Reading Assignment Topics: Jonathan Edwards and Benjamin Franklin

1. How does Franklin differ from Edwards (Personal Narrative) in his attitudes toward religion,
human nature, virtue, sin, and the possibilities or means of self-transformation?

BONUS (not required)

2. If Franklin’s account of his life in the Autobiography creates an exemplary version of “the American
self” or of an “American identity,” what are the most significant features or traits of that identity other than
the list of virtues he provides in Part II? (I.e., if you interpret the persona created by the text as if a character
in a novel or story, what is he like?)

Due: Monday, October 5