Journal #14 - Franklin's Apprentice

If I had the privilege of being Ben Franklin's apprentice, I would not only be honored, but I would use the experience as a tool to improve my moral compass. Franklin was known as a very insightful man during his time; he was also a very good role model for people to follow after. If I was able to study with him, I'm sure that I would learn a lot. One of Franklin's 13 virtues was the virtue of industry, which would be a great virtue for an apprentice to follow. During my apprenticeship, I would try to learn from Franklin, picking out every piece of information that I could to enlighten my life. Since the invention of a time machine has not occurred yet, so it is not possible for me to be Franklin's apprentice. If, by some branch of scientific genius a time machine is created, I would be more than happy to become Franklin's apprentice. We could forge swords, ride horses and eat lamb legs, which is pretty much everything that people did in the 1700's. In our history books as well as our English class, we learned that Franklin was a great thinker of his time. He probably had so many ideas and theories that he never got to write down. Those theories could be some of the greatest ideas in the history of time, but people may have thought he was crazy, so he might have not recorded them. If I was his apprentice, I would be able to listen to his teachings and take information from him, and after citing him using correct MLA parenthetical citations, I could write a paper consisting of all of his great knowledge that was never recorded. Franklin also had his own views on the American Dream that I would be so happy to listen to. He was a very insightful man with much to say, but there weren't many people of his time that were on the same intellectual level that he was. I would love to just chat with Franklin to hear what that great man had to say.

Franklin on Deism

Deism was a belief in the idea that God created the world, but it did not focus on organized religion and the importance of scripture (Gilje). Deist also believed that in order to pay respect to their God, they would live their lives in a "moral and virtuous" way (Gilje). The ideology had a great effect on many revolutionary leaders, including Benjamin Franklin. Franklin even created a set of 13 virtues to which he modeled his life after (McKay). The 13 virtues were all written and created with deist views in mind, which was what Franklin had in mind.

Franklin's first virtue, Temperance, is one of the most important virtues (McKay). Temperance refers to restraint in actions, which was key to Franklin's ability to stick with the virtues and complete his task of becoming a better person (McKay). If Franklin couldn't stick with his virtues, they would mean nothing. This virtue doesn't really display deist views, but it is essential to the list of virtues. Franklin's second virtues, Silence, is a virtue that is easier said than done, or not said if you will. Franklin included silence in his list of virtues to show that sometimes it is better to keep silent and listen to what other people have to say. Going along with the deist beliefs, in order to please God, it is best sometimes to keep quiet and let others speak, because part of becoming a better person is knowing that you are not perfect and that you can learn from others just as much as yourself. Frugality is a word that is not often used, but it is a very important virtue to follow. Since God created the world and then stepped back, according to deist beliefs (Gilje), it is very important to waste nothing that He created in order to please him.Sincerity is a crucial virtue to deist beliefs. Sincerity is one of the cornerstones to deism because it is all based on people treating others with respect (McKay). I truly am surprised that respect is not one of Franklin's virtues, but many of his virtues cover the same idea as respect.

Franklin's Autobiography also contains many specific examples of Franklin's beliefs on virtues and deism.

I never doubted, for instance, the existence of a Deity-that he made the world and governed it by his providence-that the most acceptable service was the doing good to man-that our souls are immortal-and that all crimes will be punished and virtue rewarded, either here or hereafter. (Franklin)

That quotation sums up most all of Franklin's deist beliefs. He claims that he truly believed in an almighty God, that he made the world and then stepped back, and that the only way to serve him is to do good to others and the virtue would be rewarded and the crime the opposite. That passage proves that Franklin definitely let deist beliefs influence his life, including the virtues that he modeled his life after. Many of Franklin's virtues were simple little things, but when added together, would lead a person to a virtuous life based with deist beliefs.

Franklin, Benjamin. The Autoboigraphy of Benjamin Franklin. Philadelphia: Henry Altemus, 1895. PDF.

Gilje, Paul A. "deism." In Gilje, Paul A., and Gary B. Nash, eds. Encyclopedia of American History: Revolution and New Nation, 1761 to 1812, Revised Edition (Volume III). New York: Facts On File, Inc., 2010. American History Online. Facts On File, Inc. http://www.fofweb.com/activelink2.asp?
ItemID=WE52&iPin=EAHIII109&SingleRecord=True (accessed October 26, 2011).

McKay, Brett, and Kate McKay. "Being Virtuous: Benjamin Franklin’s 13 Virtues of Life | The Art of Manliness." The Art of Manliness | Men’s Interests and Lifestyle. 1 June 2008. Web. 26 Oct. 2011. <http://artofmanliness.com/2008/06/01/the-virtuous-life-wrap-up/>.

Journal #13 - American Dream

The American Dream is a topic that is sometimes distorted. Some view the American Dream is viewed as a gain of material things, such as money, cars or big houses. Shelby’s American Dream consists of marrying a professional baseball player so he can buy her lots of stuff. That might not have been what the original colonists had in mind when they came to America. The real American Dream had to do with freedom. The colonists had a vision. They envisioned living in a nation where they could own their own business, their own land. They wanted to live in a nation where they would have a voice in their government and would be able to have a say in the choices that were made. That vision of the American Dream changed later in history. During the 1950’s, the American Dream turned into a vision of uniformity and relaxation.  During the 50’s the vision of the American Dream shifted to include cookie cutter houses and well paying jobs that supported a small family. The American Dream today has shifted to something that really is more materialistic than in the past. 

The American Dream is something that can be interpreted many different ways, so there are many different ideas from people. America was formed on the basis of creating an American Dream. Being in a country that has "a dream" that people have an influence on is such a nice thing that people take for granted. In some countries, the idea of a dream for a country is non existent. Americans are very lucky that they are able to create what kind of future they want to live in, which is some thing that is such a novelty. If the American dream was somethign

Journal #12 - Rules about Right and Wrong

If I was able to create my own set of rules and decide what was right and what was wrong, things would probably be a little different. First of all, "suns out, guns out" would be a law. That really is the most important law in the world, it should be a law now. Also, I would out law bad music, such as the following: certain Justin Bieber, almost every Lil' Wayne song, and the genre of country music would no longer exist, that really is an abomination to the music industry. Basically, everything would be exactly like it is now, but the music scene would be much more appealing. The rules and regulations that are in place now are really just perfect. It is really hard to think of something differently because I do not know any different.

There are many things that should be wrong in our society today that aren't. It should be wrong to take advantage of someone, no matter the situation. Taking advantage of any person is never right. What if that person was you and someone was taking advantage of you? People should also do more good things for others. It should be a societal norm for people to go out of their way to do nice things for other people. That would make our world a much better place. People in the world don't realize how little they would have to do to make the world so much better. If every person in the world went out of their way one time a day to do some simple thing for another person, that would add up very quickly and it would make someone feel very good about themselves. That would make the world a generally better place, and if I got to make the rules, I would make sure that those things got put in place. Too bad no one thinks this way. Most people just want to know what is in it for them, not what they can do for others.

Ben Franklin

Since Franklin's autobiography was written in a completely different time period, it is very easy to compare and contrast the two writing styles. Just to give some background information, when the Puritan writing style was being written, the colonists did not have thoughts of revolution. Also, they were very interested in religion, as it was during the great awakening period of history. Franklin mostly wrote in the Enlightenment time period, which was where people shifted their beliefs to natural laws and fact instead of religious beliefs. One mention of religion in his writing was that one place that he stayed for the night was a church, which I found funny when Mr. Langley asked the class a question pertaining to the passage (Franklin 107). Even though Franklin fell asleep in a church, that does not prove that church is boring, it simply proved that the church was inviting to Franklin, even though it was not his church (that was just a side note that really didn't have anything to do with my argument.)

I noticed that Franklin used a very creative style of writing that was very interesting. He used many of his famous aphorisms that we studied in class, many indirectly. One memorable passage from the story was when Franklin wrote about how people are more likely to share when they have less to offer (Franklin 108). Obviously, the Puritans were big on sharing because they believed that everything that was given to them was God given, so that was a similarity that I noticed in his writing to Puritan writing. Bradstreet was big on the idea that everything in her life was God given. While this sounds like a similarity to Puritan writing, Franklin really did not directly reference God once in his writing, which is a major difference to Puritan writing. They referenced God often in their writing.

Ben Franklin was known for his aphorisms, which tells a lot about his writing style. Aphorism are more rational thoughts that tell life lessons. Even though not a whole bunch of his aphorisms were referenced, Franklin's other writings can be used to help evaluate his writing style. I believe that his writing was more Rational because unlike Puritan writing, Franklin used longer, precise sentences that use description. Puritan writing was very short and declarative, which made the writing more simplistic. 

Franklin, Ben. "The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin." Comp. Jeffrey D. Wilhelm, Ph.D. and Douglas Fisher, Ph.D. Glencoe Literature. American Literature ed. Columbus: McGraw-Hill Companies, 2009. 106-110. Print.

Journal #11 - Aphorism

"Don't count your chickens before they are hatched" - Ben Franklin

This aphorism pretty much sums up my entire life. Let's be honest, whenever I get really pumped up for something that I think is going to happen, it usually doesn't. For example, last year, I decided that I wanted to be on the drumline this year. Tucker Good and I decided to propose the idea to Ms. McGovern about it, and surprisingly, she took it very well. She actually said yes. I was ecstatic. It was going to be a blast.  Tucker and I immediately started creating ideas. We first decided that we were going to play traditional grip instead of match grip. Match grip is for noobs. We also decided that we  were going to have extra drumline rehearsals so we could be amazing. We also had this amazing idea that we were going to have a drumline invitational, which would be a competition only for drumlines. We had so many great ideas, and we were going to do our best to make all of the ideas work. Tucker and I wrote out all of our ideas on paper, which took almost 3 pages. Everything was going to be great because everyone knows that the coolest members of the band are on the drumline.

Well...then came the spring. A few weeks had passed, and Tucker and I just came up with more ideas that we were going to try and do. I remember that day like it was yesterday. I got a pass in my first hour class that said Ms. McGovern wanted to see me. I figured that it was just something stupid that she wanted me to do, but it was worse. She met with me to tell me that I would not be on the drumline in the upcoming marching season. I was crushed. I really shouldn't have gotten my hopes up so quickly because I would never recover from that tragic event. It was the worst day ever.

Franklin, Ben. "From Poor Richard's Almanac." Comp. Jeffrey D. Wilhelm, Ph.D. and Douglas Fisher, Ph.D. Glencoe Literature. American Literature ed. Columbus: McGraw-Hill Companies, 2009. 110. Print.

Thomas Paine

The Crisis was a very interesting piece of writing to read, but it was very enjoyable to read. It was the type of reading that kept me engaged, and it was fairly easy to understand the purpose of the writing. One of the main topics that we covered in our AP History class was tyranny that the colonists had to deal with during the revolution, and this essay was written from the perspective of the victory over tyranny. While the document may seem a little emotional, most writing of the time period was partially based on emotion, it also provides many facts that back up the emotion, which is why the writing is definitely rationalist writing.

There were many passages of text that stuck in my mind while reading "The Crisis." One passage included
"to blind in all cases whatsoever." (Paine 134) This basically translates into the idea of slavery, and this statement came from an act passed by parliament. This really does seem like an emotional piece of evidence for the argument, but if the colonies have no say in what they do and can't see what the English are doing, they are basically slaves to another country. Thomas Paine used a very vivid comparison in his writing that accurately compared the King and his government to thieves (Paine 136). Basically, they were just that. The British placed taxes on the colonists as if they were citizens England, but at the same time reduced taxes in England. They were stealing money from the colonists, so their comparison was backed up with fact, which is a characteristic of Rationalist writing. The colonists realized how unfair Parliament was treating them.

Thomas Paine's writing style was proven so effective that the pamphlet not only was read to soldiers, but could have been read by any person who was fighting for the cause, not just physically. Some may have only seen his writing as an encouragement for the soldiers to continue their fight, but it was also a push to get people to join the fight. Another technique that Paine used was bringing religion into the writing, which some would say makes it more Puritan writing, but it still uses logic to back up assumptions. The simple quote "that God may bless you" makes it seem as if God is approving of the battle and is even on the side of the colonists (Paine 136). Obviously, that is simply not true, but Paine did a very good job of making his argument present the war as a war of sides, and he really made people want to join the cause.

As with many writers of the time period, Paine obviously wanted to create a group of people who felt strongly for the revolution and wanted to help make a difference. His writing in "The Crisis" was a clear picture of his goal to do so. I believe that the crisis was a pamphlet that appealed to many different people of the time, and it was probably a very effective piece of writing for the time.

Paine, Thomas. "The Crisis No.1." Comp. Jeffrey D. Wilhelm, Ph.D. and Douglas Fisher, Ph.D. Glencoe Literature. American Literature ed. Columbus: McGraw-Hill Companies, 2009. 134-136.