Journal 13

I thought that this collaboration project was a neat concept however it was not executed in a positive way. I found the project very stressful and the work was not equal. I understand that we are honors students and should have more challenging work but I do not think we should have to do the video for those who did not participate. The hard part about doing the video for someone was you never knew if they were going to send theirs. I worked three hours plus on doing the video editing and waited for what seemed like forever on some of the videos. I just do not think that is fair. Also it was very hard to communicate. Now a days not very many people check their emails daily. The way people get in touch is through texting and skype. Honestly who wants to give their number to a complete stranger? Talk about creepy.

I did not learn too much from this project. I was stressed almost the entire time. However, I thought some of the cites we used were interesting and could possibly be used in the future. I was also very proud of the Plains kids in my group. They did all their work by the final due date. Although it took some hard core work from Mrs. K, I am proud to say that I did not have to do any videos for the regular English students from PPHS. I even got some help from one of them which I was surprised and grateful for. So I guess I can say I learned not to doubt the students in my grade because they surprised me by doing their work.

I definitely think an individual grade is needed for this project. It is not a project where you pick your partners and its your own fault if they do  not do the work. It was completely random. Also the Farmington students did nothing. I understand it is hard to work with a bunch of people you do not know but they could at least have tried. If you decide not to do an individual grade at least do just the Plains kids for the whole thing. That way you can communicate with them. I think that this project is a neat idea but definitely needs some work. I think that this project would be useful maybe not for a grade though. Or maybe for less points.

Franklins Virtue

When writing the thirteen virtues, Franklin had an idea for them and a purpose that hopefully changed his life and the way that people around him lived. He wrote them so there would be a guideline on how to live a clean life. He made the virtues personal so that he could follow each one carefully and hopefully in the long run, he will have become a better person and his life the right way without any mischief or mistakes (Franklin). The virtues are way more important than just thirteen goals to live by. The goal is if a person live by them, they will become the way of life. Hopefully the virtues can turn life around into something so much more important and meaningful.

The virtues Franklin made are creative and very thought out. Franklin thought the virtues through for many reasons. The virtues were made to fit his needs at the time. It took a long time to think about what virtues he needed to please him and fix his life. However the virtues affect more people than Franklin. He might of thought these virtues could affect other people’s lives. This made the thinking process even more complex. He hoped the system of virtues would help more people want to live a better life and do more things for the good. Franklin knew it would be easy to fall out of following the virtues and ignore the rules. To try to eliminate himself and others from ignoring the virtues he made a systematic approach to the problem.  Franklin created a cycle that could be completed in thirteen weeks and in four times a year (Franklin).  Franklin made a chart that he could follow his progress. He would keep track of all the times he messed up and didn't follow the virtue. He would mark down what he did and then the next day try to do better and not repeat the mistake. Eventually he was able to not follow the system because he had no faults.  “After a while I went thro’ one course only in a year, and afterward only one in several years, till at length I omitted them entirely” (Franklin 88).

Some people really liked and approved the idea of Franklin's virtues and wrote criticisms on the topic. In Henry Tuckerman’s criticism, there is little to no negativity what so ever. He loved the fact that Franklin wanted to live a better life and that Franklin had political power to the colonies. He stated "But while official duty and patriotism gave Franklin occasion to propagate and actualize so many useful and requisite principles,—to become the thinker and advocate,—the incarnated common-sense of his country and his time,—there was another sphere of mental activity, another range of sagacious enterprise, in which he expatiated with kindred success." (Tuckerman) He is stating how Franklin was a very successful man because of these virtues in many ways. He was a smart man and good influence on the people who admired him as a patriotic and political figure. Tuckerman is also saying how his determination and good heart made him and others became a better people and influences on lives around him.

In his critique, he has many good words to say about Franklin. For instance in this passage from the writing, Henry is describing Franklin and the things that Franklin do. "The grand simplicity of his theory, the familiar apparatus by which it was tested, the accuracy of his foresight, and the unpretending spirit with which he received the fame incident to so great a result, form together one of those memorable instances of the conquest of mind over matter, of human intelligence over the secret facts of nature, which add the cognizance of new laws to the domain of knowledge, and brighter names to the catalogue of her immortal disciples.” (Tuckerman). He used many details when describing Franklin and the virtues. This shows his enthusiasm and positive attitude towards the virtues.

Although everyone has their own opinion on Franklin’s thirteen virtues, they helped him and made him a better person.  Everyone should want to make themselves better and after reading Franklin’s virtues and critics that go along with it, the urge to try is harder. Franklin’s virtues can truly help everyone.

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Bloom, Harold, ed. "The Character of Franklin." Benjamin Franklin, Classic Critical Views. New York: C helsea House Publishing, 2008. Bloom's Literary Reference Online. Facts On File, Inc. http://www.fofweb.com/activelink2.asp?ItemID=WE54&SID=&iPin=C C VBF019&SingleRecord=True (accessed October 25, 2012).

Franklin, Benjamin, Dixon Wecter, Larzer Ziff, and Benjamin Franklin. Benjamin Franklin's Autobiography. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1959. 81+. Print.

Tuckerman, Henry T. "The Character of Franklin." Facts on File. Web. 29 Oct. 2012

Journal 11

Journal 11 asks us to explain our virtues that we want or do live by.

I think my first virtue to live by is honesty. Honesty is important in a lot of things in life. I would have someone be harshly honest to me than lie. I treat other people the same. Example: I ask someone if my hair looks good, clearly it does not. I expect them to tell me it does not and perhaps help me fix it. Even though the truth hurts sometimes I would rather know it now than later. Honesty is very important virtue to live by.  Another virtue I live by is frugality. I would love to not spend money on things I do not need. Of course this would probably not happen. But hey I can try. I want to live my life happy and do things that make me pleased. I do not want to have to worry or dread doing something. I want to live life to the fullest potential. I think cleanliness is another virtue to live by. It is very important to be clean and to live in a clean home. I hate i when people smell bad. This school needs to learn to live by the cleanliness virtue. Seriously. The school has showers.. Anyway virtues are very important and help shape our lives. 

Journal 12

The American Dream very's for everyone. Depending on your ethnicity, social class, and job the hope and dream very's for everyone. To me the American Dream is being able to be free. You can be whoever you want in America. A person has freedom of speech and can be his or her true self, as long as in coincides with the law. I think going to college also a part of American Dream. Being able to go beyond high school is a huge privilege the United States of America.

I think the American Dream has many characteristics. People want to live the American lifestyles, which I think is a huge fantasy. Characteristics are things people want. They want the fancy cars and the huge Hollywood style homes with million dollar views. They want the huge rooms with indoor spas and pools.Women dream of the football star husband or a model husband making lots of money. Men dream of supermodel and actress wives. Children want to become the child star being MaryKate and Ashley or Miley Cyrus.  Of course we all want to make a ton of money and drive top line cars. We all want the next big thing like the Iphone or the newest tablet. We even want the cutest animals like puppies, kittens, and zebras.Basically the American Dream is wanting things.

Clearly not everyone will reach the "American Dream" but we all have it in some ways. For me being happy is the American Dream. I want a loving family and a solid good job. I want to have a good education and succeed to my fullest degree. Money and fancy cars would make me super happy but I do not expect it all. I do not think anyone should expect it.. Anyway, the American Dream is a goal we all want to reach. Only few of us will reach it and I wish the best of luck to the ones that do

Franklins Autobiography

The autobiography of Benjamin Franklin included many of Franklins thoughts and virtues of life. His writing reflects more of the rationalism period rather than the Puritan period for many reasons.

The rationalism period is reflected throughout Benjamin Franklin’s autobiography. One reason is because his writing is more logic and analytic thinking as compared to always referring things back to God. The rationalism style of writing uses more of the persuasive talking and figurative language. The Puritan period uses more of the straight to the point words and everything is based off of God. Franklin is a deist. He does not use God or reference religion in his autobiography. He was more of a man that God could go without mentioning, which is why he does not resemble anything near the Puritan writing style.

Franklin was also an inventor. He created many things that helped the human race advance in technology. Not once did he mention that God helped him make his inventions. The reader can see that Ben was aware of his surroundings through this quote: "Tho’ I never arrived at the perfection I had been so ambitious of obtaining, but fell far short of it, yet I was, by the endeavor, a better and a happier man than I otherwise should have been if I had not attempted it.”  (The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin 90).

The Puritans believe that God is a part of everything that happened. They believe that God created the world and therefore he creates everything in it, no matter what. Well, that is what sets the two religious views apart from each other. The fact that Franklin is a deist helps his writing because at the time, he helped write the constitution and made technology advances. Instead of filling his autobiography up with all references to God, he uses the power and persuasion of his words to make people listen and read what he has to say.

Another reason Franklins writing reflects more of the rationalism period is through the virtues. He lists thirteen virtues he thinks people should live their life by. To make sure that he was abiding by these rules, and to make sure that he was on the right track for becoming a better person with better morals he created a system that was to keep track of the all the times be stuck to them.  The system was a checking system that had a chart and boxes to mark in labeled with the appropriate titles for the appropriate virtues.  To work the chart, it meant that when he had violated a virtue and did not live up to what the virtue read, he would make a mark in the box for that day that he failed.  The goal was to minimize the marks in the chart and to keep a clean life.  None of these values included God.  It was obvious to see that Franklin focused on his beliefs instead of God’s. If his writing reflected the Puritan period, he would be basing his virtues on God and God’s beliefs.

Throughout the autobiography the reader can clearly see the writing reflects the rationalism period. Franklin was an avid thinker and inventor whose ideas helped shaped the world today.

 

"Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin: Chapter 9." Kellscraft Home Page: Free Books On-Line - And Much More! Web.

  <http://www.kellscraft.com/FranklinAutobio/FranklinAutobiographyCh09.html>.