Readings p. 129-166 Volume 1, 9th Edition of Norton

*focus on Intro and Chapter XII: The First Thanksgiving

For this discussion and all discussion in this class, you’ll want to create a complete essay, 5-7 paragraphs. That essay should include an introduction that narrows to a thesis. That thesis should foreshadow the main ideas of your body paragraphs. After the introduction, you want to include 3-5 body paragraphs based on the paragraph plan shared in Module resources.  And after the body paragraphs, wrap up your essay with a conclusion, then a Works Cited in MLA format. You are not required to use outside sources, but if you do, cite them also in MLA format.

Each essay should be 250 or more words.

Remember that no I is allowed in our essays–no first person, and thank you!

Our question for this week:

As you read the Introduction to the section on Bradford, you learn a lot about the religious politics of the time, a time early in America’s history when issues of faith were largely undecided and heavily governed by England.

As you read Bradford’s description of The First Thanksgiving in Chapter XII (p. 154), who is the ‘they’ in that opening line? Who is gathering and why? As you answer, consider sharing also if this report of the event via Bradford aligns with the stories of early Thanksgivings that have passed down to our present day. Remember to read the work in the context of the time it was written and to examine how cultural understandings have or have not shifted since Bradford’s time.