You should be finishing TSB, and starting Ben Franklin's autobiography. This assignment counts for you for both Honors English AND, if you are taking it, Honors History. You have this week and next to complete this assignment.
When you get to the part in the book where Franklin writes to his son about attaining moral perfection, I would like you to read it and do the following:
Franklin epitomizes good old New England common sense. He chose to master one virtue at a time and he kept a little log in which to do so.
On MY blog, I would like you to go ahead and explain which of the virtues you still think are applicable to American society, and, also, explain if any of them are "outdated." For instance, carefully read Franklin's definitions of "justice" and "moderation." Do these definitions hold true today, or do they need new definitions for the modern world? Do you see any glaring holes in his list? Are there different virtues we should practice in these times?
On YOUR blog, please do the following: I want YOU to give "a week's strict attention" to one virtue. It can be one that is the SAME as one of Franklin's, or it can be one that you choose. Franklin thought he could only attain moral perfection if he followed a method. You will choose a virtue, practice it, and keep track of your progress by maintaining your record keeping every day. You'll ask yourself, how did I do with my virtue today? You can post on your blog every day, or you can keep track on a separate piece of paper, and post it all at the end of the week. Your post on your blog must explain the following: (1)The virtue you chose to practice, why you chose it, (2) if it is similar to Franklin's definition or entirely different and why, (3) your plan to master that virtue, and, finally, (4) summarize how you did. Did you do well? Did you find it hard to practice your virtue? Don't forget to post on each other's blogs! You'll see that I have put hyperlinks below for everyone's blogs.
ENJOY!
Sample post:
The virtue that I chose was Tranquility. I like Franklin's definition, because I think he's getting at not getting all excited about the little things over which you have no control . I have been extra tired this summer, partially due to heat, partially due to a baby who likes to get me up four times a night on average, and it seems like I have been kind of impatient and anxious about things. I want to work on being calmer, and, well, more tranquil. My plan is to blog my progress each day, and, then when the week is up, I will go ahead and summarize my thoughts on this virtue and whether I think, with this kind of practice, that I could be more tranquil!
Monday-Today I did pretty well, although I am pretty sure that my kids wouldn't agree. I got kind of upset about the messes in the kitchen and livingroom and the lack of help in the garden, but then I calmed down and decided to let it go for now. I think I need to make my expectations clearer and not just expect the kids to read my mind and clean up things that look messy to me.
Tuesday- Is it me, or is it too hot to be tranquil? Being hot makes me grumpy, but I do feel better about the house. Mr. V and I sat down and made a list and designated chores, and it IS easier to be tranquil in a clean house. And, today, I was annoyed because a check that I was supposed to get in the mail LAST THURSDAY at the LATEST, STILL DIDN'T COME, and, rather than get all upset, I just went ahead and placed another call to the company. They explained the hold up, and that was a lot better than fuming all afternoon about how I was going to afford my next box of diapers! Plus, I worked with a lot of Adult Ed students on their essays, and, rather than be surprised and upset when they got bogged down finding evidence for their main points, I tried really, really hard to make the whole thing easy going and fun, and I think that was a good step.
Wednesday- Today I chose to listen to some really calming music (Regina Spektor) while I worked with Summer School kids, worked on my honors post, worked on my regular English syllabi, and my Adult Education folders. This was a good way to be tranquil. Sometimes you forget that you have a great CD on your shelf, and it's a great, almost new discovery all over again!
Thursday--Today was a pretty tranquil day. I had a lot to do, and I thought it would be crazy, but it wasn't. I took Liam to the doctor, and he was NOT tranquil when he was given those four shots!
Friday-- Today was the last day of summer school, and then we celebrated with Pizza Hut, shopping and swimming. That was pretty relaxing, but I spoiled it all by getting uptight at my parents' house. I didn't want to saying anything in front of my parents, so I stewed the whole time we were there. Bad.
Saturday--Well, today was a little different. Today I totally was not tranquil at all. I was trying to clean the house, get ready for Boston, work in my garden, do 1,000 things at once, and it was just not working and I was getting really frustrated.
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16 comments:
Can you intertwine two different virtues? Like, for example, can I use patience and reliablity?
So this coming week Sunday the 13th through Tuesday the 22nd I abm going to be in D.C. on a medical trip so I have no idea if I will have time to read and I know that i wont be able to post at all. When exactly to you want this testing out the virtue thing done??
Yes, (Whitney) go ahead and intertwine, and (Ashlee) why don't you go ahead and practice your virtue while you're away, using a piece of paper or a notebook to keep track of your progress. It is technically due on the 18th, but you can post it when you get back, along with the small reflection piece.
Hmm I don't know. In all honesty I wasn't holding out a whole lot of hope for old Ben and his virtues. But I stand corrected. I like his thoughts on these topics. I do not find any of them significantly outdated... Some do not seem to hold a very prominant place in our society but that doesn't mean that they shouldn't. In fact I believe that perhaps they should. Yes that's settled I like them all. If anything's outdated it's the lables of each. For ex. "Frugality and Chastity"... We have many more common terms. But personally I think that the same basic principals should hold true.
I agree with Ashley in that I see most of these virtues as almost timeless and still fairly applicable today. I do feel like most of these aren't practiced very regularly, especially today, but I still see them as very relevant. I wonder when Franklin says "wrong none by doing injuries" if that includes war? If it did, we've definitely messed up that one. =] If there were a more modern version of these virtues, I'd want to see something about not discriminating against people for any reason. And I love how in the definition of humility Socrates is right up there with Jesus. (=
I don't think that any of the virtues that Franklin talks about are out dated, and if they are, I think we need to bring them back. (I'm thinking Chastity...some one should make that cool again!) I though the deffinitions were all pretty good. The interesting part of Justice to me was that justice wasn't something you used because some thing happened; it was what you started with. Which I suppose makes sense, because the root of justice is to do what is just, and you can do that for any thing at any time.
I think that Ben's virtues were good, and that in order to preserve the "look" of moral perfection, you would have to master them all. I don't want to be cynical or anything, but I feel that most of the virtues he practiced, people in the 21st century, have probably never thought of practicing. I agree with Emily, when she says "I think we need to bring them back." most of them would make the lives of many, a lot better.
I don't think any specific virtue is outdated, just words, and the way they are defined. I'm thinking that we have different definitions of "order, chastity, silence" and they're easier to understand.
I agree with Ashley Nichols Bens virtues still hold true to this day. At first I didn't really think they still were the same but they really are we just use more common names for them
I agree that we still use Benjamin Franklin's virtues today, but as Julianna said "At first I didn't really think they still were the same but they really are we just use more common names for them".
i didn't get any reading done while i was gone so i'm going to read it as quickly as possible so i can start my week long thingy.
I think there are a lot of these values that are not used in modern society. For example temperance, silence, frugality, sincerity, moderation, humility and chastity. Thats most of them, isn't it? Well, I was thinking of temperance, moderation, and frugality as how America at this point in time is so gluttonous. People need to learn how to conserve and not be so greedy in what they have / do not have.
Something I thought was weird was how Humility was defined... "Imitate Jesus and Socrates." That doesn't seem to fit well with modern society. Some people have no religion, some don't worship Jesus, and some people don't even know who Socrates is - plus his work isn't taught much anymore.
Well I think that Benjamin Franklin did a good job in creating his list of virtues. They all seem to still be relevant if you think about it. Some of them are easy to forget about but still important. I agree with Ashley that some of the terms are outdated but there meanings still hold true.
I agree with everyone. Franklin's virtue's in my opinion are not out dated. They are all things that should be top priority in our societies. Silence for instance would benefit allot of people. Many things today are said that would be better left unsaid. Sincerity is another one that could better our world. A man's word used to be worth something....not so much anymore.
I agree with the majority of people, the meanings of Franklin’s virtues still hold true but some are not fallowed anymore. Silence for instance is barley ever followed; people talk when they are not allowed to or when they are not spoken to all the time in society today. Ben’s virtues had many good intentions and for his time they fit but they do not mesh well with society today.
This I guess did not save the first time I posted it but I have been keeping record of all my work just in case this happened
Every Virtue he describes still hold true today. We may not think of them as he did but for the majority of good natured individuals their still practiced today. There will never be a time when one should not practice justice. Even though we do not live in a tranquil time there is still room to relax.
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