Writers of Puritan New England and those of the American Enlightenment

  1. The essential difference between the writers of Puritan New England and those of the American
    Enlightenment is that the former believed that man was irrational and basically corrupt and the latter believed
    man rational and basically good." Discuss. In your discussion, consider the works that you have read. How do
    we see these ideas reflected in the works of each period?
  2. Americans are very proud to say that this country was founded on Christian principles. What's interesting,
    however, is that many of the thinkers of the time of the formation of this United States as we know it were Deist,
    not Christian. In what five ways is Deism different from religions like Christianity, Hinduism, Judaism, or
    Islam?
  3. Discuss the following statement with reference and relevance to specific literary works: the Puritans were
    typological (remember your notes from the Puritan unit), the eighteenth-century writers were logical, but the
    early-nineteenth-century writers were analogical in their way of knowing and expressing what it means to be an
    American. What does this mean and how do we see it in the literature?