McGuffey's Sixth Eclectic Reader, Revised Edition · Lesson LVII · Part 6: Lessons XLIX-LX: Sieges, patriots and pilgrims

63. Character of the Puritan Fathers of New England (F. W. P. Greenwood)

Goal: Your student reads a tribute to the Puritans and identifies the qualities it praises.

⏱ About 35 minutes · 6 steps

Open it at the Internet Archive ↗

You'll need

  • The book, or the scan beside this guide
  • A notebook and pen
  • A dictionary

What's in the book

A tribute to the Puritan founders of New England: their resistance to oppression, their love of liberty, and their religion. A note on the word Pentateuch follows.

The lesson, step by step

  1. Words and meanings

    The book's note explains that the Pentateuch is the first five books of the Old Testament, from the Greek for five and book.

    Before reading, find these words in the selection and look up any your student does not know: oppression, birthright, unalienable, personified.

  2. Read it aloud

    Read the opening together:

    One of the most prominent features which distinguished our forefathers, was their determined resistance to oppression.

    Your student reads the rest.

  3. Talk about it

    SayWhat, according to Greenwood, was the first mark of the Puritans?

    SayHe says liberty was not something they "personified." What did they do with it instead?

    SayFind the phrase "the unalienable gift of the Creator." Where else have you heard "unalienable"?

    SayCompare this with Lesson XXIII, Beecher's "Memory of Our Fathers." How are they alike?

  4. Tell it back

    Your student lists the qualities of the Puritans that Greenwood praises, with one example each.

  5. Copywork and memory

    Copy:

    One of the most prominent features which distinguished our forefathers, was their determined resistance to oppression.

  6. Write (optional)

    Write a paragraph on what "resistance to oppression" means, with an example from history.

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