Civil war
Civil war re-enactors are only able to recreate a small part of the Civil War, but that small part that they are able to bring back to life is done with such accuracy that it leaves one to believe they are actually witnessing a war.
Civil war reenactments offer much more than just a battle. Some had only the battle of its hometown, while many others had duels, fashion shows, and meet and greets with a person or soldier of the civil war period. They demonstrate the creation of different tools that were needed and even practiced church services. I have always found reenactments to be interesting. They bring a piece of history back to life in a way that a movie could never do. My uncle plays Robert E. Lee in reenactments in Hawaii and other areas. When we visited him seven years ago we were able to watch him in action. Even though I knew him, when he put on his uniform and acted out his character, he was a totally different person. Men and women dedicate so much of their time to this show and it really shows.
I found the reenactments of the civil war to be very interesting. It’s like watching a movie about it, but in real life. They reminded me a lot of Renaissance festivals that are hosted in the area a lot throughout the year. I would strongly suggest to anyone to make time one day and visit one.
http://www.gettysburgreenactment.com/news/index.htm
http://www.sutler.net/eventlist.asp
March 6th, 2007 at 10:04 am
I like how you considered different aspects of the Civil War reenactments other than the battles. From the websites I visited, I too found that some people do fashion shows, church services, and even made feasts only using the materials they had during the time period. I also agree with you on the fact that the personal aspects of live reenactments are what make them special. Being able to meet and interact with live actors is something that cannot happen when watching a movie.
I wish that you discussed more about the purposes or goals of the reenactments. I feel that other than entertainment reasons, they are used as educational tools in an effort to help keep the Civil War from being forgotten. Also, I wish that you had focused less on your personal experiences with Civil War reenactments and more on aspects you discovered on the websites. Overall, even though you touched on some good topics, I feel that your post was very short and that you could have gone a lot more in depth in your discussion. The major thing I think you should have done was give explanations for your thesis statement by proving how the reenactments were accurate.
March 6th, 2007 at 4:15 pm
I agree with Tadao; you need to elaborate more on goals of the re-enacting, the accuracy of re-enactments, and the like. It’s cool that you’re familiar with them, since your grandpa is an active re-enactor, but it isn’t really relevant in this post. Also, you should have mentioned at least something about the websites, instead of just throwing them in at the end.
March 6th, 2007 at 4:20 pm
You took a new direction in the Civil War reenactments. None of the other posts mentioned duels, fashion shows, meetings or anything else other than the battles and how the uniforms and weapons were precise to the smallest detail. It was interesting to find that out.
Your post was a little short though. It seemed that you took that visit to your uncle and wrote a report on it and it happens to be the post assignment that you were assigned to do. You could have also mentioned something about the links that you added at the end of your post. You have four websites that are supposed to deal with Civil War reenactments and you don’t say a thing about them.
March 6th, 2007 at 5:28 pm
I think it is cool that your uncle plays Robert E. Lee in a civil war reinactment in Hawaii. I never even knew they that they had civil war reinactments there, but it makes sence becasue it is a nice climate all year round.
March 6th, 2007 at 5:35 pm
Your post was actually very cool. I think it is so cool that your uncle takes part in reenactments. That must be really fun to watch. I also think that it is cool to watch things like that. Mainly because you feel like you are back at that battlefield for yourself and it gives you something more than just reading about it. It definitely beats reading! That’s really cool.
I really liked the fact that you wrote about a personal story. It makes it that much more interesting to read. When I read it, right away I was like wow, that it really cool. I also liked how you talked about the Renaissance festival and how that is very similar. I’ve really got to check one of those festivals out. I wish though that you would had spent a little more time talking about the different sites that you found and what they offer. Other than that, really liked the post!
March 7th, 2007 at 7:22 am
I liked that you shared your Uncle being a reenactor with us, that is pretty cool. I have only ever been to one reenactment but I remember it being very exciting. The websited I managed to find weren’t filled with an abundant amount of information, and after glimpsing at yours it appears that they weren’t either. I found it hard to find websites that actually had write ups of the reenactments, most were of here is where you can see them and this is the battle they are doing so I understand why your post could have been lacking in the information department. Overall, I thought your post was good, I always like to hear personal relevance over regurgitation.
March 7th, 2007 at 9:32 am
I thought you provided some good sites to go and look at and see the different places that reenact the civil war. I thought you made some good observations about how some reenactments can really get into it and basically act like they are living in that time period and do everything the way it was done back then. It is cool that your Uncle is a part of a reenactment and that he gets to play General Lee. I haven’t been to any, but I hope one day I get to go to one and experience.
You had a good post I just think it was short and you could of talked more about the reenactments that you found and compared them to one another. See how each one was different and how each one of them were the same in the things that they did. There is a lot that you could of talked about regarding the reenactments so I thought you should of spent more time on that. Other then being a little short it was still a good job.
March 7th, 2007 at 10:11 am
You have a good thesis. Injecting your own personal experience is something that few people can do with these blog posts. However, you didn’t extend beyond. You listed some site, maybe expecting me to click and find out more? I’m glad you listed some examples of reenactment types besides battles.
March 7th, 2007 at 5:44 pm
I really like how you added a personal aspect to your blog. Whether or not it should, I think it gives your blog more credibility, along with your references at the bottom. I also agree with you that the reenactments are very interesting to watch and I can’t imagine how much time and practice it takes to get the battles so realistic. Also, I didn’t even know that they recreated things like generals meeting and fashion shows. I like that you including facts most people wouldn’t know.
However, I do agree with some of the other that your blog is a little short. I think you could have elaborated on why you like the reenactments and what makes them interesting to you. You even could have described some of the reenactments, especially the one you’ve personally been to.
March 7th, 2007 at 8:21 pm
This post was very personable and I liked when you said that “reenactments bring a piece of history back to life.” I like reading about personal experiences that others have had so I enjoyed reading about your uncle. However, I belive that this post was written below its potential. Having actually witnessed a civil war reenactment and realizing the character changes in your uncle on and off the battle field, I felt you could have done some great elabration of the reenactment. You could have added some of the emotions that you felt after experiencing this, and if you felt that you had learned something or just enjoyed a show.
March 7th, 2007 at 8:37 pm
You have a great thesis statement, but where is the opening paragraph? I know they are tedious but they are vital. Also, your post was very short and contained no detailed information.
Although it was short, I did learn something. You stated, “Some had only the battle of its hometown, while many others had duels, fashion shows, and meet and greets with a person or soldier of the civil war period. They demonstrate the creation of different tools that were needed and even practiced church services.” I did not know this was also present in the “shows.” It is great that they have the meet and greets since most of the reenactors do not break character and focus heavily on detail; like your uncle did. Great job providing lots of links too.
March 7th, 2007 at 9:59 pm
This is very interesting blog, because it‘s different than any other blog. You add some much personal thought into your writing; I really like your thesis. You said reenactments bring a piece of history back to life, I am totally agreed with you. A personal experience is very important, because you can feel how people think about war back then. If we have some kind event I will join it for sure. You also add some links about your blog, I think that was very good. So we could understand your blog better. Overall it is very good blog. However, it is litlle short, I think you can put some thought about why you like it into your writing, that will make this blog even better.
March 7th, 2007 at 10:18 pm
I like how you explained to us how you think “that small part that they are able to bring back to life is done with such accuracy”. I have the exact same point of view. Usually when things tend to be longer and have more information in them, people dont pay attention as much and get bored, but in the reenactments when they focus on one branch of the civil war they make it much more interesting and provide us with all the little information that may seem like it doesn’t mean anything, but could have actually changed everything.
March 8th, 2007 at 6:33 am
This post is pretty well written and eventhough it has a strong thesis that is supported in the body, there should still be an opening paragraph. I have only been to one Civil War re-enactment, and I can tell you it was not as realistic as you discribe. Assuming that mine was just a bad apple you need to research more to show me that most re-enactments are as close to the real thing as you can get. Also you need to put the websites posted in context.
March 8th, 2007 at 7:37 am
It was interesting to read about how your uncle plays
Robert Lee in a civil war reenactment, that was
something that you tied in well with the topic of the
post. I’m sure its very fun to watch the whole scene
come to life in front of your eyes. It’s good that you got to write about this topic because you were able to relate it to your personal life.
The post was a bit short though and you coudld have
mentioned more about the reasons and details of
reenacting. I think there is much to be discussed
about the reenactments that you missed, which would
have made your post more strong.
March 8th, 2007 at 8:09 am
I thought that since your grandfather is part of re-enacting, you have a different view on re-enactors and have some inside views. I never knew that they had fashion shows, duals, and meet and greets with the re-enactors. Other than that I found a lot of interesting facts that I have never seen in a show before. I though your post was interesting to read and well written.
March 8th, 2007 at 10:57 am
I like it how you include your uncle in this post saying that he participated in the civil war reenactments. From your point of view, I guess you really know what it looks like to see someone you know to reenact something that means so much to the people of America. While reading this post, I realize that you didn’t include a thesis therefore; I didn’t know what you were trying to support. Even though your uncle participated in reenactments, you don’t really mention the websites that you could’ve used to support your post.
The websites that I found really didn’t argue what this post says because the information provided explains that it was their uncle who participated in the reenactment. I do realize and understand that when you are reenacting the civil war, you are a whole different person. The people who reenact the civil war really pretend as if they were in the battle. I learned from this blog post that these reenactments really takes place anywhere in America. I wouldn’t have known that it would take place in Hawaii because it is a tropical island. The civil war in general helped me realized that what is mention on this post is very accurate and important.
March 8th, 2007 at 12:02 pm
To have a family member actually act in one of the reenactments is very interesting. I had a few friends who have been to them, but never anybody who acted in them. I think that your post was very clear and insightful. I think that you could have made your point better if you had written more information about the individual sites. I also think that you could have been a little more specific in the goals of the recreations. However, I think you did a good job on the post.
March 8th, 2007 at 3:36 pm
Your post was very interesting and took a new look at the reenactments than the other blog posts. I also enjoyed how you used your uncle in your paper and its kind of like a real life situation and you explained how you felt about it. It gives your post a more credible aspect to it.
I think your post is extremely short and you could’ve added a lot more information. You have a bunch of sources, but it seems like you didn’t use all of them. Or if you did, you didn’t go in depth of what you were trying to prove. I just think that you could’ve written a lot more because it is a topic that you can go into real depth with.
March 9th, 2007 at 5:16 am
I agree that Civil War reenactments bring history back to life in a way movies can never do. Just like some of the movies we’ve seen in class, movies seem to be scripted way more dramatically than it really was. Other times, movies seem to be concentrated on siding with a particular side, such as the Confederate army that they tend to exaggerate the truth. It is awesome your uncle is reenacting history our history by educating people. It is likely that most of the children will be interested in such shows, which is great since it brings education and interest.
I enjoyed reading your post. However, I think your introductory paragraph needed to be longer. Instead of writing just the thesis statement, it would have been better if you supplied us with supporting details of why you think Civil War reenactments are important. Overall, good job on the post!
May 10th, 2007 at 6:36 pm
I think civil war reenactments are great. It is a great way to bring history to life. By doing, Civil War reenactments, you can get a sense of what it would feel like to have lived during that era. It is also interesting that they had reenactments not only emphasizing the battles. I think that it is quite awesome that your uncle plays in reenactments. It’s amazing; when he’s up on stage you don’t recognize him as your uncle but who he resembles during the Civil War.
I think your post was good but quite short. You didn’t discuss the websites you found. I think if you would have explained it in a little more detail it would have been an ever better post. Overall, I like how you used personal experience. I think that was very interesting.