Chapter Eleven Summary and Analysis

Chapter Eleven takes place in London from 1771-1775. In 1771 Franklin takes an extended vacation, touring England to observe the Industrial Revolution. Franklin is 65 and thinking more about family. On a stay with the Shipley family in Twyford he begins writing an autobiography containing his family history. Though disguised as a letter to his son, the autobiography is meant for the public. It is not the first autobiography in history, but it is the first written "for a middle class that had few historians." (p. 257). Franklin's letter is the story of a self-made man, which becomes part of the American Dream. He forms another flirtatious relationship with the Shipley girls, even composing a poem for them about the death of their pet squirrel: "Here Skugg/Lies snug/As a bug/In a rug" (p. 258). In August 1771 Franklin tours Ireland and...