Mary Rowlandson

Captivity and Restoration (Annotated) Mary Rowlandson

Differentiated book- It has a historical context with research of the time-The purpose of realizing this historical context is to approach the understanding of a historical epoch from the elements provided by the text. Hence the importance of placing the document in context. It is necessary to unravel what its author or authors have said, how it has been said, when, why and where, always relating it to its historical moment. Mary (White) Rowlandson was an American colonial woman who was captured during a Native American attack during the King Philip War and maintained the rescue for 11 weeks and 5 days. After being released, she wrote A Narrative of Captivity and Restoration of Mrs. Mary Rowlandson, also known as The Sovereignty and Goodness of God. It is a work in the literary genre of captivity narratives. It is considered one of the first bestsellers in the United States, four editions appeared in 1682 when it was first published. On February 10, 1675, the Lancaster settlement, in the Massachusetts Bay Colony, was attacked by Native Americans. Native Americans burned houses and opened fire on English settlers, killing several of them and injuring more. They took many of the survivors captive, including Mary Rowlandson and her three children. Mary and her youngest son were among the injured, while others in her family, including her brother-in-law, were killed.