Movie review paraphrase

Lee Thomas
D block
10/30/18

Solomon Northup

Original paragraph:

"It’s on Epps’s plantation that “12 Years a Slave” deepens, and then hardens. It’s also where the existential reality of what it meant to be enslaved, hour after hour, decade after decade, generation after generation, is laid bare, at times on the flayed backs of Epps’s human property, including that of his brutalized favorite, Patsey (Lupita Nyong’o). Mr. Fassbender, skittish and weirdly spiderlike, grabs your attention with curdled intensity. He’s so arresting that at first it seems as if the performance will soon slip out of Mr. McQueen’s control, and that the character will become just another irresistibly watchable, flamboyant heavy." 
( New York times movie review)

My Paraphrase:

We see the movie "12 Years a Slave" become more engaging as we arrive with Solomon at Master Epp's plantation. This is where we really see what life was like as a slave, and for many of them this was their whole life. Master Epp's is portrayed as a vicious slave owner, with his main victim being his best cotton picker, Patsey. Michael Fassbender's (Master Epps) acting style throughout this film really captivates the viewer for the whole time. His aggressiveness within his scenes makes us think that his character will go off script at any moment and become a character we can't take our eyes off of. 

Paraphrase Practice:

"Some historians have argued that Lincoln’s personal beliefs underwent a significant change during the last year of the Civil War, and Lincoln did in fact suggest to the reconstructed government of Louisiana in 1864 that “very intelligent” black men and “those who have fought gallantly in our ranks” might be given access to the ballot box. As depicted by the film, during the 1864 Presidential campaign Lincoln threw his support behind passage of the 13th Amendment and was active in securing its passage in 1865."

Spielberg's Lincoln: A Historian's Review, The official publication of the Texas Exes

My paraphrase of this selected passage:

Historians have debated how Lincoln's moral outlooks changed during the final year of the war. Along with how in 1864 Lincoln attempted to persuade Louisiana for blacks who'd fought in the war, and were "intelligent" to vote. At the time Louisiana was a reconstructed government. The movie shows that while Lincoln was attempting to obtain votes for the election of 1864, Lincoln was all in for the 13th Amendment and stayed that way until 1865 when it was ratified. 

Lincoln questions

Photo of Lincoln

1. Lincoln was "uncompromising" when he kept pushing for slavery to be abolished even when many people opposed his judgement. Thaddeus Stevens was "uncompromising" when he continued to disagree with Lincoln's methods on spreading popularity for the amendment. however, the did agree on hiring the men to persuade members of the house to vote in favor of the amendment.

2. The movie shows the conflict Lincoln was facing with going against the wishes of many in order to do what he knew was right morally. Both the movie and letters convened the well.

3. Lincoln was in such a rush to get the 13th amendment passed because if he didn't get it passed before the war ended then the Emancipation Proclamation could be removed and slavery would be reinstated.

4. The movie made it somewhat complicated when discussing who was pro-slavery and anti-slavery because members of the house began to flip sides and then flip back which began to get confusing after while.

5. Many people were worried about their businesses going under, or blacks gaining too many rights. This wasn't shown that much in the film except for the scene where Lincoln is talking to the couple towards the beginning of the film, and the couple said that they were in favor of the amendment unless the war was almost over, in which case the would like to keep slavery.

Reconstruction archive reflection

Within the archive I found talk about the "Fears of Reconstruction". This topic mainly went over the drop in products, and injure businesses. The paper was from the Memphis Daily Appeal, and it went over how reconstruction was causing a scare within the community, and there was increased agitation along with trouble on the streets.This is really what i expected from the paper at this time, southerners are afraid of the businesses being ruined or the communities tainted from the black community, and they're not happy about it. Reading the archive allows us to get a better feel of what was on everyone's mind at the time of the Reconstruction, and to see peoples reactions to it.

Memphis Daily Appeal newspaper

Why did Reconstruction end in 1877?

As two men ran during the election, the vote was split to 7 Democrats and 8 Republicans and David Davis, a Supreme court judge as the deciding factor, however after taking the Illinois Senate seat, David he wasn't allowed to vote. Joseph P. Bradley, a Republican, took his place and the vote ended 8 to 7 Hayes won the election. With his election Hayes expressed equality for both races, and with that he pulled the remaining Union soldiers out of the South which led to the fall of the last Republican administrations, and with that Reconstruction ended.