Analysis Of The Founding Brothers By Mr. Ellis

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The framework for this novel was placed by Ellis around the pivotal figures of the American Revolution, dubbed the revolutionary generation. He begins in the prologue by disclaiming to the reader that the events discussed in this novel should be interpreted in hindsight, as well as foresight, claiming that the topics discussed may be factual, but also misconstrued in different ways. It seems that the main idea of this novel is that, while being essentially accurate, the topics discussed may be representative of given individuals’ personal recollection. It will bring to light the different ideas of the founding brothers, as the novel calls them, and compare and contrast them in a non-biased manner. The novel begins with the recounting of the …show more content…

Ellis does provide information regarding the sourcing of his book. After the final chapter, a “Notes” section is included, detailing what he says is just some of the sources he has used over his course of researching early American history. He details in his explanation, that a full list comprised of all of his sources of information, would be nearly as long as the novel itself. The section of the book containing the sourcing is broken down by chapter. In each chapter, there are numbers for reference to the sourcing. Ellis uses a wide variety of sources. For the first half of the novel or so, the sources seem to be from different written works, composed throughout time, pertaining to specific traits of the individuals, as well as events, in the given time period. Towards the latter half of the book, the sourcing changes, more derived from letters written between influential members of this time period. I personally thought this book was written very well, so it is hard to say what I fell the weaknesses are, and it is hard to say many people would disagree, especially given that it won a Pulitzer Prize. Based off of peer reviews of the book, many people also feel that it a very strongly composed work. In conclusion, Founding Brothers by Joseph J. Ellis is a great composition of the events and individuals in the end and after the American Revolution. Ellis generates the point, that many of the stories recounted in this novel may have been slightly misconstrued by certain figures for personal benefit. He makes his point, again, by comparing and contrasting the different accounts, and attempts to piece together a whole

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