1. In what ways is Rowlandson's narrative a justification of the Puritan view of Native Americans?
2. What do you think are Rowlandson's purposes in writing her story?
3. From the eighteenth- until the mid-nineteenth-centuries, captivity narratives were among the most popular of writings. (Rowlandson's narrative was reprinted over 30 times.) Why do you think they were so popular?
4. What elements of (American or Taiwanese) TV dramas, movies, soap operas, and popular novels do you find in Rowlandson's narrative?
5. Compare Rowlandson's attitudes about the "wilderness" with those of Champlain and Bradford.
6. Compare Rowlandson's attitudes about the Native Americans with those of Columbus, Champlain, and Smith.
7. What "lessons" does the experience-or writing about it-bring her? Compare these to the "lessons" Bradford expresses. |
