Thursday, December 4th

On this delightful thursday 5/6 english session we began the class with an ending - an ending to the vocabulary review. We shared our thoughts about Latin and Yiddish phrases. It turns out, many words from the Jewish language have migrated into our english tounge for all to benefit. Following the vocab, gears were shifted - shifted, to Anne Bradstreet.
The topic of Anne Bradstreet brings up the topic of women in Puritan society - women, who were seen as corruptable. She was a diamond in the rough, a needle in the haystack of male writers.
On first glance, Anne Bradstreet is seen as a personable and emotional writer. Upon further examination, Bradstreet reveals elements of the academia in her poems.
Right away, Bradstreet shows a seeming disdain for herself and her writing skills in her prologue. This brought up the question as to whether Bradstreet was truely humble, or if she was faking it for effect (possibly to appeal to her male authors, who would have been more comfortable with a more humble female writer). When Bradstreet referenced Calliope, it became evident she was more than just a humble housewife scribling nice words in her spare time.
Bradstreet was educated, arguably just as much so as her readers.
In her paraphrase of Aeniad (sp?) she shows that the plight of the Trojans is like to the plight of the Puritans; they are the inheritors of Troy. In a further act of humility, she states she will not sully the works of the great writers who had previously wrote about such escapades.
Our discussion of Bradstreet will pick up on monday, though it is certain she is an academic and layered writer who brings more to the table than that which meets the eye.