An Enlightened Worker: Journal Of My Life

An Enlightened worker: Journal Of My Life is written by Jacques-Louis Ménétra. Ménétra wrote this document between 1764 - 1802. He began his journal in 1764 and organized it principally around his recollections of his journeyman's "tour de France" from 1757 to 1764. This document notes the time period between the Enlightenment and the French revolution. This document was written in French. This document is an excerpt from a book (journal). This document provides a fascinating glimpse into working-class culture during the Enlightenment and a street-level view of the French Revolution. Being a journalistic document this document's intended audience is the working/middle class men. We know this because Menetra details a worker's everyday experience and what it meant to be a man two centuries ago. In this document we predominantly see these three themes : male friendship and the ties created by laughter and good times. The tennis match is a prime example friendship; the violence and brutality of lower-class life; and the amazing degree of sexual freedom accorded to men in a sexually segregated culture. For a brief moment we see Menetra speaking of religion. Three main themes that predominates this document are male friendship and the ties created by laughter and good times. The violence and brutality of
With this document they can precisely see the how events, thinking process of people shaped their society during that time period. This document shows how middle class men acted according to fit their situation. they were also the target of most political and religious ups and downs yet they seem to find a way to cope with it and enjoy their life. At the end of the he writes “ my friend you are enlightened. it is necessary that for the sake of government nations live always in ignorance and credulity. I answered so be it” ( Menetra