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Anne Bradstreet And Fix Analysis

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American lifestyle and literature has transformed dramatically throughout the years. One way this can be shown is through the comparison of poetry over the different centuries. Two poems, one from the 17th century and the other the 21st century, were chosen in order to see the great contrasts in the content and form of literature. Meditation by Anne Bradstreet and Fix by Alicia Suskin Ostriker clearly display these changes through the differences in writing style, morals, and the belief in God. Compared to Ostriker’s writing, Bradstreet’s poem is written plainly; inspired by the Puritan influence and way of life. An example of this is her second stanza, “My thankful mouth shall speak Thy praise, / My tongue shall talk of Thee; / On high my heart O do Thou raise / For what Thou'st done for me.” Her work is very centered in serving the Lord and living a simplistic …show more content…

Both authors are writing to touch the lives of others around them through expressing their beliefs for others to read and reflect upon their literature; the difference between the two all comes down to morals. Meditation is something that would be read in service on a Sunday morning while Fix is something the church goers would be trying to forget about. Instead of being centered around God, Ostriker’s poem focuses on the gluttony of the American lifestyle. Bradstreet’s lifestyle was simplistically serving God and living a non-materialistic life, while the modern lifestyle is utterly materialistic. Ostricker’s last sentence, “We would fix it if we knew what was broken”, basically sums up so many aspects of the American society. The majority of our modern modern population has become so distracted by the new forms of entertainment, sex, video games, sports, etc., that they have essentially all but forgotten the daily purpose of serving their god except for the hour or so they remember to go to church on Sunday

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