Essential question
What does Franklin gain—and risk—by treating virtue as something that can be tracked in a table?
Marked passage
- Passage location
- Plan for Attaining Moral Perfection
- Start anchor
- I made a little book, in which I allotted a page for each of the virtues.
- End anchor
- a clean book, after a thirteen weeks' daily examination.
The virtue book turns morality into data
Ways to teach it
Listening
Listen to the exact passage; visual following is optional. Same question and evidence demand.
Solo
Read the exact passage independently.
Supported
Use narration and sentence highlighting while reading the same passage.
Teacher guide
Close
Name the single detail that most changed or sharpened your interpretation, and explain why.
Evidence
Use the columns, virtues, black marks, weekly review, or clean-page goal, then identify one moral complexity the system cannot easily record.
Mark
Underline the parts of Franklin’s system that make behavior measurable—virtues, rows, columns, marks, repeated review. Circle the evidence that the system helps him notice patterns. Star the point where measurement may simplify something morally complex.
Instructional move
Turn an abstract goal into a measurable system
Notice
• What does the table let Franklin see that memory alone might hide? • Which kinds of moral improvement fit easily into a checklist? • What might a tracking system fail to capture about motives, context, or competing duties?
Strong answer
The table gives Franklin visibility, routine, and measurable feedback, but it risks reducing moral life to marks in boxes. Measurement helps him notice patterns while oversimplifying motive, context, and competing virtues.
Think
Answer provisionally: What does Franklin gain—and risk—by treating virtue as something that can be tracked in a table? Choose the strongest interpretation you can defend from this passage alone.
Watch for
Do not choose either 'the system works' or 'the system is silly.' The question asks what measurement gains and what it may lose.
Why this passage
Franklin turns virtue into a system of categories, marks, and daily records. Measurement gives him feedback and visible progress, but it also risks reducing complex moral life to whether boxes remain clean.
Write
Write a short evidence-based response to: What does Franklin gain—and risk—by treating virtue as something that can be tracked in a table? Use at least two details from the assigned passage and explain how they support your interpretation.
Student tasks
Mark
Underline the parts of Franklin’s system that make behavior measurable—virtues, rows, columns, marks, repeated review. Circle the evidence that the system helps him notice patterns. Star the point where measurement may simplify something morally complex.
Notice
What does the table let Franklin see that memory alone might hide? Which kinds of moral improvement fit easily into a checklist? What might a tracking system fail to capture about motives, context, or competing duties?
Think
Answer provisionally: What does Franklin gain—and risk—by treating virtue as something that can be tracked in a table?
Write
Write a short response using at least two pieces of evidence from this passage. Use evidence from the assigned passage. Show what you noticed and how the text supports your interpretation.