Dear Fontyhab,

     My research trip to Earth Two has been quite enlightening.  The planet’s make up and atmosphere are nearly identical to those of our own planet.  The inhabitants of the planet – humans – carry identical traits to us, though they wear quite a bit more covering.  They call this clothing.  These coverings may be in response to their severe temperatures.  Their climate has been altered significantly by what appears to be a deliberate effort to increase their access to the sun’s rays.  I find this to be quite curious.  I continue to gather data on this strange practice.  I too have begun exploring the history of the land that I have landed on.  They call it North America, and I currently reside in the country of The United States of America.  This land and country distinction is one I have yet to explain, but my research has still been quite fruitful. 

     I have inhabited the body of the one they call Matt Scroggins.  This young man was born in this America, yet seems to know nothing of its history!  Can you imagine?!  How can one grow old without the entirety of knowledge regarding the birth of your nation?!  Anyhow, this Matt is taking a course at a local college about the history and writings of this land.  Using what they call a “computer” I have gained access to a wide variety of resources and writings from the time of this nation’s creation.  It appears as though this Matt has much to learn and I am pleased to have been able to move through the material at a rate far expedient than that of this lowly human.  I write to share with you my discoveries.  What I have noticed most immediately is that these poor creations are not given an identity upon their birth!  Can you imagine?!  What would I do without my birth tag?  Nonetheless, this is where much of their strife and success comes from.  From it’s original colonization to the evolving systems of belief, the force that has driven the creation of the United States of America and the philosophy that has guided it has been the search for identity. 

     People from a distant Earth Two land discovered this North America over 500 years ago.  Oddly enough though, the land was already inhabited when discovered.  How a land with people already living on it is a discovery, I have yet to learn.  This label of “discoverer” of a land seems to help define their identity.  Either way, it was quite the revelation for these humans.  They deemed this land “The New World.”  Can you imagine what they might call our world if they ever “discovered” it?  One of the earliest men to travel to this land was Cabeza de Vaca.  In a letter written home, entitled La Relacion, he wrote to his leader that, “Throughout the land the only thing people talked about was the marvelous deeds that God our Lord worked through us, and people came from many places asking us to cure them” (de Vaca 61).  This “God our Lord” they speak of is quite prevalent in all of the early writings of this land.  Here in fact, De Vaca and his people were assumed to be magical healers that channeled the power of this “God.”  The people of this time expected great things of God.

     Not all too long after De Vaca’s journey did others begin to venture over to this “New World” and begin to colonize the land.  These people did not agree with some of the policies of their homeland regarding their beliefs in God and instead decided to move away to establish their own land.  One of the most well known of these colonizers is a human by the name of John Smith.  You will never believe who recorded the tale of his journey to and adventures in North America.  He did!  What strange practices these humans have.  In his writing, he certainly sought to establish his identity as a brave and heroic man.  In his Generall historie of Virginia, New England & the Summer Isles, together with The true travels, adventures and observations, and A sea grammar - Volume 1, Smith said of himself that he bore, “the greatest taske for his owne share, so that in short time, he provided most of them lodgings, neglecting any for himselfe” (Smith 93). One of Matt’s many intelligent classmates, Alex Larsson, keenly observed in the class discussion: “Most of the complimentary language that is directed towards Smith is written by Smith himself which makes it more difficult for me to think those statements are unbiased” (Larsson).  It is very difficult to imagine that he wrote truthfully of himself, particularly in light of the quote I have provided you.  How arrogant this search for identity can make these humans!  Still though, there is one figure that they remain humble to - I must tell you more of this “God” they so often speak of.

     There is a fascinating form of literature here, known as the “Captivity Narrative,” that presents a great deal of devotion to this higher being.  This style of literature presents the story of an individual that has been captured.  These stories are shared as a form of religious expression, but also a justification for continuing to develop this land of North America, and a way of reinforcing stereotypes about groups of people not from their native land – particularly the original inhabitants of North America (Campbell).  From what I have gathered in my studies, “one of the most widely read prose works of the 17th century in England and America,” is a captivity narrative written by a woman named Mary Rowlandson (Creel).  Rowlandson’s captivity narrative tells of the time she was captured by the natives of North America.  She paints these people as brutal savages and describes their vicious acts.  Of one of her fellow people, she explains that, “there was one who was chopped into the head with a hatchet, and stripped naked,” by these natives (Rowlandson).  What awful things these humans will do to one another!  (I do however wonder how truthful she was of her time in captivity.)  In response to her fear of these natives, Rowlandson turns to her religion and book of God – what they call the Bible. 

     Rowlandson writes that, “I have thought since of the wonderful goodness of God to me in preserving me in the use of my reason and senses in that distressed time, that I did not use wicked and violent means to end my own miserable life“ (Rowlandson).  It was very important for Rowlandson to express her commitment to her God during this difficult time.  Her writing was a way for her to express her gratitude to this higher being, but also to demonstrate her commitment to it.  Rowlandson and many other Christians of this land were very concerned with being granted a sort of eternal life by this deity.  It seems that demonstrating a commitment to it was the only way of being granted this privilege.  This spiritual commitment and system of beliefs were of the utmost importance to the identity of these people.  They knew themselves as well as the world around them through the lens of their religion.  It gave them comfort and also taught them how to lead their life.

     Still though, even in their beliefs of a single being was there conflict!  As time moved, the humans of America began to develop new ideas of religion.  There was a time known as “The Enlightenment” when they started to question God’s presence in their lives.  A group of people, known as “Deists,” started a religion that was rooted in rationality.  Let me be clear, they still believed that God created this World Two and bestowed them with a set of natural laws, but he was not immediately present providing miracles or assistance, as Rowlandson believed (Reuben).

     During this age of Enlightenment, as well as before, there were wonderful displays of an art they call “poetry.”  Oh this poetry!  In my time here on Earth Two, my favorite discovery has been of this grand art.  Poetry is a beautifully artistic use of language, filled with multiple meanings, metaphors, and clever manipulations of form.  The metaphor is what makes this art so wonderfully powerful.  A metaphor is a way of describing or representing one thing as another (Creel).  These metaphors allow humans to create connections between their world and attempt to make sense of it and their place in it.  I believe that poetry is the humans’ strongest means of exploring their identity and expressing some of the struggles they face in seeking to define it. 

     A wonderful poet by the name of Phillis Wheatley wrote during this time of Enlightenment.  I looked into her a little bit and found a piece by the name of, “The Difficult Miracle of Black Poetry In America or Something Like a Sonnet For Phillis Wheatley,” written by the one they call June Jordan.  In this piece Jordan explains that, “A poet is African in Africa, or Irish in Ireland…A poet is free.  A poet is someone at home.  How should there be Black poets in America?  It was not natural” (Jordan 252).  This brave woman, Wheatley, was brought to North America to be a slave.  She was of a different color than these white colonizers and they thought of her less than those of their same pigment - another strange practice that I have yet to decipher.  Nonetheless, she came to this new land and wrote of her experiences.  These white humans did not like her doing so, yet she stayed strong and explored her identity as a Black human in America.  Another of Matt’s classmates, Ann Brady, highlighted Wheatley’s bravery in her discussion of Wheatley’s poem, “On Being Brought From Africa to America,"stating that, “Wheatley boldly refutes white Christians who call Africans ‘diabolic’ (l. 6) by reminding them that Africans are eligible for heaven if given the opportunity of ‘redemption’ (l. 4) that is central to Christian belief” (Brady).  She continues to express her own praise for the acts of this brave woman, saying, “It is amazing that Wheatley calls white Christians on their hypocrisy despite her difficult position as a woman and an African slave” (Brady).  Wheatley had many disadvantages, yet did not fall to the oppressive powers around her.  What an amazing tool this poetry provides humans!

     As I hope you have gathered, these humans face a difficult struggle not being provided an identity at their birth.  They must make sense of themselves and the world around them on their own.  To do so they have created different forms of religion and art for guidance and means of expression.  Even today these forms bring these humans joy and release.  These humans are capable of wondrous things in the search for their identity.  I have begun to wonder what, had I not been provided my birth tag, I might be led to do.  I cannot begin to imagine, but this search for identity appears to be a blessing and a curse – from it they have created wonderful things but also brought great destruction to their world. 

     My time on Earth Two has been quite enjoyable.  So enjoyable in fact that I plan to remain with the body of this Matt until the end of his American Literature course.  I hope this decision finds your approval.  I will return fully enlightened on the history of this land for our own history books.  Future generations will learn of the great struggle these Humans of North America face.  I thank you for this opportunity and will see you in the very near future.

Sincerely,

Broanyx (AKA Matt Scroggins)