In this lesson, students will conduct a close read of an excerpt from The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin. For the first close read, students will focus on multiple meaning vocabulary words and will define them and write their own sentences using the words. In the second close read, students will answer questions about the text using textual evidence. These questions will lead them to analyze characteristics and events in the life of a young Ben Franklin. As students read the excerpt a third time, they will develop a research question about how a characteristic or event in the life of young Ben Franklin influenced an accomplishment of an older, mature Ben Franklin. Students will research the life of Ben Franklin to answer their questions in a one to two page paper, which they will ultimately share with their peers for the summative assessment.