2013-2BenjaminFranklin1706-1790

American Literature 2013,Lecture 2 Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790),Benjamin Franklin:,The main points:I. Background of Revolutionary Age II. Benjamin Franklins life and worksIII. His worksIV. Franklins criticism,I. American Revolution (1765- 1800),In 1775, the Independent War broke out.In 1776, declaring Independence.,The first 13 colonies,An Age of Reason and Enlightenment,- Enlightenment is a form of rationalism, which produced new types of men, including scientists, political philosophers, religious rationalists. E.g. Newtonian ideas - the general symbol of world outlook in Enlightenment thinking, which promulgate a humanist epistemology.- Know then Thy-self, presume not God to scan; the proper study of Mankind is man. (Alexander Pope Essay on Man),- The New World (the first 13 colonies) demonstrated the theological certainties of Newton and the evidence of an omnipresent God in the natural world, liberalized the strict Puritan doctrines and led to the Great Awakening.- New ideas: Man can be perfected through education. All men are created equal.God began life but men must use reason to understand their world.,Deism: a benevolent God who is manifest in nature and who can be best served by people doing good to fellow men. (a natural religion).- A new image of God (different from Puritanism). God is revealed in nature, not in the Bible.,Deism by Thomas Jefferson: The doctrines of Jesus are simple, and tend all to the happiness of man. 1.That there is only one god, and he is all-perfect. 2.That there is a future state of rewards and punishments. 3.That to love God with all thy heart and thy neighbor as thyself is the sum of religion. These are the great points on which he Christ endeavored to reform the religion of the Jews. (The rights of religions became consistent with the rights of government and rights of individual.) (An antidote to Puritan tenets).,Unitarianism （上帝一位论）: 1.The fatherhood of God. 2.The brotherhood of man. 3.The leadership of Jesus. 4.Salvation by character. 5.Progress of mankind onward and upward forever. (Summarized by Jefferson) (Tongming, 2008:44),Thinkers of the Enlightment,Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790)Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826): We hold these truth to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.,Jean Jacques Rousseau (1712-1778) : Thomas Paine (1737-1809) : Religion should hold its own only when it was made consistent with reason. (The Rights of Man ,1791-92) His works: Common Sense ,1776 The Crisis,1776-83 John Locke (1632-1704) : Men being by nature free, equal, and independent, no one can be put out of this estate and subjected to the political power of another without his consent, and that government should be based upon the consent of the governed.,Literary overview:American drama began to emerge. The Revolution produced a few plays on war as a subject.Most novels in the period were either frivolous or heavily didactic.,I. Franklins Life and works,Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790)A polymath:An authorAn inventorA civic activistA politicianA diplomat,Inventions,Lightning rod,Bifocal glasses,Franklin stove,Glass armonica,Glass harmonica,1. An exemplary self-made man,- Franklin exemplifies the Age of Enlightenment (a typical example). Franklins image is an archetypal American success that has since become part of American popular culture.- He marked a historical shift in emphasis from Providence to the individual, from afterlife to this life.,2. His philosophy:,He believed in: - Human accomplishment and progress. - An individual, with industry and thrift, will improve himself and his community. ( Pragmatic individualism) - The perfect moral man, the soul is immortal, crime will be punished by virtue.- God is the supreme Servant of Man and that the most acceptable of God was doing Good to Man. - Happiness depended on an economic success.( a typical American in Marxism sense.),3. His works,Poor Richards Almanac, 1733, with the pseudonym Richard SaundersFather Abrahams Sermon, 1758, also known as The Way to Wealth.The Autobiography, published after his death,II. Poor Richards Almanac, Publication Franklin began publishing Poor Richards Almanac on December 28, 1732, and going on for 25 years, bringing much economic success and popularity. (10,000 copies a year),Poor Richard Almanac from 1732 to 1757,The portrayal of the humorous Poor Richard as a character and axioms of wisdom printed on the margins of the pages for more than 20 years. Poor Richard - a convincing character testifying to Franklins talents in story telling.,Some famous lines of Poor Richards Almanac,1. Life: Eat to live, and not live to eat. 2. Success: No man was glorious, who was not laborious.3. Time: An egg today is better than a hen tomorrow. 4. Marriage: You cannot pluck roses without fear of horns, nor enjoy a fair wife without danger of horns.,5. Learning: Weighty questions ask for deliberate answerer.6. Attitude: Admiration is the daughter of ignorance.7. Industry: God gives all things to industry. 8. Shopping: Buy what thou has no need of and ere long thou shall sell thy necessaries.,Some other examples:,- Industry pays debts while despair increases them. - Diligence is the mother of good luck. - At the working mans house hunger looks in but dares not enter.- There are no gains without pains.- Plough deep while sluggards sleep and you shall have corn to sell and to keep. - Work while it is called today for you know not how much you may be hindered tomorrow. - One today is worth two tomorrows. Have you something to do tomorrow? Do it today.,III. The Autobiography,A story of a well-accomplished life.Part 1: Franklin as a young man in Boston and Philadelphia. Part 2 : “art of virtue” section. Franklin recounts his youthful attempt to achieve “moral perfection.”Part 3: how the adult Franklin uses his principles of conduct in order to perform his roles as a scientist, philanthropist and a politician. Partially due to his ability to self-promote.Part 4: unfinished.,3.Term,Autobiography is a branch of literature which is an account of a persons life. The essential difference between a novel and autobiography is this: The novel uses real experience as the raw material for fiction by inventing plots and characters.Autobiography simply presents with a more elegant and formally ordered version of the writers experiences and memories.,4. The Style,Plain Style: It is a practical style that makes his thought seem lucid, precise, and his advice on individual developments seem readily attainable. A narrative point of view of an older Franklin (in Part I).,5. His thirteen virtues in Part Two of The Autobiography:,1). Temperance. Eat not to Dullness. Drink not to Elevation. 节制欲望：食不过量，饮酒不醉；2). Silence. Speak not but that may benefit others or yourself. Avoid trifling Conversation. 寡言：少说废话，言必于人于已有益，避免无益的聊天；3). Order. Let all your Things have their Places. Let each part of your Business have its Time. 生活秩序：有条不紊，所有的物品都要井然有序，所有的事情，都要按时去做；4). Resolution. Resolve to perform what you ought. Perform without fail what you resolve. 信心坚定：信守诺言，出色的完成你所承诺的任务，当做必做，决心要做的事应坚持不懈；,5). Frugality. Make no Expense but to do good to others or yourself. 俭朴：节约开支，把钱用在对自己对别人都有益的事情上，不要错花一文钱，换言之，切忌浪费；6). Industry. Lose no Time. Be always employd in something useful. Cut off all unnecessary Actions. 勤奋努力：永远要抓紧时间作有益的事情，戒掉一切不必要的行动，不要浪费时间；7). Sincerity. Use no hurtful Deceit. Think innocently and justly and, if you speak, speak accordingly. 忠诚老实：不要说有害于人的诺言，思想要纯洁公正，说话也要如此；8). Justice. Wrong none, by doing Injuries or omitting the Benefits that are your duty. 公正：不以不端的行为或者办事不诚实去伤害他人，不要忘记履行对人有益而又是你应尽的义务；,9). Moderation. Avoid Extremes. Forbear resenting injuries so much as you think they deserve. 自我控制：对待别人要能克制忍让，不可怀有仇恨，适度避免极端，人若给你应得的惩罚，你当容忍之；10). Cleanness. Tolerate no Uncleanness in Body, Clothes or Habitation. 清洁：保持身体、衣服、及房间清洁生；11). Tranquility. Be not disturbed at Trifles, or at Accidents common or unavoidable. 镇静：心胸开阔，不要为不快的区区琐事而心烦意乱，悲观失望，勿因小事或普通不可避免的事而惊慌失措；12). Chastity. Rarely use Venery but for Health or Offspring; Never to Dullness, Weakness, or the Injury of your own or anothers peace or Reputation. 慎言谨行：要使你的言行符合每一条道德标准；贞节，除了为了健康或生育后代起见；13). Humility. Imitate Jesus or Socrates. 谦虚有礼：要像耶稣、苏格拉底那样谦虚有礼。 Franklins sense of virtues, in part, are from the dogmas of his religious background as a Presbyterian.,Franklins critics,Nathanial Hawthorne remarked that Franklins axioms “teach men but a very small portion of their duties They are all