Thursday- 9/1/16

Mary Rowlandson Mary was born in England in the early 1600's and was brought to the colonies by her parents while still a toddler. Her father became one of the founders of the town of Lancaster, in Massachusetts Bay Colony. He was the richest man in the town. In 1656 Mary married Joseph Rowlandson who was a recent graduate of Harvard College and he was ordained as the Puritan minister for Lancaster. Because of their isolated location far from the nearest town and because of the rising prominence of Rev. Rowlandson, their garrison house became the focus of an Indian attack during the King Philip war.

While her husband was away in Boston trying to convince the Colonies leaders to provide military protection for the town the Indians attacked on February 10, 1676. Mary was captured along with her three children, one of whom (her six year old daughter Sarah) was mortally wounded during the surrender. The captives were then taken west and north to what is now south western New Hampshire and Vermont.

Later Mary was brought back to the Mt Later Mary was brought back to the Mt. Wachusetts area of Massachusetts where she was redeemed by the brave John Hoar, a resident of Concord. Six years later in 1682 she published a narrative of her captivity which became America's first best seller. At that time it was highly unusual for a woman to be a published author. Hers is a story of the triumph of faith over adversity. It provides a first hand description of Indian life during this conflict. The King Philip War, to this day, was proportionately the bloodiest and most destructive war in American history in terms of people killed and property damaged. Mary gives an inside account of how the Indians were doing and how her captivity and her redemption were indirectly instrumental in bringing the war to a close.

1.Why does the author include a reference to King Philip? A Narrative of the Captivity and Restoration of Mrs. Mary Rowlandson p. 82 1.Why does the author include a reference to King Philip? 2. Describe the tone, and analyze how it affects Rowlandson’s purpose in writing her narrative? 3. How does Rowlandson suggest that life in the New World has changed her?

Answers Rowlandson is trying to place the story in historical context. The reference to King Philip helps to place the events at the time of King Philip's war. Surprisingly the tone is not bitter. Instead her faith strengthens her- she is thankful. At the end she has no hatred for her captures; in fact, she acknowledges the kindness of some. Being in a rougher environment has led her to accept things that she would never have considered acceptable before.

Discussion Questions cont’d Captivity narratives were popular literary genre in early America. What effect do you think they might have had on attitudes toward Native Americans? What incident or observation in Rowlandson’s account surprised or moved you most?

Sentence Combining Prepositional Phrase: a group of words that begins with a preposition and ends with a noun or pronoun. A prepositional phrase can act as an adverb, when it describes and action taking place. Example of original: Mary searched for her son. She went over hills and through swamps. Combined with prepositional phrases: Mary searched for son over hills and through swamps.

Appositive- a noun or pronoun placed next to another noun or pronoun to give additional information about it. An appositive phrase is an appositive plus any words that modify it. Original: One woman gave Mary a spoonful of meal. Meal is a coarse flour made from corn. Combined with an appositive phrase: One woman gave Mary a spoonful of meal, a coarse flour made from corn.

Participle Phrase: A participle is a verb form, often ending in -ing or -ed, that functions as an adjective. A participial phrase, -a participle and its related words- also functions as an adjective. Original: Mary grieved for her child. She visited the grave. Combined with a participial phrase: Grieving for her child, Mary visited the grave.

Use coordinating conjunctions to join words or groups of words with equal grammatical weight into a compound sentence. Coordinating conjunctions include words such as and, but, or, so, not, for, and yet. Original: Mary was always hungry. She was often physically exhausted. her captors did not injure her. Combined with coordinating conjunctions: Mary was always hungry and often physically exhausted, but her captors did not injure her.

Use a subordinating conjunction to join two clauses, or ideas, so that one is dependent upon the other. The result is a complex sentence. Subordinating conjunctions include words such as after, although, as, because, if, since, and when. Original: Mary was often afraid. Her faith supported her. Combined with a subordinating conjunction: Although Mary was often afraid, her faith supported her.

Use an adjective clause, a group of words with a subject and a predicate that modifies a noun or a pronoun. The result is complex sentence. Adjective clause often begin with who, whom, whose, that, and which. Original: King Philip was their leader. His real name was metacom. Combined with an adjective clause: King Philip, whose real name was Metacom, was their leader.