Tom Paine, “Common Sense” and Joseph-Emmanuel Sièyes, “What
is the Third Estate?”
How
does each author choose to attack the “lunacy of the monarch/nobility”
as a form of governance? Do their tactics surprise you given their respective
backgrounds?
Where,
specifically, in each document do we see the utilization of the Enlightenment
authors we’ve read in class – i.e. Hobbes, Locke and Rousseau?
How does each writer seek to make these ideas “accessible to the masses”?
Given
each of these documents, how do you think each of these authors would define
“freedom”? Equality? Which author emphasizes freedom more? Who
emphasizes equality more? Who needs to have their freedom limited, if anyone?
How does this play out in the present day?
What,
specifically, was “revolutionary” about these documents?
What
differences do you see between these documents? In their tone? In terms
of what results they might bring about?