New World encounters of the sixteenth century allowed the English to re-examine their Old World culture with fresh eyes. ...

New World encounters of the sixteenth century allowed the English to re-examine their Old World culture with fresh eyes. Many English writers used descriptions of foreign lands as a means of commenting on affairs at home. Inspired by Amerigo Vespucci’s accounts of New World discoveries, Thomas More produces an imaginary travel narrative that claims to be describing the farthest corners of the globe. Utopia, however, reveals new and uncomfortable truths about the English themselves. Write an essay where you show at least three ways that More is critical of his own English society. What do we learn about sixteenth-century England from reading about sixteenth-century Utopia? Provide a detailed response.