Slavery in Phillis Wheatleys Poems

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Answer one of the following questions in this category: narrow and focus your answer and also support your response with examples and/or quotes from the readings. Your post should be between 300 and 350 words to get full credit. Click here to view the Discussion Guidelines. Click here to see the Rubric for the Discussion Post. Click here for some Helpful Hints about posts. Click here to see a Sample Discussion Post.

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One of the most enduring facets of Franklin’s Autobiography has been its value as a prototype of the American Dream, a true “rags to riches” story. Discuss the chief characteristics of Franklin's transformation from "poverty" to "affluence" in the first part of his Autobiography.

Discuss the argumentative strategies Jefferson uses in the “Declaration” to get the American reader on his side and against King George III, especially his juxtapositioning of "Divine Right of Kings" with the "Natural Rights of Man."

Crevecoeur’s most famous essay is “What is an American.” Find at least three characteristics of this "new American" and discuss them. How do they relate to his idea America as a “melting pot”?

Jonathan Edwards and Benjamin Franklin are important figures in the 18th c., but they represent two very different strands in the history of American thought. Edwards seeks a spiritual and theological guide to this life and especially the next life, much like that of Winthrop, Bradstreet, Rowlandson, and the 17th c. Calvinists.  Franklin employs a much more secular, Deistic, Enlightenment approach to solving man's problems and living successfully in this world, with the emphasis less on God's sovereignty and more on man's free actions. Discuss the ways in which Franklin's "Way to Wealth" and the first part of his Autobiography demonstrate these more secular Enlightenment ideals about society and humanity.

Wheatley is our first published African American poet, but she does not overtly criticize slavery in her poetry. Does she actually criticize the practice of slavery; if so, how does she do this subtly in her poetry? Cite examples from her poems. Why do you think she is so subtle in her criticism? What could her reasons be in 18thcentury America?   

Do you think Foster is offering a critique of Eliza, providing a model to young female readers of the dangers of being a coquette and becoming a “fallen woman” (she gives in to passion over reason)? Or is Foster subverting that model by presenting the difficulties women faced in pursuing the same kind of freedom men possessed in determining their life choices (she seeks individualism over conformity)?

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