old west

The arizona citizen

The article in this paper is talking about how the people of arizona hope for the business of murder to come to an end. 4 murderers were hung for a murder in tucson, arizona, in which a man was brutally beat, cut, and shot to death. the murderers fled and while in pursuit, one was shot to death and the other was captured. the townspeople hoped that he will not remain long in jail until convicted and hung as the law requires. They believe it sad the other killer did not fight because then he could have been deservedly shot too. The people of arizona believe that all murderers will be promptly shot, hung or killed in some way so that the crime of murder will become more rare.

Child trafficking

http://www.missingkids.com/en_US/documents/CCSE_Fact_Sheet.pdf
-how a child becomes a victim
-targeted, tricked, traumatized
-statistics and barriers
http://resources.ecpat.net/EI/Csec_definition.asp
-definition
http://www.popline.org/node/187827
-internet children and pornography
http://arkofhopeforchildren.org/child-trafficking/child-trafficking-statistics
-76% of transactions for sex of underage girls start on the internet
-2/3 victims girls 1/3 boys


A child becomes a victim by being targeted by a pimp or trafficker, tricked into trusting them or taken against their will, and is then traumatized by what they are forced to do. Of the children taken and victimized 2/3 are girls and 1/3 are boys. The internet has made child sex trafficking easier and more accessible to the public. 76% of transactions for sex of underage girls start on the internet, and many are exploited by being forced to commit sexual acts with adults. there are laws to prevent the exploitation of children over the internet, but no country can say that they are free of this problem, or can completely stop it from happening.

In-class essay

            While learning about history, watching movies can be very beneficial to developing analytical skills and allowing you to explore real events from multiple perspectives. It provides the opportunity to understand the full story on how each action affected people in that time instead of just learning the general idea of an event.

            One example of this was in the film Glory, the director made it so that we saw the movie from both a white man’s viewpoint and the black members of the 54^th regiment. We learned about the first black regiment that was allowed to fight in the war, but by seeing the event from both sides of the story, we gained the ability to think about it critically. Like Edward Zwick said, the purpose of the movie was to focus on the regiment as a whole unit instead of segregating it by the black side versus the white side. The story illustrated an example of one time that the blacks, who had suffered great amounts of wrongdoing, and the whites, who had generally caused this pain, found a common goal and ultimate purpose that united them in the struggle to fight for equality. We were able to observe this critically because we saw that even though we heard that this was overall a great and noble situation, it was not completely fair the whole time. The black soldiers, even while united with the white troop leaders, were still treated worse than the white soldiers in other regiment. This is illustrated in various scenes, for example when the soldiers were not initially given weapons, shoes, uniforms or equal pay until they protested and fought for their rights. The director also tried to emphasize the black soldiers inequality by creating a scene in which one major was ordered to whip and flog a black soldier for not following orders.  A review of this movie shows that this event would not have happened in the regiment because whipping and flogging had been outlawed before the war and it symbolizes slavery, which the regiment was fighting to abolish, but the director added this scene into the movie to prove, in an obvious fashion, that the black soldiers were still considered slaves by some of their leaders and not everyone supported the troops.

            12 Years a Slave also provided multiple opportunities to develop skills and understand more about slavery. From watching that movie, I learned just how cruel, gruesome, and unjust slavery truly was. Soloman Northrup, the main character in the movie, was a free man who was tricked into being kidnapped, enslaved, and changed into a different man, whose name was Platt. Before watching this movie, I was unaware that free blacks were kidnapped and enslaved and this brought to my attention just how wrong it was. In the movie, we see Soloman’s experiences as a slave in vast contrast to the luxurious life he lived before as a musician with his family and we also see how his ideas changed throughout the 12 years. The director highlighted important parts of the movie in order to condense 12 years of experiences into a 2 hour movie, while still allowing for the audience to become attached to Soloman and other slaves like Patsey, and made it hard to look away because you began to hope for them to survive and be free. One professor, Dr. Emily West, discussed in an interview how like in the movies, slaves would indeed be sold in a slave market like in the movie. Slaves were often presented to buyers naked, so that they could observe the male slaves strength and ability or the women’s attractiveness and ability to bear children. Another important scene was Patsey’s whipping, in which she leaves the plantation without permission in order to get soap, which was not provided for her. Soloman is then forced to whip her by his master, until he decides he is not hurting her enough and proceeds to do it himself. In the book, 12 Years a Slave, the then Platt describes this scene as “…the most cruel whipping that ever I was doomed to witness… literally flayed”. A review says that like in the movie, Patsey becomes deeply depressed and requests Northrup to kill her in order to achieve the virtue that death would bring to her. The director puts this scene in the movie because it shows one of the most severe mistreatments that Soloman had experienced, and like the Guardian review says it allows the audience to feel how the unimaginable pain and suffering of these slaves, “makes watching the film occasionally unbearable..”. The contrast between his life before as a free man and his life during slavery was described in a review by Peter Debruge as, “simultaneously beautiful and unbearable…” and the paradox shown in various scenes is relevant throughout the film.  An article by the New York Times also comments on this contrast by saying, “That made him an exceptional historical witness, because even while he was inside slavery – physically, psychologically, emotionally – part of him remained intellectually and culturally at a remove, which gives this book a powerful double perspective.”. This perspective of seeing a free man suddenly taken into slavery and seeing the immensely horrific things that he experienced and how his ideas changed is what makes the it difficult for the audience to stop watching the movie. 

Slate - How Accurate is 12 Years a Slave? I used this to show how accurate their emotions were in 12 years a slave.

History Extra - Historian at the Movies: 12 Years a Slave Reviewed  I used this as a review from Professor Dr. Emily West to describe the accuracy of the slave market in 12 years a slave.

Marked by teachers - How Historically Accurate is the Film "Glory"  I used this source to compare scenes in Glory to their accuracy in history.

Variety - Why ‘12 Years a Slave’ Is the Most Satisfying Oscar Winner in Years   I used this to describe the contrast between his life before and during slavery.

The guardian - 12 years a Slave- review    I used this review to show how the audience can feel the pain in some of the scenes in 12 years a slave

Nytimes - The Blood and Tears, Not the Magnolias  I used this as a quote to describe how Soloman was almost a double perspective in the movie.

12 Years a Slave - I quoted from the book to describe to brutality of the whippings.

Blacks in the troops fought for equal pay. 

Soloman woke up a slave, confused and shackled to the wall.

Soloman, Patsey's friend and fellow slave, is forced to whip her.

After a while, many slaves began to lose hope of being free.

blacks and whites joined forces to fight a common enemy. 

This is what I learned today

Only use a direct quote when it adds power and style to my writing.

Always make it clear, from context, that I understand the full meaning of the quote.

Whether I quote or paraphrase, I must always be transparent about the source and how I'm using it.

If i use another author's exact words or phrases, to any extent, I have to use quotation marks and give credit.

If I use another author's presentation of facts or ideas, but put heir ideas in my own words, (paraphrase) I better have a good reason for doing so, and I MUST give credit.

Hyperlinking is so easy, there is no excuse for not being transparent about my sources.
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I do understand all of these things.

Reflection on Paraphrase practice

From what we've done today, I have learned the process of paraphrasing is like a more detailed summary of text. You take the information given to you by a source and restate in a way that doesn't use the exact words or phrases. You can leave parts of the source out and can add your own ideas into the paragraph as long as you credit the source at the end of the paraphrase. A quote on the other hand is used when you're describing a topic and you use the specific words or phrases from a source in quotation marks, and give credit to the author. You use a quote as evidence to support the claim you're making in your writing.

Practicing Incorporating a Quote

"'Glory' begins in the manner of one of those re-enactments one sees at battlefields where, in cause of tourism on summer weekends, local citizens put on period costumes and play at history. The uniforms in the movie seem awfully clean and well pressed. During the first charge at Antietam, which opens the film, the boys' faces are prettily smudged, as if by a volunteer makeup artist. One seems to be looking at a tasteful re-enactment even though bodies are cut in two and one head disintegrates."

In the movie "Glory" there is a common theme of how a person feels after being in battle. It is often traumatic, and even though the soldiers believed that they were physically prepared for war, they were not emotionally ready for it. Canby depicts a soldier experiencing shock and not realizing the severity of the situation. When Canby says, "One seems to be looking at a tasteful re-enactment even though bodies are cut in two and one head disintegrates." he is showing how hard it is for a soldier to comprehend the gruesome nature of war. 

Paraphrase Passage

From the new york times article 
"'Glory' begins in the manner of one of those re-enactments one sees at battlefields where, in cause of tourism on summer weekends, local citizens put on period costumes and play at history. The uniforms in the movie seem awfully clean and well pressed. During the first charge at Antietam, which opens the film, the boys' faces are prettily smudged, as if by a volunteer makeup artist. One seems to be looking at a tasteful re-enactment even though bodies are cut in two and one head disintegrates."

My paraphrase of the article
The film "Glory" starts with a war scene re-enactment, in which the people wore costumes and act out the past. Their battle uniforms appear to be well taken care of and pristine. In the beginning charge that starts the movie, the soldiers' faces are beautifully smudged, like they were wearing makeup. One soldier appears to be watching a delightful re-enactment despite bodies laying mutilated on the ground and heads being blown to pieces. (Canby)