1. ANNE BRADSTREET CONSIDERED TO BE THE FIRST EVER AMERICAN POET
DAUGHTER OF PURITAN SEPARATISTS IN ENGLAND
MARRIED AT 16 TO A PURITAN MINISTER
EMIGRATED TO COLONIES AT 18
MOTHER OF 8
EXPOSED TO CONTEMPORARY POETRY OF WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE—ONE OF HER INFLUENCES

2. Anne Bradstreet
***POETRY WAS FROWNED ON BY THE PURITAN COMMUNITY—IT WAS CONSIDERED TO BE AN IDLE VANITY THAT OPENED THE MIND TO THE DEVIL
BRADSTREET’S POETRY WAS NEVER INTENDED FOR AN AUDIENCE
SHE VIEWED POETRY AS A TOOL FOR SELF REFLECTION
POEMS WERE TAKEN WITHOUT HER PERMISSION BY HER BROTHER IN LAW—HE PUBLISHED THEM IN ENGLAND WITHOUT HER CONSENT
THE TENTH MUSE LATELY SPRUNG UP IN AMERICA

3. LITERARY ELEMENTS
INVERSION: CHANGING THE NORMAL WORD ORDER OF A LINE OF POETRY IN ORDER TO ACCOMMODATE RHYME SCHEME OR METER
EXTENDED METAPHOR: JUST LIKE A REGULAR METAPHOR, BUT IT IS DEVELOPED OVER SEVERAL LINES OF POETRY
ALLITERATION: REPETITION OF CONSONANT SOUNDS AT THE BEGINNINGS OF WORDS

4. LITERARY ELEMENTS
METER: PATTERN OF UNSTRESSED AND STRESSED SYLLABLES IN POETRY
IAMB: A FOOT OF POETRY CHARACTERIZED BY ONE UNSTRESSED SYLLABLE FOLLOWED BY A STRESSED SYLLABLE
ASSUME FIRST THAT THE POEM IS WRITTEN USING IAMBS…THEN FIGURE OUT HOW MANY STRESSED SYLLABLES THERE ARE TO DETERMINE THE METER
--3 STRESSED SYLLABLES/LINE: TRIMETER
--4 STRESSED SYLLABLES/LINE: TETRAMETER
--5 STRESSED SYLLABLES/LINE: PENTAMETER
RHYME SCHEME: pattern of end rhyme used in a poem
Assign first line the letter “a”
If the second line rhymes with the first line, it is also “a”
If the second line doesn’t rhyme with the first, label it “b”