Puritan Literature

Purpose

• Expression about religious beliefs
• Not for entertainment
• To make God more understandable

Style of Writing

• Straight to the point
• No elaborate writing styles
• Didn't want to draw attention to themselves through their writing
• Clean and simple writing
• No fictional writing
• Realistic writing with emphasis on religion

Types of Work

• Sermons
• Historical accounts
• Poetry
• Journals and diary entries
• Some accounts of early immagration

Examples of Work

• The Bay Psalm Book
• "Upon the Burning House" by Anne Bradstreet
• "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God" by Jonathan Edwards
• The Crucible by Arthur Miller
• The Day of Doom by Michael Wigglesworth