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LITR 4231 Early American Literature 2012 Student Midterm Samples 2. Short essay (4-6 paragraphs) on 1 of 2 options (or combinations as inspired) :
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Veronica Ramirez
Utopian Literature in Early America
The Pilgrim and Puritan literature in this course follows some of the standard
conventions of utopian literature that Dr. White describes in his Utopias’
webpage. The Pilgrims’ story is set in “newly discovered continent” and the
narrative has begun as “journey though physical space.” Some of the standard
values or issues in Utopian Literature are also alluded to such as “cooperation
vs. competition” and “conformity vs. individualism.”
For Midterm Essay 2, I would like to look at Utopias in the context of
option 2b “Favorite term, objective, concept in course +why+ application to at
least 2 texts”.
The application of Utopian conventions starts at one of our earliest Pilgrim
readings in this course by William Bradford “Of Plymouth Plantation”.
In “Of Plymouth Plantation”, the Pilgrims feel like they need to start in
a new land in order to have freedom to worship as they wish. Bradford uses
Utopian language to state that in this new land “the
churches of God revert to their ancient
purity, and recover their primitive order, liberty, and beauty” (1.1).
The new conventions in the newly established settlement will provide
the laying of “some good foundation, or at least to make some way
thereunto, for the propagating and
advancing the gospel of the kingdom of Christ in those remote parts of the
world” (4.5).
John Winthrop echoes the
same type of sentiments in “A Model of Christian Charity” during the Puritan
Migration on a ship in 1630. Winthrop establishes the ways that the new utopian
community will have to work together and “uphold a familiar commerce together in
all meekness, gentleness, patience and liberality” (14). Winthrop also explains
that the community will work only if they all “make others’ conditions our own;
rejoice together, mourn together, labor and suffer together, always having
before our eyes our commission and community in the work, as members of the same
body”(14). Winthrop does not describe this is a Utopia but the emphasis on a new
“model” of Christian Charity, that will focus on the community working as one
and “stressing the family” echoes the themes in Utopian literature.
Winthrop, with his role as the reformer for a new state wherein the religious
doctrine will be controlled, believes that the Pilgrims are doing this right and
others are doing it wrong. Winthrop believes that the Pilgrims will be looked up
to for their efforts and states “we must consider that we shall be as a city
upon a hill” and “the eyes of all people are upon us.” This feeling of the
righteous “self” (pilgrims and puritans) settling the perfect community for all
the “others” to admire and emulate, has Utopian tendencies.
Also “Of Plymouth Plantation” and “A Model of Christian Charity”, both
fit the historical definition of Utopia as a “an experimental community intended
to reform or escape from normal human society, often by substituting planning,
cooperation, or collective values and practices in place of laissez-faire,
competition, and individualism”
(White, webpage). Even if they are not seen as utopias, they have utopian
qualities in the language they use to describe their new settlements.
While it was interesting to apply the term Utopia to Pilgrim and Puritan texts,
it was even more interesting to see the way that other students reacted to this
term. Going through some of the research posts and midterms from previous
courses, I discovered ways of applying Utopias to the literature that seemed to
cement the term and its distinct issues or standard values in my mind.
Shae Turner wrote on a once established Utopia in “Shaker Communities: Origin
and Lifestyle of a Shaker Community.” I thought that the description of a Utopia
was right on when Shae stated that Utopias “were formed on the basis of trying
to reform or escape from the norms of human society, as well as they are looked
at as an ideal or perfect world.” I thought it was very interesting, that a
woman founded a simple and celibate Utopia, and by following one of the
references in Turner’s text, I learned that “Quaker Ann Lee had a series of
revelations in which she understood herself to be the female half of God's
dualist nature as well as the second Incarnation of Christ.” The Shakers’ Utopia
is similar to the Puritans and Pilgrims, because they followed some of the same
basic characteristics such as building their community on “ideals and values
such as the simplicity of life, equality of the sexes, hard work, and communal
living.”
As I continued
to look at student’s sample assignments, I was surprised at a student’s midterm
essay “Hooked by Creation and Utopias” by Jessica Gaul. Jessica Gaul stated that
Anne Bradstreet’s Utopia in “Verses Upon the
Burning of our House” was at first “her house...” and then “...her Utopia
changes to Heaven”.
At first glance, I did not see Anne Bradstreet’s poem “
Verses Upon the Burning of our House” as a Utopia, and thought that maybe that
Jessica’s reading a bit of a stretch, but after reflecting I was able to extend
her reading beyond what I initially would consider a Utopia. Anne Bradstreet
does explain her final Utopia in the sky:
Thou hast a house on high erect
[44] Fram'd by that mighty Architect,
[45] With glory richly furnished
[46] Stands permanent, though this be fled.
The Utopia like sentiments Anne Bradstreet exhibits in her
poem come as a direct result of the descriptions of the Utopian sentiments that
come from the Puritan preachers, for example as stated in “Of Pilgrims
Progress.” Anne Bradstreet’s beliefs transformed into poetry, with Gaul’s
analysis prove that a wide variety of texts can exhibit Utopian characteristics.
The term Utopia is my favorite one of the course because of my learning
experience but also because of what the hope behind the term means to everyone.
The fact that the utopias and utopia like features have been woven
through the texts in our course, show the versatility and relevance of this
term.
Texts used:
Bradford,William
Of Plymouth Plantation
Bradstreet, Anne
Verses upon the Burning of our House
Gaul, Jessica
Hooked by
Creation and Utopias
Turner, Shae
Shaker Communities: Origin and Lifestyle of a Shaker Community
Winthrop, John
A Model of
Christian Charity
Midterm Essay 3
