Exploring the Text

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  1. In the opening stanza, how does Anne Bradstreet as the speaker in the poem address the concerns her largely male audience is likely to have? What does she claim is outside the scope of her work?

    Question

    ALMF/kS1zzW73MouRsoXk1h0lKY=
    Exploring the Text: - In the opening stanza, how does Anne Bradstreet as the speaker in the poem address the concerns her largely male audience is likely to have? What does she claim is outside the scope of her work?
  2. In the second stanza, what does Bradstreet mean by “I do grudge the Muses did not part / ’Twixt [Great Bartas] and me that overfluent store” (ll. 9–10)?

    Question

    ALMF/kS1zzW73MouRsoXk1h0lKY=
    Exploring the Text: - In the second stanza, what does Bradstreet mean by “I do grudge the Muses did not part / ’Twixt [Great Bartas] and me that overfluent store” (ll. 9–10)?
  3. How does Bradstreet characterize her own talents in stanza 3? What has “nature” made “so irreparable”?

    Question

    ALMF/kS1zzW73MouRsoXk1h0lKY=
    Exploring the Text: - How does Bradstreet characterize her own talents in stanza 3? What has “nature” made “so irreparable”?
  4. How do you interpret Bradstreet’s concluding lines in stanza 4: “Art can do much, but this maxim’s most sure: / A weak or wounded brain admits no cure” (ll. 23–24)?

    Question

    ALMF/kS1zzW73MouRsoXk1h0lKY=
    Exploring the Text: - How do you interpret Bradstreet’s concluding lines in stanza 4: “Art can do much, but this maxim’s most sure: / A weak or wounded brain admits no cure” (ll. 23–24)?
  5. What shift in attitude does the fifth stanza introduce (ll. 25–30)? Check the archaic definitions of obnoxious and despite. Who is Bradstreet referring to as “they” in line 28?

    Question

    ALMF/kS1zzW73MouRsoXk1h0lKY=
    Exploring the Text: - What shift in attitude does the fifth stanza introduce (ll. 25–30)? Check the archaic definitions of obnoxious and despite. Who is Bradstreet referring to as “they” in line 28?
  6. What is the point Bradstreet makes in stanzas 6 and 7 in her reference to “the antique Greeks”? Does she undermine her own argument when she writes, “Men can do best, and women know it well” (l. 40)? Why or why not?

    Question

    ALMF/kS1zzW73MouRsoXk1h0lKY=
    Exploring the Text: - What is the point Bradstreet makes in stanzas 6 and 7 in her reference to “the antique Greeks”? Does she undermine her own argument when she writes, “Men can do best, and women know it well” (l. 40)? Why or why not?
  7. Thyme and parsley are herbs used in cooking, and bays are laurel leaves that were used in ancient Greece and Rome to crown triumphant athletes or great artists. Why in the final stanza does she ask for a “thyme or parsley wreath” but “no bays” (l. 46)?

    Question

    ALMF/kS1zzW73MouRsoXk1h0lKY=
    Exploring the Text: - Thyme and parsley are herbs used in cooking, and bays are laurel leaves that were used in ancient Greece and Rome to crown triumphant athletes or great artists. Why in the final stanza does she ask for a “thyme or parsley wreath” but “no bays” (l. 46)?
  8. This poem was the prologue to The Tenth Muse when it was first published in England in 1650. Think about its purpose as an introduction to the collection. How would you characterize the complex tone? Is the speaker rebellious? Apologetic? Humble? Sarcastic? Aggressive? Conciliatory? Cite specific phrases and lines to support your response.

    Question

    ALMF/kS1zzW73MouRsoXk1h0lKY=
    Exploring the Text: - This poem was the prologue to The Tenth Muse when it was first published in England in 1650. Think about its purpose as an introduction to the collection. How would you characterize the complex tone? Is the speaker rebellious? Apologetic? Humble? Sarcastic? Aggressive? Conciliatory? Cite specific phrases and lines to support your response.
  9. What was the rhetorical situation of Bradstreet and her readers? Analyze the poem, which is often read as an argument that Bradstreet builds stanza by stanza, by considering formal characteristics such as claim, assumptions, counterargument, and evidence.

    Question

    ALMF/kS1zzW73MouRsoXk1h0lKY=
    Exploring the Text: - What was the rhetorical situation of Bradstreet and her readers? Analyze the poem, which is often read as an argument that Bradstreet builds stanza by stanza, by considering formal characteristics such as claim, assumptions, counterargument, and evidence.