Houston Community College System The Autobiography of Ben Franklin Essay

The Autobiography of Ben Franklin

Relying on material from the The Autobiography of Ben Franklin (especially Chapters 8 and 9), thoroughly answer the following questions:

Section 1: Describe how Benjamin Franklin established the public library in Philadelphia. What was the effect of this library on Franklin? What was the effect of the library on his community?

Section 2: Explain Franklin’s quest for moral perfection. What process did he use? Be specific. How successful was he? Which virtues did he find the most challenging to maintain? Providing some detail, what was meant by his saying, “a speckled ax is best?” Name one virtue that Franklin omitted from his pursuit of perfection that you feel should have been included.

Section 3: Was Franklin a religious man? Why, or why not? Provide specific evidence from the autobiography to support your conclusions.

Section 4: A critic one said, “Franklin was a shameless self-promoter with numerous achievements, almost all of which were accomplished primarily to gain fame for himself, along with bragging rights. Moreover, he was blindly idealistic, and did not concern himself with Americans of less success or economic means.” In a single paragraph, defend or refute this accusation.

*****Include at least four direct, multi-sentence block quotes from the Autobiography to support your position.Be sure to put your citation for these quotations in parentheses and in all caps. For example, your citation might look like this:

“She assisted me cheerfully in my business, . . . .” (FRANKLIN, P. 119) or, if there is no page number, (FRANKLIN, Chapter 6).

Do not use resources that are not provided by this course.