Collections Grade 11 Guiding Questions Collection 1

“from Of Plymouth Plantation” by William Bradford

Read the selection from the historical account Of Plymouth Plantation by William Bradford. Then, reread the lines indicated with each question below. Answer each question, citing text evidence.

1.Lines 1–5: Paraphrase, or state in your own words, what Bradford is trying to communicate in the first sentence.

2.Lines 6–18: What is Bradford’s central idea, or theme?

3.Lines 19–24: How does the use of passive voice affect the meaning of these lines?

4.Lines 29–33: Identify examples of archaic language in these lines. What word substitutions using current vocabulary might make the sentence’s meaning easier to understand?

5.Lines 47–56: Determine the central idea of these lines.

6.Lines 60–62: What do these lines reveal about Bradford’s purpose?

7.Lines 78–109: What three allusions does Bradford use in these two paragraphs? How do these allusions support Bradford’s central idea that the Pilgrims endured a difficult journey into an unknown wilderness?

8.Lines 110–116: Suggest how this lengthy sentence might be rewritten in a more modern way.

9.Map: What connections can you make between the map and Of Plymouth Plantation? What places, events, and journeys described in the text are also shown on the map?

10.Lines 164–168: How does the story alluded to here relate to the Pilgrims’ experience?

11.Lines 178–185: What theme does the author want to convey? How does the abandoned corn relate to God’s “providence”?

12.Lines 186–207: What words or phrases describe places, events, or people? What kind of feeling do these descriptions convey? Using these clues, what might you infer about Bradford’s purpose?

13.Lines 110–224: Find evidence in these lines of repetition in the events Bradford describes. What kind of events does Bradford’s writing focus on?

14.Lines 234–259: Summarize these lines. How has the action, or pace, changed in this paragraph? What can readers infer about Bradford’s purpose from this paragraph?

15.Lines 260–268: What text evidence suggests that Bradford saw the Pilgrims as having been chosen by God?

16.Lines 269–273: What is the purpose of the paragraph that introduces the Second Book?

17.Lines 285–307: How does the diction of the Mayflower Compact differ from the diction in previous sections of Of Plymouth Plantation?

18.Lines 308–316: According to the text that comes before this passage, when was the Mayflower Compact signed? How does the brief summary of events in this passage compare to those listed in Chapter X?

19.Lines 317–322: Look for phrases that are unfamiliar or appear out of context in this sentence. What is a synonym for the phrase “discontents and murmurings”? Are there other substitutions that might make the sentence’s meaning clearer?

20.Lines 330–335: Note the active and passive verbs in this sentence. How does the sentence change as it progresses? How does this use of the active and passive voice affect meaning?

21.Lines 330–339: What text evidence supports your inferences about the characteristics colonists valued? How might celebrating the characteristics in this account influence Bradford’s readers?

22.Lines 346–349: Why might Bradford have chosen to use phrases like “skulking about” and “stole away”?

23.Lines 372–385: Paraphrase the treaty between Massasoit and the Pilgrims and determine its central ideas.

24.Lines 388–395: Summarize Squanto’s life before the Pilgrims’ arrival.