Benjamin Franklin

Introductory Writing:

1.) Based on your reading of Part One of Franklin's Autobiography, through his examples and anecdotes and explanations, how does he answer a prominent question of the times: "What is an American?"

2.) How would you describe Franklin's "Self-Construction" as it is illustrated in his Autobiography? That is, what does he do, what examples and details and anecdotes does he include, what explanations does he offer -- what do these things reveal about him? What aspects of himself does he choose because he wishes readers to see them?

3.) How is Franklin's Autobiography a "representation of an American self that is constructed by its author for a specific purpose and audience"?

4.) How is Franklin's definition of himself (his persona, values, beliefs, etc.) still prominent today?

5.) How does Franklin's Autobiography exemplify the ideas and ideals of the Enlightenment as found on pages 312-340?

Our Brainstorming:

Willing to be different
Rebellious
A "cool person" we want to like
Gets us on his side
He's "higher up"
He's a little eccentric
Rags-to-riches story
Humble
Ironically, not humble
He is a "model"
Proper
Hard-working
Loves knowledge and reading
Seeks fun
Reason / figures out problems
Strong leader
Ability to relate to everyone

Skim and Find:

1.) Can you find any direct or indirect references to DEISM in Franklin's Autobiography?

2.) Can you find any direct or indirect references to Locke's TABULA RASA in Franklin's Autobiography?

3.) Can you find any direct or indirect references to Hume's UTILITARIANISM in Franklin's Autobiography?

4.) In the "Franklin through a Modern Lens" section, it says that "not all readers recognized such elements [as humor, irony, and satire] in Franklin's Autobiography. Can you find any examples of these elements?

One Idea:

According to R. Jackson Wilson, in Figures of Speech: American Writers and the Literary Marketplace, from Benjamin Franklin to Emily Dickinson (New York: Knopf, 1989):

At least two Ben Franklins are present in the text:

• one, a boy escaping his past and embracing his future,

• and another, a wise and revered old man.

Wilson contends that these two Franklins suggest two kinds of readers:

• those looking for lessons on morality and success

• and those who will appreciate the irony of that earnestness in the "wily old celebrity"

Using this theory of two very different and sometimes overlapping Franklin personae, we can consider the ways that Franklin's various anecdotes or vignettes -- including his ancestry, youth in Boston, entry into Philadelphia, and design for achieving moral perfection -- operate as strategies of self-construction in his Autobiography.

Other Discussion Questions

1.) Many critics have read this book as a statement about American national identity. Choose one stereotypically "American" ideal (e.g., hard work, individualism, self-education) that the book conveys, and consider how and why this ideal, according to Franklin, is worth pursuing. Include in your discussion a consideration of who may or may not access this ideal according to Franklin.

2.) Make a shorthand list of the memorable anecdotes Franklin tells about himself (those that really stick in your mind -- e.g., walking through Philadelphia with three large puffy rolls, building the wharf, teaching himself to read, etc.). Taken as a whole, what do these anecdotes have in common, and how do they convey a certain persona to the audience?

3.) Other selections you have read in this anthology might be classified as "spiritual autobiographies," which begin with doubt about one's religious calling, trace personal afflictions, and end in salvation or conversion. Does Franklin's text bear any relationship to that genre? Explain the ways that Franklin's Autobiography complicates or modifies this tradition of autobiography.

4.) Other selections we will read in this anthology might be classified as "captivity narratives," which move from affliction to redemption and from captivity to freedom. Does Franklin's text bear any relationship to that genre? Explain the ways that Franklin's Autobiography complicates or modifies this tradition of autobiography.

5.) Choose one value or idea that is central to eighteenth-century Enlightenment thought and discuss how Franklin's Autobiography upholds or makes use of that value (for example, Deism, tabula rasa, utilitarianism).