Abstract This paper explores the construction and meaning of Mary Rowlandson's famous CaptivityNarrative, first published in 1682 which tells how she was held captive during King Philip's War of 1675 by Algonquin Indians. The author explains how her autobiographical narrative reveals her religious fervor and struggles, within the context of New England Puritan thought. Within this paper on the CaptivityNarrative, there is an analysis of Calvinist thought, and insight into White New Englander prejudices against the Algonquin Indians, and how those prejudices were influenced by a loathing of the Catholic Church.
From the Paper "Mary Rowlandson was captured by the Indians from her home in Lancaster, Massachusetts, during King Philip's War of 1675. She wrote a narrative about her captivity and "restoration" which was so widely read that its popularity lasted for another century and more, after its first publication in 1682. Rowlandson's captivity narrative was reissued in Boston in 1770, 1771, and 1773, and it was also released many more times in various colonies and states during the 19th century. (Slotkin: 1973, p. 96). Thus it became one of the most representative documents by which white New Englanders remembered King Philip's War. But just how representative was Rowlandson's narrative, when it came to the realities of the conflict, on both sides, Puritan and Indian? Having been trapped in the wilderness as a prisoner of war, and surviving, Mary Rowlandson saw herself as spiritually renewed and redeemed. While many of the events in her account are probably true, her narrative is still somewhat mythical and shaped, both consciously and unconsciously, to fit her religious and cultural ideals. "
Abstract The paper explains how Mary Rowlandson's "The Narrative of the Captivity and the Restoration of Mrs. Mary Rowlandson," is what Harvey Pierce labels a "religious confessional" and a "visceral thriller". The paper shows, however, how her work goes far beyond the genre of a captivitynarrative and instead suggests the monumental cultural gap between Native-Americans and the English.
From the Paper "From the epic poetry of Homer to the historical logs of Thucydides, the victor has always earned the right to function as the historical storyteller. In her short book, "the Narrative of the Captivity and the Restoration of Mrs. Mary Rowlandson," however, it is not the victors, but rather the captive who writes history. Because of this, Rowlandson's work can be considered a monumental piece of literature. In fact, University of California professor Harvey Pierce writes that this type of work, later called the captivity novel, has an important function in the literary realm as a piece of historical literature in which "historical fact" becomes second to "what the narrative was for the readers from whom it was written" (Pierce 1). Pierce notes that "what the narrative was" for its readers can range from "religious confessional" to "visceral thriller;" and Rowlandson's work exhibits a bit of both of these extremes (1). In fact, Rowlandson uses both the themes of "religious [confession]" and "visceral thriller" to establish the cultural gap between herself and the Native Americans."
Tags: thriller, Christianity, Native-Americans, English
Abstract This paper applies narrative therapy to the counseling of two clients. The paper begins by describing the therapeutic approach of narrative therapy. Then the paper demonstrates how narrative therapy was used in the case of an 11-year old boy and a 14-year old boy.
From the Paper "Narrative therapy is based on the fundamental belief that people can engage in a constant process of re-authoring the stories of their lives. By recognizing that their choice of appropriate language can enable them to reshape their consciousness and understand..."
Tags:narrative therapy, externalizing, co-construction, alternative stories, stories
Abstract This paper examines why studying nineteenth and twentieth-century slave narratives is important. Doing so offers an opportunity to examine slavery and its aftermath from the perspective of those who were victimized by this inhuman institution. The paper shows that because of their compelling insights into the impact of slavery and racial prejudice on African Americans, the nineteenth-century narratives of Frederick Douglas and Harriet Jacobs are particularly worthy of study, as are the twentieth-century narratives of Benjamin Johnson, Lucretia Alexander, and Elijah Green.
Abstract This paper examines the use of the literary device, framed narrative, in Nabokov's "Lolita." First, the paper defines the term framed narrative. It then suggests that this device was used in "Lolita" because of the novel's controversial content. Finally, the author suggests that Nabokov may have used framed narrative to protect himself, and possibly his position as a tenured professor.
From the Paper "As for Nabokov's note at the end, called "On a Book Entitled Lolita" (pp. 313-319), Lolita's true author ("Foreword" included), Vladimir Nabokov, comes clean immediately, in the first line of this "afterward" note to the reader, about his "impersonation of suave John Ray" (Nabokov, Lolita, p. 313). Nabokov then tells us in detail about both the genesis of, and the creative processes that went into his writing of Lolita, assuring us along the way that (1) the original idea for Lolita was a very old one, and has in fact seen several metamorphoses, on two continents, before finally emerging into the public eye, as the book it is today; (2) his urge to write it was solely a literary one (and he has in fact been writing novels, in not one language but two, since 1924), and once the idea finally emerged into the raw form of a novel, he had no creative choice but (like an itch that simply must be scratched) to finish it; (3) that he had initially been reticent to sign his own name to the book; (4) that he is in fact a stably married man, with hobbies, interests, and a routine kind of life ("Every summer my wife and I go butterfly hunting" (p. 314)), and that this particular work, his own artistic creation Lolita, is a work of art, not pornography (". . . in pornographic novels, action has to be limited to the copulation of cliches", p. 315)"
Abstract This paper provides a biographical review of three Southern slaves: Moses Grandy, Solomon Northrup, and Henry Bibb. The biographies are based on slave narratives, which describe the brutality and inhumanity of the conditions under which slaves in the South were forced to exist. A brief discussion about the historical context of slave narratives and anti-slavery movements precedes the biographical reviews.
From the Paper "The effects of slavery included a major role in the economic development of the United States. Black slaves helped to clear the American wilderness and build important canals, railroads, and roads. The cotton which slaves picked became the nation's most valuable, and therefore important, export. The income from cotton paid for a major share of American imports, and the westward expansion of slavery during the early and mid-1800's had important political effects. ?Northerners feared that the South would gain control of Congress if Western territories entered the Union as slave states. Attempts by the North to exclude slavery from these territories angered the South and helped bring on the American Civil War (1861-1865)? (Davis 1999:3). Slavery had a variety of effects on slaves and owners. It broke the spirit of many blacks but made many others vow to resist it. Slavery caused fear and hate between most owners and slaves. The following narratives provide a glimpse into the miserable and dehumanizing qualities of the day- to-day lives of slaves in the Old South."
Abstract This paper is an interpretive essay presenting the concepts of narrative therapy that occur in Pulitzer Prize winning journalist Rick Bragg's book, "All Over But the Shoutin". The paper explains that the book is considered as a therapeutic narrative of autobiographical memory and looks at how the concept of "re-authoring" applies.
From the Paper "In Narrative Therapy people re-author their lives or story by defining their own existence, thereby constructing reality by choices made to give meaning to a life. This type of therapy may be viewed as a protest against the socially imposed dominant narrative and a means of making sense of a lived experience. People can be seen as problems or as stories that allow multiple possibilities. Award winning writer Rick Bragg uses the concepts of narrative therapy in his book "All Over But the Shoutin", turning it into a therapeutic narrative...
Abstract This paper studies the concept of suturing which is defined in many different ways such as sewing something back together, gesture or pseudo-identification, the individual watching a film as a stand-in for the camera and more. It looks at the filmmaker Ranier Werner Fassbinder's work 'Despair' as an example of a film that attempts to undercut notions of the gazer of the film becoming sutured into the web of the film and of becoming socially subjected to the predetermined constructions of reality within the film's text. Finally, it concludes that the destabilizing of a master narrative with the particularity of autobiography is better than the complicated suturing.
From the Paper "On a very literal level, to suture something is to sew something back together, usually imperfectly, usually with a substance that is alien to the body that is being altered?such as the doctor's suturing thread that stitches together an open wound. On a semiotic level, according to Jacques-Alain Miller, Miller's definition of suture (in a nutshell) is that the suturing process in culture is the process through which a subject is joined into the signifying chain of culture, allowing a signifier to stand-in for the subject's absence in discourse. (Suture as a Laconian Concept) "
Abstract This paper looks at the slave narrative, "Never Had Over Two Dresses". by Betty Foreman Chessie about how Chessier's life as a slave isolated her from her family. It examines the benefits of being a house slave in an urban area than a field slave and the role of faith in her existence.
From the Paper "Betty Foreman Chessier never had over two dresses. Born on July in Raleigh North Carolina she grew up in the waning days of the foul institution called slavery. As a result of this her life was a direct product of the racism that defined this nation..."
Abstract Mary Rowlandson's description of her experiences being held captive by Indians during the Metacom Wars in17th century New England represent the birth of a narrative genre. What characterizes the Rowlandson's narrative as particular is both the vivid detail of her experience and the ways her survival is woven through the Calvinist doctrine's of New England's Puritan religious communities. The narrative itself represents the sheer trauma of Rowlandson's experiences in a language that appeals relentlessly to salvation discourse and it is apparent that her religious passions sustained her to some degree during her three months as a hostage with the Naragansett Indians. It is also difficult to deny the ways the narrative is written after-the-fact and represents a particular reconstruction of the experience. It is in reading the narrative is a context of post-traumatic writing that it becomes possible to understand how Rowlandson's writing constitutes a particular act of recovery.
This paper discusses the Puritan way of thinking about salvation and race as exemplified in Mary Rowlandson's "The Narrative of the Captivity and the Restoration of Mrs. Mary Rowlandson".
Abstract In this essay, the writer discusses the Puritan way of thinking about salvation and grace that is echoed within the end of Rowlandson's distinctly Puritan captivitynarrative, "The Narrative of the Captivity and the Restoration of Mrs. Mary Rowlandson". The writer points out that Mary Rowlandson's quest for self-analysis and self-revelation, within her autobiographical account of her time in captivity, centers on her individual relationship to God, before, during, and particularly after her ordeal. Further, the writer notes that Mary Rowlandson's account of her ordeal at the hands of Indians, and her survival of that ordeal, is in fact as much about how God helped her through the experience as it is about the experience itself.
From the Paper "Of central importance to Puritanism, as illustrated within the writings of John Winthrop; John Edwards, Mary Rowlandson, and others, is the idea of God's divine authority over human beings on earth, and, consequently, the importance of seeking salvation and grace, in both detailed personal and religiously abstract ways, through both individual and collective earthly deeds. The Puritans studied closely, and sought to obey, in individual ways and as a united group (see, for example, John Winthrop's "A Model of Christian Charity," a sermon delivered on the way to the New World, in which Winthrop stresses the importance of working as a united group toward salvation and grace), the words of God, as expressed within the Bible."
Tags: self-revelation, spiritually, experience, God
Abstract This paper examines Mary Rowlandson's narrative "The Sovereignty and Goodness of God" and explains how Rowlandson offers vivid accounts of Native lifestyles, with women and religious figures existing outside of, and in opposition to, English Puritan society. The paper discusses the social context of Rowlandson's life and the publication of "The Sovereignty and Goodness of God". Next, the paper explores Rowlandson's narrative in terms of the essentially inferior relationship between Christians and non-Christians in an effort to discern more about 17th century English Puritan society. The paper then looks at how "The Sovereignty and Goodness of God" is autobiographical in nature, describing the author's first-hand account of being in captivity, but not autobiographical in the traditional sense because it focuses exclusively on the three months she spent in Native captivity when she was about thirty-nine years old but not on her life before and after captivity.
From the Paper "The bullets that sliced through the Rowlandson Garrison in 1676 facilitated a tear in the division of two cultural realms, a transfer between civilizations that resulted in the induction of Mary White Rowlandson into the Native world. For 11 weeks the boundaries of Rowlandson's cultural identification were tested as she was forced to live and participate in the society of her captors. During this time, the essential nature of her identity and status in society changed; rather than being the mistress of her own respected household, Rowlandson found herself occupying the lowest rung of Native society. She was now a captive servant to her Native master and mistresses."
Abstract The paper shows that captivitynarratives written by early settlers of America succeeded in conveying unfair stereotypes about Native Americans. These narratives recorded the captives' physical, mental, and spiritual experiences. The paper examines the reasons for these abductions, circumstances and experiences of those who were abducted, with a specific analysis of how the autobiography "Narrative of the Captivity and Restoration of Mrs. Mary Rowlandson" perpetuates the conveyance of stereotypes about Native Americans.
From the Paper "Throughout the history of Colonial North America, Native Americans have been portrayed as evil and heathen in many ways. The Native Americans were depicted as evil and soulless; a race beyond any reason that delighted murder of innocent Christians. One such way is through the writing of ?captivity narratives,? whose purpose was to record the captive's physical, mental and spiritual experiences as they journeyed through the unknown. Captivity narratives also served a purpose in that they led to reflection on the meaning of life and helped shaped the expectations of any other unfortunate settlers who might find themselves in captivity at some time (Ebersole 20). These accounts of captivity became stories to be told and retold in order to reflect upon the situation forced upon the captive and, for the Puritans, to reflect in God's grace at having delivered them from the hands of these ?savages.? These narratives were unfortunately never objective or neutral in any way, as they always portrayed Native Americans as creatures with no souls whose sole purpose in life was to distribute pain and suffering to those who were God-fearing; they were thought of as instruments of the devil. In this way, captivity narratives succeeded in conveying unfair stereotypes about Native Americans that have not (until recently) been overcome."
Abstract The paper discusses, introduces, and analyze the book "A Narrative of the Captivity and Restoration of Mrs. Mary Rowlandson" by Mary Rowlandson. Specifically it discusses Rowlandson's captivity with the Indians, and her strong will to survive. The paper notes that captured by marauding Indians in 1675, Mary Rowlandson lived with the Native Americans for several weeks before her husband managed to ransom her. Her strong will to survive, coupled with her equally strong belief in God helped her survive the ordeal, and helped her write about it after it had ended.
From the Paper "Rowlandson's narrative shows how difficult it was to keep on going, and how frightened she was of what was to come. As they left the area she knew and loved, she feels nothing but sorrow and pain. She writes, "But now, the next morning, I must turn my back upon the town, and travel with them into the vast and desolate wilderness, I knew not whither. It is not my tongue, or pen, can express the sorrows of my heart, and bitterness of my spirit that I had at this departure" (Rowlandson). She did not know it then, but she would not see her home again for over three months, and when she returned, she would find nothing left standing, and no one but Indians in the area."
