Autobiography Of Benjamin Franklin - Free Essay Example

Part 1 In this part of his autobiography, Benjamin Franklin describes his early life and how he began to grow and become more successful in America. He dedicates the book to his son, so that his son can learn from mistakes that he made in the past. He says that he would not redo or change his life besides some minor things and moments. He shows throughout this part that he embodies the promise of America. He tells through his life story how dedication, hard work, and creativity can lead to being successful in America. He started off poor and was close with his family. His parents were good role models for him. As he got older, he apprenticed as a printer under his brother for a while and lived with him. During this time, he further developed his already prominent love for reading, writing, and poetry. He taught himself how to improve his writing and other skills by reading books. After growing unhappy with his apprenticeship and relationship with his older brother, he decided to leave Boston, where he grew up, and go to New York. Once in New York, he met with a printer to try to find work. The printer could not offer Benjamin any work, but told Benjamin to go to Philadelphia and find work with his son. So he went to Philadelphia, but the trip was very difficult. Once he got there, he found housing, slept for a long time, and then found the son. The son could also not give Benjamin any work, but suggested that he worked for another local printer named Keimer. Here he worked for a long time. Keimer had Benjamin stay with the Read family, where he met his future wife. He also became familiar with the governor of Pennsylvania at the time. This governor wrote a letter to Benjaminrs dad telling him how great Benjamin is, and how he thinks that he should start his own printing business. He even offered to help out. Benjamin returned to Boston to visit his family and show his dad the letter, but his dad didnt approve due to Benjamin being so young. The governor of Pennsylvania still wanted Benjamin to pursue his own printing business, so he offered to pay for it himself in the future. Throughout this time, he began a courtship with his future wife, Miss Read, but her mother suggested that they called it off due to him leaving for England soon. He did, and left for London shortly after. Here he learned that the governor was not a trustworthy man and never really kept his promises, so Benjamin lost faith in him. He also stayed for longer than he anticipated, because he realized that he could tremendously improve his printing skills if he worked in London for a while. So he stayed for a year and a half more, and in that time he did improve a lot. Upon arriving back to Philadelphia, he trained other printers that worked for Keimer to improve their skills. He then quit working for Keimer because he did not feel he was fit to do the job and tried to find work elsewhere. When he couldnt, he returned to Keimer. Him and a worker, Meredith decided that they wished to own their own printing business that would be better than Keimerrs. After more training and getting some money, they do. They begin to make a profit and even made a newspaper that helped them earn more money. Eventually, Meredith decided that being a printer wasnt what he was made for, and left the business to Ben Franklin. This business is how he began to make more and more money. He was dedicated to his work and worked through long hours of the night to achieve his goals. He rose from being poor through hard work. Part 2 In the second part of Benjamin Franklinrs autobiography, he discusses many things. However, a big theme in this part is the theme of religion and virtues. He discusses these throughout most of the part, and even thinks that his virtues are more important than the organized religion that everyone else seems to follow. He was not a big fan of public worship, and he only attended one ceremony before he decided that it wasnt what he believed. He thought that their goal was to just make them Presbyterians instead of trying to teach them to be good citizens. Because of this, Benjamin Franklin created his own form of prayer for his own use at home. He also created a list of virtues that he thought were most important and desirable to him, and he worked hard to correct his behavior according to them. This list of virtues consisted of thirteen different things that Benjamin Franklin thought were the most important. The thirteen virtues were: temperance, silence, order, resolution, frugality, industry, sincerity, justice, moderation, cleanliness, tranquility, chastity, and humility. He was wise enough to know that he could not attempt to fix all of them at once and be successful, so he worked on fixing his life according to one virtue at a time. He would focus on eliminating one fault from his life for a week, then the next week he would focus on eliminating a different one and the same one as the week before. Benjamin Franklin even kept track of these things in a journal using lines and dots. Of these virtues, Benjamin Franklin said that the hardest one to work on was humility. He always had pride in what hers accomplished, so it was already hard enough to fix it. He also said that even if you work hard and become humble, thatrs just another thing to be proud of. One of our essential questions is, how is it possible to live without committing any faults? I think that Benjamin Franklin sharing that he struggled to be humble is just proof that itrs impossible to live without having any faults. He worked really hard to overcome his pride, and although he did fix it a little bit, he could never fully overcome it and be completely humble. This makes me further believe that we as humans cannot live a fault-free life, no matter how hard we try. He dedicated a large part of his life to correcting his behaviors and trying to live a life without faults, but he never fully succeeded. Through this part of the book, Benjamin Franklin tells us how he worked hard to amend his behavior and live by the thirteen virtues. Nearing the end of the part, he discusses how he never really got to the point that he wished to be at with his virtues. However, he does tell that his life had improved significantly ever since he started working on correcting his behavior. Benjamin Franklin says that after he started applying his virtues to his life, he felt better and a lot happier than he was before. He says that conversations with others ended up going more smoothly than before, because he was less arrogant and full of himself. He also said that he was overall nicer to others after he spent time working on his virtues. Benjamin Franklin ends the part by talking about how every human struggles with their pride, and how he believes you cant get rid of it. This further ties in the idea that it is impossible to live without faults in your life, and everybody has them. Part 3 Throughout the third part of his autobiography, Benjamin Franklin discusses many different topics. He talks about how important religion is, and he also talks about politics and the military. During this part, he talks in depth about how much he admired a minister, Samuel Hemphill, and a preacher, George Whitefield. Samuel Hemphillrs sermons focused a lot on virtue, so Benjamin Franklin liked him a lot. George Whitefield had amazing preaching skills, which allowed him to have a lot of power over the citizens of Philadelphia. Benjamin Franklin also talks about reforms he worked hard to change the city of Philadelphia. He discusses all of the things he added to the city and colony that helped things run smoother, such as a military and fire department. Samuel Hemphill is an Irish minister that has sermons that deeply focus on virtue. Because of this, Benjamin Franklin appreciates and respects his sermons much more. However, not everyone liked Hemphill that much. They didnt like him a lot due to the fact that he borrows a little bit of others works when he makes his sermons, and they think thatrs cheating. To get more people on his side, Franklin writes pamphlets supporting Hemphill, but they still dont like him very much. They kicked him out, so Benjamin stopped going to church. He then talks about how he later met a preacher named George Whitefield. He was very well liked and very powerful among the Philadelphia citizens. They even build him a church to preach in with others. Benjamin Franklin says that Whitefield is an honest, virtuous man. He also publishes George Whitefieldrs journals and sermons. Benjamin respects this man a lot, and says that hers a very good speaker with a loud voice. Later in the part, Benjamin Franklin discusses politics and military for a long time. Franklin used money earned from the subscriptions to his pamphlet, Plain Truth. Benjamin and Thomas Lawrence go to New York to borrow cannons for their military. After some convincing, they go home with eighteen. As part of the Pennsylvania Governor council, he had certain ideas that Quakers didnt agree with. Benjamin Franklin thinks that they want to support the military and self-defense, but they dont want to oppose their beliefs. The French and Indian War starts, and Benjamin helps General Edward Braddock collect supplies and weapons using his writing. During this part, Benjamin Franklin also tells how he created a public hospital, a fire department, and a college in Philadelphia. While Franklin was in charge of the army, he led them to build forts. It took them a week to build their fort at Gradenhut. He keeps the soldiers busy, because he believes that people are happier if theyre doing something. Their fort isnt the best, but they have enough weapons to defend themselves. Eventually, Franklin becomes a colonel, and he gets honorary escorts. This offends a person who owns the colony, so that person complains to Sir Everard Fawkener. However, Fawkener sides with Franklin and doesnt do anything about it. The governor wants Franklin to become a general to replace Braddock, and he wants him to recover Fort Duquense. Franklin turns down the offer, and Braddock is replaced by someone else. Benjamin then spends most of the rest of the part talking about science, philosophy, and various experiments he conducted later in his life. Part 4 In the final part of his autobiography, Benjamin Franklin tells us about a problem between the governor and the English assembly. He visits London with his son to see Dr. Fothergill to address the issue. Fothergill then tells them that they should take matters up with the people that own the colonies. He then visits someone, who takes him to meet a man named John Hanbury. They meet the president of the Kingrs privy council, Lord Granville. Franklin believes that American people should be able to make their own laws, and the king should just have to approve it. Lord Granville believes that the Kingrs instructions are laws, and that Americans have to follow them. Benjamin Franklin writes down what they had said to each other to use for future reference. He then realizes that a long time ago, they had also tried to make the Kingrs instructions a law, but it got thrown out. There is then a meeting between the owners of the colonies and Benjamin Franklin. They all try to be nice at first and explain their sides calmly, but when they cant agree, things get more heated. The colony owners give a complaint Benjamin wrote on behalf of the colonies to their lawyer, Ferdinando John Paris, who pretty much hates Benjamin. Everyone tries to get Ferdinando and Benjamin to talk to each other and deal with the issue, but Benjamin wont budge. Paris tells the colony owners to send the complaint to someone else, but that person never got back fo Franklin. They just called him rude and refused to address the complaint. This leads Franklin to believe that he wasnt proper enough when writing his complaint, which isnt normal for him. All the worry is for nothing, though, because Franklin gets his way in the end. The assembly passed an act that taxes the colony owners estates as well as the peoplers estates. This makes the colony owners very unhappy, so they try to get the King to make sure it doesnt happen. When they went to court, they try to say that the act will ruin their relationship with the people. However, Franklin and the Assembly say that it wont hurt anyone, and if the money gets repealed many people would become bankrupt. Then a man named Lord Mansfield takes Benjamin and Ferdinando to sign an agreement. This helps the law pass. The colony owners are still unhappy, though, and get the governor fired. All in all, The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin shows all of the different ways that Benjamin Franklin impacted America. He worked in politics and the military, cared deeply about politics and religion, and worked hard to become a successful person. He worked on respected people of all religions. He also contributed to science and various things in Philadelphia. He helped plan the first university, public library, public hospital, and more. He used hard work and dedication to fulfill the American promise and rise to success. His views on virtue helped him correct his behavior. He had a better life and become a better person because of it. This autobiography has many reoccurring themes, such as religion, principles, education, and dedication. He wanted women to be able to have access to education. Overall, this book has shown us how much work went into our history, especially by Benjamin Franklin. Without him, many things in our country would be different. He is a prime example of what the American promise that hardwork and dedication lead to success. He also shows that everyone makes mistakes and thatrs okay.

The Goals of the Divine - Literature Essay Samples

In both Virgils The Aeneid and books Genesis and Exodus of the Old Testament, dreams, visions, signs, wonders and divinations serve as powerful testaments to the universal knowledge and might of the pagan Roman gods and the Jewish god. Revealing their wisdom and desires through these holy wonders, the gods of both Rome and the Israelites facilitate the progress of the heroes and chosen people in these epical and biblical stories. However, the intent of the Roman and Jewish gods in using symbolic signs and holy miracles differs greatly. While the gods in The Aeneid, in providing Aeneas with physical and spiritual signs, seek to further his founding of Rome and the fulfillment of fate, in Genesis and Exodus, God uses his powers to instill in earthly people proof of his existence, in addition to testing and rewarding their personal faith and love.In The Aeneid, Aeneas is from the start reminded through supernatural occurrences of his obligation to search for a new home. As he flees ruined Troy with his family, the apparition of his wife Creusa appears, asking him not to mourn a death that is part of the divine plan (74). In their short encounter, she foretells these things:You have to plough through a great waste of ocean to distant exile. And you shall come to the Western Land where the gentle current of Lydian Tiber flows between rich meadows where men are strong. There happiness and a kingdom are in store for you, with a queen for you to marry. (74)Here, Aeneas Trojan wife seems more like a messenger of fate who knows the future and reminds him to take care of their son Iulus than a wife who is seeing her husband for the last time. Her impersonal words are as calculated as they are clear and commanding: hurry away from this dangerous spot so that you may fulfill your destiny untouched by the Argive race. Dispel your tears for the Creusa whom you loved, for you must concentrate on the path set ahead (74). And though Creusa is not a god by any means, he r words are nevertheless inspired by the Olympian divinities; Creusa would not otherwise have the ability to see the future.As Aeneas travels the land upon his arrival at Carthage, he again receives the aid of the gods through wondrous means. Venus, concerned for her sons safety and, more importantly, conscious of his fate, is behind most of these signs and effects. She first appears to him as a beautiful maiden, like some Spartan girl, or like Harpalyce the Thracian who outruns horses till they tire and outstrips even the winged river Hebrus (37). Like Creusa before her, Venus appears under the specific pretext of describing the land and its ruler, Dido, so that Aeneas will feel compelled by curiosity and envy to approach the fledging city and its queen.Once again, the significance of Aeneas journey and his ultimate success overshadow his personal sadness and need for comfort. Venus has no desire to reveal her true form, since this visit is a business only affair to her. Her m agical disguise is one way to keep her son mindful of his obligations toward searching for a new home, as it allows her (and Aeneas) to concentrate more fully on walking the path of destiny. For example, as Aeneas laments his troubles, Venus would not listen to more complaints, and she impatiently interrupts to show him the prophetic sign Jupiter has sent through the skies in the form of twelve swans representing Aeneas lost fleet, and also to advise Aeneas to venture toward the heart of Carthage (39). While it would be difficult for a mother to abruptly stop her son from recounting his grievances, for a roaming maiden ending the talk is not. Thus, for the goddess, the supernatural ability to change forms serves the purpose of advancing the process of Roman settlement in Alba Longa and upholding the predictions of the fates without the complications of the mother-son relationship.Aeneas travels later in the epic again involve divine intervention in the form of wonder and vision. In Book Six, Aeneas is instructed by the Sibyl to find the golden bough before he is to proceed in the underworld. Obtaining the golden bough is yet another goal Aeneas must reach in his drive toward finding a home for the Trojan gods. In fact, Aeneas finds the bough by the blessings of Venus, who sends doves, which soared swiftly, skimming through the clear air, found the perch of their desire, and settled on a pair of adjacent treetops; and there, through the branches, shone the contrasting gleam of gold (153). The miracle of Aeneas journey into the underworld, the dangers he encounters there, his discovery of the golden bough, and his later reunion with Anchises, are a microcosm of the godly signs and wonders that pervade all of the Trojan travelers experiences in carrying out fate.In books Genesis and Exodus of the Bible, Gods purpose in performing miraculous acts and signs stands in stark contrast to the intents of the Roman gods. For there is no fate in the world of the J ewish god; he is fate, and he decides what will happen in the lives of humans. God seeks to reinforce his own existence and magnanimity in the hearts and minds of his children, and through the performance of miracles and wonders rewards the devout and gains the recognition of others. In Genesis, when Abraham laughs at Gods promise of descendents through Sarah, he asks humbly, Can a son be born to a man who is a hundred years old? Can Sarah bear a child at ninety? (12:17). Yet God, treasuring the faith and love of Abraham, keeps to his promise and miraculously, Sarah bears Isaac at an ancient age. Through this act, God not only performs his end of the covenant, he validates his own power in the mind of Abrahams family and others who learn about this miracle. As Sarah comments later, Got has given me good reason to laugh, and everyone who hears will laugh with me (21:6).God also performs acts of unkindness that are effective in proving his great power and validating that power th rough punishing the unfaithful. When he rained down fire and brimstone from the skies on Sodom and Gomorrah, God warns Lot and his family to escape but not look back at the two cities, the objects of his wrath (19:24). But Lots wife looked back, and she turned into a pillar of salt (19:26). The two divine signs God reveals to earthlings, once again, establish a precedent for those with evil and doubt in their hearts. Through the miracle of turning Lots wife into salt and destroying a city full of wrongdoers and the sinful, God increases his fame throughout the cities and tribes around Sodom and Gomorrah, and sets fear in the hearts of those who would not listen to his mandates.This need for God to validate himself and test the faith of the people is revisited in Exodus, when he guides Moses through the struggle with Pharaoh. In retaliation for the Egyptians abuse of his people, the Israelites, and to show Pharaoh the terrible mistake he has made in opposing the Lord, God strike s down the Egyptians with plagues until finally the lord of Egypt releases the Jewish people from captivity. Gods intent is clearly stated when he speaks to Moses; he ruins the obstinate leader so that I may win glory for myself at the expense of Pharaoh and all his army; and the Egyptians will know that I am the Lord (14:4). Here, spreading fame and recognition is the name of the game for God. Though his reaction to the Egyptians confinement of his people might seem harsh by some standards, God feels it is necessary so that more people are wary of his might and will seek refuge under the Jewish way of life. It is through this punishment, in addition to the miracle of Moses parting of the Red Sea, that God establishes his place in the world and the minds of those who have not heard of him. He also fortifies his position in the minds and hearts of the Israelites, who against all odds are rescued and brought to new settlements, although later they anger God by creating a bovine i dol.The miracle of the burning bush of Exodus can serve as a focused contrast to the golden bough of The Aeneid. The golden bough in the Virgilian epic is a symbol for fate; Aeneas is compelled to search for it so that he may gain passage in the underworld and learn about his journey from his father, yet another prerequisite to his founding of Rome. It is an object to be obtained, to be found. The burning bush is God himself, in a form Moses can comprehend and accept. The discovery of the bush is like the discovery of the golden bough, a wonder that is crucial for later success, yet it represents a way for Moses to meet the Lord and solidify his faith and support for Gods orders, not the linear task that Aeneas is forced to undertake in his execution of destiny.In The Aeneid and the Bible, plagues, miracles, rewards, signs and predictions are performed by both the Roman deities and God as ways of furthering some goal; Aeneas must find a new home for his people and his gods, and the followers of God will someday have their own nation and be kings of peoples (17:16). Yet the gods from both sides are driven in different ways; the Roman gods perform miracles and wonders in order to facilitate a Trojan leaders campaign, compelled by clairvoyance of his future. In Genesis and Exodus, however, a God unrecognized and angered by the people he created, through plagues and rewards, engages in his own campaign to restore recognition and devotion and punish sin. While the Olympian gods use their incredible powers to facilitate the inevitable, the Jewish God with his might quests to be known and be cherished by everyone he touches, whether he touches them in a malevolent or benevolent way.