Essay/Term paper: Ben franklin

Essay, term paper, research paper:  Humanities Essays

There was a man named Josiah Franklin.

He owned a candle and soap shop in Boston,

Massachusetts. The sign for the shop was shaped like a blue

ball. Josiah had children, but there were often not living at

home. Josiah invited guests to his home to talk and teach his

children, but the guests were not aware that they were

invited to teach the Franklin children. Both Josiah and his

wife felt strongly about educating their children; they took

their childrens' education very seriously. Benjamin, one of

their children, always listened to the guests; he was a very

bright child. Benjamin taught himself to read when he was

only five years old. His parents wished that they could send

Ben to school, but they were very poor. Once three very

important men visited Josiah and told him of a new law

which said that children must attend school. Josiah sent Ben

to the Boston Latin School because the only expenses were

books and fire wood. At the Latin School all the children

were expected to learn fables by heart. The fables had

lessons which the school master thought was an important

part of learning. Ben's best friend's name was Nathan. Ben

helped Nathan learn the fable "The Wolf and the Kid", while

Ben learned "The Dog and his Shadow". At the time of the

recital of the fables the school master said, "and Ben will

recite "The Wolf and the Kid", which was Nathan's fable.

Ben thought, "If I say that it is Nathan's fable, then the school

master will get into trouble. If I recite the fable, then Nathan

will get into trouble." Ben did nothing; he simply stood there

looking up into the sky. Everyone said that Ben was lazy and

that he could not even learn one fable. Josiah Franklin stood

up and explained his son's behavior and the school master

was very embarrassed. Josiah and Nathan's father both took

their sons to the Writing School. Ben was good in every

subject except math. An example of the type of math that

Ben had trouble with is; 848 plus 262 equals 101010. Poor

Ben would get a zero but his teacher would not explain the

math to him. Ben loved science and frequently did

experiments. His first experiment was paddles to make him

swim faster. When he tried his newly invented paddles he

found that although he could swim faster the paddles hurt his

wrists. Next he made a kite which could pull him across the

pond and he found this an enjoyable experience. Ben and

Nathan bought parts of a sailboat which they repaired and

made perfect. When Ben got older he became his father's

apprentice in the candle and soap shop. Ben, the only son

who worked in the family business, treated the customers

well and helped his father. After working with his father for

several years Ben became his brother's apprentice in a print

shop. Ben made a deal with his brother. His brother would

pay for half the cost of Ben's dinner and Ben would pay for

his own food, and the leftover money would be spent on

books. Ben wrote stories for the local newspaper about the

problems Boston was having. When he wrote these articles

he used a pen name and even his brother did not know that

Ben was the author of the articles. Ben thought that if he

wrote about the problems of the city, the other Bostonians

would be embarrassed and would fix the problems before

other people made jokes about Boston. Eventually people

found out that Ben was the author of these articles and Ben's

brother became jealous and mean to him. Ben left Boston

and moved to Philadelphia where he set up his own printing

business. He printed the famous "Poor Richard's Almanac" a

best seller and decided that he would be print it every

twenty-five years. He never stopped experimenting and is

known for inventions such as; bifocal glasses, the rocking

chair and his most famous experiment showing how

lightening can produce electricity. Ben became a famous

politician, a minister to France, and traveled to Europe and

talked about the American cause. He died on April 17,

1790. QUESTIONS 1. Where did Ben live when he was

young? 2. What was Ben's father's name? 3. What was his

father's occupation? 4. What was the color and shape of the

sign above his father's shop? 5. How did the Franklin

children become educated? 6. What did Ben do during while

the guests were talking? 7. What accomplishment did Ben

do at the age of 5? 8. Why couldn't Ben go to school

regularly? 9. How many men came to Josiah to tell him

about the new school law? 10. What was the new law? 11.

What school did Ben go to, at first? 12. What was his best

friend's name? 13. What did people think of Ben when he

was supposed to recite a fable? 14. Why didn't Ben speak,

at the recital? 15. Who explained Ben's behavior, at the

recital? 16. What was the school master's mistake? 17.

Where did Ben go to school next? 18. Who else went to

that school? 19. What was Ben's weak subject? 20. Can

you solve Ben's math problem? 21. What was Ben's first

experiment? 22. What was the outcome of this experiment?

23. What was his second experiment? 24. What was the

outcome of the second experiment? 25. How did Ben make

a sailboat? 26. Who was he first an apprentice to? 27.

Later, he became an apprentice for whom? 28. What was

Ben's brother's occupation? 29. What deal did Ben make

with his brother? 30. Why did he make this deal? 31. What

did Ben write stories in the newspaper about? 32. Where

did Ben move to after he left Boston? 33. What was his

occupation there? 34. What famous book is Ben Franklin

known for? 35. What were some of his inventions? 36.

Which country was he a minister to? 37. When did Ben

Franklin die? ANSWERS 1. Boston 2. Josiah 3. candles

and soap 4. a blue ball 5. their parents and guests 6. Ben

listened and learned 7. taught himself to read 8. the family

was too poor 9. 3 10. all children must attend school 11.

Boston Latin School 12. Nathan 13. he was lazy 14. he

didn't want to embarrass either Nathan or the school master

15. his father 16. announced Nathan's fable as Ben's fable

17. Writing School 18. Nathan 19. math 20. he didn't carry

properly 21. swimming paddles 22. swam faster but his

wrists hurt 23. a kite to pull him across the pond 24. he had

fun being pulled across 25. with spare parts 26. his father

27. his brother 28. a printer 29. dinner half paid for by his

brother 30. money for books 31. problems in Boston 32.

Philadelphia 33. printer 34. "Poor Richard's Almanac" 35.

bifocals, rocking chair and electricity 36. France 37. April

17, 1790