man's relationship with God was based on special
contracts or covenants. Their dispute with the Church of England was over excessive
hierarchy and unnecessary ritual that prevented man from communicating with God
directly. Everyone is immoral, even babies. Pre-destination. Once saved, always saved.
Your actions reveal your destination. Plain worship with no hierarchy. Good work
doesn't determine salvation, "elect" go to heaven, non-religious men and women
couldn't vote.
Believed Church of England could be reformed from within, but were subject to abuse
b/c they wouldn't acknowledge divine right of national church. Wanted to distinguish
themselves from Catholics
1) Predestination: elect are saved by God's grace, as evident through good acts;
nonelect are
damned. Those elected by God have full power to interpret the will of God.
2) Limited Atonement - Jesus died for the chosen only, not for everyone.
3 ) Typology: The belief that God's intentions are present in human action and in natural
phenomenon
4) Manifest Destiny: Without using the words, Winthrop articulated the concept in his
famous sermon, the Arbella Covenant (1630), when he said: "for we must consider that
we shall be as a city upon a hill, the eyes of all people are upon us." Winthrop exhorts
listeners to carry on God's mission and set a shining example for the rest of world.
5) Backsliding: The belief that even "saved" believers, those with visible signs of grace,
can fall into temptation and become sinners. To prevent this, believers were expected
not to become smug, do constant soul-searching, be introspective, and pray constantly.
Satan was particularly interested in snaring such believers
Earth-Diver Story correct answers mythological characters who succeed at retrieving
land for a creator god or culture hero to make the world out of. This kind of creation
myth exists in many world culture, not only Native American traditions, but it is
especially common here. Native American earth-divers are animals, almost always
water animals who must dive for the earth at the bottom of a body of water, usually after
other animals have already given up or failed at this task. In some tribes the earth-diver
even gives his or her life to bring up the earth.
Morton v. Bradford correct answers Morton: The land as beautiful, feminine, dainty,
delicate
Bradford: Full of hideous and desolate wilderness, full of wild beasts and wild men --
nothing but desolation, represented by a "wild and savage hue"
, Emergence Story correct answers Emergence myths commonly describe the creation
of people and/or supernatural beings as a staged ascent or metamorphosis from
nascent forms through a series of subterranean worlds to arrive at their current place
and form.
iambic pentameter correct answers a poetic meter that is made up of 5 stressed
syllables each followed by an unstressed syllable
Native American Ritual Poetry correct answers created for communal expression,
consists of affectively charged, sophisticated language; Ritual poetry both
commemorates and creates
Praying Indian correct answers Native American who converted to Christianity?
Salem Witch Trials correct answers 1629 outbreak of witchcraft accusations in a
puritan village marked by an atmosphere of fear, hysteria and stress
- Mathers "the Wonders of an Invisible World"
- Decline in Puritanism lead to the Salem witch trials
Dark time of history within the US
Reasons for the trials
1) Geography: Salem village versus Salem town
Village: upcoming elites, town: more people that had money; correlations between
where you lived versus where you were accused; simply where you lived had a big
effect; jealousy as a motivator
2) Rye mold: caused hallucinations, strange activity
3) Patriarchy (suspicion of women)
Fear of women in power
Women are addicted to superstitions
4) New Charter from England (1684)
Did a lot in terms of changing the power of the Puritan colony
Weren't following the rules; combined Plymouth and Massachusetts Bay colony into one
Puritans saw this as a threat of diminishing power
Instances of vices of women
Tongue of wrath, no wrath above the wrath of woman, more superstitious women found
than men, slippery tongues, vindicating oneself through witchcraft
Infidelity, ambition, and lust
Insatiable, filthy, adulterous, fornicators, concubines of the great
Witchcraft when a woman is prevented from conceiving
Cotton Mather: son of Increase Mather
Diverged in opinions of the trials
Salem Witch Trials Victims
many of the accused witches were outspoken women, Quakers, slaves, colonists with
criminal backgrounds and/or prior witchcraft accusations or colonists who criticized the
witch trials
personal vendettas, fear of strong women, and economic competition
