Literatura Norteamericana I

American Literature I
Ricardo Menéndez
10 ECTS Credits 2020-2021
Authors & Contents 1st Term
Study Block I
 Early American Literature
 Captain John Smith – Oct 7th
 William Bradford – Oct 14th
 Anne Bradstreet – Oct 21st
 Mary Rowlandson – Oct 28th
 The American Enlightment
 Jonathan Edwards – Nov 4th
 Benjamin Franklin – Nov 11th
 Olaudah Equiano – Nov 18th
 Phillis Wheatley – Nov 25th
Ricardo Menéndez
 Romanticism (part I)
 Washington Irving – Dec 2nd
 James Fenimore Cooper – Dec 9th
 Ralph Waldo Emerson – Dec 16th
 Henry David Thoroeau – Jan 13th
 REVIEW
 Units 1-12 – Jan 20th
UNED 2020-2021 ricmenendez@madrid.uned.es
“ It was about this time I conceived the bold and
arduous project of arriving at moral perfection. I
wished to live without committing any fault at any
time; I would conquer all that either natural

”
inclination, custom, or company might lead me into

Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790)

 Biography
 Works by author
 Online resources
 Q&A
Ricardo Menéndez UNED 2020-2021 ricmenendez@madrid.uned.es
Unit 6 – Benjamin Franklin

Objectives of the Unit

 Learn about the prominent role of Benjamin Franklin, whose personality
embodied the eighteenth century American Enlightment
 Analyze Franklin’s Autobiography both as a typical work of the Age of
Reason and a classic formulation of the American Dream
 Recognize the conventions of autobiography by examining one of the
best-known examples of this genre, an immensely popular text which
became a point of reference for numerous subsequent autobiographical
writings
 Explore the morally oriented pragmatism, that is, the utilitarian ethics
of one of the most influential books in the development of American
national values and ideals
 Focus on the rhetorical strategies of Franklin’s Autobiography, devoting
particular attention to its diction (choice of vocabulary and arrangement
of words) and tone (colloquial without being familiar)

Ricardo Menéndez UNED 2020-2021 ricmenendez@madrid.uned.es

Unit 6 – Benjamin Franklin

Biography
 Polymath, author, printer, thinker, political theorist, politician, freemason,
postmaster, scientist, inventor, civic activist, statesman, and diplomat, one of the
most influential members of the Eighteenth Century
 Born in Massachusetts in 1706
 The tenth son of soap maker out of seventeen, who could only send one child to
school every year
 As young Benjamin loved to read he was apprenticed to his brother James, who
was a printer. At the age of 12 he could compose, set type, print and even sell
pamphlets
 Worked for Boston’s first newspaper The New England Courant
 His family was very soon at odds with powerful Puritan preachers, the Mathers
 One of the Founding Fathers of the United States
 Franklin’s symbolic importance grew as his compatriots considered his personal
success helped foster the nation’s collective destiny for greatness
 First famous self-made man in America
 David Hume considered him America’s “first great man of letters”
 Died in Philadelphia in 1790 at the advanced age of 84.
Ricardo Menéndez UNED 2020-2021 ricmenendez@madrid.uned.es
Unit 6 – Benjamin Franklin

The American Enlightment

 Period of intellectual ferment in the thirteen American colonies
 The American Enlightment occurred between 1714 and 1818 and led to the American
Revolution and thus to the creation of the American Republic
 Its ideals were justice, liberty, and equality
 Benjamin Franklin embodied the American Enlightment
 Started in America style colleges where non-denominational moral philosophy
replaced theology in many college curricula
 Foremost representatives of American Enlightenment included men from various
backgrounds:
 Puritan religious leaders: Jonathan Edwards, Thomas Clap, Ezra Stiles,
 Anglican moral philosophers Samuel Johnson and William Smith
 Political thinkers: John Adams, James Madison, George Mason, James Wilson, and Alexander
Hamilton
 Polymaths: Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Jefferson.
 Leading scientists, Benjamin Franklin (work on electricity) William Smith (Transit of
Venus), Jared Eliot (metallurgy and agriculture), and others
Ricardo Menéndez UNED 2020-2021 ricmenendez@madrid.uned.es
Unit 6 – Benjamin Franklin

The Works of Benjamin Franklin

 He started ‘Autobiography’ in 1771 but it was only published after his death
 It was written in three distinct periods
 He used two pseudonyms: Richard Saunders and Silence Dogood
 He went from the printing business to the journalism business, first working
with his brother and later as a runaway he founded his own newspaper
 He wrote an almanac as an ongoing activity called ‘Poor Richard’s Almanac’
 Most of his famous aphorisms come from this work
 Invented the concept of the library to pool books for everyone’s benefit
 He wrote the ‘The Way to Wealth’ (1758) also called ‘Father Abraham's
Sermon’
 Franklin saw the printing press as a device to instruct colonial Americans in
moral virtue

Ricardo Menéndez UNED 2020-2021 ricmenendez@madrid.uned.es

Unit 6 – Benjamin Franklin

Some famous Quotes by Benjamin Franklin

 One of the most renown creator of everlasting aphorisms:
 Tell me and I forget, teach me and I may remember, involve me and I learn
 By failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail
 There never was a good war or a bad peace
 Wine is constant proof that God loves us and loves to see us happy
 We are all born ignorant, but one must work hard to remain stupid
 Genius without education is like silver in the mine
 A penny saved is a penny earned
 Never leave that till tomorrow which you can do today
 He that can have patience can have what he will
 He that lives upon hope will die fasting
 https://www.goodreads.com/author/quotes/289513.Benjamin_Franklin
 http://en.proverbia.net/citasautor.asp?autor=12622

Ricardo Menéndez UNED 2020-2021 ricmenendez@madrid.uned.es

Unit 6 – Benjamin Franklin

The 13 virtues in his Autobiography

 TEMPERANCE  JUSTICE
 SILENCE  MODERATION
 ORDER  CLEANLINESS
 RESOLUTION  TRANQUILITY
 FRUGALITY  CHASTITY
 INDUSTRY  HUMILITY
 SINCERITY
Ricardo Menéndez UNED 2020-2021 ricmenendez@madrid.uned.es
Unit 6 – Benjamin Franklin

Online Resources for Benjamin Franklin

 The full Autobiography is available and is considered a cornerstone of US
foundational literature
http://www.ushistory.org/franklin/autobiography/
http://www.gutenberg.org/files/20203/20203-h/20203-h.htm
Chapter 9: https://ebooks.adelaide.edu.au/f/franklin/benjamin/autobiography/chapter9.html
 Benjamin Franklin on LION (Proquest Literature Online)
 Resources and Links suggested in the Curso Vitual
 Audiobook of The Autobiography
https://archive.org/details/franklin_autobio_gg_librivox
The 13 moral virtues https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vcYS5SnCNMM
 American Enlightment: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Enlightenment
 History Channel Documentary: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gAqYLjK6y9g
Ricardo Menéndez UNED 2020-2021 ricmenendez@madrid.uned.es
 Remember to complete
Self-Evaluation &
Exploratory Questions
from the Book
Online Self Evaluation Quiz

Questions?
Thank you