[119.] Have you read of the work of Whitefield and his associates in England? See "The Methodist Movement" in Halleck's History of English Literature, or in some good English history.
[132.] Your classmates will be interested in a report on the Franklin stove. Make some simple drawings to illustrate its principles.
[141.] Find out definitely what system of street cleaning prevails in your home town. Write a feature article on that system, as if for a magazine. Some member of the class who has a camera will secure illustrations for you. Also write an editorial for a newspaper, an editorial inspired by the disclosures of the feature article.
[175.] Will several of you take up the subject of "Franklin's Electrical Experiments" and make reports to the class?
[185.] Notice Franklin's alertness in suggesting the application of scientific methods to practical affairs. Do you think that Emerson's definition of "genius" as given in the first paragraph of his essay on "Self-Reliance" can be justly applied to Franklin?
You will be interested in following Franklin's experiments in determining the value of oil in stilling the waves, and also his investigations of the Gulf Stream and of the nature of storms. He asked, "What signifies philosophy that does not apply to some use?" Yet he had a wonderful imagination back of his practical nature.
Emerson says that the chief use of a book is to inspire. On this basis how do you rank the Autobiography in usefulness?