Watch either The Great Gatsby or The Color Purple and relate it to “The Way to Wealth”
The American Dream lecture in Week 1 points out that Poor Richard’s Almanac was an annual publication that included calendar lists, home recipes, weather forecasts, etc. What made Franklin’s almanac unlike other almanacs was the inclusion of Franklin’s witty parables and humorous writings. The maxims below relate to Franklin’s ideas of working hard, avoiding debt, and working toward attaining a virtuous character. Choose three maxims and align them with a character or characters in either The Color Purple or The Great Gatsby. For example, you might choose Celie from The Color Purple and discuss maxims 1, 4, and 6; or, you might choose The Great Gatsby and align Daisy with maxim 4, Tom with maxim 5, and Nick with maxim 6. You will be providing quotes from the film you select to support your observations about each character/maxim in your writing.
Choose Three of These Maxims from “The Way to Wealth”
1. “There are no gains without pains”
2. “Do not squander time, for that’s the stuff life made of”
3. “Fools make feasts, and wise men eat them”
4. “He that lives upon hope will die fasting”
5. “The second vice is lying, the first is running in debt”
6. “If you will not hear reason, she’ll surely rap your knuckles”
Your thesis statement should follow this template:
Three maxims from Franklin’s “The Way to Wealth” that the characters embody in The Color Purple (or The Great Gatsby) are _____, _____, and _____.
