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Michael T. Young TAH: Charms, Bi-County Collaborative September 23, 2010

Silence Dogood: The Formation of Benjamin Franklin’s Wit and Ideology Typically, students in a college-preparatory or advanced American literature survey course read Benjamin Franklin’s Autobiography in its entirety or an anthologized excerpt of it. Excerpts often include Franklin’s flight from his apprenticeship in Boston; his near shillingless arrival in Philadelphia with his pockets “stuffed with shirts and socks”; and his scientific experiment in moral perfection, which includes his list of virtues for which he is best known. These virtues and these accounts, according to some critics, created a glorification of the middling class in America (Wood 205) and highlighted a transition from the kind of Roman virtues typically celebrated during the Enlightenment to ones more bourgeois in intent (Staloff, lecture). Well-guided students should pause to reflect on Franklin’s vain boasting about his secretly submitted and pseudonymously published in his brother’s journal, The New England Courant. He was only sixteen at the time. The “Silence Dogood” satires read in their original format in The Courant on the Massachusetts Historical Society’s (MHS’s) web site will put Franklin in a new light for students in an American literature survey or American history course. These essays reveal a more-than-precocious adolescent exercising his wit and shaping his political and moral philosophy on which he will stake his life and career. Understanding that a sixteen-year-old could write in the voice of a forty-year-old spinster might even inspire some students to become writers themselves. Furthermore, placing these essays in the context of each edition of the Courant reveals republican ideas of the enlightenment filtering down to the masses and to young Franklin himself and shows general attitudes, superstitions, commercial activities, current events, and vices of Bostonians at the time they were written. In a history or literature class, this kind of study will foster viable primary-source research. In an English Language Arts classroom, these clever essays can teach students vital rhetorical strategies and literary terms such as satire, persona, verbal irony, pseudonym, personification, hoax, allegory, and euphemism, just to name a few.

Massachusetts State Frameworks Employed in the Unit I. English Language Arts Learning Standards Reading and Literature Strand

• 8.32: Identify and analyze the point(s) of view in a literary work. • 9.7: Relate a literary work to the seminal ideas of its time. • 10.6: Identify and analyze characteristics of genres (satire, parody, allegory,

pastoral) that overlap or cut across the lines of genre classifications such as poetry, prose, drama, short story, essay, and editorial.

• 12.6: Analyze, evaluate, and apply knowledge of how authors use techniques and elements in fiction for rhetorical and aesthetic purposes.

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Composition Strand

• 19.30: Write coherent compositions with a clear focus, objective presentation of alternate views, rich detail, well-developed paragraphs, and logical argumentation.

II. U.S. History I Learning Standards The Political and Intellectual Origins of the American Nation: the Revolution and the Constitution, 1763-1789 USI.1 Explain the political and economic factors that contributed to the American Revolution.

• B. How freedom from European feudalism and aristocracy and the widespread ownership of property fostered individualism and contributed to the Revolution

Objectives 1. To witness and examine the formation of Benjamin Franklin’s wit, ideology, and moral character 2. To place Franklin in the context of the enlightenment 3. To promote viable primary-source research 4. To identify literary techniques and rhetorical strategies in writing

Time Frame Three class periods with students working in groups and independently at home

Background The New England Courant was established in 1721 by James Franklin, Benjamin’s older brother. It was the first continuously published newspaper in all the North American colonies (Wood 20). The Courant, unlike most colonial newspapers of the time, operated independently from the British colonial government authorities. In fact, James Franklin’s goal was to openly challenge and satirize the Boston establishment, particularly the religious views held by the prominent Puritan Mather family and its elitist, self-serving interests (21). In fact, the pseudonym Silence Dogood is a spoof on Cotton Mather’s Essays To Do Good. In this environment, Benjamin Franklin served as a printer apprentice for his brother, absorbing radical views through his exposure to wits less sophisticated than he. The essays selected for this curriculum unit contain a two-part autobiographical introduction to Franklin’s persona Silence Dogood, an attack on Harvard college, a humorous critique of alcohol consumption, and a reprinting of an essay on freedom of speech from London, which Franklin decided to

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include to safely lampoon government officials for locking James in jail for a critical essay he had written the previous month (MHS). In these essays and in the surrounding articles in the Courant students can glean the building blocks of Franklin’s values, specifically regarding education and anti-“aristocratic pretensions” (Wood 218), that set him apart, say, from his Harvard-educated nemesis John Adams. We can also see the development of his moral character, which he will rehearse at the end of his life in the Autobiography and at the Constitutional Convention. For example, shrewd students will find a sprawling article written by another columnist praising “honour” and criticizing entitlement in the first edition of the Dogood series. As Wood informs us, Franklin shared remarkably similar beliefs in a letter to his daughter in 1784. Unfortunately, as Gordon Wood notes, such a virtue as “honor” would fall on deaf ears by unappreciative, and elitist, founders present at the convention (218-19).

Procedures Part I: Establish historical context for the lesson. A. Through homework, lecture, and class discussion, students must be familiar with the following: 1. Basic principles of the Enlightenment and republican virtue 2. An excerpt from The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin 3. Franklin’s beginnings, his loyalist tendencies, his treaty and peace brokering with France and England, his turn towards staunch radicalism, and his legacy 4. Literary techniques such as satire, irony, persona, and allegory 5. Alcohol consumption and taverns in eighteenth-century colonies Part II: Using Silence Dogood Documents A. Provide students with the link for the Massachusetts Historical Society web site so they can read them in hi-def and secure a computer lab, or copy documents for them B. Option 1: Under the guidance of the instructor, the entire class completes the study guide for document 1 so as to have a grasp of the lesson; then divide students into groups and assign each one of the other existing documents and study guides. C. Option 2: simply perform the second part of the above, skipping the first step D. Groups present their answers to the class Part III: Follow-up Assessment A. Students write a two to three page essay assessing to what extent their “Silence DoGood” essay and the New England Courant edition are reflective of certain qualities of Benjamin Franklin and the life and times of early eighteenth-century New England.

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Works Cited Franklin, Benjamin. “From The Autobiography.” Adventures in American Literature. Ed. Francis Hodgins, et. al. Chicago: Harcourt Brace, 1989. 76-83. Lender, Mark & James Kirby Martin. Drinking in America: A History. New York: Free Press, 1987. "Silence Dogood: Benjamin Franklin in The New England Courant." Massachusetts Historical Society. MHS, n.d. Web. 22 Sep 2010. Staloff, Darren. "The Politics of the Enlightenment." Teaching American History. Charms, Bi-County Collaborative. Stonehill College, Easton, MA. 12/08/2010. Lecture. Wood, Gordon S. The Americanization of Benjamin Franklin. New York: Penguin, 2004.

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Document 1: Silence DoGood, Essay 1, The New-England Courant, Number 35, 26

March - 2 April 1722 http://www.masshist.org/online/silence_dogood/doc-viewer.php?item_id=661&pid=6

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Document 1: Silence DoGood, Essay 1, The New-England Courant, Number 35, 26

March - 2 April 1722 In most instances, the letter “s” looks like this: _________ (students print the character for “s” in the blank)

Vocabulary fortnight, epistle, “leather apron man,” lucubrations, reprieve, frivolous, discretion

Questions 1. According to the writer, what do audiences demand first and foremost of a writer before they can appreciate his/her work? 2. What were the circumstances of Dogood’s birth? 3. What does Dogood value most about his/her master? 4. What is the supposed sex of Silence Dogood? Explain your answer with support from the text. 5. Who, in fact, is “Silence Dogood”? How old was he at the time? 6. Revisit #2 above. Is there anything in the autobiography of Benjamin Franklin that would allow you to generalize as to why a teenage Franklin would envision the circumstances of his persona’s birth in this way?

Primary Source Research Instructions: As a group, peruse the complete New England Courant for the above date on the Massachusetts Historical Society web site. Look at general attitudes about politics, religion, and current events. Read the shipping logs, advertisements, current happenings, and the lead article on the virtue of “honour.” Report to the class on the following question: What does this brief journal reveal about the life, times, and attitudes of Bostonians during Franklin’s adolescent years? Report on at least three beliefs, values, superstitions, or general observations garnered from your perusal that may have shaped the Benjamin Franklin that you know from popular mythology, history, and class lecture. Give support from the text.

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Document 2: Silence Dogood, Essay 2, The New-England Courant, Number 37, 9-16 April 1722

http://www.masshist.org/online/silence_dogood/img-viewer.php?item_id=634&img_step=1&tpc=&pid=6&mode=transcript&tpc=&pid=6#pa

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Essay 2, page 2

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Document 2: Silence Dogood, Essay 2, The New-England Courant, Number 37, 9-16

April 1722

Vocabulary topping, rhetoric, inclination, tranquility, arbitrary, inexorable, benefactor, meridian altitude

Questions 1. Why does Dogood’s master decide to court her? 2. In what humorous way does Dogood respond to her master’s attempts at courtship? Why does she respond in this way? 3. How does Dogood personify death? Quote the text. What metaphor does Dogood use for her age at the time of her husband’s death? 4. How does Franklin justify Dogood’s elevated language? 5. In the last paragraph, what are Dogood’s beliefs on politics and mankind in general? Offer one example from your knowledge of Franklin that mirrors his persona Dogood’s beliefs.

Primary Source Research Instructions: As a group, peruse the complete New England Courant for the above date on the Massachusetts Historical Society web site. Look at general attitudes about politics, religion, and current events. Read the shipping logs, advertisements, current happenings, and the lead letter to the Courant. Report to the class on the following question: What does this brief journal reveal about the life, times, and attitudes of Bostonians during Franklin’s adolescent years? Report on at least three beliefs, values, superstitions, or general observations garnered from your perusal that may have shaped the Benjamin Franklin that you know from popular mythology, history, and class lecture. Give support from the text.

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Document 3: Silence Dogood, Essay 4, The New-England Courant, Number 41, 7-14 May 1722

http://www.masshist.org/online/silence_dogood/img-viewer.php?item_id=638&img_step=1&tpc=&pid=&mode=large&tpc=&pid=#page1

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Essay 4, page 2

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Essay 4, page 3

Document 3: Silence Dogood, Essay 4, The New-England Courant, Number 41, 7-14 May 1722

Vocabulary

Ruminate, discourse, fancy (v.), obstinately, awful (as used on page 2), ignorance, idleness, docible, lubber, patrimony, pecunia, plagius (or plagian), theology

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Questions 1. Reviewing your notes and text book, what do you know about the extent of Franklin’s formal schooling? 2. For what advice does Dogood seek her reverend boarder? What answer does he give her? 3. In the first paragraph of her dream description, why does Dogood conclude that the students heading to the “temple of learning” are “dunces and blockheads”? What is young Franklin suggesting about higher education? 4a. The dream she describes is young Franklin’s attempt at writing satirical allegory. Either in a graphic, comic-book-style drawing or in words, capture the meaning of this dream sequence, being sure to explain the following pieces of the allegory: Riches & Poverty; the gate & edifice; the throne, steps, and figure of LEARNING; the veiled, antique figures to her left & English to her right; and Idleness & Ignorance at LEARNING’s feet. 5. Continuing with the idea of allegory, what happens to most of these “beetle skulls” once they leave college? 6. What does Franklin think of Harvard’s “Temple of theology”? Who is “pecunia” and why is she beckoning to the students from behind a curtain at this school? Who is Plagius and what act is he engaged in? Through these images, what is Franklin suggesting about those who enter the ministry and about organized religion? 7. According to Dogood, what are the only noticeable distinctions of learning that come with a Harvard education?

Primary Source Research Instructions: As a group, peruse the complete New England Courant for the above date on the Massachusetts Historical Society web site. Look at general attitudes about politics, religion, and current events. Read the shipping logs, advertisements, current events, and the letter to the editor on page three regarding just vs. unjust laws stemming from the cutting of white pine trees. Report to the class on the following question: what does this brief journal reveal about the life, times, and attitudes of Bostonians during Franklin’s adolescent years? Report on at least three beliefs, values, superstitions, or general observations garnered from your perusal that may have shaped the Benjamin Franklin that you know from popular mythology, history, and class lecture. Give support from the text.

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Document 4, Silence Dogood, Essay 12, The New-England Courant, Number 58, 3-10 September 1722

http://www.masshist.org/online/silence_dogood/img-viewer.php?item_id=654&img_step=1&tpc=&pid=6&mode=large&tpc=&pid=6#page1

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Essay 12, page 2

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Document 4, Silence Dogood, Essay 12, The New-England Courant, Number 58, 3-10 September 1722

Vocabulary Bacchus, dissertation, palled (probably pallid), impertinence, rakish, disposition, profligate, affronting, destitute, imputation, voluptuary

Questions 1. What does Dogood claim to be the best way of removing an “enormity” or vice? 2. What does Dogood think of “moderate drinking” among the learned? Explain Franklin’s irony in this statement. 3. What other advantages of drinking does Dogood mention? Can you cite examples from contemporary society that prove her wrong and thus support the point that young Franklin is trying to make? 4. What joke does Franklin make about women who consume alcohol? 5. What transformations happen to the “voluptuary” under the influence of alcohol? What ability does the drunkard lose to bring about these transformations? 6. With what memorable words and phrases for drunkenness does Franklin provide us? Explain his closing joke about his inclusion of these terms.

Primary Source Research Instructions: As a group, consider your knowledge from lecture on Drinking in America: a History. Report to the class on the following question: What does this excerpt reveal about alcohol consumption and drinking habits in New England in the early eighteenth century? How does it broaden our understanding of Franklin’s attitudes in the Dogood essay and in his autobiography? To what extent do these “vices” of Bostonians reveal their dependence on the slave trade and other imports?