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CONNOR MORRIS - The Way to Wealth

Analysis of Article

• After looking over the wikipedia article over "The Ways to Wealth" it was obviously that it could be improved in many ways. This article has a short paragraph summarizing "The Way to Wealth" is and underneath that list a few of the maxims that we within the essay, but that is it. It can be drastically changed in many ways. For instance it could have any of the following:
  • The Background
  • Publishing Information
  • The Historical Context
  • The Political Context
  • A Background of the Author
  • Structure and Major Arguments

Reading List

• LEPORE, J. THE CREED. New Yorker. 83, 45, 78-83, Jan. 28, 2008.
• Franklin, Benjamin. "The Way to Wealth." The Norton Anthology of American Literature.. Gen. ed. Nina Baym. 8th ed. Vol. A. New York: Norton, 2012. 457-63. Print.
• Carpenter, Kenneth. "Benjamin Franklin’s “The Way to Wealth”: Documenting Its Dissemination through Bibliographical Work."Readex. Web. 23 Oct. 2015.
• "Benjamin Franklin: Writer and Printer." Library Company. The Library Company of Philadelphia, 2006. Web. 23 Oct. 2015.
• Sullivan, Patrick. "Benjamin Franklin, The Inveterate (And Crafty) Public Instructor: Instruction On Two Levels In 'The Way To Wealth'." Early American Literature 21.3 (1986): 248. Academic Search Complete. Web. 29 Oct. 2015.
• Gallagher, Edward J.. “The Rhetorical Strategy of Franklin's "way to Wealth"”. Eighteenth-Century Studies 6.4 (1973): 475–485. Web.

Revised paragraph from article

Original

The Way to Wealth is an essay written by Benjamin Franklin in 1758. It is a collection of adages and advice presented in Poor Richard's Almanac during its first 25 years of publication, organized into a speech given by "Father Abraham" to a group of people. Many of the phrases Father Abraham quotes continue to be familiar today. The essay's advice is based on the themes of work ethic and frugality.

Revised

"The Way to Wealth" is an influential essay that was published by Benjamin Franklin in 1758 while he was on his journey to London. This collection of witty sayings was written for the 25th anniversary for the well know "Poor Richard's Almanac", which was a yearly publication of maxims, weather forecast, and tabular information among many other things, written by Franklin in the early 1700's. The Way to Wealth contains the major points that were written in Poor Richard's Almanac and more so, how it can be applied to one's daily life. It also contains his thoughts on Poor Richard, and the details that many who read it may have missed. It contains many proverbs including one that many know still today which states, 'Early to Bed, and early to rise, makes a Man healthy, wealthy and wise". Franklin continues to write a list of some of the more important character traits of people who were thought to be very successful in life, so that any ordinary person can read and try to better themselves everyday.

Original Contribution

I chose to do the Background and Early Publishing

Benjamin Franklin wrote "The Way to Wealth" in 1757 while traveling by ship from New York City to London, England. Franklin, a very busy man, found himself on a boat from New York to London which would take many months. On this trip, and it is believed that he started even before the ship set sail, he complied an list of epigrams over the Poor Richard's Almanac and put them into what is known today as "The Way to Wealth".

Franklin, being a well know author, publisher, and businessman, was widely considered to be a successful man in many ways, and his publication of "Poor Richard's Almanac" was read by a vast number of people in the mid 1700's. On this trip he decided to write a essay that contained the main points from his previous piece of work. By the time the ship docked in England, Franklin had finished his work and sent it on the first boat back to America.

It was in 1758 that "The Way to Wealth" was published in Philadelphia by Ben Franklin and David Hall. It was published as the Preface to "Poor Richard Improved', 1758, although it was soon reprinted as "The Way to Wealth", and was sold in at least a hundred and forty-five editions and six languages even before the eighteenth century was over, making it one of the most widely circulated books in history. In America it was featured around 300 times in over 40 different newspapers.