Reflection Blog: Ben Franklin's Autobigography

Ben Franklin's autobiography was very interesting to read. It was not really what I expected. He follows a lot of deism rules and concepts in his work. He is one of the most famous deists in history too.

In his autobiography, it first talks about him setting up a library. He works very hard to establish this library and for people to get more involved in books. His love for books is overwhelming. He reads a lot and on Sundays he studies instead of going to worship. Even the preacher wants him to start coming to worship, but he believes that the points made in the sermon are not right, so he continues his studies instead of attending worships on Sundays (Franklin 146). One aspect of deism is that people who believe in deism do not feel the need to going to worship every day, or on Sundays, because God is present in daily life and there is no need to worship him in the church when he created the world we live in (Beyer, Catherine). Deists believe that God does not need to be communicated with through prayer, but by studying the world in which he created (Beyer, Catherine). Ben Franklin had his own personal prayer that he used for his own personal use, but he did not attend the worship because he studied on Sundays (Franklin 144). His first virtue, "temperance" to me is all about control. I think the underlying theme is you have the power to control your life. He had the control on whether or not he attended church on Sundays and whether or not he prayed. Temperance was all about keeping the mind clear, so logical decisions could be made (Franklin 149). The second virtue, "Silence" is all about knowing when to speak and when to keep quiet (Franklin 149). The deists were not afraid to speak their mind, mainly because they were logical thinkers and they could persuade people to believe them. The third virtue, "Order" is all about letting things occur natural and to let the order of life happen (Franklin 149). The fourth virtue, "Resolution" is about finish what you start, and striving to start something new (Franklin 149). The fifth virtue, "Frugality" is saying not to waste time and spend time helping others (Franklin 149). The sixth virtue, "Industry" is about using your time wisely, but also in something that you love and can help others (Franklin 149). The seventh virtue, "Sincerity" is basically saying treat others how you want to be treated because comments can hurt (Franklin 149). The eight virtue, "Justice" is about doing nothing wrong, and if you do, than admit to it (Franklin 150). The ninth virtue, "Moderation" is basically saying do not be greedy (Franklin 150). The tenth virtue, "Cleanliness" is all about having good hygiene (Franklin 150). The eleventh virtue, "Tranquility" is about not letting the little things bother you (Franklin 150). The twelfth virtue, "Chasity" is self explanatory, but all people have their different views (Franklin 150). The final virtue, " Humility" is basically to mock or imitate Jesus (Franklin 150). These all represent deism because each virtue has a logical reasoning, where as the Puritans give everything to God. God did not create the virtues, so he has no control in this aspect. The deists believe that they can choose to follow the virtues or not, but either way God was not a part.

Beyer, Catherine. "Deism - What Is Deism? - Beliefs of Deists." Alternative Religions. About.com. Web. 26 Oct. 2011. <http://altreligion.about.com/od/alternativereligionsaz/p/Deism.htm>.


Tipton, Brutus C. "Deism: A New Beginning." Welcome To The Deism Site! World Union of Deists. Web. 26 Oct. 2011. <http://www.deism.com/deismbeginning.htm>

Journal #14: The Apprentice

If I were Ben Franklin's apprentice, I would follow him around all day. I would help him write and help him think of the American Dream. I would be a big help to him. I would organize all his papers and help him with his thoughts. I would get him his food and drink, so he can focus at all times during the day. He would be my mentor. I would learn valuable lessons from him that I could use for my own life. I would have to be really smart to be Ben Franklin's apprentice. He would need to be my teacher, and I would be his student. I would learn how to be like him and learn how to make my own life model the American dream. I think that if I were his apprentice, I would be his helper. When he needs me to sharpen his pencils, or refill his ink, or get him some new paper, I will be there for him. I would be more of a servant than an apprentice because he would be so focused on his work that I would end up doing everything for him. Being his apprentice would be such a hard job because I have big shoes to fill. I would have to live up to all of his accomplishments and be someone he can trust. That would be very hard to do for a man who is so busy trying to change the world. I think that he would be very appreciative of my help, but he would also take me for granted in a way. I do not think my help would be greatly recognized by him at all. I feel like he would be the type of person to just expect my help and not think anything more of it, but who knows. I would be there for him when he needed me, and I would back off when I feel the need to.

Journal #13 The American Dream

I think that the American Dream today is basically to survive. I know that the economy is horrible right now and people are struggling to live everyday. Money is becoming a lot tighter, people are loosing their jobs, and everyday there is a new struggle that we have to face. With the economy going horribly wrong right now, we have to do the best with what we have, which I think is making people become a lot more grateful than in the past. Once people start loosing things, others realize what they have. The real American Dream if the economy was not so bad would be to make money and become successful. People chase after money. Mainly because money is something we need in everyday life. Even though money cannot buy things such as happiness and love, we need money everyday to survive. The American Dream would be complete freedom. We would not be at war with anyone else if the American Dream were real. We would not have any go away to the war or even to train for the war because we would be at peace with everyone. We would all be equal. The American Dream is where everyone gets along. There would be no criminals, murders, gangs, or bad people in the world. The American Dream is living each day to the fullest because we never know when our last would be. The people would be in good moods every day because there would not be struggles that would make us upset or mad. The American Dream though is simply that, a dream. We cannot reach it because people do not take the time out and realize what is happening around them and make changes. The bad people we have in the world did that to themselves, they do not have to stay that way. War can easily be stopped, we can easily call a treaty. All of the affairs of the world can be resolved, but they aren't. Now we are all suffering from an American Dream, which cannot find the ways to improve its loopholes.

Journal #12: Making my Own Rules

If I could make my own rules about what is right and what is wrong, well I would never be doing anything wrong. Other people may be in the wrong, but I never would be. I would never get in trouble because everything I do would be right. I would first start by changing rules at school. School would not start at eight. School would start around 9:30 and then we would get out at about 1:30. Sounds like a great school day. We do not even have to each lunch, we can eat after school. We could have four classes a day and then we could go home. We would not be assigned a lot of homework. I have had so much homework this week it is unreal, so homework would not be a part of my new rules. Pace would be demolished. I hate pace right now because I can never finish my homework in there. I cannot focus on my homework in there and we cannot talk, so basically all I do is sit there. I would also change the rules at my house. I would not have a curfew. I could go wherever I want and stay out until whenever I want and not have to worry about getting in trouble. My parents would agree with me many things and they would give me mainly whatever I want. I would be one spoiled child if I could change the rules. The school and my house would have such different rules that other people would have trouble functioning, but I would not. I would like to change my own rules because then everything would apply to my life, and I would just have a better life all around. I think I am capable of making my own decisions, so I do not think it will be too hard to fend for myself and follow my own rules. We would have an all around better world if I could make my own rules!

Reflection Blog: Franklin's Writing

Franklin's writing reflects more of the rationalism period rather than the Puritan period because his writing is more logic and analytic thinking as compared to always referring things back to God. The rationalism style of writing uses more of the persuasive talking and figurative language. The Puritan period uses more of the straight to the point words and everything is based off of God. Franklin is a deist. He does not use God or reference religion in his autobiography. He was more of a man that God could go without mentioning, which is why he is no where near the Puritan writing style. He was an inventor. He created many things that helped the human race advance in technology. Not once did he mention that God helped him make his inventions. The Puritans believe that God is a part of everything that happened. They believe that God created the world and therefore he creates everything in it, no matter what. Well, that is what sets the two religious views apart from each other. The fact that Franklin is a deist helps his writing because at the time, he helped write the constitution and made technology advances. Instead of filling his autobiography up with all references to God, he uses the power and persuasion of his words to make people listen and read what he has to say.

Reflection Blog: The Crisis No. 1

As I was reading "The Crisis No. 1" I found myself being very confused. The story switches from facts to opinions all the time and I found the story a little hard to follow. "The Crisis No. 1" begins by talking about new settlers arriving on the Americas and they are very dependent on the British. The quote "The Summer Soldier and the Sunshine Patriot will, in the crisis, shrink from the service of his country; but he that stands it now, deserves love and thanks of man and woman," shows future development of the struggles that will later come in the story (Paine 134). My interpretation on the quote is that the people who stand the ground now for the crisis will be rewarded greater than those who shrink away, or shy away from the problem, or crisis.

I would compare "The Crisis No. 1" with the rationalistic time period. The story represents the rationalism time period because one of the main characteristics of rationalism is fairness and justice. In the story, Paine talks about two common scenarios and how you cannot pardon one and punish the other, which shows how the people are striving for equality (Paine 136).

Paine was one of the main leaders in the rationalism period because he was one of those people who strived to better the world and tried to perfect himself. He worked to make changes in the world just like those of Jefferson, Henry, and Washington. This is evident in the story because he backs up his causes with reason and logic. I believe the rationalism period is when many men began to recognize what was going wrong and focused on ways to fix it. The people of this time period were very smart and they made changes that not only affected the world then, but still do today. The leaders of this period were able to stand out and up for what they believed in. Since this was not common for most people, they believed what the leaders had to say without question. What I took away from this story is that everyone needs to be involved. The people need to show their capabilities and faith through the work that they do (Paine 136). I think that in other words he is trying to say that we are all the same and connected in some way, but we have the ability to be different and stand out. It would benefit the people to help out now after the terrible winter they suffered than to be cowardly and shy away from the problems they now face (Paine 136). The rationalism time period was all about fixing the problems and not just letting them lay. The leaders of the time period thought of solutions to the problems rather than letting them be for someone else to worry about. The quote "Not all the treasures in the world so far I believe, could have induced me to support an offensive war, for I think it murder," (Paine 136) is a very powerful quote because I feel like he is saying we have to want to engage and participate in the war and the problems. The people should not be persuaded, but instead volunteer and show their faith in the problems. The end result is greater if the people do things out of their own deeds rather than being bribed to do so to help the common good. Overall I think the story was very good at portraying rationalism because of its persuasive qualities of trying to involve the people.

 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. Print.

Journal #11: Aphorisms

"Anything that does not kill you will make you stronger." That famous aphorisms is said by the great Nietzsche. I think that the aphorism applies to my life because when you really think about it, it is so true. All the troubles that I have gone through and survived, I have only come out more on top. When I think about it, the aphorism just makes sense to me. It makes me appreciate what I have because some people are not as lucky as I am. Recently there has been many car crashes and lots of people have been dying, it makes me really think about how lucky I am every time I get back into my car. Every time someone has made a mistake on the road, I have become stronger, and I have become a better driver because of it. Every time there has been struggles between my family and me, I have become a lot closer to them because we actually have to talk it out. Every time there is a struggle with a guy, I am stronger for the next one. It does not matter what the situation is, I have come out stronger than before. Even when I look at the little things like my grades, I have become a stronger student every year and continue to get good grades. I have become a stronger dancer from practicing and trying. I have become stronger socially. I talk to my friends more and I am not afraid to go up and talk to people I do not normally talk to. Everything that has happened in my past has given me some insight for my future. Everything that has made me stronger is like future advice for me. I need to be lucky for what I have and appreciate that it might be gone. I am one of the lucky ones, and no matter what, the good and the bad have made me a lot stronger today than I was yesterday.