What is a pseudonym?

Why might people use pseudonyms?

Famous Pseudonyms

• Mark Twain
• Lewis Carroll
• Jay Z
• Dr Dre
• Eminmen

Create your own!

Benjamin Franklin's famous pseudonym was Poor Richard

Benjamin Franklin

Good Citizenship

• Ben Franklin believed that people volunteering together in a spirit of cooperation could accomplish great things.
• Driven by a strong sense of civic duty, he involved himself in his community and his nation.

Always mindful of the “greater good,” Franklin helped establish or improve institutions such as circulating libraries, public hospitals, mutual insurance companies, volunteer fire departments, agricultural colleges, and intellectual societies.

Poor Richard's Almanack

Poor Richard

• Franklin's best-remembered and most popular humor was found in the pages of Poor Richard's Almanack.
• Franklin first published it in December of 1732 and continued with one edition per year for the next 26 years.

Poor Richard

• Many of the witty, clever sayings associated with Franklin come from the pages of Poor Richard's Almanack.
• Although many people think that Franklin wrote all the sayings, many of them were taken from other sources and reworked in his typically American style.

Poor Richard

• "Fish and visitors smell after three days."
• "Beware of the young Doctor & the old Barber."
• "God works wonders now & then; Behold! a Lawyer, an honest Man!"
• "A penny saved is a penny earned"

Reading Excerpts from "Poor Richard's Almanac

• Read an entry
• Stop frequently to make annotations and ask questions

Proverbs

Final Assessment (25 points)

• Choose a proverb from the end of Poor Richard's Almanack
• Paraphrase the meaning in your own words
• Explain why you agree or disagree with it's message int he form of a letter to Poor Richard from the persona of your pseudonym!