The second part of Franklin’s autobiography was clearly oozing with vanity and major self confidence. I feel like Franklin does a humorous job of trying to play his ego down, but in turn making him sound and seem even more pompous. A good example of that is when he is reminiscing about establishing a public library and he says, “so few were the readers at that time in Philadelphia, and the majority of us poor…” , I am pretty sure that Franklin was not poor at this time while trying to build a public library.
The second subject that is a constant throughout the autobiography is vanity. He makes several statements about vanity such as “the present little sacrifice of your vanity will afterwards be amply repaid.” I thought this was an interesting quote because he makes this statement in regards to building the library, and how (at the time) he tried to stay out of the spotlight and let his friends reap the benefits. He doesn’t even follow his own advice because he is writing this for everyone to see and to know that he did that. It makes it even vainer to publish something that you did in lieu of avoiding vanity no matter how many years ago it may have been.
Mt favorite quote of arrogance has to be near the end of the passage when Franklin is “surprised” that he has so many faults; but knew that he could watch them diminish while using the 13 step program that he himself wrote. Is he extremely vain because he was one of the youngest children out of more than a dozen? Or just trying to cement him as an important figure in history? One of the last subjects I found intriguing was when a Quaker friend of Franklin’s told him to add Humility to his 12 steps because Ben was often thought of as too proud and very insolent when in heated discussions. Franklin immediately states that he can fix this pride and selfishness by simply adding humility into his daily routine and practicing it. In the last paragraph of the reading he states (unlike any other on of his steps) that in “reality there is perhaps no one of our natural passions so hard to subdue in pride.” In that sentence alone he immediately is defending is outward pride and lack of humility. I guess Franklin needs to add some more steps to mold the perfect man.
Tuesday, January 30, 2007
Thursday, January 25, 2007
Notes on Virginia
Jefferson’s Notes on Virginia were vehemently different than what I expected. Initially I was concerned about it being a very dry read and struggling to get through it. Consequently I was quite intrigued by Query 11 concerning the Native Americans. Throughout the passage he seemed to focus on a few key points including language, skin color, and government. His concern and focus on language between the Indian tribes was interesting. He continually spoke of the tribes not being able to communicate properly with one another, or “losing their language”. But who really lost the Indian language? The numbers of the people in the tribes were being lost, not because they wanted to, but because they were being forced.
Another interesting passage on page 222 spoke of the Mattaponies tribe and that “they have more negro than Indian blood in them”. I found this focus on color interesting. All of the early English writers are constantly comparing skin color. On the other hand, the color contrast normally moves from dark to light, not from light to dark. The feeling towards Jefferson and he treatment of slaves is undecided on many accounts, although he does contradict himself constantly. I think Jefferson regularly remarks on the skin color comment because he finds himself superior and higher class, but yet he wants to make sure he recognizes Native Americans and African slaves just to say he has.
He also discusses government and heavily alludes to the fact that although there may be language barriers between all of the Indian tribes, there still exists an organized system/government of some type. And on the other hand he mentions that if the government is too stiff, it can be quite detrimental. This totally contradicts the English style of government that Jefferson is primarily involved in and glorifies the Native American unity to a certain extent. How can the Indian form of “government” (or lack thereof) be better than the English system? I think this goes back to the story of how proper civilization and doing things “correctly” can cause the people of that society to lose sight as to what is really just, such as family and keeping tradition alive.
Another interesting passage on page 222 spoke of the Mattaponies tribe and that “they have more negro than Indian blood in them”. I found this focus on color interesting. All of the early English writers are constantly comparing skin color. On the other hand, the color contrast normally moves from dark to light, not from light to dark. The feeling towards Jefferson and he treatment of slaves is undecided on many accounts, although he does contradict himself constantly. I think Jefferson regularly remarks on the skin color comment because he finds himself superior and higher class, but yet he wants to make sure he recognizes Native Americans and African slaves just to say he has.
He also discusses government and heavily alludes to the fact that although there may be language barriers between all of the Indian tribes, there still exists an organized system/government of some type. And on the other hand he mentions that if the government is too stiff, it can be quite detrimental. This totally contradicts the English style of government that Jefferson is primarily involved in and glorifies the Native American unity to a certain extent. How can the Indian form of “government” (or lack thereof) be better than the English system? I think this goes back to the story of how proper civilization and doing things “correctly” can cause the people of that society to lose sight as to what is really just, such as family and keeping tradition alive.
Thursday, January 18, 2007
Jonathan Edwards
The first thing that I started to think about with this document was the way it was arranged for the reader. I enjoyed the beginning lead in to Edwards main argument. After reading through it multiple times I really started to comprehend what Edwards was trying to argue. The beginning of the passage started to tell a story about the light that spread from God to Peter. It speaks of how peter is “truly blessed” because he has received a spiritual light from God and pronounced that Christ was in fact the son of God. From there it started to go into Edwards’s doctrine.
One of the introductory paragraphs that immediately gained my attention was the section when Edwards spoke of how “it was not flesh and blood that had revealed it to him, but God.” After that sentence it goes on to talk about how the message given to Peter is truly special and unique and unnatural. For if it were natural and could be spoken by all men, then surely someone like a priest or anyone in high society would know God’s information before a peasant or of the like. This idea is continually brought up later in the doctrine and is the foundation that Edwards is trying to argue.
The part of the argument that I studied closely was the section on imagination in relation to spiritual light. This really interested me because I often wondered who are the so called “chosen ones” and if they can prove their claim. Many people take impressions and turn them into a spiritual light. I do not believe that it is necessarily a bad thing to “trick” yourself into believing and trying something new, but it is not a message directly from God. “The spiritual and divine light does not consist in any impression made upon the imagination.” This passage goes onto discuss the light as an unseen blessing. A person cannot see this light or view these messages, nor are the messages life changing. Edwards argues that messages are sent through the light and may bring inspiration that could cause a person to have an epiphany.
One of the introductory paragraphs that immediately gained my attention was the section when Edwards spoke of how “it was not flesh and blood that had revealed it to him, but God.” After that sentence it goes on to talk about how the message given to Peter is truly special and unique and unnatural. For if it were natural and could be spoken by all men, then surely someone like a priest or anyone in high society would know God’s information before a peasant or of the like. This idea is continually brought up later in the doctrine and is the foundation that Edwards is trying to argue.
The part of the argument that I studied closely was the section on imagination in relation to spiritual light. This really interested me because I often wondered who are the so called “chosen ones” and if they can prove their claim. Many people take impressions and turn them into a spiritual light. I do not believe that it is necessarily a bad thing to “trick” yourself into believing and trying something new, but it is not a message directly from God. “The spiritual and divine light does not consist in any impression made upon the imagination.” This passage goes onto discuss the light as an unseen blessing. A person cannot see this light or view these messages, nor are the messages life changing. Edwards argues that messages are sent through the light and may bring inspiration that could cause a person to have an epiphany.
Tuesday, January 16, 2007
intro
Hey!
My name is Laree Beans and I am a Junior from Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. I am on the field hockey team and will graduate next December. I am an EXSS major who enjoys reading and would like to expand my knowledge of literature. I really enjoy going to see movies and especially love old movies and musicals. My favorite actor is Gene Wilder, which many of my friends make fun of me for :) I love going to NYC to see a Broadway show every once and a while. I am also an avid sports fan and I love all of the Philadelphia teams. Well, i am looking forward to reading new material in the class and getting to know some of you.
Laree
My name is Laree Beans and I am a Junior from Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. I am on the field hockey team and will graduate next December. I am an EXSS major who enjoys reading and would like to expand my knowledge of literature. I really enjoy going to see movies and especially love old movies and musicals. My favorite actor is Gene Wilder, which many of my friends make fun of me for :) I love going to NYC to see a Broadway show every once and a while. I am also an avid sports fan and I love all of the Philadelphia teams. Well, i am looking forward to reading new material in the class and getting to know some of you.
Laree
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