The Autobiography Of Benjamin Franklin Rhetorical Analysis

Audience as an Influencer When writing any type of composition, is the author consciously aware of who their audience will be? Benjamin Franklin started writing an autobiography of his life when he was about sixty-five years old. This self-narrative was written about Franklin’s life goals and accomplishments. The subject of who Franklin’s intended audience comes into question throughout the self-narrative. Many people think that The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin is written to or for Franklin’s son, however it seems to be written to the general public.

Most people believe that Benjamin Franklin is writing to his son. Franklin, at first, might have had the initial intention of writing this autobiography to his son because he started the essay with “dear son” (Franklin 1) and explains to him how he, himself, liked to hear about his ancestor’s stories. After telling the stories, Franklin starts to generalize what he is saying. He starts to tell his life story and his son is never directly mentioned in the book, until he is written about in part three. Franklin talks about his son this time instead of talking to him. When Franklin

He talks about things from the “establishment, that which [he] first formed, called the Union Fire Company” (Franklin 82) which was a big deal back then to inventing a new fireplace. He writes about his good deeds because Franklin wants to show what good Americans can do. His son would probably not have care as much, but the general public would care how Americans can prosper. Part three is all about how he prospered, how he lived the ‘American Dream’ Some believe that Benjamin Franklin wrote about his good deeds because he wanted to show Great Britain how great America was. He wanted to show that they could grow and prosper, that the Americans do not need Great Britain to survive, that they are fine by themselves, maybe ever