Boswell and Mary Rowlandson

I found both of these readings to be interesting but very different as well. As far as substance goes, I felt a greater connection to Boswell and his views on religion. I am not a religious person myself, so it was easier to read about a man that changed his mind about religion often as opposed to a woman that blindly followed her religion. It was tedious reading Rowlandson's narrative because after almost every paragraph, she seemed to say something like "my child just died, but it's okay, because God loves me" or "the Native Americans killed half of my family, but it's fine, because look at this Bible passage." I find it hard to believe that she did not question her faith even once, or that if she did she just did not admit it. Boswell's narrative was more believable because things that he did not even understand had him question his faith, which was refreshing to hear.

In regards to the actual writing and style, I again liked Boswell's style better because it was more organized and simpler. Boswell wrote with short, direct sentences, while Rowlandson wrote in long and confusing prose. I do not know if I missed an explanation in the introduction, but did Rowlandson write the narrative while she was in captivity, or did she write it after she got home? If she was in captivity, I could understand why it seemed so unorganized and rambling. If not, then I think that Boswell's writing was just much easier to read and I finally realized what Williams had been pointing out in Style about sophisticated writing being more than long sentences. However, I do see that Boswell could have used some more varied sentences because almost every single one was short; a few sentences of a different sort of style would have made the reading more interesting.