Early American Literature: Age of Discovery through Puritan New England Study Guide

Vocabulary flashcards covering early American exploration writers, historical context, key literary terms, and Puritan New England texts and doctrines.

Middle Passage

The transatlantic voyage carrying enslaved African people westward to the New World; a site of horrors followed by a seasoning period on colonial plantations.

Henry VIII

English monarch who broke from the Roman Catholic Church to establish the Church of England (Anglican) in order to divorce Catherine of Aragon and marry Anne Boleyn.

Edward VI

Son of Henry VIII and Jane Seymour who reigned from 1547 to 1553; a very Protestant monarch who sought to rid the English church of Catholic trappings and died at age 15.

Mary I

Catholic daughter of Henry VIII and Catherine of Aragon who reigned from 1553 to 1558; known as 'Bloody Mary' for opposing the English Reformation and executing Protestants.

Elizabeth I

Moderate English monarch (reigned 1558-1603) and daughter of Anne Boleyn who stabilized the Church of England by establishing a middle ground.

James I

Monarch who united England and Scotland, succeeded Elizabeth I in 1603, and overseen colonial efforts in the New World, including Jamestown.

Jamestown, VA

English settlement established in 1607 for commercial gain by male, aristocratic colonists; suffered from hostile Native relations, bad location, and the Starving Time.

Plymouth Plantation

English settlement founded in 1620 by Separatists seeking religious freedom, who traveled aboard the Mayflower under the leadership of William Bradford.

Massachusetts Bay Colony

Puritan settlement established in 1630 by non-separating Dissenters under Governor John Winthrop.

Letter of Discovery

Christopher Columbus's famous written work describing the New World in Edenic terms, showing an obsession with gold, and asserting control through naming and quantification.

Bartolomé de las Casas

Spanish Dominican friar and official 'Protector of the Indians' who wrote The Destruction of the Indies to expose Spanish atrocities using irony, cataloguing, and vivid imagery.

Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca

Treasurer on the failed Narváez expedition and 1 of 4 survivors who wrote a terse, paratactic account humanizing Native Americans.

Thomas Harriot

English scientist and ethnographer who joined the 1585 Roanoke expedition and published A Briefe and True Report of the New Found Land of Virginia.

Captain John Smith

Jamestown leader and author of The Generall Historie of Virginia, written in the third person to amplify his heroism and establish captivity narrative conventions.

Separatists

Puritans who formally separated from the Church of England, believing it could not be reformed, and settled Plymouth Plantation in 1620.

Dissenters

Puritans who did not formally separate from the Church of England, aiming to reform it from within, and established the Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1630.

Total Depravity

The TULIP Calvinist doctrine linked to the Covenant of Works asserting that all mankind is totally depraved due to original sin.

Unconditional Election

The TULIP Calvinist doctrine stating that good works do not earn salvation and that no human conditions exist to deliberately attain it.

Limited Atonement

The TULIP doctrine asserting that only God's elect receive grace, which remains entirely out of human control.

Irresistible Grace

The TULIP doctrine stating that an elect individual will inevitably recognize their divine election, a central theme of Puritan conversion narratives.

Perseverance of the Saints

The TULIP doctrine asserting that the elect are secure in their salvation, summarized by the phrase 'once saved, always saved.'

Mayflower Compact

Governing document signed in 1620 in Plymouth harbor that established democratic seeds, prioritized civil structure, and reflected Covenant Theology.

Of Plymouth Plantation

Ecclesiastical history written by William Bradford spanning 1620 to 1646 that interprets historical events through the lens of divine Providence.

A Model of Christian Charity

Sermon delivered by John Winthrop aboard the Arbella outlining the ideals of justice, mercy, communal bonds, and living as a 'city upon a hill.'

The Tenth Muse Lately Sprung Up in America

The first published volume of poetry by an American author, written by Anne Bradstreet and published anonymously in England in 1650.

The Sovereignty and Goodness of God

Bestselling 1682 narrative by Mary Rowlandson detailing her 11-week captivity during King Philip's War, functioning as both a captivity and conversion narrative.

Edward Taylor

Metaphysical Puritan minister in Westfield, Massachusetts, whose private devotional poetry (such as Preparatory Meditations) remained unpublished until 1937.

Apostrophe

A literary device in which a speaker directly addresses an absent person, abstract concept, or inanimate object, such as Bradstreet addressing her published book.

Parataxis

A literary style featuring short clauses placed side by side without subordination, as used by Cabeza de Vaca to reflect harsh subsistence conditions.

Kenning

A compound metaphorical phrase used in place of a plain noun, such as Edward Taylor's descriptions 'astronomy divine' and 'Heaven's sugar cake.'

Othering

The practice of treating a different cultural or racial group as intrinsically distinct, alien, or inferior to oneself.

Providence

The Puritan belief in God's direct, active intervention in earthly events and human lives.