"Many times hath Satan troubled me concerning the verity of the scriptures, many times by Atheism, how I could know whether there was a God; I never saw any miracles to confirm me, and those which I read of how did I know but they were feigned. That there is a God my Reason would soon tell me by the wondrous workes that I see, the vast frame of the Heaven and the Earth, the order of all things, night and day, Summer and Winter, Spring and Autumne, the dayly providing for this great houshold upon the Earth, the preserving and directing of All to its proper end. The consideration of these things would with amazement certainly resolve me that there is an Eternall Being."

[To My Dear Children - An Electronic Edition, Anne Bradstreet 1612-1672; Original Source: The Works of Anne Bradstreet in Prose and Verse. Edited by John Harvard Ellis. (Charlestown: A. E. Cutter, 1867)]

a) the subject of the passage
b) the author's purpose for writing
c) the intended audience
d) the tone of the piece, and
e) the perspective or point of view.

Evidence: This can be found in statements like"how could I know whether there was a God" and "certainly resolve me that there is an Eternall Being." Audience: Her children and possibly mothers

Evidence: Her children (as seen in the title) and probably other mothers.

Purpose for writing: Expressing herself

Evidence: She is expressing her own thoughts and ideas to instruct her children.

Tone: Questioning at first and then decisive, and inspired

Evidence: You can find the tone in expressions such as "troubled me," "they were feigned" "my reason would soon tell me," "vast frame of heaven," and "with amazement."

Perspective: First Person

Evidence: "I" "me" "my"