Reading Study Guide
by Kathleen Eilers crandall
Anne Hutchinson
(1591 - 1643)
On Trial for Thinking for Herself
Directions:
· Read the paragraphs in the left column. Notice the bold words.
· Then fill in the blanks in the right column. Some are done for you as examples.
· Then reread the paragraphs, and try to answer the critical thought questions at the end of this passage.
A woman preaching? The men in the little town of Boston looked at each other in horror as the news went from one to another. Was it possible? / 1. preaching· part-of-speech v(I)
· definition giving a religious lecture
2. one (__man__) to another (__man__)
3. Was it ( a woman preaching__) possible?
"It could be," said one man. "My wife goes one afternoon each week to the home of Mistress Anne Hutchinson, and she comes back very thoughtful." / 4. It (______) could be possible ,
5. she (______)
6. thoughtful
· part-of-speech ______
· definition ______
______
Another man said, "My wife does the same." / 7. the same (__thing__)
What does his wife do?(also goes to the Hutchinson house one afternoon each week)
Still another said, "Half the women in Boston go to Mistress Hutchinson's one afternoon each week. It is true; they take their sewing and quilting. But I do hear that Mistress Hutchinson talks about the Sunday sermons." / 8. another (______)
9. It (women going to Anne Hutchinson's home)
10. quilting
· part-of-speech ______
· definition ______
______
11. I (______)
12. sermons
· part-of-speech ______
· definition ______
______
Another said, "She does more than that. My wife let it fall that Mistress Hutchinson says we Puritans are too hard on people of other faiths. She says also that we should not use Indians as slaves." / 13. She (______)
14. that (______)
15. let it fall
· part-of-speech verb expression
· definition said something, but shouldn't have
16. Puritans
· part-of-speech ______
· definition ______
______
17. too hard on
· part-of-speech adj. expression
· definition not fair to
18. faiths
· part-of-speech ______
· definition ______
______
Some of the others cried out, "What?" / 19. others (______)
The man went on. "Yes, yes, and I think she has other dangerous views, but when my wife saw my face she would say no more." / 20. went on
· part-of-speech verb expression
· definition continued talking
21. views
· part-of-speech ______
· definition ______
______
"This must be stopped!" said one of the men. "How dare a woman put forth such ideas?" Soon they decided that one of Boston's most important preachers, the Reverend John Cotton, should speak to Anne Hutchinson. / 22. This (______)
23. put forth
· part-of-speech verb expression
· definition say; suggest
24. they (______)
25. Reverend
· part-of-speech ______
· definition ______
______
"Is it true?" the Reverend Cotton asked Anne Hutchinson. "Are you preaching to the women at these afternoon meetings?" / 26. it (______)
Anne Hutchinson shook her head. She was a small, lively person who admired the Reverend Cotton very much. In fact, she and her husband had left England and brought their family to America to settle in Boston just because the Reverend Cotton had done so. / 27. lively
· part-of-speech ______
· definition ______
______
28. admired
· part-of-speech ______
· definition ______
______
29. she (______)
30. their (______)
31. settle
· part-of-speech ______
· definition ______
______
32. done so (done also) What had the Reverend Cotton done? ______
"Oh no, sir," she said, "you could never call it preaching. I talk -- we all talk -- about the Sunday sermons. We study the Bible. And sometimes I try to explain some of its words when it seems that God had given me a sign." / 33. it ( what Anne does when she and the other women meet at her house )
34. its (______)
35. sign
· part-of-speech ______
· definition ______
______
The Reverend Cotton looked shocked. "You think that God gives you signs?" Anne Hutchinson nodded. The Reverend Cotton said, "But this is terrible. Only ministers can receive signs from God. Certainly no woman can. Say you are mistaken. Otherwise you must be tried by the court. You may be sent away from Boston. Say you are mistaken." / 36. nodded
· part-of-speech ______
· definition ______
______
37. this ( Anne receiving signs from God )
38. ministers
· part-of-speech ______
· definition ______
______
39. no woman can (do what?) ______
40. Otherwise (if you, Anne, don't say you are mistaken)
41. tried
· part-of-speech ______
· definition ______
______
42. may be sent (by ______)
43. you are mistaken (about what?) ______
But this was something Anne Hutchinson could not do. She had always been a person who thought for herself, even when she was a small girl in England. She could not help thinking for herself now and speaking about what she thought. / 44. this (saying she was mistaken about preaching and receiving signs from God)
45. help
· part-of-speech ______
· definition ______
______
Sketch of Anne Hutchinson on Trial
And so Anne Hutchinson was brought to trial before a group of ministers. She stood before them bravely and tried to prove, with words from the Bible, that women, as well as men, might receive signs from God, and that women, as well as men, had the right to speak their thoughts. But the more she said the more the ministers turned against her. At the end of her trial, they sentenced her to be banished from the Massachusetts colony. / 46. was brought (by ______)
47. trial
· part-of-speech ______
· definition ______
______
48. tried
· part-of-speech ______
· definition ______
______
49. as well
· part-of-speech ______
· definition ______
______
50. right
· part-of-speech ______
· definition ______
______
51. turned against
· part-of-speech verb expression
· definition did not agree with
52. they (______)
53. sentenced
· part-of-speech ______
· definition ______
______
54. banished
· part-of-speech ______
· definition ______
______
55. colony
· part-of-speech n(C)
· definition a new territory [land area] that a people from a foreign country are settling
Anne Hutchinson and her family did not have an easy time after that. They stayed for a while in the Rhode Island colony. Then they traveled into the New York colony and settled there. And there, the cruelest thing of all happened. Anne Hutchinson had always been friendly with Indians. But one day, some hot-tempered braves, who did not know Anne Hutchinson, killed her and all her children but one. / 56. after that (after what?) after ______
57. there (where?) ______
58. braves
· part-of-speech ______
· definition ______
______
59. one (what?) ______
Still, her courage to say what she thought had not been in vain. Many people in Boston who had heard her talk remembered what she had said. Gradually, they began to think she had been right about many things -- and they made some changes in Puritan ways. / 60. in vain
· part-of-speech adj.
· definition without result or success
61. they (______)
62. ways
· part-of-speech n(C)
· definition customs; behaviors
Some history books do mention her name. It is remembered in other places too. A river in New York, near which she lived, is called the Hutchinson River, after her. The highway that runs along it is called the Hutchinson River Parkway -- after Anne Hutchinson, a woman who did what she wasn't supposed to.
/ 63. mention
· part-of-speech ______
· definition ______
______
64. It (______)
65. after her ( because of her )
66. it (______)
67. did what she wasn't supposed to (did unacceptable things) What unacceptable things did Anne Hutchinson do?
______
______
Critical thought questions: (Write short answers, not full sentences, to these questions.)
- Why did Anne Hutchinson come to America and settle in Boston?
- What did Anne do that women were not supposed to do four hundred years ago?
- Why was Anne Hutchinson forced to leave the Boston colony?
- How was she killed?
- Why was she killed?
- What happened to the Puritan's customs and traditions because of Anne Hutchinson?
Resources:
National Women’s Hall of Fame – Anne Hutchinson http://www.greatwomen.org/women.php?action=viewone&id=84
10
3/15/2013-WL2