fieldnotes on teaching

Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass
  Slavery and Freedom

Teachers Guide (Penguin)

Spark Notes
Cliff Notes

INTRODUCTION

The compelling autobiography of an extraordinary man born into slavery, Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave is also a powerful inquiry into the question of what it means to be human. From the opening sentences of the narrative, Douglass delineates the context from which this question emerges—the fact that slave owners typically thought of slaves as animals. Douglass does not know how old he is, and he quickly asserts that this is not unusual, since most slaves “know as little of their ages as horses know of theirs” (p. 47). It is instructive that this initial comparison of slaves to animals does not serve to express something about the minds of the slave owners; instead, it expresses something about the minds of the slaves that is the consequence of being born into an environment constructed and carefully maintained by their owners. In an environment that does not permit the idea that slaves are human, the only perspective available to them is that of their owners. Their own perspective therefore becomes an additional barrier to thinking of themselves as human.

Learning to read and write is essential to the process whereby Douglass comes to see himself as human. As he describes it, the acquisition of these skills is inseparable from the dawning of self-consciousness. Reading gives Douglass access to a new world that opens before him, but the strongest effect of his literacy is the light it casts on the world he already knows. His anguish is so great that he “would at times feel that learning to read had been a curse rather than a blessing” (p. 84). It allows him to see his “wretched condition, without the remedy” (p. 84). Self-consciousness, the trait that most distinguishes humans from animals, produces such despair in Douglass that he confesses he often wished himself a beast.

Douglass portrays the breadth of slavery’s ability to dehumanize through his insights into the mentality of slave owners. Douglass suggests that if slaves are made rather than born, the same is sometimes true of slave owners. The mistress who began teaching him to read and write “at first lacked the depravity indispensable to shutting [him] up in mental darkness” (p. 81). Under the influence of her husband and, more generally, the institution of slavery, “the tender heart became stone, and the lamblike disposition gave way to one of tiger-like fierceness” (p. 82). The mistress not only stops teaching Douglass to read and write, but she is even more vigilant than her husband in preventing him from learning. The transformation of his mistress raises the question of how much of the behavior of slave owners toward their slaves was learned and how much was internally motivated. Douglass would have us believe that the mistress was the victim of her circumstances, yet the brutality other slave owners seemed to come by so easily makes it difficult to determine whether the behavior was learned or inherent.

Edward Covey undoubtedly counts among the slave owners who play the role as if born for it; his harsh treatment breaks Douglass “in body, soul, and spirit” (p. 105). Following his eloquent lament for the freedom he cannot have, represented by the ships sailing on Chesapeake Bay, Douglass writes, “You have seen how a man was made a slave; you shall see how a slave was made a man” (p. 107). The first part of this statement could refer to the methods employed by Covey, if not to all the owners at whose hands Douglass suffered. The second part refers to the story that follows, in which Douglass resists the whipping Covey intends to give him for disobeying. They fight for two hours, with Covey “getting entirely the worst end of the bargain” (p. 113). Douglass is never whipped again, and he describes this incident as “the turning-point in [his] career as a slave” and says that it “revived within [him] a sense of [his] own manhood” (p. 113). Douglass emphasizes the importance of literacy in developing his sense of himself as human. Is he suggesting, though, that his refusal to submit to Covey’s punishment was ultimately more important than his ability to read and write in shaping his sense of self?

In a letter that prefaces the narrative, Wendell Phillips, social activist and friend of Douglass’s, recalls “the old fable of ‘The Man and the Lion,’ where the lion complained that he should not be so misrepresented ‘when the lions wrote history’” (p. 43). As Phillips observes, Douglass’s narrative is history written from the perspective of those who previously had no voice. The very existence of the narrative makes it a testament to its author’s humanity and, therefore, a document of revisionist history. However, what gives Douglass’s narrative its universal relevance is his acute awareness of the complexities of human psychology. He observes that slaves usually spoke of themselves as content and of their masters as kind, concluding that slaves “suppress the truth rather than take the consequences of telling it, and in so doing prove themselves a part of the human family” (p. 62). Douglass is ever mindful that our humanity encompasses our failings no less than our capacity for nobility.

ABOUT FREDERICK DOUGLASS

Frederick DouglassFrederick Douglass was born into slavery in rural Maryland in 1818. Sent to work in Baltimore, he was taught to read by the mistress of the house and regarded this achievement as a turning point in his life. Another such point was his violent resistance to a beating by the man to whom he had been bound as a field slave at age seventeen. Three years later, he escaped to the North, married, and worked menial jobs until his debut as an orator at an antislavery convention in 1841.

To expand his audience and to document the authenticity of his story, Douglass published his autobiography, Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave, in 1845. The book was critically acclaimed and sold well both in the United States and in Europe. Douglass left for England later the same year, where he spent two years writing and lecturing. He returned to the United States after abolitionist friends purchased his legal emancipation.

From 1847 to 1863, Douglass published his own weekly paper, The North Star, leading to a break with his mentor William Lloyd Garrison. Douglass also produced a number of other periodicals, as well as two extensions of his narrative—Life and Times of Frederick Douglass and My Bondage and My Freedom. In 1848, he played a prominent role at the women’s rights convention in Seneca Falls, and he was a lifelong supporter of the women’s suffrage movement. During the Civil War he was an adviser to President Lincoln and recruited blacks, including his own sons, for the Union army. He was appointed to several government positions, including recorder of deeds for the District of Columbia and United States minister and consul general to Haiti. Douglass died in 1895.

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

1. Why does Douglass believe “Slavery proved as injurious to [his master’s wife] as it did to [him]” (p. 81)?

2. After his confrontation with Mr. Covey, what does Douglass mean when he writes “however long I might remain a slave in form, the day had passed forever when I could be a slave in fact” (p. 113)?

3. Why is Douglass able to “understand the deep meaning of those rude and apparently incoherent songs” (p. 57) sung by slaves only when he no longer is a slave himself?

4. When Douglass writes, “You have seen how a man was made a slave; you shall see how a slave was made a man” (p. 107), what does he understand a man to be?

5. Douglass describes knowledge as “valuable bread” (p. 83) and the Liberator, an anti-slavery paper, as his “meat and drink” (p. 151). How does literacy sustain him?

6. How is Douglass able to maintain his religious faith when that of his owners is used to justify their treatment of him?

7. Why does Douglass consider holiday celebrations as part of the “inhumanity of slavery” (p. 115)?

8. Why does Douglass describe the sails on Chesapeake Bay as “so many shrouded ghosts” (p. 106)?

For Further Reflection

1. To what extent should a piece of autobiographical writing be regarded as “factual”?

2. Can literacy be a curse as well as a blessing?

Frederick Douglass, Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, An American Slave, Written by Himself

1. What purposes of this book are emphasized in its title? What function is served by the opening testimonials by W. H. Garrison and Wendell Phillips?

2. What does Garrison believe are the conclusions readers should draw from this book? Why is Daniel O’Connell an appropriate person to cite for an opinion of the effects of slavery?

3. What does Garrison believe are the most devastating effects of slavery? Is there evidence for this view from Douglass’s Narrative?

4. Why does Garrison cite two reports of cases of slave murder? According to him, can slaves testify at law against cruelties perpetuated on them?

5. What opinions about slavery does Phillips add in his introduction? Why does he believe Douglass’s publication placed him in jeopardy?

6. Toward what audiences do these prefaces seem addressed?

7. What kinds of brutality did Douglass witness when he was a child? How did they affect him later in life?

8.  What is the turning point in Douglass’s life as a slave?

9. What role does literacy play in Douglass’s emancipation?

10. How is the white man a victim of slavery, according to Douglass?

-----------

Chapter 1

Why do you think Douglass is so detailed in describing his home and its location?

What kinds of knowledge about themselves does he believe are kept from slaves, and why does he believe this is important?

What does Douglass regret in his memories of his parents? What qualities does he associate with memories of his mother? Why wasn’t he able to live with her?

What does he believe are some of the worse consequences of masters’ siring of children on their slaves?

What kinds of cruelty did Douglass witness as a boy? What may be the motivation of the cruel beating of Aunt Hester?

Chapter 2

What were the economic circumstances of Douglass’s master, Colonel Lloyd? What conditions does he describe on the plantations? How were the slaves housed and clothed? Under what conditions did they work?

What explanation does Douglass give for the singing of slaves? What features does he ascribe to the songs he heard? How do you interpret the refrain he reproduces? ("I am going away to the Great House Farm!/ O, yea! O, yea! O!")

What seems his attitude toward the desire of other slaves to travel to the Great House Farm?

Chapter 3

How did Col. Lloyd treat his stable keepers? What incident does Douglass narrate to indicate why slaves often gave seemingly contented replies when asked about their treatment?

What does Douglass think of the practice he describes of slaves fighting to defend the alleged virtues of their masters? To what psychological impulse does he attribute this?

Chapter 4

What violent events does this chapter record? Why do you think nothing was done to prosecute the murder of slaves?

How would you describe Douglass’s style? How does he show emotion in recounting the horrible sights he has witnessed?

Chapter 5

What were the circumstances of Douglass’s life in childhood? What was his relationship to his siblings?

What was his response to his removal to Baltimore? What sentiment did he hold about his future?

What seems to be indicated about Douglass’s character by his account of his childhood?

Chapter 6

What effect on the character of his new mistress Mrs. Auld does Douglass ascribe to slavery? What information does Mr. Auld unintentionally provide him?

How was Baltimore life different from that on the plantation?

Chapter 7

How does Mrs. Auld try to inhibit Douglass from learning to read and write? How does he succeed in attaining his aim?

What books does he read, and how do these influence his beliefs about slavery? How does he come to learn about the abolitionist movement?

What first suggests to his mind the possibility of escape?

Chapter 8

What happens to Douglass after the death of Captain Anthony? What treatment of his brother does he witness?

After his return to Baltimore and the death of Master Andrew Auld, what is done to Douglass’s grandmother?

Whom does Douglass regret to leave when Master Thomas orders him sent from Master Hugh’s residence? What kind of information does he seek before he leaves Baltimore, and for what purpose?

What are some general features of Douglass’s writing style? Which qualities help make it effective? Does the narrative create suspense?

Chapter 9

Under what conditions did Douglass live when with Thomas Auld and his wife at St. Michael’s? What behavior toward a lame woman slave does Douglass record?

In Douglass’s view, what was the disappointing effect of Mr. Auld’s conversion? What was the fate of Mr. Wilson’s Sabbath school for slaves? What effect may the behavior of professing Methodists have had on his later opinions?

What motivated Mr. Auld to send Frederick to Mr. Covey’s farm?

Would it surprise you to learn that years later Douglass visited Mr. Auld and bade him a kind farewell shortly before the latter’s death?

Chapter 10

How did Mr. Covey treat Douglass and his peers? What enabled Douglass to survive the incidents of the oxen and the beatings?

What psychological effect did Covey’s brutality have on Douglass? What thoughts or hopes encouraged him in his despair? (46)

What assistance in his plight did Douglass seek? What responses did he receive? Why do you think Mr. Auld refused to help him?

Why do you think Douglass included the incident of Sandy’s offer of the root? What seems to have been Douglass’s attitude toward this form of African folk practice?

How did Douglass regain his self-confidence? How does he add interest to his description of his long fight with Mr. Covey?

How does he analyze the fact that Mr. Covey failed to prosecute him for resistance? What lesson does he seem to have gained from this experience?

How does Douglass interpret the motives and psychological effects of the owner’s encouragment of excess among the slaves during holidays? Do you think his analysis may be correct?

What improvements does Douglass find in his labors for Mr. Freeland?

What were the results of Douglass’s efforts to teach his fellow slaves?

How did he and his friends resolve to emancipate themselves, and how is their effort failed?

Why do you think Mr. Auld sent the imprisoned Douglass back to Baltimore, rather than punishing him more severely?

In Baltimore, how was Douglass treated in Mr. Gardner’s shipyard, and how did he resist? Why was his master unable to obtain legal redress on his behalf?

What trade did he learn, and how did this alter his status?

Chapter 11

What reasons does Douglass give for not describing more of his manner of escape? From his other writings, how in fact was this escape effected?

What immediate considerations prompted Douglass to act? How did he plan to leave without arousing suspicion?

What aspects of his escape does he especially remember?

What part does his intended wife play in these recollections?

How does he choose his new name? Why may he have found it fitting?

What aspects of New Bedford life surprised him? What difficulties followed him in the exercise of his work?

What publication especially inspired Douglass? How did he commence his career as an orator and writer?

What is the effect of the book’s closure?

Appendix:

What clarification of his views about the relation of religion and slavery does Douglass provide in the appendix?

What effect might it have had on religious readers?

Do you think the appendix provides a useful addition to the narrative of his life?

As you think back on this book, what features of its content or rhetoric most impress you? 

Benjamin Franklin Resources
  The Autobiography

After reading Ben Franklin’s Autobiography and discussing his list of virtues to achieve perfection, I had my class develop its own list of virtues for the 21st century. In groups, the students had to make a list of 10 virtues. Each virtue had to have a title and a description/definition. After the group had developed its list, the members needed to decide which 3 of the virtues are most important. They wrote these 3 virtues and the definitions on the board. Once all the groups added their virtues, I had the students play The List (the show on VH1). Each group was able to “nix” any virtue it wanted, but the students from that group had to supply an explanation.

Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790)

Contributing Editor: David M. Larson

Classroom Issues and Strategies

The primary problem involved in teaching Benjamin Franklin in an American literature course is persuading students to view Franklin as a writer. The myth surrounding Franklin and the fact that he writes in genres many students view as informational rather than literary keep students from viewing Franklin’s works as literature. In order to persuade students to treat Franklin as a writer, it is useful to demonstrate through literary analysis that issues of personae, organization, irony, style, and so forth are as applicable to writing that deals with factual information as they are to poetry, fiction, or drama. In teaching the Autobiography, instructors should keep in mind that it is helpful to have students approach it as though it were a picaresque novel; they can then bring to bear upon the work the techniques that they have developed for analyzing fiction.

Students usually respond to and are rather disturbed by the protean quality of Franklin’s personality and the variety of his achievement. They want the “real” Franklin to stand up and make himself known, and they want to know how he accomplished so much.

Major Themes, Historical Perspectives, and Personal Issues

Franklin’s contribution to the creation of an American national identity is perhaps the most important theme that needs to be emphasized. In connection with this, the students can discuss his role in the shift in the American consciousness from an otherworldly to a this-worldly viewpoint. Franklin’s abandonment of Puritanism in favor of the enlightenment’s rationalism reflects a central shift in American society in the eighteenth century. In addition, his works reflect the growing awareness of America as a country with values and interests distinct from those of England--a movement that, of course, finds its climax in the Revolution. Franklin’s participation in the growing confidence of the eighteenth century that humanity could, through personal effort and social reform, analyze and deal with social problems reveals the optimism and self-confidence of his age, as do his scientific achievements. His belief that theory should be tested primarily by experience not logic also reflects his age’s belief that reason should be tested pragmatically. Perhaps most important, in the Autobiography Franklin creates not only the classic story of the self-made man but also attempts to recreate himself and his career as the archetypal American success story. Since such varied writers as Herman Melville (Israel Potter, “Bartleby, the Scrivener,” and Benito Cereno), Mark Twain, Thoreau (the “Economy” chapter of Walden), William Dean Howells (The Rise of Silas Lapham), and F. Scott Fitzgerald (The Great Gatsby) respond to the myth Franklin creates, the Autobiography can be used as a basis for examining the question of what it means to be an American and what the dominant American values are. Given the current debate over multiculturalism, a discussion of Franklin’s career as statesman and writer as an attempt to create a unified American identity--and thus to suppress the multicultural elements in the emerging nation--should prove provocative. When placed in context with the works of Crèvecoeur and Jefferson, Franklin’s writings should help students understand why, in the later eighteenth century, the shedding of ethnic and religious tradition and the embracing in their place of a national identity based on shared ideas are seen by many progressive intellectuals as ways to free the individual from the constricting hand of the repressive past.

Significant Form, Style, or Artistic Conventions

Franklin must be viewed as essentially an eighteenth-century writer. The eighteenth century’s didacticism, its refusal to limit literature to belles lettres, its ideal of the philosophe or universal genius, and its emphasis on the rhetoric of persuasion all need emphasis. In this connection, students need to become familiar with the use of personae in eighteenth-century writing, with both straightforward and satiric means of rhetorical persuasion, and with the ideal of the middle style in English prose. In addition, students studying Franklin need to become familiar with the conventions of political and other persuasive writing, with those of scientific writing, with those of the letter, and, especially, with the conventions of satire and autobiography in the period. Since for most students the eighteenth century is foreign territory and since the study of eighteenth-century writers has especially been neglected in American literature, students need to learn the ways in which the ideals and practice of literature in Franklin’s age differ from the romantic and post-romantic works with which most of them are more familiar.

Original Audience

Since almost all of Franklin’s writing is occasional, prompted by a specific situation and written for a particular audience, a consideration of situation and audience is crucial for understanding his work. Each of the satires, for example, is designed for a particular audience and situation. Also, Poor Richard’s Almanac can nly be appreciated when it is viewed as a popular publication for a group of nonliterary farmers and mechanics. In contrast, Franklin’s French bagatelles are written for a very sophisticated audience who would savor their complex persona and ambiguously ironic tone. The Autobiography is designed not merely for Franklin’s contemporaries but for posterity as well. Consequently, one of the most interesting features of the study of Franklin as a writer is an examination of the ways in which he adapts his style, tone, organization, and personae to a variety of audiences and situations.

Comparisons, Contrasts, Connections

Franklin can usefully be compared to a host of different writers. The traditional comparison between Franklin and his Puritan predecessors remains useful. For example, while Puritan spiritual autobiographies emphasize their authors’ dependence upon God for grace and salvation and their inability to achieve virtue without grace, Franklin’s Autobiography focuses on his own efforts to learn what is virtuous in this world and to put his discoveries to use in his life. Franklin retains the Puritan concern for self-improvement but removes its otherworldly orientation. Similarly, Cotton Mather’s and Franklin’s views of the importance of benevolence can usefully be compared and contrasted. And Edwards’s thought, with its attempt to understand this world in the light of Puritan assumptions about God and his divine scheme for humanity, can be contrasted with Franklin’s, which focuses on this world, largely ignores the next, and sees morality and experience as more important than faith.

Franklin’s works also can be compared to those of the great eighteenth-century English prose writers. In his preference for reasonableness, common sense, and experience over emotion or speculation, Franklin shows his indebtedness to the English writers of the early eighteenth century and to the new scientific spirit promoted by the Royal Society. Franklin’s style owes much to the example of Defoe and Addison and Steele; his satiric practice--especially his mastery of the creation of diverse personae and, at times, his use of irony--reflects his familiarity with Swift’s satire, even though Franklin’s effects are very different.

And Franklin’s ideas, persuasive methods, assumptions, and empirical bent can be compared to and contrasted with those of his great British contemporary and pamphlet opponent, Samuel Johnson. Also, Franklin’s achievements in such diverse fields as science, literature, politics, and diplomacy can be compared to the achievements of the eighteenth-century philosophers, such as Voltaire, Rousseau, and Diderot, with whom he was classed in his own age.

Finally, it is useful to compare Franklin’s stylistic and persuasive methods and his intellectual assumptions in relation to his younger contemporary, Jefferson.

It is useful at some point to discuss the ways in which contemporary assumptions about literature differ from those of Franklin and affect our response to his works and the reasons Franklin has not traditionally been given the same degree of attention in American literature courses that such figures as Swift and Johnson have in British literature courses. Such topics can lead to a discussion of the formation of canon.
Questions for Reading and Discussion/Approaches to Writing

The study questions that are useful before students read Franklin depend entirely on the works that they have read previously. Since students in a historical survey of American literature usually approach Franklin after reading heavily in Puritan literature, ask questions that force students to confront the similarities and the differences between Franklin and his Puritan predecessors. If most students have had a British literature survey, ask questions that encourage them to pinpoint some of the similarities and differences between Franklin and such eighteenth-century writers as Swift, Defoe, and Samuel Johnson.

With Franklin, paper topics can be historical (focusing on Franklin’s contribution to any number of events or ideas), comparative (comparing Franklin’s works to those of American, British, or European writers), cultural (focusing on Franklin’s pertinence to American culture at any stage past the eighteenth century), or narrowly literary (focusing on any number of facets of Franklin’s artistry as a writer). The success of a topic depends largely on the extent to which it ties in with the approach taken by the teacher during the course.


Chapter VI

Franklin, who is writing from France immediately after the Revolution ended, returns to some of his old accomplishments. He mentioned that the library he started in 1730 was a big success. He had bought books from England because there were no good bookstores in Philadelphia. His library, he writes, helped “reading become fashionable...[and] people become better acquainted with books.” Nevertheless, fearing resentment from others because of his increasing success and fame, Franklin writes that he did not take too much credit for the library when it first started.

As the library is started, Franklin himself is just starting a new family with Miss Read, his new wife. He uses the library for his own mental development, and meanwhile he manages to support his family based on “industry and frugality.” He saves money wherever possible. He remains a firm Deist, but he mentions that he respects all religions and dislikes religious strife. He does not ever attend “public worship,” and he finds fault in some Christian theological interpretations of morality.

Continually obsessed with self-betterment, Franklin consents “to the bold and arduous project of arriving at Moral Perfection.” He creates a list of 13 virtues that are, in order: Temperance, Silence, Order, Resolution, Frugality, Industry, Sincerity, Justice, Moderation, Cleanliness, Tranquility, Chastity, and Humility. He sets about creating a weekly plan by which he will develop one virtue per week, eventually perfecting them all. He focuses on one virtue per week, keeping track of his successes and failures in a small book he keeps with him at all times. He also develops a daily planner to help him acquire Order. Franklin finds many faults at first, but over time he manages to correct most of them. He finds that Order is the most difficult for him to acquire, partly because Franklin’s good memory makes Order not as necessary. However, Franklin ends up being pleased with his inability to perfect all his virtues, deciding, “a speckled axe is best....A benevolent man should allow a few faults in himself, to keep his friends in countenance.” Franklin writes that although he never became perfect, he did become happier. He writes about his hope that all his descendants who read his Autobiography will derive the same enjoyment and benefits from acquiring these virtues.

Franklin adds that the list of virtues are likely to appeal to people of all religions. They are not geared specifically at any one particular faith because Franklin stresses their utilitarian benefits rather than their moral benefits. He mentions that Humility was added last when his friends started to complain that he was too arrogant. To make himself seem more humble, he used such phrases as “I conceive” or “I apprehend” rather than “certainly, undoubtedly,” etc. Franklin writes that he afterwards started enjoying conversations more. However, he found his pride impossible to vanquish. In fact, he sardonically mentions that he became so humble so as to be proud of his own humility.

Note: In 1784, Franklin once again stops writing his autobiography. He resumes back in America, four years later, in August 1788.

Commentary

He seems to want his autobiography to be as useful as possible towards the betterment of others. This also adds a new twist to the book; it is no longer just the story of Franklin’s life told so as to let his son know about his father. It is now also a general-purpose self-help manual.

Of course, Franklin’s mention of his goal of achieving “Moral Perfection” is meant to be humorous. Franklin is stating in a tongue-in-cheek fashion that he does not think man can really be perfected, and he is mocking the 18th-century optimism that promoted the belief in the perfectibility of man. In one sense, Franklin may also be mocking his own youthful idealism. Franklin enjoys being ironic and humorous throughout the biography, and this is one of the times in which he does so.

At the end of Part One, it may be useful to reflect upon Franklin’s writing style. Compared to many authors of the 18th century, Franklin’s style is noticeably concise and easy to read. He gets to the point very quickly and reports on the important facts rather than the secondary ones. It is oftentimes remarkable how much information and how many stories he can fit into a single page. Franklin carried that style into his newspaper writing, and it has survived there right up into the present. Franklin played a major role in developing journalism as a terse form of writing, always sticking to the point. Also, while some of the anecdotes in the Autobiography are slightly unclear, Franklin rarely tells tangential stories unless they contribute directly to whatever point he is trying to make. Furthermore, he always finds the shortest way to express any particular thought, a fact that is evidenced by his prolific coinage of aphorisms. Its accessibility may be another reason for the enduring popularity of Franklin’s Autobiography; as an 18th-century work, it is certainly among the most easily read and understood.

At the end of Part Two, we see Franklin again struggling with the issue of his own vanity. To his credit, he is more than willing to confess that he could never quell his pride, even though he did his best to feign humility. Nevertheless, the very act of publishing an autobiography in order to lay out one’s life as a model is itself a vain act. This is one of the more common criticisms of Franklin. Many have argued that he is too hypocritical in his overt praise of humility. Other critics, however, have been unfazed by this apparent contradiction. Either way, Franklin himself is clearly aware of the humility vs. pride problem, and there are times in the Autobiography when he is obviously confessing his own faults so as to be honest.

Act VII

Franklin is writing Part Three from his home in America. He is writing in August 1788, about four years after ceasing work on Part Two and 17 years after completing Part One.

Franklin in 1731, begins a project “great and extensive” to create a new political party with international appeal. He writes a note outlining his political beliefs as they relate to parties, which he believes carry on and effect “wars, revolutions, etc.” He thinks that someone ought to found a international Party for Virtue, open only to the wise. Franklin begins forming this party by preparing a condensed set of the essential principles of every major religion (it includes such basics as the existence of God, the power of God and the immortality of the soul). All the people in the Party for Virtue would have to subscribe to the thirteen virtues from Part Two as well as these religious principles, and they would each have to form a plan for helping mankind. However, due to constraints of time and the necessity to focus on other issues, his ideas for such a party were abandoned.

In 1732, Franklin begins Poor Richard’s Almanac, a publication that lasts 25 years. Franklin founds it out of the intent to begin something “both entertaining and useful.” He also wants something to instruct “the common people,” which he does via his many aphorisms. One issue, for instance, quips, “It’s hard for an empty sack to stand upright.” He uses parts of his newspaper, The Pennsylvania Gazette, to the same educational purpose. The paper, with its circulation of 1,500, comprises over half of Franklin’s income. He makes sure at all time to keep the paper free from libel and abuse, and he never allows private arguments to make their way into his presses.

As he moves further into adulthood, Franklin takes up more political issues, advocating publicly the education of women, particularly in accounting. He flourishes intellectually, learning French, Italian, Spanish and Latin, and he advocates that Latin be taught in schools as the last language rather than the first after English. He plays chess regularly. He also gives support to his local Presbyterian church, although he withdraws that support when he realizes that the preacher plagiarizes his sermons.

His life is far from perfect, however. He is particularly hurt, for instance, when his son dies at the age of four, although he does not give the event any more than brief mention. Despite hardships, he does return to Boston for a visit to see his family, and he makes amends with his brother, James helping him with printing types.

Back in Philadelphia, Franklin oversees the branching out of the Junto, his debating club, which expands to include different chapters in other parts of the nation. Meanwhile, he keeps up his printing work, becoming the Clerk of the General Assembly of Pennsylvania in 1736. The following year, he becomes the Deputy Postmaster of Philadelphia, a job which allows him to see that his paper, the Gazette, is delivered by mail. In 1753, Franklin rises to the top of the mail delivery world, becoming Postmaster General of the United States.

Franklin begins to turn his attention more and more to “public affairs” and the betterment of society. He comes up with a plan for better funding the police by setting up a type of property tax. He also publishes a pamphlet on fire causation, and with some help he forms the Union Fire Company, the first modernized fire department in America.

While he begins to grow in fame during the 1730s, Franklin pays close attention to the events of the Great Awakening, a national religious revival marked by an emphasis on emotions and firebrand, charismatic preachers such as Jonathan Edwards. In 1739, Franklin meets Rev. Whitefield, an English preacher who helps spark the Great Awakening in the colonies. Franklin observes people go from being “thoughtless or indifferent about religion” to being religious fanatics. Franklin is pleased to see the increase in charitable giving, and he himself is persuaded by Whitefield’s powerful oratory to donate a huge sum towards the building of an orphanage in Georgia even though Franklin believes the orphanage should be built in Philadelphia. However, Franklin does criticize Whitefield’s writing style.

Commentary

The Party for Virtue is a large testament to Franklin’s idealism. Again, we see in Franklin a reflection of 18th-century zeitgeist, or spirit of the times. He was incredibly ambitious and optimistic as a young man. His idealism as a youth and his good-natured cynicism as an older man are both present in the Autobiography, and as a result the work is partially a reflection on the process of growing older. Franklin implicitly shows a large transformation in himself that occurs between the 1730s and the 1780s. Franklin does not intend necessarily to demean the optimism of youth, but he certainly does show the loss of optimism and birth of skepticism that comes about with age.

Franklin’s discussion of Poor Richard’s Almanac is oftentimes regarded as overly arrogant because of Franklin’s reference to his desire to educate the “common people.” This comment is striking particularly because Franklin himself was, for the first part of his life, one of the “common people”? He was not born into any natural aristocracy, and all the good repute he gained he did so through luck and his own hard work. Nevertheless, he seems distanced as a young man from the roots from which he emerged. While he does not seem to condemn common folk, he certainly looks down on them from an educated perch he himself has not known for a very long period of time.

Arrogance aside, it is Book Three that is most responsible for the mythologization of Franklin. It is in this book that he discusses most of his common inventions that we have always associated with him--the discovery of electricity in lightning, the invention of the fire brigade, the work as Postmaster General, the funding of a hospital, the organization of a street-sweeping force, and many others. The Autobiography is still read today in part because it enshrines Franklin as an American legend who is responsible for many improvements in American life that we today take for granted. Part Three discusses the majority of these.

As mentioned in the previous section, Franklin’s style is concise, and it usually only discusses important events without writing tangentially. However, Franklin may sometimes be terse to a fault. For instance, he seems to gloss over the death of his son without giving it any real attention. He does not discuss his emotions or circumstances any more than to tell other parents that they ought to deliver inoculations to their children. While the death of his son was no doubt a very major event in his family life, Franklin is very clearly more concerned about his growth in the public sphere rather than the circumstances of his own private life. It is important when reading any literature to keep in mind why anyone writes something. In the case if Franklin, he is writing to solidify his image and the memory of him as a great public figure rather than as a great father. His initial goal of writing a personal, private memoir to his son, as he initially seems to have set out to do, has been laid aside.

FRANKLIN’S STYLE

Franklin’s admiration towards Addison has a direct bearing on Franklin’s style of writing. Franklin uses clear and lucid prose and a simple style in conveying his message. The book is also filled with rhetorical language. In the narrative, Franklin speaks not in the style of high fashion but in a colloquial manner; however, he avoids a tone of familiarity. His usual tone is didactic and authoritative, in the manner of a patriarch speaking to posterity, to the younger generations. Franklin attempts to subtly present himself as a role model.

Franklin keeps the narrative in control, while controlling the reader’s perspectives. It is obvious that he works both as the narrator and the writer. While composing the narrative, Franklin uses the first person point of view to detail the events and experiences that has made him what he is. Franklin creates an appropriate distance between the narrator and the writer that enables the narrative to be objective in tone.

Franklin appropriates the language of his times to bridge the gap between his role as a prophet and the audience for whom he is writing. Although the narrative is personal, Franklin assumes the role of a historian as he records and reports the events and implications surrounding his life in eighteenth century America.

1. What is the Junto Club? Why is it so important to Franklin?
2. Discuss Franklin as a versatile genius.
3. Explain Franklin’s “bold and arduous project”.
4. What are Franklin’s religious beliefs? Who is Whitfield and how does he figure in to those beliefs?

10. What does Franklin accomplish for the public utility services
.
11. Explain three of Franklin’s scientific accomplishments.

http://www.pinkmonkey.com/booknotes/monkeynotes/pmBenFranklin01.asp

Determination, perseverance, hard work, and reliance on a sound code of ethics are the ingredients of success. Through these traits, Franklin rises from obscurity to eminence and wealth.

BENJAMIN FRANKLIN

The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin portrays the life of a very important American. In order for the reader to more fully appreciate the events described in the book, it is important to have an overview of his entire life. Franklin was born in 1706 in the Massachusetts Bay Colony in Boston. He was the tenth son of his parents. His father, Josiah Franklin, had hoped that Benjamin would be well educated and become a scholar; unfortunately Josiah could not afford a formal education for his son. At the age of ten, Benjamin began to participate in the tallow and soap business of his family. Benjamin, however, did not like the family business, and as a young man he dreamed of going to sea. His father was against the idea of seamanship. As a result, Benjamin was made to become an apprentice to his older brother James, who owned a printing business.

Franklin’s apprenticeship later proved quite advantageous to him in his career development. During his years as his brother’s apprentice, he read widely during his leisure time, trained himself to write, and started printing articles under the name of a fictitious widow named “Silence Dogood.” His brother James, however, did not meet with success. He was jailed for offending the conservative government through his newspaper, “The New England Courant”. Rather than closing down the paper, James continued publishing it in Benjamin Franklin’s name. Before long, there was a disagreement between the brothers over the paper. As a result, Franklin left Boston and went to New York. When he could not find work in New York, Franklin at age seventeen, left for Philadelphia where he immediately found a job as a journeyman printer. In 1726, while living in Philadelphia, he wrote and printed “A Dissertation on Liberty and Necessity, Pleasure and Pain,” an essay that earned him a reputation as an author and allowed him the association of writers and scientists.

Over the next few years, Benjamin Franklin proved himself to be a versatile genius. In 1727, he founded the Junto club that helped to improve young minds and helped Franklin perfect his art of persuasion. By 1730, he had successfully established himself as the owner of a flourishing printing business. In 1732, he wrote his famous Poor Richard’s Almanac, which became an annual publication. In 1734, he became Grand Master of his Masonic lodge. The Pennsylvania Legislature chose him to be the clerk in 1736, and the first fire company was set up by him during that time. He was appointed the postmaster of Philadelphia in 1737, and between 1743 and 1744, he proposed and established the American Philosophical Society. By 1748, at age forty-two, Franklin was in a comfortable financial position. As a result, he retired from the printing business to devote himself to scientific ventures and politics.

Between 1748 and 1757, Benjamin Franklin devoted himself to politics in and around Philadelphia. In 1757, he was sent to London to settle governmental issues for the colonies, but he returned in 1762 with no effective solution. In 1764, he was once again sent to settle the issue of British rule over the colonies, and because of his statesmanship and political acumen, he became the American spokesman in London. After his return, he held the positions of colonial agent for Georgia in 1768, for New Jersey in 1769, and for Massachusetts in 1770. His greatest accomplishment in this period was his drafting the Declaration of Independence. After the war with England, Franklin held the post of President of the Executive Council of Pennsylvania for three years and was the delegate to the Congressional Convention in 1787. He finally retired from public service in 1788. By this time Franklin suffered from ill health. He died on April 17, 1790 at the age of eighty-four. During his lifetime, Franklin had proven his multifaceted personality as a husband, father, friend, printer, inventor, scientist, writer, educator, diplomat, and politician. Although John Adams, a contemporary of Franklin, disliked him personally, he acknowledged that Benjamin Franklin was an honor to humanity. Adams admitted that “Franklin’s fame was universal. His name was familiar to government and people, to kings, courtiers, nobility, clergy, and philosophers, as well as plebeians, to such a degree that there was scarcely a peasant or a citizen, a valet de chambre, ... who did not consider him as a friend to human kind.”

Chapter V

FRANKLIN - HIS PRUDENCE

In this section, Franklin shows how he refuses to listen to people who attempt to mislead society. A man by the name of Samuel Mickle comes to Franklin and warns him that his new printing house will be a disaster; Mickle claims that Philadelphia is sinking into financial disaster. Franklin refuses to listen to such rumors and continues his hard work in the printing business
. Before long, Philadelphia is prosperous once again, and Franklin reaps the benefits of the new prosperity.

With a group of friends, Franklin forms the Junto Club, which meets on Fridays. Every member of the club must answer at every meeting one or more inquiries about morals, politics, or natural philosophy; the purpose of the questioning is an effort to seek truth. In addition, once every three months, each member must write an essay on a topic of the member’s choosing; the member must be able to defend the content of the essay. A director presides over all inquiries and debates. The director fines any member who speaks negatively during a debate. The club members include Joseph Breintnal, a copier of deeds for the scriveners; Thomas Godfrey, a self-taught mathematician; Nicholas Scull, a surveyor; William Parsons, a shoemaker; and other joiners, such as William Maugridge, Hugh Meredith, Stephen Potts, George Webb, Robert Grace, and William Coleman. Besides participating in club activities, these people greatly help Franklin in locating business for the printing house. Very soon Franklin’s work is the talk of the town. Everybody has noticed the amount of time and effort put in by Franklin. Franklin himself notes that hard work pays rich rewards; advice that he passes on to the younger generations.

During this period, George Webb, who is working with Keimer, wants to work with Franklin. Though Franklin is willing to employ Webb, there is no work at hand. Franklin asks Webb to wait until he starts his newspaper. Franklin asks Webb not to reveal his plans, but Webb reveals the newspaper venture to Keimer, who quickly starts a newspaper of his own. When Keimer finds it difficult to manage the paper, he sells it to Franklin; it later became a very profitable venture for Franklin.

Franklin works hard on the newspaper, acting as the editor, a reporter, and sole manager of the press. He also improves the type style and printing. As a result, the number of subscribers gradually increases.

Notes

In this section, Franklin’s hard word, diligence, and perseverance are once again described. When he starts his new printing business, Franklin is determined to make it prosper. He refuses to listen to those who have negative things to say. Due to his personal effort, the business prospers. His starting of the Junto Club is another successful venture for Franklin. Through this club, he makes influential friends who help him in his printing business. It also allows him to develop his writing and persuasive skills. When Franklin buys the newspaper from Keimer, he determines to make a success of it as well. He serves as reporter, editor, and pressman. Once again his efforts pay off and the subscriptions steadily increase, largely due to Franklin’s own writing in the paper.

THE OWNERSHIP

Mr. Meredith, Franklin’s business partner, is unable to pay the remaining one hundred pounds of debt on the printing business. Two of Franklin’s friends, William Coleman and Robert Grace, offer to help him in repaying the debt himself, but only on the condition that he will separate himself from Meredith, who has a reputation as a heavy drinker. The honorable Franklin feels he has an obligation to Meredith’s family and refuses to suggest the separation. When Franklin finally talks to the younger Meredith about the debt, Meredith reveals that his father is not happy with the business. Franklin volunteers to resign, but the younger Meredith suggests that Franklin buy his father out of the business. It is decided that Franklin will repay the hundred pounds advanced by his father, clear the debts of Meredith, pay him an additional thirty pounds, and give him a new saddle. Thus, the partnership ends, and the whole business is passed into the capable hands of Franklin. With the help of his two friends, Franklin clears the company’s debts, and by 1729 Franklin becomes the proprietor of the whole business.

Notes

In this section, Franklin’s integrity is depicted. He refuses to accept his friends’ advice and merely abandon Meredith. He feels honor bound to fulfill his commitment to his business partner. He stands by his principles come what may, and never lets anyone suffer on his account. Knowing fully well that if Mr. Meredith does not pay the debt it will ruin him, he willingly continues with the business until the Merediths suggest that he buy them out. Once he owns the business by himself, he works with the same diligence he has always displayed to clear the debts incurred by Meredith.

BUSINESS VENTURES

As a businessman, Franklin becomes interested in the monetary policies of the country. When there is a push for more paper money, he favors the idea. He supports the proposition that paper money helps in the economic growth; with more money he believes trade and business would flourish, and employment and population would increase. The rich, however, oppose more paper money, fearing it will lead to a depreciation of their wealth.

Franklin discusses the money issue with the members of the Junto Club and writes and prints an anonymous pamphlet entitled “The Nature and Necessity of a Paper Currency.” This pamphlet influences many people to favor more money being distributed. When the government finally approves more paper money, Franklin is given the job of printing it. He always wins the right to print the New Castle paper money and legal papers for the government.

Franklin opens a stationer’s shop and it also flourishes. He succeeds in paying off all his debts and begins to prosper. In spite of his success, he lives frugally. To save money, he uses a wheelbarrow to carry paper, and he dresses in a simple manner. He never spends time hunting or fishing and is cautious to stay away from scandals.

Because of the diligence and quality of his work, Franklin soon finds he has no competitors in the printing business. He also earns the position of Post Master.

Notes

This section discusses Franklin successes. His printing business flourishes to the point that he has no competitors, his stationer’s shop is prosperous, and his writing is eagerly read and often influences others. Everything he touches seems to turn into gold, but behind the success is honesty, hard work, and frugality. In spite of his prosperity, Franklin remains a humble worker who is not too proud to push his wheelbarrow through the streets. His diligence, honesty, and sincerity are admired by one and all. He especially serves as an inspiration to the young men of these times.

As Franklin is growing his printing business, he shares a house with the Godfrey family, and Mrs. Godfrey brings a marriage proposal to him. Franklin considers the offer and courts the young lady. In order to marry, however, he expects money from the matrimony to pay off his debts. His proposal is rejected, for there are questions as to whether he will make his printing business profitable. But Franklin is eager to marry and settle down. He again courts Ms. Read, whose marriage to the potter has ended. They are married on September 1, 1730. They live with mutual respect, affection, and understanding for one another. Franklin is delighted to have corrected one of the errata in his life.

Notes

In this section, Franklin’s practicality is seen. When Mrs. Godfrey presents a marriage proposal to him to a wealthy young lady, he explains that he expects his debts to be paid off as part of the matrimonial agreement. When his offer is rejected, he seeks out the company of Ms. Read. He does not begrudge her previous marriage in his absence and understands why she has left her husband. He knows he is ready to marry and settle down, so he courts Ms. Read with those intentions. They are married and live a very comfortable life together.

THE FIRST SUBSCRIPTION LIBRARY

Franklin proposes to the Junto Club members that they bring all their personal books to the club so that everyone can use them as references while writing or preparing a debate. The members agree and bring their personal collections for a period of time; when it becomes hard to properly maintain them, the books are again taken home. This, however, is the basis for Franklin’s subscription libraries. With the help of Brockden, the scrivener, Franklin puts together fifty subscribers; they each pay a membership fee of forty shillings and ten shillings annually for a period of fifty years. With the money, space is obtained and books are purchased. The subscribers often come together to do research, to read, or to discuss current issues. The subscription libraries make many contributions to society and generally help to improve knowledge and conversation.

Franklin stops his narration of Part I, which he intends to be exclusively a personal account. His intention is to begin a more public narration in the book. He is interrupted, however by the Revolutionary War, which consumes most of his time and effort. He returns to his writing almost ten years later.

Notes

Franklin’s determination is highlighted in this section. He tries to create a “lending” library at the Junto Club, where all members pool their personal books for the good of everyone. The idea works well at first; then the owners become concerned over the maintenance of the books. In the end, the Junto members return their private book collections to their own homes. But Franklin is unwilling to give up the library idea. With the help of the scrivener, he successfully organizes a more public venture, known as the subscription library, where fifty or so subscribers pay to belong and share with one another. The libraries are another success story for Franklin; they improve the public standards of behavior and conversation and help in widening the general knowledge of people. The organization of the libraries also thrust Franklin further into public life, where he reveals to others his remarkable organizational and leadership
abilities.

FRANKLIN’S SIMPLICITY and MORAL PERFECTION

Franklin commences Part II in France without having his personal papers, which would have helped him in recollecting the necessary dates. He plans to make corrections to his manuscript after returning home.

Franklin starts his new narration by again explaining the start of the Pennsylvania public library. He discusses in detail how the people of Pennsylvania become subscribers to the library and make reading the fashion of the day. As a result, they improve their minds and become more educated. The young tradesmen are particularly interested in joining the library, for they have no better diversion than reading, Franklin forms the library with the help of Charles Brockden, the scrivener. They create an article of principles to spell out the terms of the library. Later, another charter is drawn to give it perpetuity. Finding subscribers in the beginning is not an easy task, and Franklin tries a variety of approaches before he is successful.

The library helps Franklin further his personal knowledge. Every day, he dedicates two hours for study, allowing himself no other entertainment than reading. At the same time, he continues working very hard in his business. He follows his father’s advice that he who works hard will perhaps have the honor of standing before kings, which of course, comes true in his case. He has the opportunity to stand in front of five kings and the honor of sitting with one.

Franklin gives credit for his success to his wife Deborah, who serves Franklin as a sincere helpmate. She works along with him in his business by doing small, but essential jobs like folding and stitching pamphlets, tending shop, and buying old linen rags. Like her husband, she believes in a life of simplicity. She has no servants, chooses inexpensive furniture, and sets a plain and simple table. For a long time, she serves Franklin his bread and milk in an earthen bowl with a pewter spoon. Later, she buys him a china bowl and a silver spoon for the simple reason that she feels he deserves them.

Notes

This section reveals Franklin’s commitment towards the society in which he lives, towards his own personal growth, and towards his wife. He feels that he has prospered due to the society around him, and he willingly devotes his time and energy for its betterment. He introduces the library system for the public good, knowing that reading would generally enable a person to enlarge his scope of vision and understanding. He admits that at first people were suspicious about having to pay subscriptions to join the library, but through his typical hard work and persistence, he made the library a success.

Franklin uses the library he has created to better himself. Although he is committed to his work, he also commits himself to reading and studying two hours each day. He faithfully goes to the library to accomplish this goal. Franklin is also committed to his wife Deborah, who he sees as his helpmate. He influences her in her simple lifestyle and allows her to be a part of his business. His commitment to her pays big rewards, for she obviously cares deeply about her husband.

FRANKLIN’S VIEWS ABOUT RELIGION

In this section, Franklin discusses his religion. Although he no longer attends public religious meetings, he believes in God and his creation. In addition, he believes that serving humankind and doing good for a fellow man are the best services offered to God. He also believes in the immortality of soul, that bad will be punished and good will be rewarded. Franklin observes that almost all religions preach principles similar to his, but they often teach certain doctrines that do not inspire morality and bring indifference or hostility among people. For this reason, he has little respect for organized religions. However, he takes great care in avoiding any discussion that may hurt an individual’s respect for his own religion.

As Pennsylvania increases in size, there is a need for more religious places. Building funds are always being collected and Franklin is always willing to make a contribution. He also continues to pay his annual subscription for the support of the only Presbyterian Minister in Philadelphia. This minister finally persuades Franklin to attend the Sunday meetings at his church. Though it causes an interruption to Franklin’s reading, he attends church for five consecutive Sundays, expecting some morals and principles to be taught through the preaching. The Minister’s teachings, however, are comprised of religious arguments and explications of doctrines and are very boring. After this, Franklin completely avoids attending church. Franklin mentions a form of prayer that he has composed during the year of 1728, entitled ‘Articles of Belief and Acts of Religion.’

Notes

This section gives a glimpse into Franklin’s personal beliefs. His attitudes about religion prove his liberal interpretations. He believes in God and his creation; he also believes in prayer, but he feels organized religions are stifling and hung up on their own doctrines. Franklin believes in the equality of men and respects their rights and freedom to choose their own beliefs. He avoids religious discussions, for he does not want to negatively influence anyone of faith. He also feels a responsibility towards organized religion, for he pays a subscription for the support of the Presbyterian minister and he contributes to the building funds of different churches.

For Franklin, religion is not attending church on Sundays. It is a form of expression and a way of life, never reduced to a mere sermon or a memorized prayer. Franklin’s true religion is his service to his fellow man. He feels that he can best serve God by serving mankind. His own composition of a prayer asserts his depth and individuality of faith.

“BOLD and ARDUOUS PROJECT”

His “Bold and arduous project” is to obtain moral perfection. His intention is to avoid committing any kind of fault and to do only what he consciously thinks is right. He starts by avoiding the company of people who would lead him away from moral perfection and concentrates on avoiding wrongdoing. To his dismay, as he avoids one fault, he finds himself unknowingly committing another. Franklin quickly realizes that intention of being good and doing right does not make one virtuous. As a result, he contrives a method by which he intends to break all his bad habits and acquire good ones. He catalogues all the moral virtues, including them under different names. He winds up with thirteen virtues that he thinks are absolutely necessary. He lists each of them and attaches a brief idea which defines its limits:

1) Temperance—Eat not to dullness. Drink not to elevation. 2) Silence—Speak not but what may benefit others or yourself. Avoid trifling conversation.

3) Order—Let all your things have their places. Let each part of your business have its time.

4) Resolution—Resolve to perform without fail what you resolve. 5) Frugality—Make no expense but to do good for others or yourself; i.e., waste nothing.

6) Industry—Lose no time. Be always employed in something useful. Cut off all unnecessary actions.

7) Sincerity—Use no hurtful deceit. Think innocently and justly; and, if you speak, speak accordingly.

8) Justice—Wrong none by doing injuries or omitting the benefits that are your duty.

9) Moderation—Avoid extremes. Forbear resenting injuries so much as you think they deserve.

10) Cleanliness—Tolerate no uncleanness in body, clothes, or habitation.

11) Tranquillity—Be not disturbed at trifles or at accidents common or unavoidable.

12) Chastity—Rarely use but for health or offspring--never to dullness, weakness, or the injury of your own or another’s peace or reputation.

13) Humility—Imitate Jesus
and Socrates.

Franklin strives methodically to attain these thirteen virtues. He keeps a record in which he marks out the seven days of the week. For every virtue, he allows one day. He marks it in black if he fails to observe the virtue on its given day. In the same fashion, he makes a schedule of his day, planning about seven hours for sleep, eight hours for work, and the remaining hours for planning, reading, thinking, eating, writing, examining, and carrying on the daily routine.

Franklin proceeds with the zest to pursue his arduous project, but he soon realizes he is a man with no less faults than other men. However, his attempt to live the thirteen virtues helps him to improve himself. The virtues that give Franklin the most problems are Order and Humility. He always falls a little short of total organization, and he knows he is often proud of his accomplishments. When he tries to act humbly, he finds himself feeling proud of his humility.

Franklin intentionally does not mention any sect or religion on his list of virtues, for he feels that the list is universal and should be pursued by all humans.

Notes

Franklin sincerely feels that all his prosperity and his good reputation is due to his efforts to act in a virtuous manner. He has never regretted his attempt to attain moral perfection, even though he failed. He feels happy that he has endeavored to better himself and willingly acknowledges that he is only human and capable of error. He particularly notes that he has always struggled with being proud and orderly.

A GREAT PROJECT

Franklin returns home to Philadelphia and resumes his writing in August of 1788. Unfortunately, he learns that all his personal papers have been lost in the war.

Upon his return home, Franklin plans a great project. He decides to bring all the virtuous young men together to form a “united party for virtue”. It is to be based upon the basic belief that virtue is rewarded and vice is punished. The young men must practice Franklin’s list of thirteen virtues for a period of thirteen weeks and help one another in accomplishing their goals. They must also believe in the immortality of the soul and the oneness of God. Franklin calls this party the Society for Free and Easy. He is also sure about the project’s success if his plans are executed properly. Because of his ill health and lack of time, he keeps delaying the project. In the end, it never comes into being.

Notes

In this section, Franklin’s spirit of altruism is portrayed. He wants to help the young men of Philadelphia lead moral lives. He plans to start a society called Free and Easy, where virtuous young men come together to practice Franklin’s list of virtues and to help one another become more virtuous. In spite of his good intentions, Franklin never forms the society due to his ill health and lack of time.

POOR RICHARD’S ALMANAC

Starting in 1732, Franklin publishes a book called “Poor Richard’s Almanac” under the name of Richard Saunders. Its purpose is to instruct and entertain. In the book, Franklin tries to give only pertinent facts and avoids any biased opinions that might cause controversy. The almanac is written in calendar format with proverbs inserted amongst the dates. The almanac is published for twenty-five years, and every year nearly one thousand copies are sold. In the 1757 edition of the almanac, Franklin includes the proverbs of different nations. As a result, the almanac is soon distributed to France in a French translation.

Notes

In this section, Franklin reveals that he seeks a harmonious society. He believes that the press has a responsibility to encourage peace and understanding among its readers. As a result, he never allows his newspaper to be used for any kind of communal disharmony or criticism. When he creates “Poor Richard’s Almanac,” he makes certain that it too presents pertinent facts and that it avoids controversy. The almanac, which is published for twenty-five years, is very popular.

FRANKLIN - A MAN With MANY SHADES

In 1733, Franklin helps one of his employees to set up a printing press in Charleston, South Carolina. Franklin pays one-third of the expenses of the Charleston press and receives one-third of the profits in return. When his partner in this enterprise dies, Franklin allows his Dutch widow to continue the business. Franklin is pleased with her skills of accounting and business management, and feels that more American women should be involved in business.

Around 1734, a preacher named Hemphill arrives in town, and Franklin hears that he delivers good sermons that instruct the congregation about virtue. As a result, Franklin begins to attend church again. There is, however, severe opposition to this minister from the conservative element. Before long they accuse him of delivering sermons composed by others. The preacher transfers as a result, and Franklin again stops attending church.

In 1733, Franklin starts learning languages. He masters French, and learns Italian and Spanish. He practices his Italian while playing chess with a friend; whoever wins the game gets to assign the other an assignment in grammar. Franklin finds the romance languages easy to learn and feels that students should study one of these languages before learning Latin, which is more difficult.

During this period, Franklin tries to make up for another errata in his life. He has been alienated from his brother James for ten years. When Franklin returns to Boston, he tries to make up for all the lost affection with James. Later, when James is sick and dying, Franklin promises to take care of James’ son after his death. Franklin also helps James’ wife in looking after their printing business until her son grows up and can manage the business.

Franklin regrets that his carelessness results in the death of his four-year-old son from small pox. Franklin advises all parents that a timely inoculation against small pox is vitally important. Franklin feels that an inoculation would have saved his child.

The Junto Club continues to prosper. Several other gentlemen want to become members, but the number of the club is restricted to twelve. Franklin advises the interested men to start new clubs. He feels such clubs help people, especially young men, to improve their knowledge and their ability to influence public opinion.

In 1736 Franklin is selected unanimously as the clerk of the General Assembly for the first time. The following year a wealthy and influential man opposes him. Franklin has enjoyed the position and its monetary benefits and power, so he does not want to lose the election. He overcomes his opponent very cleverly. Franklin requests his challenger to lend him a book, which Franklin promptly returns with a sincere note of thanks. This act makes the opponent feel obliged to Franklin, and they later become good friends after Franklin wins the election. Franklin observes that services requested of a man will make him feel more obliged than a man to whom you oblige with a service.

Franklin continues to make gains from his honesty and hard work. In 1737, Col. Spotswood, late governor of Virginia, grows unhappy with his deputy’s work in accounting and offers the post to Franklin, who he knows is diligent and honest. Besides giving him more public exposure, this office proves to be beneficial to Franklin in promoting his business.

Now financially secure, Franklin begins his life of public service in earnest. He starts by writing and presenting a series of papers about the ills prevalent in society. He calls for regulating the City Watch and for creating an organization for fire fighting. These papers are the basis for the formulation of the Union Fire Company, to fight fires in the community, and for laws governing the City Watch.

While returning from England in 1739, Franklin meets a very interesting preacher, Mr. Whitfield. Although the traditional clergy opposes Whitfield, Franklin supports him. Mr. Whitfield’s oratory powers and his ability to communicate with a vast multitude of people who attend his sermons impress him. As a result, Franklin helps in constructing a large meeting place, which provides a pulpit for any preacher from any religion. Franklin decides, however, that he is not going to contribute to Mr. Whitfield’s project of constructing an orphan house in Georgia. After hearing Whitfield’s sermon about the orphan house however, Franklin empties his pocket of his gold and silver for the project. Obviously, Franklin is impressed with this preacher’s persuasive powers. He regrets that Whitfield decides to publish his sermons, for in print they lose their power. Many critics attack Mr. Whitfield’s written sermons, which only serves to decrease the number of his followers.

Franklin continues to be a successful printer
, and his main business is minting money. He also continues to set up other partnerships, on the same terms that he did in South Carolina. Franklin has obviously become an honest, but shrewd, businessman.  Notes

The purpose of this section is to depict the many “shades” of Franklin—his diversity and interest in many varied projects. He continues in the printing business, specializing in the minting of money. He also goes into partnership with printers in other locations, which proves to be a very successful business venture for him. Franklin also continues to define his religious faith and seeks to find a preacher that can really challenge and instruct him, as evidenced in his relationships with Hemphill and Whitfield. The Junto Club remains important to his life, for it is a place where he can study and be challenged by other probing minds. In his effort to continue his education, he learns French, Italian, and Spanish. He also becomes a public servant, serving as the clerk of the General Assembly. As a writer, he also turns his interest to public services, and his essays about the need for fire fighting and regulations for the City Watch bring about the needed changes.

Franklin’s generosity is also noted in this section. He tries to make amends with his brother James, and after his death, he takes care of James’ son and helps his wife run the family printing business. He is also generous with causes in which he believes. Not a man to attend church on a regular basis, Franklin is impressed with the oratory powers of a minister named Whitfield and begins attending his sermons. He also contributes to the building of a large non- denominational church where Whitfield can preach and supports a fund for an orphan home in Georgia that Whitfield has proposed. Franklin always yields to causes that he thinks are good and worthy.

A PHILOSOPHICAL SOCIETY and A DEFENSE SYSTEM

In 1744, Franklin starts the philosophical society, which provides a center for education in Pennsylvania. His next venture is to set up a system of defense for the security of the province. He publishes a pamphlet entitled ‘Plain Truth’, which immediately brings the people to action. A large meeting is called, and there are talks and articles on the issue. Nearly ten thousand people volunteered to defend the province. Men furnish themselves with arms; companies and regiments are formed; officers are chosen; and regular meetings are held for exercise and instruction. Women make the flags for the regiments, and Franklin supplies the mottoes. Franklin also proposes a lottery to raise funds for the town battery. Since they lack cannons, Franklin, along with three other men, go to New York to request a cannon from Governor Clinton. Though he refuses at first, by the time the dinner is over, he has agreed to furnish eighteen cannons.

Franklin knows that Quakers, prevalent in Pennsylvania, are reluctant to favor any proposal regarding issues of war. But the Quaker Assembly generally grants funds “for the King’s use” and never inquires about what it is for. When New England needs money to buy gunpowder, it asks for money for “ Flour, Wheat, or other Grain,” with this other grain being gun powder. The Quakers approve such a proposal. Franklin learns to deal in a similar fashion. When he fears that the Quakers will oppose his proposal for a cannon, he asks for money for a fire engine and equipment, which can be the cannon.

Notes

In this section, Franklin continues to be concerned with the public good. He forms the philosophical society to provide a center of education in Pennsylvania. He also rallies the citizens to form regiments for the defense of the province. In order to gain the needed supplies, he organizes a lottery, gains a contribution of cannons from the Governor of New York, and cleverly avoids disclosing the purchase of armaments to the Quakers. 

Using Excel for surveys
  Analyzing survey data

https://learningstore.uwex.edu/pdf/G3658-14.pdf

Mary Rowlandson Resources
  Captivity Narrative

Study Questions

1. How does the Narrative demonstrate Puritan theology and thinking at work?

2. In what ways does Rowlandson use her experience to reaffirm Puritan beliefs? How does she view herself and her fellow Christians? How does she see the Indians? What do her dehumanizing descriptions of the Indians accomplish?

3. Are there any instances where she seems to waver in her faith?

4. Why does Rowlandson distrust the “praying Indians”?

5. How does she use the Bible and varied scriptural allusions in her analysis of her captivity and restoration?

6. Does her world view change at all during her eleven weeks of captivity? Why or why not?

How does the preface, perhaps written by Increase Mather, frame the narrative and/or Rowlandson’s character? What does it establish about her and her text and why?

Notice the treatment of the following in the preface and the narrative proper: Does each offer the same reading of Rowlandson’s experience? Specifically, compare their depictions of Indians, the captivity experience, and Rowlandson herself.

Based on her narrative, who do you think Rowlandson’s audience was and how do you think they viewed her? What evidence leads you to this conclusion?

When and at what points do you feel as if you have access to Rowlandson’s feelings or inner self? What enables and prevents this access?

Keep track of when Rowlandson uses scripture? What patterns can you generate from this use? What do these patterns suggest about how the narrator wants us to view Rowlandson and her captors?

In what ways does her narrative play out what it means to be a Puritan? a woman in Puritan culture?

What, if anything, do you make of her insomnia once rescued?

Comprehension

1. What is Mary Rowlandson’s main intention in writing this story?

o To arouse hatred toward the Wampanoag
o To show how her experience revealed God’s purpose
o To analyze another culture

2.  Why is the Indian group that captures Rowlandson forced to keep moving?

o They are being pursued by the English
o Because of their religious practices
o They need food

3.  What is Rowlandson’s attitude toward her children?

o She cares passionately about them and grieves about being apart from them.
o She misses them but believes that it builds character to live separately.
o She treats them as if they were adults capable of taking care of themselves.

4.  From where does Rowlandson primarily draw her strength?

o Her desire to avenge the death of her child.
o Her belief in God’s ultimate purpose.
o Her desire to return and tell her story to the Puritans.

5. What does Rowlandson exchange for food with several members of the tribe?

o Washing clothes
o Gathering firewood
o Sewing and knitting

Chronological Order

6.  Put these events in chronological order:

1. Mary Rowlandson’s master leads her to her son.
2. Mary Rowlandson’s child dies.
3. Mary Rowlandson enters a wigwam.
4. Mary Rowlandson helps carry an American Indian on a bier.

7.  Put these events in chronological order:

1. Mary Rowlandson is reunited with her daughter.
2. Mary Rowlandson learns to eat bear meat.
3. Mary Rowlandson cares for her sick baby.
4. One of the American Indians gives Mary Rowlandson a Bible.

The psalms: http://lonestar.texas.net/~mseifert/rowlandson2.html
spark notes: http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/sovereignty/themes.html

Moodle website
  enrollment keys

English 11 pilgrim
Advanced: honors
Montana Lit: hugo
cohort: polson

Strategies for teaching writing
  Online resources

http://www.nwp.org/cs/public/print/resource/922

Best approaches to teaching writing
  Research into what works

From the Carnegie Report: Writing Next: Effective Strategies to Improve Writing of Adolescents in Middle and High Schools
Self-Regulated Strategy Development (SRSD) is an approach for helping students learn specific strategies for planning, drafting, and revising text. SRSD instruction is also characterized by explicit teaching, individualized instruction, and criterionbased versus time-based learning. Children are treated as active collaborators in the learning process. Instruction takes place in six stages:

Develop Background Knowledge: Students are taught any background knowledge needed to use the strategy successfully.

Describe It: The strategy as well as its purpose and benefits is described and discussed.
Model It: The teacher models how to use the strategy. Memorize It: The student memorizes the steps of the strategy and any accompanying mnemonic.

Support It: The teacher supports or scaffolds student mastery of the strategy.

Independent Use: Students use the strategy with few or no supports.

Students are also taught a number of self-regulation skills (including goal setting, self-monitoring, self-instruction, and self-reinforcement) designed to help them manage writing strategies, the writing process, and their behavior. Mnemonics are introduced to help students remember strategies to increase writing performance.

Two such strategies are PLAN and WRITE:
PLAN (Pay attention to the prompt, List the main idea, Add supporting ideas, Number your ideas)
WRITE (Work from your plan to develop your thesis statement, Remember your goals, Include transition words for each paragraph, Try to use different kinds of sentences, and Exciting, interesting, $10,000 words).
Sources: De La Paz & Graham, 2002; Harris & Graham, 1996

Self-Regulated Strategy Development in Writing: Story and Opinion Essay Writing for Students with Disabilities or Severe Difficulties in the Early Elementary Grades

Karen Harris, Steve Graham, and Linda Mason
Center for Accelerating Student Learning, Department of Special Education
University of Maryland

. . . .Step 1: Develop background knowledge. The first stage of the SRSD strategy was to establish skills the students would need prior to learning the strategy. Instruction began with activities focused on defining, identifying, and generating the basic parts of an essay. Mnemonics have been used in previous research to help the students remember these components so that they will have a prompt to guide them through the writing process (Graham & Harris, 1989; Sexton, Harris, & Graham, 1998). A chart with the mnemonic device (DARE) was provided as a prompt for the basic frame-work for an essay. The menemomic device stood for (a) develop topic sentence, (b) add supporting detail, (c) reject arguments from the other side, and (e) end with a conclusion. Each step of the mnemonic device was explained and discussed as a group. Students practiced reciting DARE together and independently until they could recall it completely from memory. They were then guided by the teacher to determine details for a given topic and practice rejecting opposing arguments.

Step 2. Initial conference: Strategy goals and significance. The teacher reviewed the baseline probe scores with each student individually. This included examining the language arts scoring guidelines of the rubric used to score essay quality and the number of words written. The teacher explained the significance of setting goals and including all the basic components of an essay in their writing. Together, each student and teacher discussed the baseline results, which were provided numerically and graphed, to determine if the content and amount of content was sufficient. The students were asked to keep a folder with all of their essays and a graph plotting their performance. They were allowed to retain their writing folder for future use and reference after the study.

The primary variables of interest were number of words written and quality scores based on a scoring rubric used by the school district. Target goals for the instructional period were discussed and the criterion was established. Each student had varying target goals, depending on their performance. The goals were set at a minimum of a 25% increase on the number of words written. Students also set goals to improve the quality of their writing by earning at least two additional points on their quality score.

Students were introduced to the self-regulated strategy model by the use of a posterboard secured to the chalkboard. This visual prompt listed the three-step writing strategy: (a) Think, who will read this and why am I writing it; (b) Plan what to say using DARE; and (c) Write and say more. The strategy required students to think about their audience and the circumstances in which their essays would be read. It also provided them with an outline for their essay. The teacher began by explaining the components of the strategy and why each is important to their writing. Commitment to use the strategy was expressed by all participants.

Step 3: Modeling of the strategy. The three-step strategy was reviewed. One of the chosen essay topics was then read to the students. Utilizing the overhead projector, the teacher modeled the strategy by using a “think aloud” technique. As the essay was written, the teacher would constantly ask questions aloud to model what students should do themselves when they write. When the essay was completed, the purpose of self-instruction was introduced. The four main types as suggested by Graham and Harris (1989) were discussed: problem definition, planning, self-evaluation, and self-reinforcement.

Step 4: Memorization of the strategy. The students were given time to practice memorizing the three-step strategy and DARE. As part of the process, they were required to make a visual that they could keep in their writing folder to use as a prompt. In addition, they had to memorize the steps by either reciting them to the teacher or writing them on a sheet of paper. Students recorded the self-instruction statements in their writing folder and generated examples of each step. Examples of self-instruction questions included (a) problem definition ("What do I need to do?"); (b) planning ("OK, first I need to"); (c) self-evaluation ("Did I say what I really believe?"); and (d) self-reinforcement ("Great, this is a good reason") (Sexton, Harris, & Graham, 1998).

Step 5: Collaborative practice. Using the visuals of the three-step strategy and DARE as prompts, the students and the teacher wrote an essay using the overhead projector. The teacher led the direction of the composition, but otherwise it was mainly written from student input. Self-instruction procedures were used and encouraged. During this step, the responsibility of writing shifted from the teacher to the students. Individual student goals were reviewed at this time and modified as needed.

Step 6: Independent practice. The students composed two essays independently. Visual prompts were made available, but the students were encouraged to use them only if they felt it was necessary. Positive praise and feedback were given, but faded gradually.

Maintenance and Generalization Component

A maintenance probe chosen from the randomly assigned essays was administered two weeks after post-testing. The goal of cognitive strategy instruction is to not only apply the strategy during the class where it is prompted, but to effectively use it in the future as well as across settings and subject matter. After the strategy instruction had been taught and mastered, the teacher explained how it could be generalized to other classes and on standardized exams in the spring. Practice exam essays from the students’ 10th-grade world history class were administered two weeks following the administration in the social studies classroom. . . .http://www.questia.com/googleScholar.qst?docId=5009163761

The Effects of Self-Regulated Strategy Development on the Writing Process for High School Students with Learning Disabilities.

by Jill C. Chalk , Shanna Hagan-Burke , Mack D. Burke

A chart with the mnemonic device (DARE) was provided as a prompt for the basic frame-work for an essay. The menemomic device stood for (a) develop topic sentence, (b) add supporting detail, (c) reject arguments from the other side, and (e) end with a conclusion. Each step of the mnemonic device was explained and discussed as a group. Students practiced reciting DARE together and independently until they could recall it completely from memory. They were then guided by the teacher to determine details for a given topic and practice rejecting opposing arguments.

http://www.questia.com/read/5009163761?title=The%20Effects%20of%20Self-Regulated%20Strategy%20Development%20on%20the%20Writing%20Process%20for%20High%20School%20Students%20with%20Learning%20Disabilities

STOP and DARE: A Persuasive Writing Strategy.

by SUSAN DE LA PAZ

National assessments consistently show that persuasive writing tasks pose more difficulty for students than informative or narrative tasks (Applebee, Langer, Mullis, Latham, & Gentile, 1994). Persuasive essays require students to provide evidence in an attempt to influence readers to change their thinking--a skill that even the best student writers find difficult. Results from the most recent National Assessment of Educational Progress (Applebee et al., 1994) indicated that most students’ response to the task was brief, vague, or somewhat confusing. Papers were minimally developed--reasons were not explained or defended in a way that might convince a reader.

In comparison to peers without learning problems, students with learning disabilities (LD) typically write persuasive compositions that are even less proficient. To illustrate, consider an essay composed by Aaron, an African American seventh-grader with learning and writing disabilities. When responding to the prompt, “Do you think children should be required to clean their rooms?” and told, “Remember to plan your essay before you begin writing,” Aaron immediately wrote the following text: “I think children should be required to clean their room because if they derdy their room then they should clean it up. In my house you clean up if you derdy up.” In this essay, Aaron stated his position (i.e., a premise), then continued with a single supporting reason, one personal example (elaborating the reason), and ended abruptly without a conclusion.

Background and Rationale for STOP and DARE

To confront this automated retrieve-and-write approach directly, Steve Graham and I developed a writing strategy called STOP and DARE (De La Paz & Graham, 1997a, 1997b). We wanted to teach students like Aaron an approach to writing that emphasized both reflection and planning. For this reason, before writing, students learn to be reflective by generating ideas to support each side of an issue before deciding what their position is. As they develop their initial plans, students decide how to refute opposing viewpoints in the text of their paper. In addition, STOP and DARE helps students develop sophisticated essays that go beyond the most basic format of premise, supporting reasons, and conclusion. Students are often expected to demonstrate these qualities by the middle- and upper-grade levels in school, and their papers are rated more positively when they do so (Applebee et al., 1994).

The Self-Regulated Strategy Development (SRSD) model (Graham, Harris, MacArthur, & Schwartz, 1991; Harris & Graham, 1996) is used to teach STOP and DARE. SRSD is similar to other models for teaching writing strategies in that students learn specific steps to accomplish writing tasks, and teachers scaffold their learning. However, with SRSD, teachers focus more on helping students self-regulate use of the writing strategy. Self-regulated procedures include goal setting, self-instruction, and self-monitoring. Teachers help students identify verbal statements and physical actions that promote student mastery of the targeted writing process.

SRSD Stages of Instruction

Six instructional stages provide the SRSD instructional framework, and teachers can reorder, combine, modify, or reteach them as needed. SRSD also includes procedures for integrating content knowledge and promoting maintenance and generalization (Harris & Graham, 1996). The six stages of instruction in the SRSD model as they relate to STOP and DARE are as follows:

1. Discuss it. Teachers provide an overview of STOP and DARE, explain new terminology, and give a rationale for each step;

2. Develop background knowledge. Teachers explain requisite ideas such as the qualities of good essays, the basic essay parts, and appropriate transitional words;

3. Model it. Teachers follow STOP and DARE to demonstrate how to plan and compose an essay by thinking aloud and using self-regulatory statements;

4. Memorize it. Students learn strategy mnemonics STOP and DARE in a series of short game-like exercises;

5. Support it. Teachers help students work in large and small groups to plan and compose one or more persuasive essays; and

6. Independent performance. Teachers systematically fade instructional supports such as cue cards, planning sheets, and lists of transitional words as students work to master the writing strategy.

Teaching STOP and DARE

Teachers introduce the writing strategy by first establishing the purpose of instruction. Students need to understand that good writers plan before composing and that planning leads to better essays. They may be surprised to learn that skilled writers usually develop more than one set of goals or plans to guide the writing process. As they write, skilled writers refine their initial goals and determine the means necessary (often revising their ideas along the way) for reaching their goals. Teachers let students know that during the next few weeks, they will be learning a writing strategy for planning and composing persuasive (opinion) essays. Using the strategy will help students gain confidence with this form of writing, and it may be useful in other classes. Teachers then ask students to commit to learning STOP and DARE with the goal of writing better opinion essays.

Planning the Essay

Next, teachers discuss the writing strategy and the rationale behind each step. The mnemonic STOP helps students remember strategy steps, and serves as a reminder to stop, reflect, and plan before starting to write.

Step 1: Suspend Judgment. Suspending judgment prevents students from simply recalling and writing down bits of information without fully considering the topic. We explain that suspend in this case means to wait, or to stop for a moment, just as a spider suspends itself from a web. Judgment in this context means to make up your mind about something, as a judge might do. Therefore, suspend judgment means keep your mind open to consider the issue fully. Ideas for and against the topic are brainstormed and recorded on a planning sheet (see Figure 1).

[Figure 1 ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

Step 2: Take a Side. The writer decides which side he or she believes in or which side can create the strongest argument. Students read over their brainstorming up to this point and evaluate the strength of their ideas. Teachers remind students that their goal is to write an essay that will convince the reader to agree with them.

Step 3: Organize Ideas. Students select ideas in support of the argument, as well as at least one argument they will refute. To complete this step, students put a star by the ideas (and an opposing argument) they want to include. At this point, students also arrange their ideas in the order they plan to use them, by numbering ideas in a logical sequence.

Students initially need guidance when reading and sequencing their ideas. Using the analogy of how a map guides a driver to his or her destination may help students realize that ideas must be sequenced in a logical manner to be persuasive. It may help to first mention ideas in support of the premise before presenting an argument for the other side. Then the writer provides ideas that counter, or reject, the argument.

Step 4: Plan More as You Write. Remind students to continue the planning process by making additions and adjustments while writing. A cue card with the mnemonic DARE (see Figure 2) reminds students to include the four essential parts of an opinion essay in their papers. Because students need to learn the basic parts of an essay before they understand DARE fully, background knowledge is essential.

[Figure 2 ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

Drafting the Essay

DEVELOP BACKGROUND KNOWLEDGE. Students need time (preferably several days) to read well-written persuasive essays and rewrite poorly written compositions to help them understand this form of writing. When first teaching STOP and DARE, teachers may wish to compose their own well-written and poorly written sample essays; however, student essays can replace these over time. While reading the sample essays, teachers help students identify the four basic essay parts (topic sentence, supporting ideas, argument, and conclusion) and transitional words and phrases. Essays are projected via an overhead or written on butcher paper (to save class work from one day to the next) and are read as a large group activity.

Students learn that the topic sentence states the writer’s opinion about the essay topic and is the premise of the essay. Students may simply reword the prompt to write their topic sentence (based on the side they wish to take). Supporting ideas are reasons explaining why the writer has chosen his or her stated position, and they give clear defense for the premise. Examples sometimes function as supporting ideas; moreover, the premise, reasons, and examples can be extended with additional phrases or sentences. (We use the term elaboration to differentiate these extensions from reasons when assessing student progress; however, teachers may retain the simpler term, supporting ideas, in discussions with students.)

Students learn that one way to compose a sophisticated essay is to show readers that they have considered but rejected an opposing point of view when forming their opinion. They begin to do this by identifying arguments in the sample essays and labeling subsequent sentences that make sense with the premise (these counterarguments are, in fact, supporting ideas). Finally, students identify and evaluate the quality of the writer’s conclusion. Good endings provide resolution to the essay by restating the premise or summing up the writer’s beliefs.

In addition to identifying the essay parts, students read sample essays to identify transitional words and phrases. Students can work as a class to correct poorly written essays (they enjoy finding mistakes in papers composed by older students and teachers) and rewrite them to get a better feel for creating a logical sequence of ideas in a well-written essay. Other relevant activities include

* developing a series of topic sentences (one for each point of view) for persuasive topics,

* engaging in verbal debates about relevant controversial issues, and

* reading newspaper editorials.

Teachers then engage in brief individual conferences with students to explain their performance on a recently composed essay (i.e., written before the strategy instruction starts). We review students’ initial writing abilities by counting and charting the number of essay parts that are relevant to the writing topic. These include premise, supporting ideas (elaborations), arguments, and conclusion. We encourage students to set a goal to increase the number of supporting ideas in their essays to 1.5 times their baseline number and to include at least one argument. Thus, in Step 3, organize ideas, each writer sets a personal goal to include more supporting ideas and arguments, based on his or her initial writing ability.

MODEL. On the next few days of instruction, teachers model how to use STOP and DARE by thinking aloud when planning and writing an essay. Teachers refer to the mnemonics to guide the planning process and use the planning sheet to record ideas. In addition, teachers use a series of cue cards and list of transitional words and phrases (see Figures 2 and 3) for additional procedural support.

[Figure 3 ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

The teacher begins the modeling strategy by setting the goal of including several supporting ideas and at least one argument and explaining and defending the position clearly. Remind students that their primary goal is to be convincing, so they may include more (or even less) items as they write. The teacher uses a variety of self-instructions to show how to manage the strategy and the writing process. These include

* self-statements involving problem definition (e.g., “What is it that I have to do?"),

* planning (e.g., “OK, first I need to brainstorm ideas."),

* self-evaluation (e.g., “I’m making a good plan."), and

* coping (e.g., “I know I can come up with some good ideas.").

Some teachers find this difficult because strategic individuals naturally self-regulate their behavior. In contrast, students with LD benefit from observing these covert responses made obvious.

Moreover, as the teacher models the strategy, he or she highlights the recursive use of various procedures. For example, during Steps 2 and 3, take a side and organize ideas respectively, the teacher adds ideas to the planning sheet as the need arises. Similarly, during Step 4--plan more as you write--she or he revises the initial writing plan further while in the process of writing the paper. Teachers discard previously selected ideas on occasion and incorporate additional ideas that make sense. In addition, when writing the premise and conclusion, the teacher rereads the writing prompt and thinks about the position he or she decided to take.

Finally, students are encouraged to play an active role by assisting the teacher throughout the planning and composing process. During planning, this includes helping with the brainstorming process, taking a side, starring items, and so forth. When writing, students help by selecting transitional words and phrases and formulating sentences for ideas generated during the planning process. Thus, the process is collaborative, with the teacher guiding students to ensure the planning and composing process makes sense. Depending on interest and time, teachers and students revise the essay to improve it further (see De La Paz, 1999a, for suggestions on how to revise student papers).

MEMORIZE. To help students learn the strategy mnemonics STOP and DARE, we encourage the use of short rapid fire drills in game-like exercises. Teachers call on students and ask them to explain the meaning of strategy steps during the first or last few minutes of class. Other game formats can be used, such as Jeopardy; in addition, students can use checklists and work in pairs to memorize mnemonics and corresponding strategy steps, giving hints and answers to each other as needed.

SUPPORT. During this stage, students work in large or small groups and receive needed assistance from the teacher in applying the strategy. Although this is not a “sit back and let them do it while I grade papers” type of process (De La Paz, Owen, Harris, & Graham, 2000), many options are available during this stage of instruction. For example, the entire class can collaboratively practice planning and composing one or more essays. Alternatively, students can work in pairs or groups of three to develop a plan, then work independently to compose the essay. Third, teachers may organize the class into cooperative learning groups of six and assign each student a different role for planning and composing a group essay. It is important that throughout the collaborative practice period teachers continue to prompt students to remember and apply steps they forget and give feedback about the quality of students’ plans and subsequent essays.

During the final stage of instruction, independent performance, students learn to use the strategy without assistance. During this stage, teachers purposefully provide less assistance by giving assistance only when a student skips a step or does something incorrectly. Thus, teachers shift responsibility for using the strategy directly to the student. Additional suggestions for achieving this transition are as follows:

1. Allow students less time for working as they complete each successive independent essay,

2. remove procedural supports (planning sheet, cue cards, and transitional words) as students become proficient in executing the writing strategy, and

3. allow students fewer questions each day (noted by tally marks on their papers).

To illustrate, when students attempt their first independent composition, they plan and compose one essay with ample teacher help and comments in two class periods. As they attempt their second essay, students continue to receive the same degree of procedural assistance (i.e., teacher prompting, feedback, and strategy materials); however, they are encouraged to complete the essay within one class period. As they compose their third essay, students continue to use cue cards but assume the additional responsibility of developing essay plans on a regular sheet of notebook paper (see Figure 4 for Aaron’s postinstruction plan) instead of the planning sheet provided by the teacher. When writing the fourth paper, students set a goal, plan, and compose an essay within a single class period without cue cards or other materials.

[Figure 4 ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

ASSESS PROGRESS. When teaching STOP and DARE in our projects, we have used both analytic and holistic assessment to evaluate whether students have mastered the planning and writing strategy. First, students take a short written or oral test to assess whether they know from memory the strategy steps. Second, teachers compare student work before and after teaching the strategy to determine whether students have included (a) all four essay parts, (b) more supporting ideas and arguments, and (c) a logical and persuasive argument throughout the essay. Third, teachers assess whether students use the strategy independently (without relying on the planning sheet or cue cards; see Aaron’s postinstruction essay in Figure 5). Other assessments, such as quality ratings (Graham, 1982) and curriculum-based measurement scoring procedures (Espin, De La Paz, & Scierka, in press) can be used to monitor student progress.

[Figure 5 ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

WHAT TO EXPECT. Evaluations of SRSD by both special and general education teachers and students have been strongly positive (De La Paz et al., 2000). In formal evaluations of the STOP and DARE writing strategy, students’ improved writing skills persisted 4 to 8 weeks after instruction ended (De La Paz & Graham, 1997a, 1997b). One fifth-grade student in our research study indicated that she had been “caught” using the strategy in her general education social studies class and asked to explain her planning approach to her classmates. This student was pleased that she had been able to explain how she first generated ideas for and against the topic and then how she organized her ideas in advance of writing. What a positive experience for a student who was frequently reminded of her poor handwriting and deficient spelling skills!

Teachers may wonder how much time they need to set aside to teach STOP and DARE to their students. The length of instructional time may vary due to setting differences (tutoring, resources, or general education classrooms), number of students, nature and diversity of students’ learning profiles, and level of background knowledge. We found that students required 4 to 7 individual sessions to learn STOP and DARE (De La Paz & Graham, 1997a); however, when working in small groups, students needed 10 sessions to learn the strategy (De La Paz & Graham, 1997b). In contrast, students required 4 weeks to learn an expository writing strategy when in large general education classrooms (see De La Paz, 1999b; De La Paz et al., 2000). As most teachers would expect, additional time may be needed for booster sessions (to ensure strategy maintenance) or to teach for generalization.

Conclusions

Writing is a highly complex, demanding process. Teaching students to self-regulate the planning process can make a significant and meaningful difference in the quality, length, and structure of students’ compositions (De La Paz, 1999b; De La Paz & Graham, 1997a, 1997b). These improvements occur among regularly achieving students as well as students with learning problems. For teachers planning to teach STOP and DARE, it may help to plan ahead about what to say and do when modeling, as many teachers report that this the most demanding stage of instruction. If possible, teachers should collaborate with other teachers, as well as their students, when they first implement SRSD. This professional collaboration allows teachers to share what works and how to work around challenges that are inevitable in public schools. Teachers have worked with SRSD researchers and contributed to the development of many writing strategies, sharing concrete suggestions for making the lessons do-able and appealing to students (De La Paz et al., 2000). These ideas include involving students as collaborators during the modeling process (as mentioned in this article); creating manipulatives to help students learn strategy mnemonics; and using cooperative learning principles or rewards such as a homework pass to reinforce appropriate small group behavior.

Strategy instruction, and the SRSD approach in particular, make several demands on teachers and students as they learn more sophisticated approaches to composing. Fortunately, these efforts appear worthwhile as there is now a consensus that the use of long-term, contextually relevant cognitive strategy instruction (Pressley et al., 1995) is a powerful means to boost academic performance. Additional rewards include the satisfaction that it is appropriate for writers with varying initial writing skills, beyond those identified as LD (De La Paz & Graham, 1997a; De La Paz, 1999b). Finally, both students and teachers are enthusiastic about the SRSD approach to writing instruction as it suggests ways to manage specific components of the writing process and empowers students who would otherwise be overwhelmed and reluctant to tackle writing assignments.

Persons interested in submitting material for Equalizing Learning Opportunities should contact Marjorie A. Bock, University of North Dakota, Department of Teaching and Learning, P.O. Box 7189, Grand Forks, ND 58202-7189.

REFERENCES

Applebee, A., Langer, J., Mullis, I., Latham, A., & Gentile, C. (1994). National Assessment of Educational Progress 1992: Writing Report Card. Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office.

De La Paz, S. (1999a). Teaching writing strategies and self-regulation procedures to middle school students with learning disabilities. Focus on Exceptional Children, 31, 1-16.

De La Paz, S. (1999b). Self-regulated strategy instruction in regular education settings: Improving outcomes for students with and without learning disabilities. Learning Disabilities Research and Practice, 14, 92-106.

De La Paz, S., & Graham, S. (1997a). Strategy instruction in planning: Effects on the writing performance and behavior of students with learning difficulties. Exceptional Children, 63, 167-181.

De La Paz, S., & Graham, S. (1997b). Effects of dictation and advanced planning instruction on the composing of students with writing and learning problems. Journal of Educational Psychology, 89, 203-222.

De La Paz, S., Owen, B., Harris, K., & Graham, S. (2000). Riding Elvis’ motorcycle: Using self-regulated strategy development to plan and write for a state writing exam. Learning Disabilities Research and Practice, 15, 101-109.

Espin, C., De La Paz, S., & Scierka, B. (in press). Relation between CBM measures in written expression and quality and completeness of expository writing for middle-school students. Journal of Special Education.

Graham, S. (1982). Written composition research and practice: A unified approach. Focus on Exceptional Children, 14, 1-16.

Graham, S., Harris, K., MacArthur, C., & Schwartz, S. (1991). Writing and writing instruction for students with learning disabilities: Review of a research program. Learning Disability Quarterly, 14, 89-114.

Harris, K. R., & Graham, S. (1996). Making the writing process work: Strategies for composition and self-regulation. Cambridge, MA: Brookline Books.

Pressley, M., Woloshyn, V., Burkell, J., Cariglia-Bull, T., Lysynchuk, L., McGoldrick, J. A., Schneider, B., Snyder, B., & Symons, S. (1995). Cognitive strategy instruction that really improves children’s academic performance (2nd ed.). Cambridge, MA: Brookline Books.

Susan De La Paz, PhD, is an assistant professor of Teacher and Special Education at Santa Clara University. Her research interests include writing instruction, self-regulation, and cognitive processes underlying writing. Address: Susan De La Paz, Department of Education, Santa Clara University, 500 El Camino Real, Santa Clara, CA 95053.

http://www.questia.com/read/5000964555?title=STOP%20and%20DARE%3a%20A%20Persuasive%20Writing%20Strategy