Based on your readings of the two poems, for each Historical Criticism question in the chart below, think about what the text in the poem is saying. Click on the arrows in each column to reveal the answer.
Historical Criticism Questions
Huswifery
The Daughter Goes To Camp
How are the events, politics, economy, people, discoveries, and social climate reflected in the text?
The author compares himself to homespun cloth and god to the spinner and weaver, indicating an earlier time
The subject of the poem is holiness or godliness and the speaker of the poem's desire to achieve it
The social climate is one of relative affluence in that the action takes place in a taxi, the child was left at an airport, and the title tells us she is gone to camp
How did the economy, politics or social climate affect the author's attitudes and expression?
The society and social climate is clearly steeped in religion
Economically, the speaker appears simple but content
The tone is one of simple and worthy desire to be godly
The author's tone is one of mourning and longing, focused on the departure of her daughter in the ritual of going to camp—a very middle class experience
What key historic figures appear or are alluded to in the text?
None
None
What commonly held beliefs of the period are shown in the text?
A deep belief in the authority and goodness of god: "Thine Ordinances make my Fulling Mills"
A belief in the afterlife or heaven: "That I am Cloathd in Holy robes for glory"
A belief that children are people whom parents cherish beyond anything
How are political, social, and economic conflicts reflected in the text?
There are no conflicts in the text save the speaker's desire to be fully made by god's hand good enough to go to heaven
The social conflict in the poem is the social necessity to send a child out into the world (camp) even while the parent desires to keep the child safe with her
How are discoveries/inventions/ technology of the period evident in the text?
The spinning wheel is central to the poem
The loom is also mentioned
Taxi
Airplane
Corduroy pants
Cereal
Molecules
Plastic
Holograph
What do the historic elements of the text teach us about the actual history of the period?
That people made their own thread and cloth
That people were deeply religious
That the afterlife was an important consideration
Life was simple and somewhat difficult
That children are expected to leave their parents even when they are small, and parents are expected to allow this and to mourn for their children
What does the history of the period tell us about the text?
That people needed to make everything they needed because there were few merchants or stores
That the people came here for religious reasons and it was the most important consideration in their lives
The modern world is full challenges and ways that we must let go of our children.
Today influences tomorrow, so children must learn independence early
What idioms and diction reveal the time period in which the poem was written?
The spelling of many of the words is archaic, with the "e" at the end like "loome," and "winde"
Use of diction like "thyself" also tells us that the poem was written long ago
Use of Idioms like "All pinkt with" show a period of more flowery language
Use of diction like "reassemble" and "electric" indicate a post industrial society
Use of Idioms like "hitting me" show a modern use of language
