INHABITING OTHER LIVES: REACTING TO THE PAST
FIU HONORS COLLEGE
Faculty: John Bailly & John Clark

REVOLUTIONARY CHARACTER PROJECT

This project was created by Professor Gwyn Davies.

FACULTY
John Clark

THE TASK
Write a 1000 word paper describing the character you will be ‘playing’ in the course of the semester.  This paper should provide:

a)     Brief biographical details concerning your character’s personal history (NOTE: if you have been allocated a named individual [e.g. La Fayette] or if you have self-selected an individual to play [e.g. a lawyer from Bordeaux], keep the biography short and to the point). This should include some description of your social status, employment and living conditions. If you are a provincial delegate, either rural or urban, make sure that you provide at least ONE FULL PAGE of description of the area/town that you come from at this time (and by this I don’t mean a description of the tourist highlights of the place but the main economic and cultural drivers that affect your constituents). This will surely influence how you might vote in the Assembly.

b)    An outline of your character’s political position as of NOW, June 1791. If you are a member of a political club (e.g., a Feuillant), describe how you were persuaded to join this particular faction/grouping; if you are an indeterminate describe those issues that are important to you. What other factors have led you to the political stage that you now occupy?

c)     What are your hopes and aspirations for the future? How can the Assembly work to your advantage? If you are a member of the crowd without direct representation at the Assembly, how will you be able to sway members to vote in ways that will be favorable to you and to what degree do you think that force is a legitimate tool of political action?

PURPOSE OF THE EXERCISE
This project is meant to get you firmly embedded in your role at the earliest opportunity. ALL your responses in the game should reflect your character’s opinion and NOT your own and this exercise is intended to get EVERYONE thinking in greater depth about their individual roles, their motivations and pressure points.  You need to do your own background research into the issues that you confront in this paper. Do not simply ‘emote’ your character – empty rhetoric and ‘feelings’ expressed without any solid evidence to back them will be treated as posturing and hot air and will be graded accordingly!