Date: 23 November 2017

Topic: Benjamin Franklin

Visual Aid ngel Chaparro Sainz

Tutorials: Literatura Norteamericana I
Always remember / Recordad siempre
que
The information given here is only exploratory and introductory, a
summary and an invitation for your own reflection and study. I
will use these powerpoints as a visual aid to help your learning
process and follow a basic order in our examination of each author
and the execution of our tutorials.
Avoid plagiarism and use your own words, afterthoughts and
observations. Always remember that the content in these
powerpoints has been developed by a single person (me), in
relation to the compulsory material for this subject, and that
further commentary has been provided in the classroom.
You should always remember that the material that you need to
study and that will be used to mark your exams and PECs is not
these powerpoints but those specified in your Gua I y Gua II.
General Commentary
LITERATURA NORTEAMERICANA I

En esta asignatura se concibe la literatura norteamericana

como un estudio de los textos en su contexto sociocultural.
Por tanto, se ofrece una visin panormica de la literatura
norteamericana de los siglos XVII, XVIII y XIX mediante la
lectura de una seleccin de textos que siempre se estudian en
el marco de las corrientes ideolgicas y estticas de su
tiempo.
Actividades de aprendizaje
1) Lectura de los objetivos y de las instrucciones especficas para el
estudio de cada uno de los 24 temas (Learning objectives y
Suggestions for how to proceed en A Study Guide for American
Literature to 1900)
2) Lectura activa de la introduccin a las obras literarias de cada autor,
con el fin de situarlas en su contexto biogrfico, histrico y social.
3) Lectura y anlisis de los textos literarios, detalladamente anotados en
American Literature to 1900.
4) Ejercicios de autoevaluacin (American Literature to 1900)
5) 24 cuestionarios con los ejercicios de autoevaluacin (curso virtual)
6) Exploratory questions (American Literature to 1900 y orientaciones
adicionales en A Study Guide for American Literature to 1900)
7) Actividades prcticas
Temas y resultados de aprendizaje
GENERALES
1) Valorar la riqueza literaria norteamericana a travs de la lectura
e interpretacin de los textos ms significativos de los siglos
XVII, XVIII y XIX, considerando la diversidad cultural,
sociopoltica y tnica de sus principales autores.
2) Incrementar la sensibilidad hacia la problemtica sociopoltica y
cultural que engloba el estudio de los textos literarios
norteamericanos de los siglos XVII, XVIII y XIX.
3) Trabajar en grupo de forma constructiva, mostrando una buena
disposicin para desarrollar tareas de colaboracin con el equipo
docente de la Sede Central, con los profesores-tutores de los
Centros Asociados o de los Grupos de Tutora y con los dems
estudiantes de la asignatura.
4) Presentar los resultados de trabajo realizado individualmente,
reconociendo de modo explcito todas las fuentes de
informacin empleadas, evitando las diversas formas de plagio y
respetando los derechos de autor.
Temas y resultados de aprendizaje
ESPECFICOS
Autor: Benjamin Franklin
Resultados de aprendizaje:
1) Explicar la influencia de Benjamin Franklin como
exponente de la Ilustracin norteamericana.
2) Examinar las estrategias retricas de Benjamin Franklin.
3) Analizar su autobiografa como un producto de la Edad de
la Razn y una formulacin del llamado sueo americano
4) Expresar juicios ticos sobre el pragmatismo de una de las
obras ms influyentes de la cultura norteamericana.
 Benjamin Franklin
1706-1790
embodied the eighteenth-century
American Enlightenment (American
93)
International renown (American 93)
New national identity (American 93)
Self-made man (American 93)
Writer, creative scientist, prolific
inventor, legislator, diplomat,
statesman (American 93)
Chronology (American 106)
Benjamin Franklin: Life
Read Unit 6 (pages 93 to 97)
The New England Courant (1718-1723): satirical articles under
pseudonym.
Pennsylvania Gazette (around 1730)
Self-taught
Founder of Philadelphias public institutions (library, college)
American minister plenipotentiary to France (diplomat in England
from 1757 to 1762 and from 1764 to 1775 and in France from
1779 to 1785). SigningTreaty of Paris (1783)
Declaration of Independence, 1787 convention (US Constitution)
and anti-slavery movement and promotion of universal public
education.
Benjamin Franklin: key words
Eighteenth-century
American Enlightenment
Benjamin Franklins
Autobiography: in between
the Age of Reason and the
American Dream
Utilitarian ethics: morally
oriented pragmatism
(American values and ideals)
Rhetorical strategies:
diction and tone
 American 18th Century Enlightenment
From the Wikipedia:
The American Enlightenment is a period of intellectual
ferment in the thirteen American colonies in the period 1714
1818, which led to the American Revolution, and the creation of
the American Republic. Influenced by the 18th-century European
Enlightenment, and its own native American Philosophy, the
American Enlightenment applied scientific reasoning to politics,
science, and religion, promoted religious tolerance, and restored
literature, the arts, and music as important disciplines and
professions worthy of study in colleges.

Be careful when using this information, always remember that Im quoting from another source.
 American 18th Century Enlightenment
From the Norton Anthology Online:
During the eighteenth century, the religious, intellectual, and economic horizons of the thirteen
English colonies expanded, challenging the dominance of Puritan culture with Enlightenment
thought and uniting the different regions behind common national interests. The death of the
minister and author Cotton Mather in 1728 symbolizes the waning influence of Puritan
theocentrism. The scientific and philosophical writings of Isaac Newton and John Locke argued in
favor of a worldview that accepted the ability of individuals to puzzle through and understand the
universe and placed a premium on mutual sympathy, or sentiment, to guide moral action rather
than religious grace alone.
The Enlightenment involved the uneasy mixture of new scientific and philosophical investigations
into the nature of the universe with traditional responses to scripture. Some of these questioners
were deists, who believed in a comprehensible universe ordered by a supreme being who was
rational and benevolent. Their empirical studies replaced the Puritans habit of looking past reality
for emblems of spiritual grace with an emphasis on the stable, observable world. People became
more interested in how their actions related to the social well-being of their neighbors than their
own spiritual progress; similarly, readers were more eager to read the accounts of ordinary
individuals as they thoughtfully responded to the feelings and experiences of others, such as
Benjamin Franklins Autobiography.

Be careful when using this information, always remember that Im quoting from another source
Deism
Norton anthology:
The Enlightenment involved the uneasy mixture of new scientific and philosophical
investigations into the nature of the universe with traditional responses to scripture. Some
of these questioners were deists, who believed in a comprehensible universe ordered by a
supreme being who was rational and benevolent.
World Union of Deists website:
People like Thomas Jefferson, George Washington and Benjamin Franklin were avid readers
of the great philosophers of the European Enlightenment. They treasured the ideas found in
the works of such thinkers as Descartes,Voltaire, Bacon and Locke.
One of the cornerstone ideas of the Enlightenment was to give every idea and assumption
the test of reason. When they applied reason to religion they found it necessary to strip it of
revelation and they ended up with Deism. Deism is belief in God based on reason and
nature. The differing alleged revelations of the various revealed religions are conspicuously
absent from Deism. It is a natural religion as opposed to a revealed religion such as
Christianity, Judaism, or Islam.

Be careful when using this information, always remember that Im quoting from another source
Enlightenment and Franklin
Emphasis on rationality, scientific enquiry and representative
government (American 93)
Its ideals were justice, liberty and equality (American 93)
read the works of the most important English
Enlightenment writers, such as John Locke, Lord
Shaftesbury, and Joseph Addison (American 94)
embraced a quite moderate form of free-thinking Deism
(American 94-95)
self-interest was not in conflict with society (American
103)
Puritanism and Franklin
In spite of his Deism, he developed some typical Puritan habits:
constant self-scrutiny, an unfailing devotion to hard work and
public duty, and a strong desire to better himself and his
community (American 94-95)
Franklin had internalized the Puritan habit of introspection, or
moral self-scrutiny, but he aimed at making good citizens rather
than good Presbyterians (American 97)
Franklin did not mention sins, but mistakes or, if we use his own
apt metaphor suggested by his experience as a printer, errata
(American 97)
his utilitarian ethics (the usefulness of morality in achieving
wordly success rather than seeking salvation), his reputed
optimism and his concept of errata (instead of sins) (American 103)
 Benjamin Franklin: Writing
Poor Richards Almanac (1732-1758)
TheWay toWealth (1757)
Autobiography (1791)

Other pieces of journalism and political writings.

Poor Richards Almanac
most popular work
(American 95)
he initiated an American
genre the self-help book
with Poor Richards Almanac
(American 95)
Factual information and
advice for being socially
successful and achieving
wealth (American 95)
compressed moral points
into witty aphorisms
(American 95)
The Way to Wealth
Standard American proverbs
or sayings (American 95)
aphorisms revised and
refined (American 95)

My own opinion: in a way this

can be significantly related to his
pragmatism and his rhetorical
strategies (diction and tone:
colloquial but not to the extreme)
 Autobiography by Benjamin Franklin
greatest work of its kind produced in colonial America and a classic piece
of Americana (American 96)
He only recorded the first part of his long life, since his account ends in
1757, when he was 51 years old. This means that he surveyed the events
of his life looking back at them from a considerable distance, standing still
and analysing them in the light of his mature worldly wisdom (American
96)
Structure: well explained on pages 96 to 97 in American Literature to 1900.
Because Benjamin Franklins primary motive for writing the story of his
life was to provide a model for public conduct, he translated his
personal experiences into general propositions which could be
usefully applied to other people. His morally oriented pragmatism
impelled him to consider the usefulness of everything both for the
individual and for society in attaining worldly success (American 97)
 Memoir, Life, Autobiography
the author referred as his Memoirs and some early editions called
the Life, although it is most commonly known under the name of
Autobiography, a title Franklin could not have chosen simply because
the word did not exist in his time (American 96)
Many scholarsand some readersusually differentiate between autobiography and memoir. The
simplest definition could be that memoir is a kind of autobiography, but that not all autobiographies
are memoirs. Without going into details, autobiography is said to cover a wide span of timethe
entire life of a specific personwhile memoir does usually focus on a specific event or period:
unlike autobiography, which moves in dutiful line from birth to fame, memoir narrows the lens,
focusing on a time in the writers life that was unusually vivid (Zinsser 15). Some other scholars
perceive slight changes in character, perspective and style, even in the level of intimacy. In his
memoir, Palimpsest (1995), Gore Vidal states that a memoir is how one remembers ones own life,
while an autobiography is history, requiring research, dates, facts double-checked (Vidal 5).
(ngel Chaparro Sainz: just read it so that you have a general idea of the genre issues but remember that this is
a quote coming from a book)
 Franklins repercussion
For many, Benjamin Franklins example proves most representative for this
period: ambitious, self-educated, and constantly curious, self-improving,
introspective, and civic-minded. Franklins influence and direct involvement are
evident in many of the important documents and treaties of the Revolutionary
period. His idealistic assumption that all people shared a common sense of right
and wrong was shared by many Enlightenment thinkers and represents a
fundamental tenet of American democracy.
Norton Anthology Online (The Lasting Effects of Enlightenment)
 Benjamin Franklin: summary
He was able to reconcile his Deistic ideas (belief in a rational religion) with
some typical Puritan habits: constant self-scrutiny, devotion to hard work
and public duty, and a strong desire to better himself and his community. In
fact, he was a man of the Enlightenment (Age of Light), also called Age of
Reason, characterized by the belief in the use of mans reasoning powers to
improve and take control, as well as impose order, in his life and his world, a
belief-system that would inevitably lead to the American Revolution first
and to the French Revolution afterwards.
Apart from being an scientist, inventor, diplomat, printer and writer, among
other professions, he is at present well-known for embodying the self-made
man, able to rise from poverty and becoming who he wants: wealthy, respected
and politically influential. Not only his The Way to Wealth but also his
Autobiography provide numerous examples for readers to imitate his behaviour,
so as to learn to help themselves. Being a self-educated man, he proved that
education was the best tool to improve human life. Actually, he saw in education
the best tool to set humanity free. He established a pattern, from self-made man
to a self-made nation.
Franklin-Edwards: summary
When compared to Jonathan Edwards, Franklins emphasis on errata or
mistakes instead of sins, marks a clear contrast between Edwards theological
perspective where mans life is totally dependent upon Gods will, and
Franklins leaving mans destiny in his own hands (mans power to change his
life). Besides, Franklins philosophy of life permits learning from errors, and
has faith in mans abilities rather than on God. In addition, Edwardss
emphasis on emotions contrasts with Franklins focus upon reason and logic.
Education rather than religion matters most. Franklin undertook a scientific
approach to morality. By analysing his errors, he proposed making rational
and logical amendments that would lead to self-control. Edwardss men should
allow God to control their lives. Instead of Franklins independence of man,
Edward supports mans dependence upon Gods grace and good will. Both give
a lot of importance to introspection, self-analysis (Franklins daily
examination), for, firstly, man needs to become aware of himself, of his positive
and negative actions and features, so as to be able to allow for changes.
Take this as an invitation to reflect and wonder, not as an opportunity for copy-paste
 Tasks and resources
Read Unit 6: Benjamin Franklin, pages 93 to 97 in American Literature to
1900
Read extract from The Autobiography, pages 97 to 100 in American
Literature to 1900
Questions for Self-evaluation, pages 101 to 103 in American Literature to
1900
Exploratory Questions, pages 103 to 105 in American Literature to 1900
Chronology, page 106 in American Literature to 1900
Page 52 in A Study Guide for American Literature to 1900: a brief summary
Pages 53 to 55 in A Study Guide for American Literature to 1900: tips on
how to write and develop a thesis or main hypothesis when you are
writing an essay.