Renaud+Durand+Block+A+2012

=__French Revolution Ant Farm__=

Journal #1
//July 13, 1789// Today was an exceptional day. I woke up early in the morning, ate half of a loaf of bread, and walked to work lightheartedly. The air was fresh and cool, but was filled with tension different from the usual. The usual would be the continuous mobs in Paris and the fear that the king will attack the National Assembly (or Third Estate) with force. However, this tension was probably due to the violence that resulted from the constant stacking of tension between the people and German cavalry yesterday. I heard that people threw rocks at the troops in Place Louis XV and eventually made the troops retreat. This meant that yesterday was another victory for us. I was quite lucky at work today. I met many new customers and made a lot more than usual. I’ve also met a couple of familiar faces, the Garnier’s and Emerson’s, and had short, but amiable conversations with them. Those two conversations were enough to lift my worries for that day. A couple of hours after their visits, Mr. Simon Thayer, a young farmer, stopped by around 5 PM with a worn out sickle. I gave it a few touches and by no time, it was new and razor sharp. He was a very bright man and was generous enough to give me a handful of grains in exchange for the forging. It would have been fine with me even if he had repaid me with a small amount of grains, but he gave me much more, even though the weather wasn’t very friendly to the crops these past few months. I was extremely grateful for the grains because it would feed my children for at least the next few days. It was reassuring and allowed me to smile once more.

Journal #2
//January 21, 1793// I took a day off of work today to go watch the beheading of Louis XVI at Place de la Révolution. I heard the news a couple of days ago from my fellow customers and should thank them for the heads up. It was a once in a life time chance to see our king being beheaded by his own people. I know that I might sound a bit mean, but King Louis XVI didn’t do anything for the country’s benefits. All he did was use up our ridiculous amount of taxes on his wife’s clothes and accessories and showed absolutely no care for his citizens. Anyways, I was walking to Place de la Révolution in the freezing cold weather with the icy wind slapping against my face and my nose feeling like it was going to fall off. It was surely a bad day to be executed. I can simply imagine King Louis XVI’s blood turning from a liquid to a solid as soon as his head is detached from his body. When I arrived at the site of the beheading, there was already a large crowd surrounding the guillotine at 9:30AM. It was a tiny bit warmer because everyone was huddled together, but I risked getting a frostbite and walked apart from the huddles to get a better look at the guillotine. I have never actually seen one this close up, which therefore made it look so much more grand. While doing so, I bumped into Madeleine de Loré, my wife’s closest friend. Even though we only know each other through my wife, I was still very delighted to see her. We then watched the beheading of King Louis XVI together and quietly celebrated his death afterwards.

Journal #3
//May 2, 1807// I can feel and see that society around us has changed dramatically. I didn’t strongly agree with the belief before, but now, after Napoleon became the king of France, everyone was right -- the government was our biggest problem. Our king is currently doing a fantastic job in stabilizing our nation. He set up lycées about five years ago and allowed my son to get a proper education. This means that my son may even be in public office when he graduates! I’ve never been so grateful toward a ruler before. Now to talk more about what happened today in particular, my wife has been sick recently. She’s been sick for a couple of days now and her condition worsened again this morning. I would stay home to take care of her and the kids, but there’s got to be at least one man in the house making the money. Since I can’t be two places at once, I decided to stop by Élisabeth Petit’s house to ask her a favor. She’s another one of my wife’s close friends and I thought that if she had the time, she would be willing to help. Like I hoped for, Élisabeth was more than happy to help, but she had to first take care of her master’s children before going anywhere. Nonetheless, she told me that after she finished her chores, she would pay a visit to my house. I thanked her so much and decided that I would repay her by making her some kitchen utensils. I quickly walked to my forge and immediately (to finish before my first customer came) began to hammer a number of spoons, forks, and knives. I was very proud of my work and hoped Élisabeth would like it too. When the entire day finally went by, I ran home to see my wife being carefully nursed and the children playing with some toys she had brought. I truly couldn’t be more thankful of Élisabeth’s altruism and handed her the set of kitchen utensils. She didn’t expect such a gift, but surely did deserve it.

Character Creation
-Wakes up early and eats a small amount of bread (saves the majority for his family to eat). -Walks to his forge. -Works from 5am - 8pm (with a short 10 minute lunch break). -Comes back home for supper. -Goes to sleep in a very tight one-room home. -extremely hardworking -always lives upon a layer of worry that his children will die from starvation -will work under any circumstances to support his family -He is the fourth generation of being a blacksmith. -His father passed away when he was thirteen. -He worked in place of his father and supported his mother and himself. -A couple years later his mother also passed away. -He then married a loving young woman from the same estate and had three children together. -close with many other families in the same neighborhood (always engage in conversations, children like to play with each other, sometimes even give small gifts of meaning to one another) --> feel thankful for the great companions -knows the bakery owner from the trips of buying precious bread for his family -acquaintances with some of the 2nd Estate (customers for his metal works) --> gracious for them being customers, but sometimes envious for their great wealth -//Privileges:// his experience and legacy for forging -//Hardships:// the fact that even though he works for long hours, not much is made
 * Name:** Renaud Durand
 * Age:** 32
 * Gender:** Male
 * Occupation:** Blacksmith
 * Social Class:** Third Estate
 * Financial situation:** very poor, family is starving because all the money earned goes to the feudal lord and government
 * Appearance:** rough skin, tangled hair, a bit skinny, stern, calloused hands, ragged and dirty clothes
 * Location (Map of France, Map of Paris Must be in the Paris region.)** Neuilly-sur-Seine, Paris
 * Habitual locations: (where are you found most of the time?)** -at his forge hammering and reforming metal
 * Daily routine: (typical day for you)**
 * Personality/Quirks/Unique Personality Traits:**
 * Past/individual-family history:**
 * Family: (spouse? siblings?...)** wife, 3 children (2 daughters, 1 son)
 * Social relations with your own and other classes (people you deal with or know about in the class, AND your opinions and feelings about them):**
 * Religion:** none
 * Education:** went to school for a couple of years but dropped out due to financial difficulties
 * Languages you speak:** French, but barely literate
 * Main privileges and/or hardships:**
 * Portrait: (find one online and paste it in)**