2. Roots of Puritanism
• 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
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. Three Core Beliefs in Puritan Culture
• 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. Three Core Beliefs in Puritan Culture
• 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 Zion and to be an example
for mankind to follow
6. 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
7. 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
8. Puritan forms of writing
• 3. Religious Sermons/Writing
• Traits of puritan writing included simple verse and
plain style
• The Bay Psalm Book- a translation of the Biblical
book of psalms, also the first book published in
America
• Michael Wigglesworth wrote “The Day of Doom”, a
poem that brutally depicted the suffering of non
believers on Judgement Day (Puritans believed this
was the day of reckoning).
• “The Day of Doom” was considered America’s first
Best Seller
10. Plain Style
• Simple words in clear order
• Puritan’s believed that God’s word did not
need to be improved
• Suited to the New World: bare and raw
without ornamentation
• 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
