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Moral Perfection: The Autobiography Of Benjamin Franklin

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The Autobiography by Benjamin Franklin is written to explicate Benjamin’s Franklin’s life and goals of moral perfection. The tone of Franklin’s autobiography is smart and self-deprecating. Throughout Part two of his autobiography, Franklin criticizes himself for striving for perfection yet never quite reaching it. Benjamin Franklin’s writing style is plain and pragmatic throughout part two of the autobiography. His sentences are long but made up of short clauses which deliver thoughts of clarity. Benjamin Franklin wrote his autobiography for two reasons, to set an American Dream and to portray the ideal virtue. Despite Franklin’s difficulties of being raised in a poor family, he succeeded as a printer, scientist, and a political figure. His goal was to prove to the people of his time that it is possible to rise above your difficulties and succeed in life. …show more content…

Franklin created the thirteen virtues that he had found in various enumerations that he planned to live by. These thirteen virtues were temperance, silence, order, resolution, frugality, industry, sincerity, justice, moderation, cleanliness, tranquility, chastity, and humility. He trained and polished himself to become a man of virtue. Franklin’s goal was also to encourage the people of his time to develop their own virtue in life. Throughout part two of The Autobiography he uses strategies such as biblical references, ethos, and symbolism to prove himself to be a true example of an Age of Reason author as well as a man coming through the religious authoritarianism of the Protestant era and into a world of progress through reasonable thought and

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Summary Of Benjamin Franklin Primary Sources

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In his writing a theme that is most prevalent is that of the American dream. Although not coined that yet, as the United States didn’t exist at the time. But right from the beginning Franklin speaks to the fact that he created his success and fortune from nothing but hard work, and intelligence. When describing Franklin’s Autobiography as a primary source, it is important to note that this theme of the American Dream. Most famously from the Declaration of Independence preamble, "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness” ( Dec. of Ind. Pre.).

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Ap Us History Dbq Essay

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What don’t we know about this document (and where might we find those answers)? We don’t know the what the entire document is saying we only know part, but with a visit to the library we will be able to read the entire document and understand fully the purpose of the autobiography. I also am not sure if the auto biography was more of a diary or to be shown to the public, but with research I will be able to find out he intended reason for the document. 8)How does the author’s gender, race, and socio-economic class compare to the people about whom he or she is writing? Benjamin Franklin’s gender, race, and socio-economic class are the exact same as his son’s.

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Comparing The Autobiography 'And Abigail Adams' Last Act Of Defiance

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Both articles, “Benjamin Franklin’s The Autobiography,” and, “Abigail Adams’ Last Act of Defiance,” are documents that have a big impact and are both very significant because of their influence on our foundational documents. In the article, “Benjamin Franklin’s The Autobiography,” Benjamin Franklin talks about the virtues and character traits that him and others should follow. The claim from his article is that he strived to never do something wrong and want to achieve perfection, and also wants other to do so. In the article he says, “when I conceived the bold and strenuous project of arriving at moral perfection” (Franklin). He is saying here that the reason he started this project was to try and achieve moral perfection even if he couldn’t,

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The Autobiography Of Benjamin Franklin Rhetorical Analysis

1188 Words | 5 Pages

Many people think that The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin is written to or for Franklin’s son, however it seems to be written to the general public. Most people believe that Benjamin Franklin is writing to his son. Franklin, at first, might have had the initial intention of writing this autobiography to his son because he started the essay with “dear son” (Franklin 1) and explains to him how he, himself, liked to hear about his ancestor’s stories. After telling the stories, Franklin starts to generalize what he is saying. He starts to tell his life story and his son is never directly mentioned in the book, until he is written about in part three.

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Franklin and Douglass both showed these values because they were determined to make a change in their lives and in the world. They both had obstacles to go through to get to where they did in their lives. At twelve years of age, Franklin worked in his brother James’s print shop. Franklin explained how when everyone would be on their break, he would go and read books. He would read any type of book, as long as he could learn something.

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When Benjamin Franklin’s Autobiography was published in the 18th century, it reflected Franklin’s uncommon and advanced mindset at that time, considering the fact that at that time, humans could be hanged for doubting the Revelation. In his Autobiography, Franklin expresses skepticism toward religion and explains why he does not commit himself to one particular faith. However, Franklin respects the freedom of religion and highly promotes moral and virtuous behavior. Franklin discusses his reflections on religion and the distinction between organized religions and beliefs that are not bound to religious systems. He emphasizes that organized religion and sects are more focused on following specific rules and practices, than concentrating on really understanding God and His ideas of humility, moral behavior and virtue.

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Benjamin Franklin is known to be an “Archetypal American,” because of his beliefs on religion, self-improvement, hard work, and determination; but also his somewhat prideful spirit. Much of modern America is quite similar to Franklin in his actions throughout his lifetime. In his early years, Franklin’s father, Josiah, had a set plan for what he was supposed to do with his life, as a minister. Soon into his education, he found an interest in reading and writing, so he began pursuing a career in printing.

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He did not practice or embrace all aspects of religion and this was very off-putting to people at the time. Franklin believed that the only way to truly serve god was to do good by your fellow man. Franklin did not believe that we are at the hands of an angry and complacent god, who will only be satisfied by true grace. (Which was the common belief back then) He also tied his belief of private virtue to civic virtue.

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This passage, “from The Autobiography” by Benjamin Franklin, is a narrative that clarifies the truthfulness that is presented in this version of the author. Franklin realizes that he needs to achieve personal integrity as he “...wished to live without committing any fault at any time” (Franklin 92). In order to obtain this moral perfection, he creates a list of thirteen virtues to follow in his everyday life; these virtues include imitating Jesus and Socrates, avoiding extremes, and rarely using venery for dullness. Contrariwise, Franklin shows honesty by admitting to bad behavior, and in some cases, he performed this behavior for his own personal gain. For example, Franklin went to sleep during a religious meeting because he was “...very drowsy

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Benjamin Franklin's Treatment Of Women Essay

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Contrary to its title, The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin, began as merely a series of letters before transforming into its current form; an autobiographical text. Throughout the text, the reader is introduced to the early life and work of the author: Benjamin Franklin. The biography is organized into sections that contain various details and aspects of his life at given times. However, in the introduction, he begins his story by implying that aside from the rest of the text, this section is meant to act as a letter to his son. Following this, Franklin delves into his ancestry before promptly shifting the focus onto himself.

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Although Franklin makes a point to say this experiment is about him, he also writes that “it may be well my posterity should be informed…” (Franklin 433). Franklin is writing this with the intent of others seeing his argument. He makes a clear point that this is the direction a perfect man should be heading towards.

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Benjamin Franklin; a renowned printer, author and inventor favored appearance far more than he favored reality. Several times in his Autobiography Franklin discusses ways to better one’s appearance, all the while facing brutal reality. Throughout Franklin’s work he insists on making it clear to his readers that it is not the reality of things that is important, rather the appearance of things that play a more wholesome part in one’s character. Franklin continues to discuss in his Autobiography appearance and how this continues to be an important virtue for an individual to possess.

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621 Words | 3 Pages

The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin is composed of four different parts that were written at three different periods in Franklin’s life. The first section starts with Franklin addressing his son and it seems as though Franklin is telling his life story so that it may be an example of how he was continuously improving himself. Franklin also makes mention of his religious beliefs and God throughout the book which seems to be a theme throughout the book. Throughout Franklin’s Autobiography there are many themes displayed; self-improvement and religion, seem to stand out as two of the major subjects that Franklin was focused on.

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