Franklin’s Autobiography

 

 

Directions: For this assignment, write a 1 page (typed) response

based on the following driving theoretical questions. Your

response should be a brief analytical response but should include

both paraphrased and quoted material from the text. Remember

to correctly cite all material using MLA format. (consult your handbook, an online source, and/or visit the Writing Center for MLA assistance)

 

 

***William Bloom (Big Fish): “The man tells his stories so many

times that he becomes his stories. They live on after him. And in

that way, he becomes immortal.”

 

Driving Theoretical Questions: Why do we read Franklin’s

Autobiography? What does it say about what it means to be an

“American”? What kinds of ideas, underlying arguments, and

themes does it establish that have become entrenched in the

American psyche and are part of our collective national

experience?

 

Possible Responses:

 

Franklin virtually invented—and publicized—the idea that in

America people did not inherit, as Europeans did, fixed

historical roles. He is himself a “type” for the rags to riches

dream. Man is not predetermined (as thought of in the Puritan

era). Will is the driving force that leads to success.

 

His manner of rebelling against authority and of then

becoming the authority without inciting rebellion in others. (example)

 

Language as a source of power. (example)

 

Character secures one’s credit. [Franklin as a moral utilitarian] (example)