Name:__________________________________________________
Mrs. Daniel Block _____________________________________
English 11H
Date:____________________________________________________
Declaration of Independence & Poor Richard’s Almanack Analysis
Part I: Declaration of Independence. After reading the Declaration of Independence (pp. 271-276),
answer the following comprehension questions in your small groups.
1. The first paragraph of the Declaration of Independence is the “preamble”, which announces
the reasons for the document. Why do you think the colonists felt it necessary to explain
their reasons for dissolution with England to the world?
2. According to the document, what is the purpose of government?
3. When does the Declaration of Independence say it is right to overthrow the government?
When does it say it is not right to overthrow the government?
4. Parallelism describes when “the writer uses similar grammatical forms or sentence
patterns to express ideas of equal importance”. Identify as many examples of parallelism as
you can in the “list of grievances” against the king (lines 29-120).
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5. Identify three specific hardships the colonists list they have suffered under King George.
6. Lines 80-85 discuss the quartering of British soldiers in the colonies. Why did the colonists
object to this?
7. We have discussed the idea of connotation with other texts we have read this semester.
Identify three examples of words with a negative connotation that Jefferson uses to be
more persuasive in his argument.
Name:__________________________________________________
Mrs. Daniel Block _____________________________________
English 11H
Date:____________________________________________________
Declaration of Independence & Poor Richard’s Almanack Analysis
Part II: Poor Richard’s Almanack. Read over the list of proverbs from Benjamin Franklin’s Poor
Richard’s Alamanck on page 292 and answer the following questions. (10 point summative grade)
8. Think back to your analysis of Patrick Henry’s “Speech in the Virginia Convention” and
Jefferson’s Declaration of Independence. Which of Franklin’s proverbs connect to the major
themes/big ideas expressed in these two documents? Explain your answers.
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9. Which proverb(s) do you most agree with and why?
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