Argumentative Essay On Religion In America

In this essay, I will analyze the poem Verses Upon the Burning of Our House (July 10th, 1666) by Anne Bradstreet, a puritan who most critics consider to be America’s first “authentic poet. The poem is based on a true story as Anne’s house really did burn down and illustrates her meditations on this event, the pain she felt after losing her home and the effect it had on her faith. The main theme is Anne’s struggle to not become attached to material things.

In the poems “To My Dear and Loving Husband” and “Upon the Burning of Our House” the author Anne Bradstreet allows the reader a glimpse of what she values. The two poems are alike because they both explore her religion and show her love for God.

Puritans are a people with a very strong belief in both God and the power of God. When people see power, they interpret it in different ways. Some know of power through anger and impulse, while others see power through the goodness the powerful one shows. Although Anne Bradstreet and Jonathan Edwards are both puritan poets, their writings convey mainly different, though sometimes similar, views on God because they have different perceptions of His will and the use of His power.

Anne Bradstreet through several of her poems does not show true Puritan beliefs. In “Verses Upon the Burning of our House”, Bradstreet is caught in the internal conflict between her faith and accepting the loss of her earthly possessions. She used personification to state that her heart “cried” to God not to leave her helpless but it delivers the idea that she only prays to him when she is in need (8). All the luxuries that Puritans have are given by God’s grace and belong to him. Anne is a materialistic person because she says, “When by the ruins oft I past, my sorrowing eyes aside did cast, and here and there the places spy, where oft I sate and long did lie” (21), thus she is still sorrowing about losing her things even though she knows

During the colonial period many settlers came to the New World to escape persecution for their Puritan beliefs. Writers such as William Bradford, John Winthrop, Anne Bradstreet, and Mary Rowlandson all shared their experiences and religious devotion throughout their literature that ultimately inspired and influenced settlers to follow. This essay will discuss the similarities in Anne Bradstreet and Mary Rowlandson’s work as they both describe their experiences as signs from God.

Anne Bradstreet, a particularly skilled writer in a time where women writers were practically unheard of, stands out for both maintaining her livelihood whilst writing poems injected with deceptive irony, and having the women in her poems act educated instead of not. She wrote in ways which both acknowledge men and their views, but also tore them apart with ironic writing and prose. This can be seen in The Prologue, beginning with Bradstreet comparing herself with many differing historical figures, but also using them to self-depreciate herself in an overly masculine view of herself. By doing so, she insulted the views and opinions rather than her own works, stabbing male prejudice with sharp irony. Anne Bradstreet wrote in an enjoyable

There are many views and opinions of the state of the United States on this subject. It has long been a puzzling issue that never seems to seize. America should have religious freedom, because it is a constitutional right to Americans. Prayer in school, gay marriage, and governmental control, are among some of the main issues in this topic.

Anne Bradstreet’s poem “To My Dear and Loving Husband” was written between the years of 1641 and 1643. “Not until the year 1678, six years after Bradstreet’s death, the poem was published” (Ruby 228). A poet with Puritan beliefs, this poem uses the religious language, hyperbolic metaphors, paradox, and antiquated diction and style in order to explain the devotion and love for her husband as she struggles with the Puritan way of life along with the uncertainty of her reassurance of love.

Did you know that Anne Bradstreet and Jonathan Edwards are very similar? Well Bradstreet and Edwards are both Puritans and have a strong faith even though Bradstreet's faith came throughout her experiences in life and Edwards was born into it. They both believe that there are strict rules on how to be obedient and a good servant in the eyes of god. Even though they have similar beliefs and morals they both have some differences, like their way of preaching, Edwards preaches in a very harsh way to scare his listeners into the hands of god, while Bradstreet says as long as you are good and obey God he will reward you and you will have a happy life but if you disobey him then he will take away your blessings. Bradstreet and Edwards are both very famous authors, and have very famous poetry. Though Bradstreet and Edwards are similar their writing is very different.

The value of earthly treasures versus eternal treasures is a key theme in Anne Bradstreet’s “Upon the Burning of Our House.” Throughout the poem, Bradstreet uses the following three examples to discover her feelings about losing her earthly treasures in the house fire and moving toward eternal treasures: her earthly possessions, her position in society, and her ultimate choice to focus on eternity. Anne Bradstreet is a woman who was the first English colonial poet. while she resided in the Massachusetts Bay Colony. She wrote this poem around July of 1666 to describe the event of her home burning to the ground. Bradstreet creates a deeper meaning in her poem through her discussion of earthly value versus eternal value and how she discovers the importance of eternal value through the loss of her earthly possessions.

One of the numerous issues attached to suffering today includes immigration. However, God 's vision for immigration, similar to other topical concerns, wasn 't meant to distorted by the sense of intolerance and rigidness from both sides of the issue. Rather, this vision, also known as the Catholic Social Teaching, is based on the cornerstone of love, as God is the very definition of love. According to St. Paul in 1 Corinthians 13, love "bears all things...endures all things" (7). Keeping this in mind, the type of love that God calls us to recognize one thing: humanity is the very Image of God ("Genesis 1:26"). Therefore, it is crucial that we take the time to listen to all the sides of an issue; in the case of immigration, it means

“The flame consume my dwelling place. / And when I could no longer look, / I blest His name that gave and took” (Bradstreet 69). In “Verses upon the Burning of Our House” and in “from Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God,” the pieces include the observing of God’s hand in daily life in the midst of sin or challenge. Anne Bradstreet wrote “Verses upon the Building of Our House” in the Massachusetts Bay Colony corresponding to the event of her house burning that occurred on July 10, 1666 (“Anne Bradstreet (1612-1672)” 68). She immigrated to the Americas from England as a child in the time when belief in Puritanism was overcoming the East coast (“Anne Bradstreet (1612-1672)” 68). Leaving England, her family hoped to escape religious oppression and find opportunities to worship freely (“Anne Bradstreet (1612-1672)” 68). It is the story of how the burning of her house led her to look heavenward and place her hope in the blessings of the eternities to come (Bradstreet 69-70). On the other hand, “from Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God” is an

Anne Bradstreet’s three elegies for her grandchildren are very sanding and have many similarities, as well as differences. The three poems by Bradstreet are titled, “In Memory of My Dear Grandchild, Elizabeth Bradstreet, Who Deceased August, 1665, Being a Year and a Half Old," "In Memory of My Dear Grandchild Anne Bradstreet, Who Deceased June 20, 1669, Being Three Years and Seven Months Old," and "On My Dear Grandchild Simon Bradstreet, Who Died on 16 November, 1669, Being But a Month, and One Day Old.” In the very first poem, it would seem her first grandchild had pasted away at a year and a half old. Bradstreet’s talk about how God gives and takes away. As well as comparing the child to nature on how trees over time will rot, and that her absence is like a vacant spot were a flower should be. In the second poem, Bradstreet writes as if she is more shaken and broken. She uses symbols of things that are easily broken. Much like glass and bubbles in her writing. At the end though she still believes that the child is in good hands of God, in belief that it happened for a reason. Finally, in the third poem, her grandson dies. She throws questions more toward God on why he would remove her loved one from this earth so soon. Bradstreet is merely in depression, yet she finds courage at the end and believes that something good will be coming their way after the loss.

When looking at The Author to Her Book we can appreciate Anne Bradstreet on a personal level. This understanding happens by the way she views her own work, which was presumably published without her consent. Bradstreet refers to the book as her “child” that was snatched. Therefore, was not fully grown when it was sent off into the world, and even calls it “ill-form’d” and “irksome” to her sight. Yet, Bradstreet is truly attached to her work since she wants to fix its flaws, and seriously wishes she could. She laments, for it is not possible. Bradstreet ultimately accepts that this book remains out there to roam freely. Clearly, she hopes her published work is not criticized, which is understandable. Bradstreet happens to be very harsh on her own work and appears to be her worst critic.

Anne Bradstreet, a particularly skilled writer in a time where woman writers were practically unheard of, stands out for both maintaining her livelihood whilst writing poems injected with deceptive irony, and having the woman in her poems act educated instead of not. She wrote in ways which acknowledged the power men had, but also wrote of how woman can do their own will as well. The Prologue can be seen as this, beginning with Bradstreet saying her words do not harm those before her, going on to point out ways in which men have the advantage over woman, but ending it skillfully, basically pointing out how woman, while dull, still make men seem brighter in comparison. This may seem like a praise for men alone, but by pointing out the worth