French+Revolution+Ant+Farm+Block+A+Cho

//Name//: **Alain Berdugo** // Age // : 15 //Gender//: Male //Occupation//: Tailor Apprentice //Social Class//: Third Estate //Financial situation//: Very poor; working as a full time assistant of a local tailor, Mr. Aucoin at le Aucoin Adapter. He depends highly on his small salary from Mr. Aucoin. //Appearance//:Fairly well fed for a boy of the Third Estate. Short for boys his age. Beautiful deep blue eyes, scruffy curly brunette hair. Despite the fact he works as an assistant of a tailor, he wears ragged dull trousers and shirts stained and having holes due too too much cutting and helping out. Location ([|Map of France], [|Map of Paris] ): Must be in the Paris region. //Habitual locations//: Lives in the basement of //le Aucoin Adapter. The store is located at Saint Ouen Les Puces (the city square, where many French meet)// //Daily routine//: - Wakes up and heads upstairs to cook breakfast for MR. Aucoin. Goes through the schedule of clients, notes on the latest trends and designs clients prefer - Inform Mr. Aucoin with his schedule and appointments with his clients and goes to shop for fabric, extra string, etc. - Design his own designs and clothing, secretly. //Personality/Quirks/Unique Personality Traits//: Mature, but humble. Timid to the ladies and people whom he is not fmiliar with, but honest and a good man to trust when being his best friend. Not talkative, but a great listener. A little too naive for his age. Bright and smiling all the time. Extremely polite to everyone, especially to the ones who provided him with goods, customers, and Mr. Aucoin. //Past/individual-family history//: Father passed away before he was born. His mother left him in at the door step of le Aucoin Adapter when he was three. Ever since, he had depended his whole life to Mr. Aucoin and thought of him as a father and a master. //Family//: None //Social relations with your own and other classes (people you deal with or know about in other classes, AND your opinions and feelings about them):// Jean Harcourt(Noble of the Sword)-Man of greed, Although only almost-encountered once, because of what he had heard from his friends of the Third Estate, Alain has a bad impression of him. Alexandre Fitzory(Composer)-Alain admires the man. Whenever he sees him at the store, he treats him especially with great honor. He obtains hope from the man that it is possible for a man of a third estate to become so rich and great. Alain also craves to learn more about music from him. //Religion//: Roman Catholic //Education//: Has had only elementary education. Knows how to read and write. //Style of speaking in France//: Proper French that demonstrates various trading skills and vocabulary and phrases related to creation of clothes //Languages you speak//: French //Main privileges and/or conflicts//: - Craves to learn more about music - Wishes to become rich and famous to prove that it is possible for a third estate to excel the second(and perhaps the first) -Ability to read through Mr. Aucoin's letters and notes. --> Once fired, no place to live, no source of food, no one to depend on

//Portrait//:

=== Using information from the text (Ch. 7, Sect 1) and the [|eyewitness accounts] from Thomas Jefferson - who happened to be in Paris when this was all beginning - write a 1-2 page entry about your involvement in or thoughts on __one__ __of the early events__ in the Revolution. __Reference to something in Jefferson's accounts is MANDATORY!__ ALSO, please remember that you are writing from the PERSPECTIVE of your character NOT NECESSARILY YOURS! What would they have thought or done AND why? ===
 * Your entry:**
 * N.B. As with all your entries, you MUST intersect in some way with at least one other member of our class. Use your wikis. **


 * Dear Alaine,**


 * Today was indeed the most confusing, yet terrifying day of my history. There was a huge mob at the Bastille Prison and I must say that it was not a pretty site. So this morning, after the usual breakfast of porridge with a few bread crumbs, I recited Mr. Aucoin's schedule whilst making a mental record of my own. We had not much to do. Due to the 'rebellion', less people are coming to buy our garments-just people who needed some mending. After the reciting, Mr. Aucoin asked me a favor. He told me that if I would go to Sir Harcourt's mansion to ask whether he needed any more elaborate clothing or some mending, he would provide me with a new pair of trousers made of his fine linen. Considering Mr. Aucoin's linen trousers to be the most comfortable ones in all of Paris, I gladly agreed to go. However, back then I had no idea what was going to happen later that day.**


 * After a few chores and some sewing, I picked up my leather sack, put my parchment roles and my quill inside and headed off to Sir Harcourt's mansion. Sir Harcourts mansion is just a few blocks north from where our shop is, ergo I thought this trip to be a short and easy one. As I walked up Bd de magenta, I found it very quiet than usual. There were no women hanging up their laundry in the fresh breeze of July. There were no children poking each other with wooden swords. All the doors and windows of the homes were locked and covered completely. Feeling queer, I was about to turn back to the shop and question Mr. Aucoin of what was happening when Mr. Alexandre Fitzory bumped right into me. I assumed he had no time; nevertheless I asked where he was to go in such a hurry. Despite whatever situation, Mr. Fitzory was a man who would maintain his calm grin, but not today. "Alaine! Oh my dear boy, where are YOU up to at this time? I do hope you are not going to Bersatille prison too, are you? Is Mr. Aucoin there? You must go back! You must not be part of this, I say!" I gave him an extremely puzzled look and informed him I was not going to the prison because 1. I had not committed any sort of crime 2. I was going to Sir Harcourt and 3. I was in fact about to go back to the shop as everything seemed to be a bit strange today. Relieved, Mr. Fitzory to hurry along home.**


 * Curiosity kills the cat and almost got myself killed as well. Ignoring Mr. Fitzory telling me to go back, I kept following him. I wondered what was going on at Bastille prison and why such an event would cause the calmest man in all of France to panic. I asked questions to Mr. Fitzory about what was happening today, how his music was going on, and what operas he had watched recently but none of them were answered. Mr. Fitzory just continued to run. At last when the Bastille prison came into my sight, I found out the answer to my first question. Never had I seen such horror. The men from all of France seemed to have come to destroy the prison at the same time. The castle was burning with flames. Some screeched of pain. Some yelled with courage. Some roared with fury. Men were dashing out of the Prison building all with weapons and triumph. The guards could not stop them. Most of them were already dead. Repulsed, I turned around to run straight back home. Then with a bunch of men yelling and laughing, there I saw- the head of the Governor and the Lieutenant Governor of the Bastille. It seemed like the men had cut their heads off and decided to hold a parade featuring them. I could not bare standing there any longer and came straight back to the store.**


 * I panted and gasped as I told the story to Mr. Aucoin who clearly had no idea about the rebellion until the moment I left. I knew Mr. Aucoin had no interest in politics and how the world was going around, but I had absolutely no idea that he was this bad. Obviously, a lady who came to fix some of her husband's torn shirts told him that there was a rebellion of the third estates. They were fighting for the speech of the third estates, for us. The reason why there was such a fiasco at the prison was for the third estate men to arm themselves to prepare to fight against the nobles! Although I could not agree with cutting the heads off the Governor and Lieutenant Governor, I felt proud for once that I was a third estate boy. When I would grow up, Alaine, I would be the greatest man in Paris. I would be richer than Sir Harcourt and smarter than Mr. Fitzory. I had hope that someday we would escape from this poverty and be noble as well. I hope this rebellion would come to a great success.**


 * Dear Alaine,**


 * I had one of the best days in a very long time. For the last four years, no specific change were made. Nothing really changed after the huge uproar at Bastille Prison. I am still hungry and I still have no safe job. As you can see, I'm still working as an apprentice. Though, I must say, my sewing skills and taste of fashion has increasingly developed. I'm not even sure what is going on around this place. The only thing I know is that almost all of the nobles would be leaving Paris and we are in war with Australia and Prussia. You know I really don't understand what the authorities are thinking; in fact, I'm not even sure who the authorities are. We have no money to have a proper dinner with a little bit of meat and the country is at war. Personally, I don't think this is a practical way of governing. But Alaine, this is no longer important because a historical event occurred just a few hours ago and I am proud to be present when it happened. King Louis XVI is dead!**


 * I'll tell you what happened today. This morning after my daily routine of preparing breakfast and reciting the schedule, I had to go deliver a few garments to several houses. As we all know, the economy of France as a whole is terrible, especially for third estates. Most of the people in town had their clothes mended and occasionally purchased new attire on special days. On the list, I spotted Bernard's name. His master must have ordered his gloves and aprons to be repaired. Mr. Aucoin gave me the clothes I am to deliver and I set off down Bd Périphérique. It took a while to reach Bernard's workplace, but since I had to deliver clothes to places on the way, it was the most efficient way to get there. It took me about an hour to reach Bernard. As I got there, I immediately saw Bernard carving elegant designs into a piece of wood that looked something like a chair. I yelled his name for him to look back. "Jacques! Jacques Bernard! I have your master's clothes! Could you make time for a little chat?" Jacques lifted his red-nosed face(due to the sharp cold air of January) and nodded. He took the aprons and the gloves and led me inside.**


 * Today his master was away. He was having a little workshop with the other artisans of France. He was pretty lonely having to spend the day was thrilled by my unexpected visit. Jacques and I have a lot in common-other than the fact that he is about one head taller than me and is much more good looking. Both of us a huge fans of talking and as we always did, we shared what we heard from others. Recently, all the nobles were running away from France. Because of the continuous rebels and the two horrible wars that we cannot even afford, they just decided to take all their goods and leave the country. Bernard believes this is very irresponsible of them to do so. If they are taking our taxes and living a luxurious life, they need to do everything to protect our country!**


 * The Jacobins was our main conversation topic. They were people whom are promoting France to get rid of monarchy. I personally think being republic a great way to rule this country. Without a bunch of royal nobles gobbling down all our money and food, we would be much richer and have a better life. Speaking of getting rid of monarchy, Jacques told me something amazing. Today was the execution of the king. "You knew this and you didn't tell me earlier? When is it! We must go watch it! I'll get some cloth from my place so we can dip them in his blood. Good heavens, Jacques! We must go see it!" I grabbed Bernard's shoulders and started jumping up and down. Because neither of us had too much to do, we decided to go watch the site of the King dying.**


 * Later that day, Bernard and I followed the crowd of Parisians to the execution site. There, I saw the King. He didn't seem so scared. He was standing there, in front of the Guillotine as he spoke his last words, "I die innocent of all the crimes laid to my charge; I Pardon those who have occasioned my death; and I pray to God that the blood you are going to shed may never be visited on France." Nevertheless of his brief speech, the crowd encouraged the executioner to hurry up and cut of the 'god damned' head. Then it happened. The blade penetrated right through the neck and the head tumbled down the floor. One of the young guards picked it up to confirm to all of France that at last, the King was dead. "Vive la Repubilique!" Everyone screamed and rejoiced. Hats were thrown up in the air and laughter was all over Paris. Everyone was feeling glee, for the first time of the past few years. And I knew for sure that tomorrow, there would be much more work for Mr. Aucoin and I-mending hats.**


 * Dear Alaine,**


 * Things have changed. A lot. I am no longer an apprentice. I am more of a co-worker of Mr. Aucoin's tailor shop; but Mr. Aucoin has grown old. I believe I would be the next person to continue on with his business. I must admit that I've grown much taller and richer over the pass few years. Our store had not been always booming with customers, but we always had a constantly stable amount of clients. Not only have I changed, but France has changed as well. As I reached the age of 20, I started to notice about what was actually going on in this nation. By going to gatherings and talking to the customers, I have been able to store quite a bit of information about France in my head. Well, for people like us, the main topic for most of the conversations we have nowadays is about the government or the war. After King Louis XVI's death, we thought all would be peaceful and a true republic would be established. However, that never happened. I was still hungry(a little less than before, but still hungry). The Directories and the Committee of Public Safety were claiming that they were making our lives easier and happier. To be frank, they made it worse. The revolution itself did not fulfill my interests, nor my needs. The intentions were indeed appealing, but the results did not turn out to our expectations.**


 * Now, we have a new leader. The great Napoleon Bonaparte has become the emperor. My fellow friends and I always admired the emperor. Before his taking over the throne, he was a great general. As we have been in war with countries all over Europe, his defeats in various battles was indeed essential. He was a great general, leading all his men to success. Like his soldiers, I strongly trust that he can lead the people to a better world as well and currently, he is proving me correct. Our economy has grown to be much more stable than before. We now have lycées for the children from families of our economic status to receive education. If only I were only 10 years younger, I would have been a much better person by the time I am my age. Other than that, we have equal taxation with the rich. I personally think as the rich, they should pay more than us as they have more wealth. However, I guess I can satisfy with them paying as much as we do.**


 * Anyway, today is Nivôse 11th of the year 17. Today I woke up to realise that I had an unfamiliar name on the list- Adeline Morea . I usually have the same customers so I was glad to greet a new client. This morning I had no appointments at all. Ergo, I decided to go have a little chat with my new client. I followed her address to Neuilly. As I arrived at the final destination, I ended up at a nunnery. "Interesting.." I thought. This discussion would be fun. As Napoleon became our emperor, the Church lost a lot of power(although their power was always gradually declining) and I always wondered what the people of religious occupations would think of this situation. However, when I reached there, the guards prohibited me from coming inside. They became much stricter for some reason. Maybe the whole Church was a lot sensitive due to their loss of power. Thus, I had to return back to the store. **


 * A little frustrated, I strolled back to the store. For the next few hours, I was repeating the act of cutting and sewing, but not creating any particular piece of clothing. Then, a beautiful young nun entered our store. "So, you must be Sister Morea." I grinned, looking forward to the fruitful conversation. She grinned back at me and nodded. She asked my name and I replied. As I was mending her habit, she asked me what religion I had. I told her that I was a Roman Catholic, just like everyone else. Sister Morea was worried that because of the Emperor's new policies and the revolution itself would have caused many to lose faith in God. To tell the truth, people have lost faith in the Church and the religious authorities, but never have we doubted Him. I assured her that no matter what happens, people will always believe in God. She seemed to be much more comforted. Then after a long enthralling conversation, she had to return to the nunnery to give her prayers. She promised to come back later with the other sisters' habits. I was glad to have a new customer and a new friend. **