Sunday, December 16, 2012

The Crossing - What do you think?

As you know, using two full days to watch a movie is not something that I take lightly. However, given our timing at the end of the nine-weeks and as we move into exams this week, I believe that The Crossing was a perfect fit.

The film provides an interesting portrayal of Washington's crossing of the Delaware River and the Battle of Trenton.

For this blogging session, I would like you to give your reaction to the movie.  Do you think that it was a realistic film?  Did it do an adequate job of teaching history? Or was it mostly just entertainment? Did you enjoy the film? Do you think that films like this are appropriate for an American history class?

I also want to know what you learned about the crossing of the Delaware and the Battle of Trenton. Do you feel like you understand the events better having seen the film? Why was this such an important event? What did the outcome of the battle mean to Washington's beleaguered army?

Please be thoughtful in your response. I really want to know what you think. I encourage you to read the comments of others, then add thoughts and ideas of your own.

This blogging session will remain open throughout this week. After commenting, come back later and see what has been added since you were here.


15 comments:

Marley B. said...

In my opinion, I am a visual learner. Seeing this movie really helped me understand the material more. If instead of watching the movie, we read it in class, I would not understand it the same. I think this movie was very realistic. The film was very appropriate for an American History class and I recommend it to other classes. This movie also helped me get personal with the event and understand the feelings of the people in it also. When we read events in the book I tend to get people and events mixed together, but this movie really helped me determine who was who.

Brenn Rosenbaum said...

I think the movie was probably an acurate representation of the actual event, but with some comedic and dramatic additions to make it more interesting. The movie was interesting and I think is a good historic movie.

Aaron Grillot said...

I think this movie showed a lot of very good facts about what really happened then. i think this movie helped me understand it more, i do think it was a very good movie on this subject.

Rayne Hawkins said...

I think that this movie was pretty realistic providing the facts that it was made for entertainment. The way the history was given mixed with the entertainment part is, for me, a good way to remember all the information that was in the film. I think that this movie was apprpriate for our class because t wasn't a documentary(people get zoned out during those) and not a full on "movie", but a good mix between entertaining and informational. I really liked this movie and it definately captured how important this event was in American history.

Sophia V. said...

I find the movie "The Crossing" quite helpful. I tend to remember stories and/or story line more easily than just raw fact-well unless of course it's a very interesting and unique fact.
As I was typing, the movie helped myself to understand the struggles and standings of the British and the Americans/Colonists.
And how much of an impact of that the colonists miraculously defeated the Hessians at Trenton.

Thomas Moss said...

The movie was both realistic and entertaining. I liked the movie, it helped me have a better understanding of the Patriots struggles and how the event occurred. The movie also included stuff that the books didn't. The movie was very entertaining, since it didn't make me feel like i was just reading some article or section in a textbook. The win at Trenton and Princeton was a turning point in the war because in the beginning the patriots were struggling and lost most of the previous battles, the patriots were scared and some gave up, but after the win the patriots were more confident and finally won. I also think without that win the British might have even ended up winning the entire war and it was also a turning point since it changed peoples' opinions and mind concepts on Britain and America. The movie is one of my favorite movies so far. The movie also helped me with my rough draft for the essay/exam.I would recommend this movie for history classes because it helps students have a understanding of what happened and how the patriots won. If I didn't watch this movie, i would probably not fully understand the crossings and the battle of Trenton/Princeton as well as I do now that I have watched the movie. I also agree with Marley, the movie helped me know who was who.

Unknown said...

I enjoyed the movie. Yeah, parts of it could be cheesy, but seeing it in a movie, which is a more interesting format, really got the facts into my head more than the book, or lectures do. The movie was very appropriate for our class, because like Marley said, we all learn different ways, and it really helped us visual learners get the content down. The movie seemed historically acurate, and I would recommend it to any other American History class.

Oh....and at Sophia, movies are underlined or in italics, not in quotations.

Sophia V. said...

@ Zoe Sheldon

Oh Sorry about that, I'll try to remember that next time.

Cameron said...

I like the idea of watching a movie other than just reading about it or watching a narrative (documentary. The text was easy to understand but not as visually dynamic and wasn't a great help when your a visual or auditory learner.

Unknown said...

I honestly could not get over the fact that Jeff Daniels was George Washington, knowing how well he played in Dumb and Dumber. Other than that, and some cheesy moments, I loved this movie. I learned something which will now be easy to remember because it was watched on screen. The topic was the Battle of Trenton across the Delaware River. I really like all American History honestly so it was great. I love their outfits, but why are the Redcoats red? Throughout all of this unit i keep thinking they'd be so easily targeted.

Carolune Kuhlmeier said...

I thought the film was great. I think it gives you more of an idea of what really happened and how desperate they were for this plan to work. In the textbooks they never really stated that if this didn't work they would have lost, or maybe it did and I just didn't pick it up. Movies like that teach me more than reading in the book does, we should definitely watch more movies in class.

Unknown said...

I thought that the film was very realistic and had many facts in the film that i've read about in our textbook. This movie also helped me understand the topic of the delware crossing and The battle of Trenton better. Also, in my opinion, the movie had many emotional parts that added to its greatness.

Micaela Hawkins :) said...

I think this movie was a very good representation of the actual event. It definatley helped me becuase like marley I am a visual learner and when i read it in the book i have no face to put with the character and now i do even though it isn't the actual face but it helps me! This event was important becuase it gave the colonist that push that they needed and it gave them more confidance that could actually win the war or come close to winning. I think films like this should be more involved in history classes because it can really help people actually visualize what happed and how it happened in way that they couldn't by just reading about it in a book or hearing it from a teacher.

Demi(: said...

I thought that the movie was an excellent way of showing the crossing of the Delaware. It showed how confident Washington was even though his officials doubted him. The movie also illustrated how powerful the Hessian were but how unorganized and clueless they were when attacked by surprise.

Joanie Manuele said...

This film helped me gain a clearer picture of the battle. It helped me by visualizing the battle and events. I also enjoyed watching this film because it benefited me. I think these films should be encouraged in these classes because they could help students, (for example Marley) to visualize the battles.
The battle of Trenton and crossing the Delaware river in this film was filled with details. For example George Washington had made a mistake about crossing the river at midnight to fight the Hessians. This battle was a great victory for Washington because he had shown the patriots that there was hope to win the battle against the British.
I believe this film helped me understand the battle and crossing clearer, by showing me the events and not having to read all about them.