THE AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF BENJAMIN FRANKLIN part 1 – Flashcards
Unlock all answers in this set
Unlock answersquestion
The Autobiography opens with a ________ to Ben Franklin ________, William Franklin who at the time was the royal governor of New Jersey.
answer
salutation. son
question
Franklin is writing in the summer of _______ on vacation in a small town about 50 miles south of _______.
answer
1771. London
question
Franklin says that because his son may wish to know about his life, he is taking his one week vacation in the English __________ to record his past.
answer
countryside
question
Franklin says that he has enjoyed his life and would like to repeat it, although he would like to correct some small errors if the opportunity arose. But since Franklin cannot repeat life, he can instead _______ it. He thanks ________ for allowing him to live a good life.
answer
recollect. God
question
Franklin recounts some of his family's _______. He has been the ________ son of a youngest son for five generations, although Franklin does have two younger sisters.
answer
ancestry. youngest.
question
He tells of his grandfather and uncles, and he includes some _________ from his well respected uncle ___________, the man after whom he was _________.
answer
poetry. Benjamin. named
question
The Franklins have always been an active clan; they were involved very early on in the ____________ in ___________, for instance.
answer
Reformation. Europe
question
Ben then discusses his parents. His father, _________ Franklin, moved from _________ to America in _______ with his wife and three children. He had four more children with that wife, and ten more children with Abiah, whom Josiah married after his first wife died.
answer
Josiah. England. 1682
question
Ben himself, the 15th of 17 children, was born in ________ on January 17, ________.
answer
Boston. 1706
question
Most of Benjamin's brothers became __________ in various _________, as was the custom in the 18th century.
answer
apprentices. trades
question
Ben, however, was put into ________ _________ with the intent that he would later go into the ________.
answer
grammar school. church
question
He quickly rose to the __________ of his class, and before long he was sent to a different grammar school to develop his writing and math skills. Although he failed at _______, he was very good at writing.
answer
head. math
question
However, at age ________ he was taken from school and put to work with his _________, a _________ and _______ maker.
answer
ten. father. candle. soap
question
Around this time, Ben, being interested in the sea but prohibited from becoming a sailor by his __________, once convinced his young friends to build a wharf from some stolen stones from a quarry. He was caught and _________ so as to be taught that __________ is never useful.
answer
parents. punished. dishonesty
question
Ben writes that he admired his __________, who he deems was of "sound understanding and solid judgment" and generally respected in town.
answer
father
question
_________ taught Ben the crucial skill of ________, which would forever more come in handy.
answer
Josiah. debate
question
As a tribute to his parents, Ben had them buried in a prominent ______________ near Boston Common (Paul Revere, John Hancock and Sam Adams are some of the others buried there), and he erected a _________ to them which stands as the central feature in the cemetery today.
answer
Boston graveyard. monument
question
However, Ben disliked his father's trade making candles, so Josiah set out to find him a new line of work. After passing up _________, Josiah noticed that Ben was particularly bookish, and so he put Ben to work for his brother ________ a _________.
answer
cutlery. James. printer
question
Ben, at the age of ________, signed a contract to work for James for the next _______ years. This line of work allowed Ben to read even more. He notes that he enjoyed particularly Bunyan, Mather and Daniel Defoe. He borrowed many books from a local bookseller, and developed his own writing skills by imitating the style used by the professional authors.
answer
12. 8.
question
Around the same time, he notes that he befriended a "bookish lad" named __________ __________, with whom he honed his debate skills via ________.
answer
John Collins. letters
question
Josiah, meanwhile, helped advise Ben in his writing form. He acquired a copy of the British newspaper ____________ and imitated its style, soon leaning "method in the arrangement of thoughts."
answer
The Spectator
question
The opening part of the Autobiography addresses some themes that will come up later on in the book, namely, ______________ and ___________.
answer
self-betterment. religion
