Literature Analysis 2

TOPICS

1)The book is about the life and times of Benjamin Franklin. It tells of his family history before he was born and you learn about his upbringing. It then delves into him as a young child which goes into him as a young man. Then into him as a man during the revolution and as an old man.
2)Walter Isaacson chose to write about Benjamin Franklin because he had an interest in his life, he also wanted to know more about Franklin before he became the man he is remembered for.
3)This book came to my attention when at first I was looking at a book about John Brown. And as I was looking I saw the title of the book and decided to get it. The reason I chose to read this book was because I wanted to learn more about him and what kind of a person he was.
4)The entire book felt realistic to me there was nothing about it that made me think otherwise. I made a connection with it because of how Benjamin Franklin wanted to learn so much about different things. I also have this interest but not to the extent that Franklin had.

PEOPLE

1)I think Isaacson interpreted his findings as best as he could especially since he had to do extensive digging to find out things about Franklin's life. His tone throughout the book is a upbeat tone except when talking about a death that happened.
2)Benjamin Franklin was about six feet tall wasn't really big but was well built. He acted with great kindness towards others. He also was a very bright person who was interested in many things. Was known for being a leader from the time he was a kid. Was adventurous and willing to take chances when he wanted to test something out. I would characterize him directly especially since there is so much to him as a person. Including how he seemed to separate some things from others in his life.
3)Franklin is such an interesting person that you could write a whole book just talking about him as an old man. But when you write about his whole life there is so much ground to cover. He accomplished so much in his life from being a politician to a diplomat to a scientist.

CHARACTER/PEOPLE

1)One example of direct characterization would be when Walter Isaacson describes Franklin and how he looks. An indirect characterization would be when Isaacson tells of a story when Franklin as a young boy and how he invents swimming paddles to make swimming easier. It shows how from a young age he had ingenious ideas to make things easier. I think he does both because it makes Franklin more of a dynamic character that he was.
2)I guess it does because there is more detail in certain sentences than others. I think he does this in order for his readers to get a better understanding on the person or situation. If he didn't do this it would make his sentences not as good as they should've been.
3)Benjamin Franklin is obviously a dynamic character he changes throughout the story. He becomes more of the person he ends up being through every little thing that has an effect on him. And there was a lot that happened to him whether he was an apprentice as a young man or a founding father later in his life.
4)After reading the book I felt as if I had met he real person. The detail in the book contributes to me feeling this way since there is so much in it. You get to know a lot of things about Franklin that you didn't realize happened to him.

STYLE

1)He didn't use much foreshadowing but you did realize certain things that were familiar in the life of Benjamin Franklin's life and other family members life. He did use symbolism by describing things that Franklin did in his life. Such as something he wrote or even the name of a poem or short story that he did at some point in his life.
2)Isaacson mainly focuses on the descriptions of people and of certain places. He did occasionally did focus on the dialogue but only when it was from a line of one of Franklin's writings. I think he made the right choice by focusing on how good the descriptions were. Especially since there was not much important dialogue to worry about or to even care about.
3)From the parts that I clearly remember he had that upbeat tone throughout. Which made the book a pleasure to read especially since the book in a way was celebrating his life.
4)His attitude towards Franklin was a good one. He didn't seem to have had any resentment or ill will towards Franklin in any way. He did seem to have an admiration to him for all that he did for this country and for all that he did as an individual.
5)The resources he used included Benjamin Franklin's own autobiographies. Also some article written about him from the time he was well known and living to articles remembering him. He also had help from historians from the time that he was living. To historians who were experts on the life and times of Benjamin Franklin. This had know effect on my thinking especially since researching Benjamin Franklin was difficult.

ENDURING MEMORY

I don't expect to remember every little thing in the book. But I will remember the humble start of one of the most brilliant men to have ever existed. Knowing that he was once a simple apprentice working in a printing press to then becoming a founding father of this country will always amaze me.