Term Papers on The Revolutionary Literature

Term Paper Title	The Revolutionary Literature
# of Words	959
# of Pages (250 words per page double spaced)	3.84

The Revolutionary Literature

There are two great revolutions take place in the eighteenth century American; one was American Revolution ;it ended with the independence of America as an achievement. The other was Enlightenment, an intellectual campaign which affected the American with rationalist and enabled them abandoned Puritanism. It focus on replace tradition with rationality, get rid of the unquestioning religious dogma and found scientific inquiry, set up representative government instead of monarchy. Most of the important writers of the 18th century belonged to the enlightenment. The enlightenment considered the chief means for the betterment of the society was the “enlightenment” or “education” of the people. They believed in the power of reason. Most of the enlightenment thinkers believed that social problem could not be solved by church doctrine or by the power of God, but should be solved with human intelligence. In this period, there are a series of eminent notables in the politics and literature field, such as Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Paine, whose prominent contributions and self-capability enabled them to become successful, and accelerant the development of the literature in that time.

Benjamin Franklin(1709-1790), in the words of biographer Carl Van Doren, was a "harmonious human multitude." His writing show the Enlightenment ideal of rationality and spirit in America at its best and most optimistic. His style is very modern, so even today his works are worthy to read. Although he is disagree with the opinions of the Puritans, his works wrote in the “plain style”. Meanwhile, there is something "anti-literary" about Franklin. He don’t like poetry and consider that writers should have a purpose in writing.

From his work, we can see these ideas. Almanacs, containing much useful informations for farmers and sailors (about the next year's weather, sea tides, etc.), is a popular form of practical literature. It is widespread in most Colonial households at that time. Poor Richard's Almanac (1732— 1757) wrote by Franklin made him well-known among the colonies. Readers can get many useful encouragements, advices, real informations from the book, and enjoyed in amusing characters such as old Father Abraham and Poor Richard persuade the reader with concise but memorable sayings. Some of them are also well-known today:

“Lost time is never found again.”

“Up sluggard, and waste not life; in the grave will be sleeping enough.”

“God helps them who help themselves.”

“A small leak will sink a great Ship.”

Franklin’s another famous work is his Autobiography. Franklin wrote the first five chapters of it in England in 1771, and continued thirteen years later (1784-85) in Paris and later in 1788 when he returned to the United States. It concerned to his various contribution including: printing, science, literature, and politics. In each of these fields, he was a leader. “He was the most famous and respected figure of his time”. In Franklin'...

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