ING 510

1st Term 2018

North American Culture, Civilization and Literature
Take-home Test Unit 1

Specifications:
 Individual or in Pairs
 6 to 9 page document. No cover
 Print copy needs to be clean and clear
 page size: letter
 Number the pages
 Margins: 2,5 cm (except right one: 3 cm.).
 Font: size: 12; Times New Roman, Georgia or Arial; spacing: double space

Deadline: April 10th

Name: Score: Grade:

Answer the following questions

1. What aspects (formal and/or doctrine) from “Sinners in the Hands of an
Angry God” evidence, for you, that The Great Awakening fervor is
influenced by the rationality of the Enlightenment? When do you see this
mixture of religious fervor and reason surviving in today’s American
culture? Provide at least 2 quotes from the sermon and a book or serious
internet source to support your references or connections. (3 points)
2. Why do we say that the Declaration of Independence is one of the
fundamental documents of modern democracy , but at the same time is a
text full of paradoxes (What is a paradox?)? Develop this argument- Provide
examples and at least 2 quotes from the text or supporting ideas from
external sources discussing the points. (2 points)
3. Choose one of the following links to videos. Explain how important points in
the videos relate to core concepts discussed in class and one of the
presentations (not your own, even though you can refer to it). Provide full
explanation and examples. (2 points)
a. Nerdwriter 1 on Trump
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Tji1g0WrPw&t=112s
b. Maher on American Puritanism
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZQm70IpGHiQ
c. Was Benjamin Franklin a serial killer?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tp61Yrj5lTA
[Background: ]
d. John Smith and Pocahontas
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HMmuHLGN9BI
e. Hamilton musical
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yvBYOBTkDRk
3) The puritans or also known as pilgrims, were the start of an American tradition,

they were a group of colonists in early America, who traveled aboard their ship

called “The Mayflower” and landed in Plymouth, Massachusetts in 1620. They

were interested in establishing a city on a hill, also they were interested in their

own tradition, in their own culture. They signed aboard their ship, the first form of

government in a European tradition and that helped pave the way for the idea of

freedom of religion in America, allowing the new American tradition to settle in.

There are some characteristics and qualities that make them into their literature

and then become a part of this early American tradition. Firstly, the Puritans had an

intense religious discourse, their language was full with religious imagery, this

means a lot of allusion to scripture and a strong sense of God’s divine intervention

in life, and a sense of predestination, which is the idea of “God in his mercy”, that

means that before we are even conceived and born, he has chosen those of us

that he is going to save and those who he is going to damned, and it is only his

mercy that allows us to happen, that is the direct result of God’s will, things are not

left to chance, things do not simply happen, they believed in this strong sense that

God has ordained all that is going on.

They also believed in the inevitability of sin, they had a strong sense of shame and

guilt arising from the depravity of man, they had this strong idea of our own

sinfulness coming through again and again. Therefore, if sin is inevitable then we

are imperfect beings. But, how Puritans are involved in one of the most famous

prosecutions of people accused of witchcraft in America? And, how Puritans values

and beliefs are still present in today’s American life?

In “The Salem Witch Trials”, which happen during the 1690s in New England, there

was a strong belief in Christian mysticism, and many people were paranoid about

spiritualist and mediums. At this time people believed that there was white magic

and dark magic, they believed that someone could put a curse on you or do

something bad to you, and if you were someone who was accused of doing black

magic, then you were considered to be a witch, and both God and the devil were

thought to be among us all the time. The devil could make them do bad things but

they had to be strong and do good things to please God. So, instead, they used to

accused people by saying that a specter or a spirit of someone they knew made

them to those bad things, for that, they accused someone of having sent their

specter to make them do something bad and that person was considered a witch.

At first, the people that were accused of being witches, were peasants or beggars,

or people that were in low standing in society, and no one was going to speak up

for them. This paranoia, led to nineteen women and one man being executed for

witchcraft in 1692. Most likely, the afflicted were only suffering delusions caused by

a kind of hallucinogenic fungus growing into the rye that people ate it and that

might have caused them delusions.

The witch trials only stopped when people in high places or those who were very

involved in the church, began being accused. That became a problem because

people were looking at them saying that they were good, that they had a high

standing, that everyone looked up to them, and they started asking themselves,

are we really sure that they are witches? So then, most of the people who had

been arrested were found not guilty and were released.

The Salem witch trials tarnished the image of the clergy for a long time, because

the clergy was involved in everything, they were involved in the trials, they were

involved as witnesses people who were higher up in the church and were going to

be considered less likely to be a witch than those who were not in good standing

with the church. The clergy looked bad after this, and this further contributed to a

general relaxation of religious fervor during this period. In the 1650s people had

already started to lose momentum on how strictly their lives were revolving around

their church and after this happen, there was going to be even more relaxation on

the religious fervor.

Over a hundred witches had been tried and hanged during the 1600s, because

they believed that their sins were bad enough or because they were doing things

against God’s will.

This horrible acts in Salem, lead to a mass hysteria that made people do and

believe irrational things. At that time, people became paranoid about everything

around them. They started to accuse each other of witchcraft even though they

were not witches.

I find difficult to understand how such a Puritan way of life, which is fully centered

in God and the Bible, and in which “The Salem Witch Trials” are so well

represented, are actually far from being Christian. In fact, what they did was

against all the truly Christians thoughts and against what is written in the bible.
In relation to the video, it seems that there is a persistence of Puritanism in

American life. The host presents some cases that makes us think that Puritan

values seemed to be guiding Americans’ moral judgments until today, although,

Puritanism started as an American tradition in the 17 th century. Puritans were far

more repressed to sexuality than the Catholics and many other sects of

Christendom during their time. They repressed sexual immorality because they

saw it as a grave sin to violate the preciousness of marriage and sexuality.

Puritanism exists today in the form of the Conservative and highly religious right, a

religiously motivated repression of pleasure, which I think is irrational, and that is

still present today.

But, Why this persistence of Puritanism in American life? Why Americans cannot

liberate themselves from Puritanism? “New England exercised a

disproportionate influence on American ideals … thanks to a powerful

intellectual tradition disseminated through its universities, its dynamic print

culture and the writings of its famous clergy”. (Coffey, 2012)

However, I am not completely sure if all these Americans’ thoughts are a

result from the Puritan founders, as the direct line to it. Actually, I believe

there are other variables that might have alter American’s psyque, as the

inmigration and industrialization of the country, and other factors that have

led to immense social change. But, there is a certainty that most of the

influence comes from Puritanism itself.