The most famous section describes his scientific scheme of self-improvement. Franklin lists 1Franklin lists 13 virtues. To establish good habits, Franklin invented a reusable calendrical record book in which he worked on one virtue each week, recording each lapse with a black spot. Franklin saw early that writing could best advance his ideas, and he therefore deliberately perfected his supple prose style, not as an end it itself but as a tool.

Third chapter – the romantic period (essayist and poets).

Romanticism in America coincided with the period of national expansion and the discovery of a distinctive American voice. The solidification of a national identity and the surging idealism and passion of Romanticism nurtured the masterpieces of the American Renaissance. The development of the self became a major theme; self-awareness a primary method. Romanticism was affirmative and appropriate for most American poets and creative essayist. America´s vast mountains, deserts, and tropics embodied the sublime. The Romantic spirit seemed particularly suited to American democracy: It stressed individualism affirmed the value of the common person, and looked to the inspired imagination for its aesthetic and ethical value.


Transcendentalism:
The transcendentalism movement was a reaction against 18th century rationalism and a manifestation of the general humanitarian trend of the 19th century thought. The movement was based on a fundamental belief in the unity of the world and God. The soul of each individual was thought to be identical with the world – a microcosm of the world itself. The doctrine of self-reliance and individualism developed through the belief in the identification of the individual soul with God. The Transcendentalists published a quarterly magazine, The Dial, which lasted four years and was first edited by Margaret Fuller and later by Emerson. Unlike many European groups, the Transcendentalists never issued a manifesto. They insisted on individual differences – on the unique viewpoint of the individual. American Transcendental Romantics pushed radical individualism to the extreme, American writers often saw themselves as lonely explorers outside society and convention. The American hero – like Herman Melville´s Captain Ahab, or Mark Twain´s Huck Finn – typically faced risk or even certain destruction in the pursuit of metaphysical self-discovery. For the romantic American writer, nothing was a given.