The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin - 1058 Words

The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin Benjamin Franklin’s life made a huge impact on the history of America. He also was an influence for many citizens. Since Franklin lived during the eighteenth century, a period of growth for America, he also played a part in the political founding of the United States. To help future generations, Franklin wrote an autobiography of his life. An autobiography is a piece of literature about someone’s own life. He separates his into four parts, each one depicting a different phase of his life. In The Autobiography by Benjamin Franklin, the author uses his life events to describe values and ways of life that every man should believe and follow. In part one, Franklin examines his adolescent years.†¦show more content†¦Many people looked up to him, and this is one of the reasons he wrote his autobiography. Part two specifically shows how Franklin was an enlightened man and dives into major detail about his morals and his path to moral perfection. Parts three and four are the business portions of The Autobiography. Part three, the longest of the four sections, began in 1788. This portion â€Å"marks a gradual change in focus from personal anecdotes and advice on virtue to a comparatively dry rendering of his public activities and Philadelphia’s political concerns† (Moss and Wilson 26). His change in topic, however, is not all boring. He describes his success in his everyday life. For example, Franklin discusses his jobs and, more in depth, the part he played in the French and Indian War. He also briefly talks about his inventions and experiments with electricity. All of his involvements back up the belief of his being a man of the Enlightenment period. He strived to succeed and never settled for less. This is evident in part four of The Autobiography. Franklin discusses his travels to England, where he acts as a financial advisor (Moss and Wilson 26). Benjamin Franklin’s work The Autobio graphy uses his life experiences to show the model life and beliefs every man should live by. Franklin wrote his autobiography to give a model to live by for his son and future generations.Show MoreRelatedThe Autobiography Of Benjamin Franklin1367 Words   |  6 PagesPrater 23 November 2014 Benjamin Franklin The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin is a detailed account of the illustrious experiences of Benjamin Franklin. Though the cultural differences in writing has changed since the 18th century one can learn a lot about one of America’s greatest forefathers through this book. It accounts for Franklin’s life when he was born January 17th, 1706 till the year 1757. Unfortunately, he died in 1790 and was never able to finish his autobiography. However, the book thoroughlyRead MoreThe Autobiography Of Benjamin Franklin529 Words   |  3 PagesThe Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin by Benjamin Franklin has many things, but maybe more than anything else about Benjamin Franklin it explains about him being a politician, and there is no more reason to look out for an unbiased autobiography from Franklin than from any other politician. This Franklin is a persona, a conscious literary creation bestowed for our contention One of Franklin’s virtues is humbleness, and his humbl eness comes out in the form of his book. His narrative is extremelyRead MoreThe Autobiography Of Benjamin Franklin1263 Words   |  6 Pagesnarratives. The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin is one of the most famous examples of this type of writing. Franklin’s was a narrative written to the general public, in order to share his life accomplishments and stories. Contrary to this, Spark Notes analysists say that â€Å"Many literary critics have often thought of Franklin’s Autobiography as a prototypical revenge narrative.† The supposed reason is that Franklin rises above others who were once superior to him. The autobiography, however, isRead MoreThe Autobiography Of Benjamin Franklin1966 Words   |  8 PagesThe Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin by Benjamin Franklin and Blaine McCormick we got a wonderful look into the life of Benjamin Franklin. In his story he taught use a lot about the world of business and how to run a successful business. In this essa y I will be talking about some of the few things Ben Franklin said that really stood out to me and what I think they meant. Then, I will talk about his inventions and how those inventions had evolved today. Then, I will talk about Ben Franklin 13 secretsRead MoreThe Autobiography By Benjamin Franklin1952 Words   |  8 PagesThe Autobiography In the autobiographical essay aptly entitled â€Å"The Autobiography† (1791) Benjamin Franklin, a writer, renowned inventor, and American founding father confides that he had made attempts in his youth at emulating Perfection through the apprehension and application of 13 traits: Temperance,Silence, Order, Resolution, Frugality, Industry, Sincerity, Justice, Moderation, Cleanliness, Tranquility, Chastity, and Humility. Enunciating his ideas by checking the aforementioned traits off theRead MoreThe Autobiography Of Benjamin Franklin Analysis781 Words   |  4 PagesLater adding to it, contributing his life’s story to a historical documentation. Written in a specific style, Benjamin Franklin’s memoir, The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin, is a narrative of his life. Incorporating strict fact and events, expository writing, excludes the author’s opinion of the subject matter. This is unmistakably not the case in â€Å"The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin† because he writes his contemplations, especially his past experiences, rather than just revealing the eventsRead MoreEssay Benjamin Franklin Autobiography827 Words   |  4 PagesHumility to acknowledge, that I owe the mentiond Happiness of my past Life to his kind Providence, which led me to the Means I usd and gave them Success.† (Franklin, The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin, 28) I chose this quote to open this essay because it’s one of the first things Franklin talks about when he takes over in his autobiography. It shows that he has a relationship with god because he gives god the credit for all of the things he had accomplished. Throughout his biography he mentionsRead MoreThe Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin Essay1063 Words   |  5 PagesIn The Autobiography, Benjamin Franklin recounts the many paramount experiences throughout his life that shaped him into great American figure he was known to be. On the opening page, Franklin reveals the book’s epistolary format by writing, â€Å"Dear Son,† going on to admit that he’s made some mistakes in the past and to recollect that past is a way to relive it. By divulging his desire to â€Å"change some sinister Accidents Events† (Franklin 3) the author indicates how important it is for his son toRead MoreAnalysis Of The Autobiography Of Benjamin Franklin1774 Words   |  8 PagesAt the beginning of the Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin, it seems to become unclear to the reader if they are, in fact, reading about his life. The man we hear about today is the widely successful social businessman of the 18th century, so it comes as a surprise to hear that at the start of his life he was a bit impoverished. With further reading comes the understanding that he had to work arduously to get where he was. This is because during the 1700’s, only people of great affluence were a partRead MoreThe American Dream in The Great Gatsby and The Autobiograph y of Benjamin Franklin1918 Words   |  8 Pageschallenges the core values and ideals that Benjamin Franklin expresses in his Autobiography. In the provided passage, the young Franklin arrives in Philadelphia in hopes of becoming a new self-made man and begins his journey with little money and few resources much like Gatsby. After arriving by boat, he tries to pay the people of the boat for his voyage but his payment is initially refused because he rowed the boat in order to get to Philadelphia. Franklin insists that they take his payment and says