Benjamin Franklin

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Other Literary Forms

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Benjamin Franklin excelled in a dazzling variety of literary forms. He initiated the United States’ first successful periodical series, the “Dogood Papers”; he wrote and published Poor Richard’s Almanack, an annual compilation of weather predictions, jokes, tales, proverbs, and miscellaneous materials; he published numerous scientific papers, such as the description of his famous kite experiment which identified lightning as a form of electricity; he wrote piercing satires such as the delightful “The Sale of the Hessians” and brilliant bagatelles such as “The Ephemera”; and the most important of his many political efforts may have been his editorial contributions to the Declaration of Independence and to the United States Constitution. At the end of his life, he produced one of the most popular, most widely praised, and most influential autobiographies in world literature.

Achievements

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Benjamin Franklin’s monumental contributions to science, diplomacy, and politics have been in large measure conveyed through his clear and forceful prose, and the universal recognition accorded to these accomplishments takes into account his literary skills. Franklin was appointed Joint-Deputy Postmaster General of England in 1753; he was awarded the Copley Medal of the Royal Society of London in 1754 and was elected to membership in 1756. He was awarded an honorary degree of Doctor of Laws from the University of St. Andrews in 1759, and an honorary degree of Doctor of Civil Law from the University of Oxford in 1762. Franklin was also elected president of the American Philosophical Society (1769); chosen delegate to the Second Continental Congress (1775); elected Minister Plenipotentiary to France (1778); elected member of the Royal Academy of History of Madrid (1784); elected President of the Supreme Executive Council of Pennsylvania (1785); and elected delegate to the Federal Constitutional Convention (1787).

Discussion Topics

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What experiences of his early life prepared Benjamin Franklin for the composition of Poor Richard’s Almanack?

How does Franklin’s version of Enlightenment philosophy differ from that Thomas Jefferson?

Which of the virtues in Franklin’s list in his Autobiography does he owe to religious tradition, which to his rationalistic philosophy? Do any partake of both?

How does Franklin’s sense of humor contribute to works such as Poor Richard’s Almanack and the Autobiography?

What are the chief ingredients of Franklin’s prose style?

Develop support for the following assertion: Franklin’s writings illustrate a strong interest in both theoretical and applied science.

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