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Literacy Analysis of
The General History of Virginia and New England By John Smith
Kaitlin Holden
Liberty University
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The General History of Virginia and New England By John Smith
John Smith, one of the most famous people in American literature history, shaped it
through his American pioneering spirt and his image of the New World. One of Smith’s most
important works is best known as “The General History of Virginia and New England” Through
this story you can tell what his image of the New World was because it was on how he made
people come to the new world. Throughout this story Smith’s writing was very poetic and he
used a lot of adjectives. He wrote this work to make himself look like a hero and to make people
come to the new world.
Characteristics of the Period
Even though it was one of his most important works it didn’t appear until 1624. Jennifer
Larson stated that “This work combined elements from his previous works with new material to
create a more complete history of the American colonies. (Lawson, n.d)” It gave us more detail
of the conflict between the colonists and the Indians. A major thing it also gave us more detail of
was the aid Pocahontas had to him and the colony. We also got more detail on what resources,
disadvantages and the advantages that were available to the American colonists.
Theme
Through this literature work by Smith, there were many different themes going on.
Throughout this story it mainly involved the Indians especially Pocahontas because she defies
her own. Some themes were the violence against the Indians and then the worshipping of the
Indians. When it came to the white men, Indians marveled at them and they even fed them. But
the crazy thing about all of this was one Indian woman decided to save a white man and then
came the misunderstanding of the Indian’s actions. Throughout this story it gave us the image of
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what Virginia was like when it first began, the settlers went through stages of hunger and felt
God’s judgement.
Narrative Devices Throughout many of Smith’s writings he used a lot of adjectives
and was very dramatic so it wouldn’t be boring. In the notes about Smith that we got it stated
that the literary style he had was plain style. He aims to write for “plain men’s satisfaction.”
Also, Smith refers to himself a lot in the third person. It creates an effect of self-removal from
his own actions. This book was more from a narrative account recorded by John Smith, because
he had a first account by living through this significant historical event. He had a firsthand on
how it really was and actually got to see the conflict with Indians and what the New World
looked like.
Conclusion John Smith defiantly used his travel and the things around him to help with his
literature. He saw the New World as a paradise and a land of many opportunities. Through this
written literature by Smith we saw firsthand what the new land was like and how the living
conditions were. America was a place for hardworking people and the lifestyle wasn’t easy.
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References
Larson, Jennifer. "John Smith: A Literary Pioneer". Docsouth.Unc.Edu, Last modified n.d.
https://docsouth.unc.edu/highlights/smith.html.
