Introducing the Poem

Literary Focus: Metaphor

Literary Focus: Literary Perspectives

Reading Focus: Analyzing Text Structures: Inversion

Writing Focus: Think as a Reader/Writer

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Here Follow Some Verses upon the Burning of Our House, July 10, 1666

by Anne Bradstreet

How can people’s beliefs affect their actions?

Here Follow Some Verses upon the Burning of Our House, July 10, 1666

by Anne Bradstreet

The Granger Collection, New York

Click on the title to start the video.

Here Follow Some Verses upon the Burning of Our House, July 10, 1666

Introducing the Poem

In this poem, the speaker awakens to shouts of “Fire!”

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Here Follow Some Verses upon the Burning of Our House, July 10, 1666

Introducing the Poem

• She escapes from her burning house and then watches the flames consume it.

• The shock of losing her house causes her to reflect on what truly matters to her.

A metaphor is a figure of speech that compares two unlike things without using like or as.

What is being compared in each of these sentences?

Here Follow Some Verses upon the Burning of Our House, July 10, 1666

Literary Focus: Metaphor

Our opponent’s defense was an impenetrable wall.

The hawk, a bolt of lightning, caught its prey.

The Puritans preferred a plain style of writing that rarely included figurative language.

• simplicity

Here Follow Some Verses upon the Burning of Our House, July 10, 1666

Literary Focus: Metaphor

• clarity of expression• the use of everyday words

The Puritan’s plain style stressed

A common and important device used in Puritan literature, however, is the implied metaphor.

An implied metaphor is a metaphor not directly stated in the text.

Here Follow Some Verses upon the Burning of Our House, July 10, 1666

Literary Focus: Metaphor

This sentence implies a comparison between jewels and stars, as well as between the gown and the night sky.

Adorning her midnight blue gown was a constellation of jewels.

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Historicism is the study of how the circumstances of a time period influence an author’s work.

Influences can be• social• economic• cultural• intellectual• religious

Here Follow Some Verses upon the Burning of Our House, July 10, 1666

Literary Perspectives

• political

Historical Context

Considering Puritan beliefs about earthly and spiritual existence, how might a Puritan react to the sudden loss of all of his or her material possessions?

Here Follow Some Verses upon the Burning of Our House, July 10, 1666

Literary Perspectives

The context of Bradstreet’s poem is the seventeenth-century Puritan colonies in North America.

Historical Context

The G

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York

Analyzing literature’s political contexts often includes the study of gender.

Here Follow Some Verses upon the Burning of Our House, July 10, 1666

Literary Perspectives

The study of gender examines how concepts of masculinity and femininity influence an author’s work.

Political Context

Puritan women’s influence was often limited to the domestic sphere.

Here Follow Some Verses upon the Burning of Our House, July 10, 1666

Literary Perspectives

How might Bradstreet’s identity as a Puritan woman have influenced her reaction to the loss of her home?

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Political Context

The Granger Collection, New York

Inversion is the reversal of the normal word order in a sentence or phrase.

“My pleasant things in ashes lie,And them behold no more shall I.”

Inversion

Normal order My pleasant things lie in ashes,And I shall behold them no more.

• Poets often use inversion to accommodate the demands of meter and rhyme.

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Here Follow Some Verses upon the Burning of Our House, July 10, 1666

Reading Focus: Analyzing Text Structures

Into Action: Use a chart to rewrite Bradstreet’s inverted lines in normal, “noninverted” order.

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Into Action: Inversion Chart

In silent night when rest I took Line 1. Original Order

Here Follow Some Verses upon the Burning of Our House, July 10, 1666

Reading Focus: Analyzing Text Structures

Normal Order

Line 2. Original Order

Normal Order

In silent night when I took rest

For sorrow near I did not look

Find It in Your Reading

Implied metaphors are more difficult to identify than directly stated metaphors.

As you read, look for images and terms that could metaphorically represent other things or ideas.

“Thou hast an house on high erect, Framed by that mighty Architect, . . .”

Here Follow Some Verses upon the Burning of Our House, July 10, 1666 Writing Focus: Think as a Reader/Writer

Although most of Bradstreet’s images and words are literal, some are metaphorical.

Vocabulary

piteous adj.: deserving pity or compassion.

vanity n.: something valueless.

glory n.: great beauty; splendor.

consume v.: burn away; destroy.

Here Follow Some Verses upon the Burning of Our House, July 10, 1666

Vocabulary

The word piteous means “deserving pity or compassion.”

After observing the piteous living conditions of our city’s homeless men, women, and children, the city council vowed to take action.

What emotions are likely to have inspired the council to take action?

Here Follow Some Verses upon the Burning of Our House, July 10, 1666

Vocabulary

Which of these animals might emit a piteous cry?

A B

Here Follow Some Verses upon the Burning of Our House, July 10, 1666

Vocabulary

C

The word consume means “to burn away or destroy.”

The raging fire continues to consume acres of woodland dried by recent drought.

Is this fire leaving many trees standing intact? How do you know?

Here Follow Some Verses upon the Burning of Our House, July 10, 1666

Vocabulary

c. depressed

Although the flood waters washed away Blanca’s possessions and destroyed her home, it could not consume her spirit.

Which of these words best describes Blanca?

a. determined

b. pleased

Here Follow Some Verses upon the Burning of Our House, July 10, 1666

Vocabulary

The word vanity means “something valueless.”

“The time and attention you devote to socializing on the computer is vanity,” scolded Jose’s mother.

Does Jose’s mother approve of his pastime?

Here Follow Some Verses upon the Burning of Our House, July 10, 1666

Vocabulary

c. buying a second car

After serving in the Peace Corps, Jenna realized the vanity of focusing on material goods.

Which of these activities might appeal to Jenna?

a. a shopping spree

b. volunteering at the local children’s shelter

Here Follow Some Verses upon the Burning of Our House, July 10, 1666

Vocabulary

The word glory means “great beauty or splendor.”

Tourists flock to the Appalachian Mountains for the scenic glory of the fall foliage.

What adjectives—descriptive words—might the tourists use when they describe what they see?

Here Follow Some Verses upon the Burning of Our House, July 10, 1666

Vocabulary

c. frightening

The hikers were mesmerized by the glory of the blazing sunset.

Which of these words might best describe the sunset?

a. boring

b. beautiful

Here Follow Some Verses upon the Burning of Our House, July 10, 1666

Vocabulary

The End