John Greenleaf Whittier

John Greenleaf Whittier (December 17, 1807 – September 7, 1892) was an influential American Quaker poet and ardent advocate of the abolition of slavery in the United States. He is usually listed as one of the Fireside Poets. Whittier was strongly influenced by the Scottish poet Robert Burns. Highly regarded in his lifetime for his literary work, he is now more remembered for his political contributions and his famous 757 line long poem Snow-Bound, about a rural family facing a wintry challenge by Mother Nature with surprising merriment and simply self-reliance.

In this included link, you will find a copy of the the poem we read in class.

Snow-Bound: Winter Idyll- This is website has the full text of the poem. We only read the first 22 pages of the text.

Also below, you will find copies of the paraphrases put together in class. Also, included is a copy of the descriptive essay assigned in class with two examples. One is written by a former student and the other is one found on the internet. In class we discussed the one in terms of figurative language.