The Wordy Shipmates Thesis
In The Wordy Shipmates, author Sarah Vowell talks about the Puritans and different aspects of the formation of the Massachusetts Bay Colony. Vowell makes a vague thesis about how the Puritans were a writing based group of people. Their lives were influenced by all forms of writing whether it is pamphlets, literature, or the bible. The Wordy Shipmates starts off with Vowell stating, “The only thing more dangerous than an idea is a belief. And by dangerous I don’t mean thought-provoking. I mean: might get people killed.” Vowell supports this statement throughout her The Wordy Shipmates as she heavily explains how religion plays an important role in every part of the Puritan lifestyle during this time. When Vowell talks about the Puritan lifestyle
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When I first started reading the novel, I wasn’t really sure on which direction Vowell was attempting to take this book. Even as I read a little further into the book her thesis was no clear to me. The lack of chapters in The Wordy Shipmates makes it hard to keep track of what Vowell is talking about or to even see where she will be going next. On top of the lack of defined chapters, Vowell’s almost constant rants make it hard to keeps the events lined up or even follow what she is going on and on about. If you can get past the disorganization or the frequent rants that Vowell seems to have, the actual vocabulary used in The Wordy Shipmates is not anything crazy or complex. The Puritans are not the most exciting group of people to read about but Vowell’s references to pop culture and other more modern events make the history in the novel easier to understand. Vowell goes into detail about almost every person or topic she brings up in The Wordy Shipmates, which could be both a good thing and a bad thing. The good part is that it really shows her understanding of the events that are taking place and she tends to stay unbiased as she goes into detail. The bad part is that her insane amount of details makes the book boring at times when she tends to be detailed about things that would be equally understood if she were to just make a general statement. Vowell has a
When I first started reading the novel, I wasn’t really sure on which direction Vowell was attempting to take this book. Even as I read a little further into the book her thesis was no clear to me. The lack of chapters in The Wordy Shipmates makes it hard to keep track of what Vowell is talking about or to even see where she will be going next. On top of the lack of defined chapters, Vowell’s almost constant rants make it hard to keeps the events lined up or even follow what she is going on and on about. If you can get past the disorganization or the frequent rants that Vowell seems to have, the actual vocabulary used in The Wordy Shipmates is not anything crazy or complex. The Puritans are not the most exciting group of people to read about but Vowell’s references to pop culture and other more modern events make the history in the novel easier to understand. Vowell goes into detail about almost every person or topic she brings up in The Wordy Shipmates, which could be both a good thing and a bad thing. The good part is that it really shows her understanding of the events that are taking place and she tends to stay unbiased as she goes into detail. The bad part is that her insane amount of details makes the book boring at times when she tends to be detailed about things that would be equally understood if she were to just make a general statement. Vowell has a