Part one of term paper
Benjamin Franklin's Autobiography is broken up into four integral parts, all written during different periods in Franklin's life. The first part, addressed to his son, William, was written when Franklin was sixty-five years old. Before he began the task of recording his past, Franklin carefully wrote out a list of topics he would narrate to h ...

Part two of term paper
... eighty-three. The tangled history of how Franklin's autobiography became to be is interesting in itself. It shows Franklin's motives behind writing his autobiography. When Abel James wrote "kind, humane, and benevolent" Franklin to finish his life story, he told Franklin that his autobiography "would be useful and entertaining not only to a few but to millions (55)." Franklin wrote to his friend and confidant, Vaughan, for advice. Vaughan agreed with James and also urged Franklin to print the hi ...