Analyzing the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen

Introduction:

"A document analysis is the systematic examination of instructional [or intellectual] documents in order to identify instructional needs and challenges and describe an instructional activity." In other words, a document analysis is used in many different types of writing to allow the reader to gain a deeper understanding of the document as a whole. The reader must perform research as to who the author of the document is, why it was written, as well as what the who purpose and meaning is of the document. "The focus of the analysis should be a critical examination, rather than a mere description of the documents." The ideal way to base a document analysis is off of a short list of questions, some of which could as what the purpose is of the document, who is the intended audience, what kind of document is this, as well as what the big picture is of the document and how it was/is significant in this world.

Context:

The document, The Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen, was written in 1789, during the beginning stages of the French Revolution, and it was passed by the National Assembly on August 26 of that year. This is a primary document, taken directly from the actual declaration, not a fake article in any way, and was taken as a whole piece, not in bits and pieces or as an excerpt. "An excerpt is a part of a document, novel, play, etc., that is taken out as a small part or passage of the original work". An excerpt taken from an article is only one part of the entire document, usually taken to highlight what that person deems as the most important information. Many excerpts do not reflect the entire message of the article; if they did, the entire article would not be necessary, and could be replaced with the excerpt. As well, this declaration was written by The Marquis de Lafayette, with help from Thomas Jefferson. The Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen was intended for the upper-middle class, nobles, clergy, and white men over the age of 25, but excluded women, children, and people of colour. Since this document was directed towards almost all of the population, it was very well known, and very clear as well. It was a "fundamental document of the French Revolution, defining the individual and collective rights of all the estates of the realm as universal". The declaration states that all of the rights of Man are valid at all times, no matter where you are. This document was written based on the American Declaration of Independence, and, since it was barely 300 words, was cheaply printed on one side of a single sheet of paper, and was posted all over France and translated into every major European language so that everybody could read it, and understand what it meant. This Declaration "called for the destruction of aristocratic privileges by proclaiming an end to

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