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.