Kelli Janssen US History 2017/2018!

          Learning in new ways with different materials is often helpful in expanding our knowledge, especially in history, when most get used to only reading out of a textbook. Movies such as "Lincoln", "Hacksaw Ridge", and "Hidden Figures", are all in my opinion movies which accurately illustrate events from the past and what that time period was like. These films help one to fully grasp and put oneself in another's shoes. Although details may be added to these movies to make them more interesting, if it does not effect the way one views what happened at that point in history, then it is helpful in our understanding of the past. For example producers often add new characters, or conversation to a story so that the audience does not get bored and continues to watch the film, if these changes are just for effect and change nothing about events in history then they are okay. On the other hand movies can often be interpreted wrong and teach us inaccurat...

  Through reading just a small portion of Solomon Northrup's narrative I gained new knowledge and insight on the topic of slavery. I discovered how different the lives of African Americans in the north and south could be and that those born free slaves were almost oblivious to how different their lives were from slaves. Solomon mentions in the beginning of his narrative, " We always returned home from the performance of these services with money in our pockets; so that, with fiddling, cooking, and farming, we soon found ourselves in the possession of abundance, and, in fact, leading a happy and prosperous life." He explains his life in a way where he seems content, his life is normal, "happy", and "prosperous". Most slaves would describe their lives in a complete opposite way. It is evident in the narrative that Solomon did not realize how different his life was when he states " While living at the United States Hotel, I frequently met with slaves...

Self Assessment:  Throughout the first half of the first semester I learned many things about American history that I did not already know. I also developed knew skills involving analyzing a piece of text, and how to incorporate it correctly in my writing. I learned new things about the Civil War and reconstruction, and formed new opinions on our government, Abraham Lincoln, how hectic and hard it is to pass bills, the difficulty of compromising and balancing the Union and the issue of slavery with the Confederacy. I gained new skills in knowledge on how to paraphrase, quote, and summarize a piece of text, and when it is appropriate to do so. I have really enjoyed this class so far, and the way we are learning about events in American History. I like how we focus not only on important topics, but we learn them through discussing other interesting points of views. I anticipate that I will develop new skills in analyzing text and events in history, and will continue to learn new a...

Reflection on Paraphrase Practice: The activity on the process of paraphrasing, and quoting taught me when it is acceptable and appropriate to use each strategy. I learned that paraphrasing is when one rewrites the same thing another source is saying, but in your own words and then cites where that information was found. Paraphrasing is tricky because it can often be written in a way that is different then what the text is saying, and that is not okay because that changes someone else's words. Paraphrasing is used when one wants to include all the details of another source to make a point clear. A summary is a brief description of another sources ideas. This is used when describing the main ideas of a statement. It is appropriate to use a quote when including exactly what someone else said, because their word choice helped prove your argument (make sure to cite where the quote came from or it is plagiarism). This is what I learned today: - only use a direct quote when it add...

The film "Lincoln" shocked me in a way where I know view politics differently. The film portrayed how messy and difficult politics, passing the amendments, getting votes....the whole process in general can be. According to the film critic, Roger Ebert, " The White House is less a temple of state than a gathering place for wheelers and dealers ." Explaining that although we view the white house as a "temple" or safe calm place, it is more of a crazy place where "wheelers and dealers" or the people working for the country are trying to get stuff done. 

Excerpt from article: "Lincoln lacked social polish but he had great intelligence and knowledge of human nature. The hallmark of the man, performed so powerfully by  Daniel Day-Lewis  in "Lincoln," is calm self-confidence, patience and a willingness to play politics in a realistic way. The film focuses on the final months of Lincoln's life, including the passage of the 13th Amendment ending slavery, the surrender of the Confederacy and his assassination. Rarely has a film attended more carefully to the details of politics." -  passage by Roger Ebert; a review on the film "Lincoln " Paraphrase: Lincoln fell short of communicative skills, yet he possessed great insight on natural human instinct. The symbol of Lincoln, played so effectively by Daniel Day-Lewis, represents a tranquil self importance, willingness to endure and compliance to play politics in a sensible way. The movie highlights the concluding moments of Lincoln's life, as well as ...

"Lincoln lacked social polish but he had great intelligence and knowledge of human nature. The hallmark of the man, performed so powerfully by  Daniel Day-Lewis  in "Lincoln," is calm self-confidence, patience and a willingness to play politics in a realistic way. The film focuses on the final months of Lincoln's life, including the passage of the 13th Amendment ending slavery, the surrender of the Confederacy and his assassination. Rarely has a film attended more carefully to the details of politics." - passage by Roger Ebert; a review on the film "Lincoln " Paraphrase: Lincoln fell short of communicative skills, yet he possessed great insight on natural human instinct. The symbol of Lincoln, played so effectively by Daniel Day-Lewis, represents a tranquil self importance, willingness to endure and compliance to play politics in a sensible way. The movie highlights the concluding moments of Lincoln's life, as well as the 13th amendment and ...