什麼是Franklin的”self-invention”?

Question

Franklin: explain various ways in which his autobiography might be seen as \" self-invention\"
Jefferson: Considering Franklin\'s interest in self-invention, suggest ways in which Jefferson carries these interests into political sphere of Declaration.
我不懂的是self-invention的意涵，還有怎麼延伸到獨立宣言的精神啊@@

我這邊冒號不是「他說」的意思，是有關他這個人的敘述。
這是老師給我們的study guide for midterm essay questions.
我的問題是在，Franklin在Autobiography這篇裡面，有哪些example可以說明他"self-invention"的精神(還有到底什麼是self-invention,,,?很抽象....)
然後在Jefferson的獨立宣言裡，如何把Franklin的self-invention概念延伸到政治層面
好難喔......請對美國文學有研究的大大給點意見好嗎...
感激不盡ORZ

Answer 1

題目有點不懂, Jefferson後面的茂號是啥意思,Jefferson說嗎, 還是...?

2006-04-16 12:09:32 補充：
終於了解了
不過這個題目好像來自網路(可惜那個網站也沒有解答)
http://web.umr.edu/~kdrowne/105essayassignment.html

Describe the evidence of Franklin's interest in "self-invention" in his Autobiography and explain how Jefferson, with the assistance of Franklin, carried these interests into the political sphere of the Declaration of Independence.

總之,我想self-invention 可以解釋成為創舉的意思
他的自傳對美國文學甚至美國這個國家都有很大的影響
就是因為提出一些概念是前人所未曾明示的
別的不說
from rags-to-riches
這點就夠說了

白手起家的概念是Franklin一直強調的(舉例你要自己從書上找)
Franklin was that idea's living embodiment: A man with two years of elementary education - who became a scholar. A printer's apprentice - who became rich. A son of a candle-maker - who became an ambassador.

此種self-invention, trust thyself (你應該對這句話很熟悉喔)
所導引出來最重要的理念就是

對自我之肯定

就政治的影響
當然就是促進了獨立的腳步
因為肯定自我,因此相信可以遠離英國老祖宗的影響

同樣的
也因為對於自我的肯定
因此不會過於倚賴政府
That whenever any form of government becomes destructive to these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new government...
這些話可看出相信個體能力與決定應該是大於政府的
(所以個體能知道何種政府是該推翻)

簡而言之

self-invention-->trust yourself-->(1) 美國可獨立 (2) 政府不好也可推翻

2006-04-16 12:44:44 補充：
忘記說,我沒有真正看過獨立宣言Franklin的自傳倒是有總之以上純粹是我的想法