from The Autobiography by Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790)

1. from The Autobiographyby Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790) • Born into poverty, one of seventeen children • By the age of twenty-four, Franklin was a prosperous merchant • Franklin had numerous accomplishments • Owner of a print shop • Publisher of The Pennsylvania Gazette • Helped found the University of Pennsylvania and the first public • library in America • Helped found the first public library in America • Invented the Franklin stove, the bifocal, a rocking chair that swatted • flies, and a type of harmonica • Diplomat • Member of the Constitutional Convention in 1787 • Deplored by Herman Melville (Moby Dick)

2. What do you think Benjamin Franklin meant? from The Autobiographyby Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790) The Pennsylvania Gazette http://www.earlyamerica.com/earlyamerica/past/past.html

3. Who was Benjamin Franklin? What did he believe? • How can I discover who he was and what he believed? from The Autobiographyby Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790) • Inference (noun): An educated guess based on what you already know and what you learn from reading a text. • Infer (verb): To make an educated guess based on what you already know and what you learn from reading a text. • What do you infer about Benjamin Franklin’s beliefs after reading his autobiography? • What inferences can you make about Benjamin Franklin’s beliefs after reading his autobiography?

4. Discuss after reading The Autobiography: • From paragraph one (pg 68), describe Franklin’s condition upon arriving in Philadelphia. from The Autobiographyby Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790) • He was “dirty from his journey”; “fatigued with traveling, rowing, and want of rest”; “very hungry”; and rather poor. • What does Franklin’s introductory statement imply about the type of figure he has made of himself since the time of his first visit to Philadelphia? How is this idea “American”? • He includes this vivid description of his first visit to Philadelphia so “that you may in your mind, compare such unlikely beginnings with the figure I have since made there”

5. Discuss after reading The Autobiography: from The Autobiographyby Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790) • “Thus I went up Market Street … when she [my future wife] … saw me, and thought I made, as I certainly did, a most awkward, ridiculous appearance.” • In the middle of paragraph two, Franklin describes passing the house of his future wife. Infer what Franklin’s self-description of his younger self tells the reader about Franklin’s character? (How does he look back on his younger self?)

6. Discuss after reading The Autobiography: from The Autobiographyby Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790) • What happens to Franklin at the Quaker meeting house? Infer why it happened.

7. Discuss after reading The Autobiography: • Franklin says that simply a desire to correct one’s faults is not enough. Why? What causes failure? (pg 69) from The Autobiographyby Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790) • “…habit took the advantage of inattention; inclination was sometimes too strong for reason.” • “I concluded at length, that the mere speculative conviction that it was our interest to be completely virtuous, was not sufficient to prevent our slipping; …”

8. Discuss after reading The Autobiography: from The Autobiographyby Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790) • What does Franklin say must happen before people can depend on correct moral behavior? (pg 69 middle of column on the right) • “I concluded at length, that the mere speculative conviction that it was our interest to be completely virtuous, was not sufficient to prevent our slipping; and that the contrary habits must be broken, and good ones acquired and established, before we can have any dependence on a steady, uniform rectitude of conduct.”

9. Discuss after reading The Autobiography: from The Autobiographyby Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790) • Why does Franklin place temperance first on his list of virtues to attain? Review and discuss the rest of his list of thirteen virtues and why he lists 2-7 in that order of importance. (pg 70-71) • “Temperance first, as it tends to procure that coolness and clearness of head, which is so necessary where constant vigilance was to be kept up and guardmaintainedagainst the unremitting attraction of ancient habits, and the force of perpetual temptations.”

10. Discuss after reading The Autobiography: from The Autobiographyby Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790) • Discuss Franklin’s chart (pg 71) and his ideas for its use. • Which of Franklin’s virtues would be most difficult for you – personally – to tackle? Why? You will answer this question in Blog 4, which will be due by Monday.

11. Discuss after reading the excerpt from • All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten : from The Autobiographyby Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790) • Discuss the meaning and relevance of some of Robert Fulghum’s list on page 72.

12. Aphorism: a brief, cleverly worded statement that makes a wise observation about life. They entertain and instruct. (Maxim) • Who was “Poor Richard”? • Discuss the meaning of some of his aphorisms on pg 74. from Poor Richard’s Almanackby Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790) Satirize: the humorous use of words to hold up human vices or follies to scorn. To ridicule or attack with humor in order to improve human behavior.

13. from Poor Richard’s Almanackby Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790) • Go to Mrs. Heller’s school site, access the English III-American Lit. link on the left side of the page, download and complete the Freshmen Aphorism Worksheet, and submit it to Turnitin.com according to the directions on the assignment.