To begin, I find it strange that Franklin begins his autobiography with “Dear son:…”(6); usually autobiographies begin with a more straight-forward recount of the person’s earlier life experiences but it appears that this autobiography is a message to his son instead. Also with Franklin’s autobiography, he doesn’t begin it from his earliest memories but instead, writes anecdotes about his family members for some pages before beginning to write about himself. As his autobiography continues, we find that Franklin has many triumphs in his life including his ability to write eloquently but more importantly, his ability to rise in the social-class hierarchy; he grew up in a humble family but eventually (based on our knowledge) ends up a well-renowned scholar. Though the organization of his autobiography can be considered digressive and unclear at points, Franklin manages to convey an overall message that if he can rise from a lower-class individual to an upper-class scholar, anybody else can do the same. From this, we can conclude that Franklin’s autobiography may be the first example of the American dream which makes it so compelling to read.

a) Whenever speaking, always have a logical argument and have evidence to support claims.

b) If you are dying to speak, wait patiently until the professor calls on you.