We discussed in class the effects of knowing who the author is, but are there effects of knowing why the author is writing. Would the section about Franklin's child born out of wedlock be longer were he not writing to his son? Was Franklin more concerned with highlighting the areas of his life of which he was most proud of? Or perhaps because he was writing for his son Franklin was more open and honest than he might have been had he been writing his story solely to be published.
Tuesday, September 23, 2008
Purpose of Writing
In the very first paragraph of this autobiography Benjamin Franklin writes "Now imagining it may be equally agreeable to you to know the Circumstances of my Life... I sit down to write them for you." After reading this quote I wondered if knowing the purpose for a book effects what I look for as I read. And in fact, I believe it did. As continued reading I noticed on page 12 that Franklin admits that his writing style is more relaxed because he is writing to his son, and not so that the book can be read my others.
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Was he writing for his son? I understood that he was writing with the intent to publish. While he starts off with "Dear son," he only addresses his son directly within the first eight lines. After that, the language suggests that he is writing for the general public. Consider even the bottom of the first page (p. 3) when he says "I shall indulge it, without being troublesome to other who thro' respect to Age might think themselves oblig'd to give me a hearing, since this may be read or not as one pleases." To me, that line suggests that he is not in fact writing this simply for his son, but for others.
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