The Merging of Calvinist Thought and Enlightenment Values in Cotton Mathers Essay The Triumph of the Reformed Religion in America - Literature Essay Samples

Within â€Å"The Triumph of the Reformed Religion in America,† Cotton Mather represents his roots of Puritanism as well as transitioning towards more enlightenment thought. His essay centers on a minister named Eliot who seeks to save the natives by means of learning their language (Mather 63). In this way, Eliot would be able to teach his religion to them. Though Mather’s Christian views should be founded on Calvinistic values, it seems that his enlightenment thinking has changed the tone of his view on Christianity. He creates an almost idealistic story about a man with seeming divinity in a world filled with the depraved. The mix of his religion and thinking create a sort of hybrid religion with the love of doing good from Calvinist thought and the free will of enlightenment thinking. The negative description that Mather provides of the natives describes a Calvinist viewpoint. Mather uses his description to emphasize, not only the differences of their peoples, but also the key places in which the natives do not abide by his religious principles. Mather discusses first the extent of their sins, emphasizing their depravity. He stresses the natives relation to beasts by saying that â€Å"their clothing is but skin of a beast† in one place (60). He goes on to describe that they are barely covered as well and in another part, he compares how they paddle their ships to that of a dog (62). Mather describes Eliot as learning the Indian language partly because they would never give up their beastly way of living to learn Eliot’s language (63). This indicates that they are more closely linked to beasts and thereby dehumanizes them by portraying them as practically animals. It also implies that they are so closely linked to animals that they do not even recogni ze their depravity and thus needed Eliot to guide them. One of the examples of their depravity that he gives is by talking about their torture and cannibalism. Mather seems to reflect Calvin values here by implying that the Indians are so far from God and so caught in original sin that they cannot even see the need to know God or even realize their sinful natures. Mather also stresses men’s slothful nature which goes against the Puritan work ethic. He describes their religion which is not only polytheistic but closely tied into nature where there are Sun and Moon Gods and even fire is given a sort of God (61-62). The fact that the natives live within nature also is another example that goes against Calvinistic values since the Puritans valued the sense of community in the cities. Also, their distance from God is emphasized by the use of demons to help them in different aspects of their lives (62). Although Mather focuses on the ways in which the natives lack Calvin values, his enlightenment thinking shows how he seeks to understand the logic and learn from the natives. At one point while talking about the slothful nature of the men, he considers how the women doing the work could factor in on the women’s ease of childbirth (61). He also describes the various resources of copper, iron, and timber of which the natives have access to but do not use (60-61). The extent in which Mather describes the natives lack of use of these materials shows his want to understand the natives better and to formulate reasons about their lack of knowledge. It also seems to imply that part of their lack of knowledge stems from the fact that they do not know God. Also by extensively describing the abilities that Mather’s people have that the Indians do not, seems to go against Calvinist values by portraying a sense of pridefulness. Mather describes how the Indians did not use metal weapons, the type of currency they used that was nothing more than trinkets, the way they prepared their food, their medicines, and how they did not know what a ship was until the Europeans came (60-61). With all of these descriptions, he seems to be stating that his people are far superior because of their advancements. At one point Mather even states, â€Å"They live in a country where we now have all the conveniences of human life† (60). Which is another way a pointing out that the natives are not quite human. Mather’s portrayal of Eliot delves away from the traditional view of a Calvinist as well. Painting Eliot in such a bright light highlights the idea of human perfectibility rather than depravity. Not once in the essay does it seem to fo cus on any flaws that Eliot could be perceived to have. Instead, Mather turns Eliot into almost a form of messiah for the natives. Mather does so by comparing the Indians to the Israelites and the statement that a deliverer will save them by coming to turn ungodliness from them (62). Though it can be argued that this is meant to refer to Jesus, Mather seems to imply that the deliverer for these Indians is Eliot who is working hard to learn their language and help them. Throughout this essay there also does not seem to be any mention of predestination; Mather seems to be suggesting that a person can become good and choose to follow God. The fact that Eliot seems to be choosing to help the natives rather than being forced to is an example of this. Mather’s descriptions include describing him as a man of honor worthy of Homer, humble, and charitable (79-60). Even towards the end of Eliot’s life Mather describes Eliot as becoming â€Å"more heavenly, more savoury, more divine† (65). Even though in the end Eliot was an old man ready to die, Mather describes how his grace increased and despite his age, he continued to work (65). This portrayal emphasizes the Puritan work ethic as even at a time in his life where he could have retired, Eliot chose not to be idle. Another way in which Mather describes him is a â€Å"perfect and upright man† (65). This description completely negates any sort of original sin that in the Calvinist view would be hanging over Eliot’s head. Eliot also seems to have more free will. Mather practically implies that it was Eliot who decided to seek out the natives and not God’s will that he went by saying, â€Å"This was the miserable people which our Eliot propounded unto himself to teach and save!† (62). In this way Mather is suggesting that it is Eliot’s own desire that causes him to want to help the natives; it is his choice rather than the act of a higher being. Eliot himself seems to have Calvinistic views by his humble nature, however, the fact that he sees the natives as stupid and senseless and wishes to teach them, reflects the seeking of knowledge of the enlightenment period. While learning the Indian language, Eliot seeks to compile it in a form that others could read and learn from as well, giving a source of knowledge to others. Besides learning their language, the other thing Eliot seeks to do before preaching to them is civilize the natives. He believed that he could not convert them before he had civilized them (62). This sort of thinking seems to combine the Calvin ideal of introspection and that of enlightenment thinking. To become civilized is a way of becoming more aware of oneself, while the act of being civilized also involves the gaining of knowledge. In this way, Mather is saying that in order to know God a person must have a knowledge and understanding of Eliot also seems to have more free will. Mather practically implies that it was Eliot who decided to seek out the natives and not God’s will that he went by saying, â€Å"This was the miserable people which our Eliot propounded unto himself to teach and save!† (62). In this way Mather is suggesting that it is Eliot’s own desire that causes him to want to help the natives; it is his choice rather than the act of a higher being. Eliot himself seems to have Calvinistic views by his humble nature, however, the fact that he sees the natives as stupid and senseless and wishes to teach them, reflects the seeking of knowledge of the enlightenment period. While learning the Indian language, Eliot seeks to compile it in a form that others could read and learn from as well, giving a source of knowledge to others. Besides learning their language, the other thing Eliot seeks to do before preaching to them is civilize the natives. He believed that he could not convert them before he had civilized them (62). This sort of thinking seems to combine the Calvin ideal of introspection and that of enlightenment thinking. To become civilized is a way of becoming more aware of oneself, while the act of being civilized also involves the gaining of knowledge. In this way, Mather is saying that in order to know God a person must have a knowledge and understanding of themself. Throughout his essay Mather maintains a firm outlook of the difference of the natives and his own people as well as showing elements of Puritan and Enlightenment thinking. Despite the fact that Mather disagrees with the values of the Natives and their viewpoints, his reasoning and logic allow him to look at their culture without judgement. For the most part he simply describes the differences of his own culture and theirs and emphasizes the ways in which Eliot sought to help them. He uses the descriptions of the natives and Eliot’s personality as a sort of contrast of what is not a Calvinist value and what is. The Indians represent the negative side; they aren’t innately good and they seem to be viewed very heavily with apriori thinking while Eliot represents the positive and also seems to be an example of posteriori thinking. He does not represent then in his own life, but in the way that he seems to think he can nurture the Indians and turn them into civilized saints. Eliot also represents a sort of combination of the Enlightenment and Puritan values. He follows the religion of the Puritans but has developed the free will, knowledge and good nature of the Enlightenment age. Work Cited Mather, Cotton. â€Å"The Triumphs of the Reformed Religion in America: Or, The Life of the Renowned John Elliot† The Pearson Curstom Library of American Literature. Eds. John Bryan, et al. Boston: Pearson Custom Publishing, 2007. 58-66

Learn How to Create MLA Format Paper and Understand the Principles of the Academic Style!

MLA Format Paper: All That You Have to Know Before Starting Your Essay Writing different 500 word essays and taking into consideration all academic requirements is a must for any student. However, it’s not always easy to learn everything about numerous styles and ways of formatting a text. Why? The first thing is often a lack of information and absence of classes, where the difference between styles could be explained. The second thing is a lack of time and opportunities that would allow a student reading about each style carefully and practicing new knowledge later. As a result, many scholars make mistakes and can’t write essays in certain styles. That’s why we’ve created this detailed guide with illustrative examples and absolutely clear explanations that will make you learn what an MLA style is. MLA Format Paper: Main Features and Spheres Of Use MLA is a popular and short abbreviation for Modern Language Association. The style reflects the main rules and principles that are set by the organization and are connected to the formatting of special parts of a text. Lots of students start to panic when they are asked to format some of their persuasive writings using this style. However, there’s no reason to worry. The style is not used very commonly and that’s why some people may think it is connected with complicated rules. In fact, MLA is one of the most student-friendly styles. There are no difficult elements and nothing that could force you to make many mistakes. The style is often used for humanitarian, social, and philological sciences texts. Where it’s usually used: Statistics; Abbreviations; Manuscripts; References; Presentations; Punctuation; MLA style is comfortable, when using citations and phrases that belong to other authors. If you want to protect your own author’s rights on your unique essays, you shall also get familiar with the style and its main principles. MLA Format Paper Examples MLA Format Paper Short Guide Often, when writing an essay, you may need to cite an extract of an article, a book you read or a popular movie. In this case, MLA style is the most comfortable and one of the easiest ways to format your essay correctly and not to violate the copyright borders of other authors. There are some tips for the most common cases and situations you can meet, while preparing your essay: You can easily use different quotes and extracts of other texts in your essay. However, don’t forget to note them all in the list of your annotated bibliography alongside with a correct source they were taken from. Use parenthetical citation style. This means placing some information about the original source of each quote inside parentheses after each citation. This method is often used for journal articles, some research paper topics and educational publications. The way of presenting the information about the source may slightly differ depending on which source of data you write about. Each source, like a book, an article, an internet site or a video record has its own ways of presentation. MLA Format Paper In-Text Citation If you are going to format in-text citations, you may be surprised how simple the method is. The MLA style dictates using author-page way of indicating your citations. That means you only need to use a surname of a creator and a page of a book the quote was taken from. Rest of the details will only be mentioned in a Cited Works page. Such way of formatting allows you to save lots of time by writing shorter information about the source and still giving your readers some useful understanding about the source without breaking the reading process. In-text information about the source is written in parentheses. If you mention main ideas or statements of a book, use an author’s surname only. However, if you mention a very concrete phrase, word, quote or definition, you must also mention a page or several pages, where you found it. MLA Format Paper Main Principles If you think about formatting your text due to main principles of MLA style, you must set a plan before starting formatting. A list of actions with clear and understandable steps will help you not to miss anything important. Start your work with writing a thesis statement. Don’t forget that thesis is a must. It should be written in capital letters in your plan and reflected in an outline. Writing an outline, check if it is laconic and informative. Avoid using any unnecessary information there. Be sure that each statement written in the outline has a direct connection with the thesis of the essay itself. There are no clear rules about the structure and size of each line: you can use a single word, a phrase or a sentence. It shall only be informative and reflect the idea you plan to convey. It’s better to use similar size for each statement to make lines look more organized. Avoid making your outline very simple. It’s ok to use a more complex plan and text structure, and use semi-paragraphs to make the structure clearer. This will also improve readability of your essay. General Tips For MLA Format Paper Even while most tips, aimed at writing your excellent essay in MLA style, are quite general it’s better to discuss some of them with your teacher. This will allow avoiding certain misunderstanding and being sure you and your teacher have a similar concept of how your future essay should look. Margins Margins allow each page to look better-organized. Formatting your text, make 1-inch margins from all document’s sides. Spacing Officially, MLA format requires double spaces all over the essay, including a list of references, notes, etc. However, it’s allowed making your text single-spaced if your teacher advises. Most teachers are also quite compliant, allowing you to decide which size of spacing is better for your essay. Title You don’t need to spend much time creating a complicated title page. It is necessary to type your name, the name of your teacher, name or number of your course and date when your essay was written. Be sure that the information is written clearly and is logically separated into lines. This information is placed to the left top of the frontal page. The topic of your essay shall be written in the center of the paper. Numbers of pages Each page number must be indicated with a numeral without a word ‘page’ or any abbreviation. Place a page number on the right upper corner of each page. Type your surname on every page before its number.You can put a page and a surname separately on every page; however, it’s more useful to apply an in-built function of Word that will add a number to each page automatically. Settings may differ according to the program version you use on your device but you can always find useful guidelines for your version on the internet. Additional Materials When writing an essay, you are encouraged to use additional materials that will make your text more understandable and informative. Images and similar objects like charts, drawings and photos should be indicated as ‘Figures’. However, if you use tables, they should be labeled as ‘Tables’. All additional materials must have a number. Necessary Skills For Writing Your MLA Format Paper A lot of students spend much time developing their writing skills but pay no attention to formatting skills. The situation when a student creates an informative essay but gets a lower mark due to poor formatting is very common. It’s very important to learn more about different styles that can be required for your essays. However, not only knowledge but also your experience plays a great role in developing your formatting skills. It’s very recommended to learn more information about academic styles, to browse through bright examples and also to use different tools that help to practice in formatting as well as to check and to edit your ready texts.