The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin

Outline

Introduction

Benjamin Franklin was a noted author, a recognized polymath, a great political theorist, a smart scientist, a creative musician, a dreamy inventor, a civics activist and a famous diplomat.

Thesis Statement

“To what extent did Benjamin Franklin maintain unity in his autobiography?”

Life

Franklin was one of the twenty siblings that his parents gave birth to. His father had two marriages and ten children from each wife. Franklin was the youngest boy in the family.

Book

The traditional name for Franklin's book is 'The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin' and it is a record of his own life, written during the years 1771 to 1790.

Part One

Part Two

Part Three & Four

Personal Opinion

The book seems unified because it follows a flow and a timeline. Each part talks about a different era of the author's life and discusses his personal and professional life.

Conclusion

The autobiography of Benjamin Franklin is a great read, following the life of a truly great person. It is referred as one of the best and perfectly unified autobiographies to date.

The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin

Introduction

Born in Boston, Massachusetts on the 17th of January in the year 1706, Benjamin Franklin was one of the great Founding Fathers of the USA. He was a noted author, a recognized polymath, a great political theorist, a smart scientist, a creative musician, a dreamy inventor, a civics activist and a famous diplomat. His contributions towards the development of electricity are one of the reasons our world does not run out of power today. He had an important position in the American Enlightenment committee and he invented the lightning rod, the Franklin stove, bifocal lenses and the Armonica glass. As a civics person, he formed the first public-lending library of America and the first fire emergency department in the state of Pennsylvania.

Thesis Statement

Benjamin Franklin wanted his autobiography to extend over a period of time and encompass all the important moments of his life. For this paper, the thesis statement which would also serve as the theme of our paper is:

“To what extent did Benjamin Franklin maintain unity in his autobiography?”

Life

Franklin was one of the twenty siblings that his parents gave birth to. His father had two marriages and ten children from each wife. Franklin was the youngest boy in the family. After two years of schooling, Franklin had to leave his education because of financial issues in the family but he did not stop thriving. He studied on his own, read books and soon started apprenticeship for his brother. After some time, Franklin left for Philadelphia (Franklin, 1818).

Book

The traditional name for Franklin's book is 'The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin' and it is a record of his own life, written during the years 1771 to 1790. There are occasions where Franklin has called his work as his 'Memoirs'. The autobiography remained unfinished during the end and went through a lot of different publications. Some historians even call his phase as the massacre of Franklin's work.

The book accounts for the entire life of Franklin, his experiences, his learning and how his thought ...