Word Bank
Puritans

Noun	Adjectives	Verbs	Pronoun	
Ocean	Sharp	To meet	No	
Scripture	Violent	To separate		
Shipwrecked	Cruel			
Barbarians	Fierce			
Winter	Dangerous			
Hopes	Civil			
Heavens				
God				
Grace				

Analysis of the text

It is an extract from William Bradford's “History of Plymouth Plantation” that covers the period from 1630 to 1646. The writer was a fervent puritan and he was one of the Pilgrim Fathers that sealed to America on Mayflower. He was persecuted in England and contributed to found the Plymouth colony. The extract is from his journal.
The first impression the reader gets is a sensation of privation and solitude, conveyed by a negative syntax (“had no friend”,”no inns”, “no houses”). Absolute negation also communicates the idea among the pilgrims they had to be self-reliant (one who can only rely on himself). Also the text make the reader understand that there might have been a deep sense of values that helped the pilgrims' autonomy. In addition semantic choices like “succour” make it clear that they knew the danger they were going to face. Alliteration at line 2 “beaten bodies” highlights the precarious body conditions of the pilgrims.
The idea of strong convictions is clearly expressed in the second section of the text where the Pilgrims Father resorts to the Scriptures of the Apostles to underline the idea they didn't expect to be helped. The lines are particularly interesting since they make the reader understand the kind of prejudice on the bases of while they derived their knowledge of the world. The text makes use of language like “the barbarians”, “the savage barbarian”, “were readier to fill their sides of arrows”.
In addition, the pilgrim were aware of the hardships they had to come to turn with during the winter, season during which they made their voyage. Their awareness is underlined by a list of adjectives like “sharp”, “violent”, “cruel”, “fierce”, “dangerous” and “unknown” and in the coming lines “hideous and desolate wilderness”. It sounds as wilderness is their final destination (“wild beasts and wild men”). The idea of unexpected is once again present in the syntax of the following lines (“Neither could they”), also reinforced by the emphasis added by the word deviation. 
In  the next part if the text, the writer tells about the resources they have: the new country is full of wood and thickets, but these place are still savage and wild. They aren't safe: this sensation is amplified by the alliteration of sound “th” in “ all things stand upon them with a weather beaten face”. This sentence also underlines the unhealthy conditions of the pilgrims, that had just faced a long voyage. 
The pilgrims are and feel separated from the all civil part of the world: the ocean divides them from their native country. They spent a lot of time for crossing the ocean to have a new free life and, even if they're arrived in America, they are still hopeless. 
The text ends with a rhetorical question. The writer know the sensation of the pilgrims, so he decide to make it clear for the reader. His puritan faith is highlighted when he uses the words “Spirit of God” and “his grace”. In fact this two religious concepts guided them to their new home, so they could only trust in their religious believes.