Poor Richard’s Almanack Poor Richard’s Almanack, written and compiled by Benjamin Franklin, under the pseudonym Richard Saunders, “proved to be one of the most popular almanacs in the American colonies” (Morgan). Embodying aspects such as ideas and names from the works of contemporary almanacs published in England (McMaster 101), Franklin created a unique piece of literature that was both analytical and entertaining. Almanacs offered an exceptional way for information to be spread because they…
Some people say that they golf to relax. I however cannot understand that statement. Personally I would rather just throw my first three balls directly into the river and drop my fourth two hundred feet from the green. And I’d rather build castles in the sand trap rather than try to pitch a ball out of it. But somehow in the seventh grade I found myself on the junior high golf team. Although I didn’t know it when I wrote my name on the sign-up sheet, golf would teach me the most important lesson…
"Ring!" sounded the final bell on a Friday afternoon at school. Students sprinted out of class to get to their cars trying to beat the rush of traffic; I was one of them. I stopped by my locker to grab all of my books and then hurried out to my shiny gold Toyota Camry. I quickly put my key into the ignition and backed out of my parking spot. I stepped on the gas pedal to beat all of the idiot drivers that don 't know how to wait their turn. Once at the stoplight, I took a sharp right turn…
There is nothing better than seeing a smile transform a frown. Our shift is coming to an end, and we sit on the counters of a cramped room in the basement of a hospital. We laugh and joke around, creating in one night, enough inside jokes to last a lifetime. Our best florists open the flower-filled storage and begin the task of forming two modest vases. These vases are not for us, nor are they for sale. Once finished, they will be brought upstairs and presented to a patient. The expertly…
Not Broken, Just Bent I stood in front of a mirror; not an unusual action for a young girl. I waited on my grandmother, waited for what now escapes me, and decided to take advantage of her full length mirror––I did not have one of those at home. I remember this particular mirror, as it had collected many years of experience and had, no doubt, seen many reflections and curious onlookers. It leaned up against the wall in her dining room, waiting for the next observer that happened to chance by.…
because it is virtually demonstrates how the audience can come to their own conclusions regarding morality. The story correspondingly interconnects with the other two excerpts: All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten by Robert Fulghum and Poor Richard’s Almanac by Ben…
to his writings on a personal level. In his original Poor Richards Almanac, published in 1732, he provides insightful advice and morally sound lessons intended to educate and entertain the audience for which it was intended. This audience was comprised of poor farmers, struggling craftsman, and frankly anyone wishing to make any means of a living or to get rich through their own business ventures. In his original preface to the main text of Poor Richards Almanac, entitled The Way to…
Third Time's A Charm “The moment when you want to quit, is the moment when you need to keep pushing”-Ins-power. When I was 16 years old, I wanted to take my learners test, but I failed 2 times. After that, I studied everyday and night non stop for over 2 weeks, and I ended up getting a perfect score when I went to take it a third time. Now, I’m close to being able to get my license and having freedom to go wherever I please. It was 9 o’clock in the morning, and I had just woken up. I…
Chuck van der Woodsen lives on the corner of 13th street. Not in a house, nor an apartment, but next to a dumpster on the sidewalk. His daily routine consisted of begging for spare change and rummaging through dumpsters for scraps. Barely making it by. Of course plenty of people walked past him everyday in the huge city of Chicago. Every once and awhile someone would generously throw a dollar or two in his tattered hat that he kept beside him. Other times they offered him something to eat.…
place where there are (virtually or literally) no poor, no class struggles, no crimes, etc. More’s Utopia, as described through the recollection of the landless traveler/philosopher Raphael Hythloday, achieves these ends primarily through its commonplace “laws,” i.e., its distributed model of property. Jonathan Swift’s scathing satire “A Modest Proposal…” sardonically depicts a society where the solution to poverty and to the struggle of the poor lies in the resale and culinary value of the…