2. Roots of Puritanism – 1500 & 1600s
• For decades, the Puritans battled with English
authorities over the right to practice their religion.
They were often reprimanded physically and socially
• They imagined a new world where they could create
their own society away from religious persecution
• Puritan WRITING becomes important to American
Literature because it was the first American writing
to influence future works of lit.
3. Three Core Beliefs
in Puritan Culture
1. Grace
The miracle by which God grants some people
the ability to love truly
• People who were touched by grace were
transformed by God to love without envy,
vanity or lust in their hearts
4. 2. Plainness
• Puritans wanted to return to a simpler way of
life without ornament. They wanted to live
without earthly or material desires.
• They chose to worship in small wooden
buildings instead of ornate cathedrals
5. 3. Divine Mission
• The Puritans truly believed that they were on a
mission from God to create a new world and
religious community when they came to America
• In their minds, God had specifically chosen the
Puritans to create a new world and to be an example
for mankind to follow
6. Key Ideas of the
Puritan Age
• Human beings were sinful and deserved to
die unless saved by God
• Writings were God-centered, about spiritual
personal feelings, self examinations, and
quest/road for salvation
• Writings reveal they sought to follow God’s
will & had a strict moral code.
7. Puritan forms of writing
1. Diaries
• The Puritan people chose to keep Diaries regarding
their daily lives
• Puritans specifically wrote spiritual autobiographies,
where many Puritan people tried to capture their
journey to achieving God’s grace
8. Puritan forms of writing
2. Poetry
• Poetry was also a popular form of Puritan
writing
• Many famous Puritan era poets like Anne
Bradstreet and Edward Taylor expressed their
anxiety and wonder of living in the new
settlements by use of poetry
9. Puritan forms of writing
3. Religious Sermons/Writing
• Traits of Puritan writing included simple words and
plain style
10. Puritan Writing - Plain Style
• Simple words in clear order; everyone could
access language
• bare and raw, without ornamentation
• Believed writings should be useful resource to
understand Bible/God on a deeper level
• Example: An excerpt from The Psalm of David:
“The Lord to me a shepherd is,
want there shall not I”
11. Source for material
• Adventures in American Literature, Athena
Edition, Holt, Rhinehart and Winston
