NOT IMPORTANT! just my history essay CX
Okay, no need to pay attention to this.. really. Since I just posted this on LJ because I can't print at home because our printer's broken.. >.> so i have to print it at school, and i need to copy and paste this onto our school's Word. and also i made this entry public because our computers at school do not allow people to sign in to websites like this, so i'll only be able to open this and see it if i have it on public~ but it's also so that you'd know that i'm not lying when i say that i really am busy only joking! i know you guys believe me~ :D hehehe CX
i'm so sorry for always spamming your f-page! but please understand.. C:
History Essay on Titanic
How Useful Is The Film Titanic As Historical Evidence?
Films are generally made for entertainment purposes. So if the evidence of a historical event is the reason for the film, producers would also include fiction and exciting, unrelated happenings, in order to make it the entertainment people are after. Therefore, evaluating films is important, so that you would know which parts are the actual evidence of the event, and which are the fictional.
Titanic is an important topic because it was one of the largest passenger steamships, built at Harland and Wolff in Belfast, and the ship was said to be unsinkable. But it being proved not so, it caused Titanic to be talked about all over the world. Also because so many people died when it sank. It is called one of the deadliest peacetime maritime disasters.
In the twentieth century, the film shows the difference in society between that time and now.
First, the film points out about how the women, at that time, were treated, expected to act, and what the people thought of them. In Rose's role, her character is of the high-class, causing everyone around her to expect that she would be very posh and elegant. This is not wholey different from how wealthy people are treated nowadays, but the film showed more. Rose was engaged to a rather properous man, and so her mother made the decision that there was no use for her daughter to go to university. This confirms that education was not essential to women. They would be able to live without any troubles with just being married to a wealthy man.
When it came to the time that the ship was sinking, the women were first to get on the life boats, along with children and old people. This portrays that they were considered to be more important than any of the others.
The film also showed the opposition of the different classes. In the ship, the rooms the third-class had were small, and only consisted of one bathroom. It was cramped and they had less space, as a few people needed to share a room between each other. Compared to the higher class, they were accommodated with a very spacious room that it looked like a house, having one room for dining, bathing, and sleeping. As of the clothes they wore, the style of the third-class' were normal, and almost of a poor standard. While the first-class were dressed fancy, and even had assistance for the process of their clothing. The conversation each class had with each other were nowhere near similar, as the upper-class' topics were about their posh activities, while the other class conversed simply about the things that they normally do. When the captain ordered for the announcement of the ship's sinking, first-class were told politely and calmly, with no rushing in getting them to safety. But as for the lower class, the people who were in charge of informing them that the ship is sinking, did not have as much respect and calmness in doing so. Instead they shouted to tell the lower class, and pushed them out of their rooms, forcing them also to wear their life jackets. The first-class were the ones allowed to go on the lifeboats first, making the lower-class wait their turn. According to this part of the film, in those times, people of not much money were considered to be the last priority, even when in danger.
As Jack played cards to win the tickets for Titanic, this shows that riding on the Titanic would cost a very large amount of money. And as there were the few ships there, and Titanic was the only one heading for America, this tells us that emigrating was not that easy and there were not many options on travelling, in those times compared to today.
Thomas Andrews, being the one who designed it, and J Bruce Ismay, who thought of the idea, made sure that Titanic would not be sinkable. And of course, this was the reason why the tickets were expensive, and why the pople didn't have any worries of danger. But Titanic was not unsinkable, and it was proved so when it got hit by the iceberg. This proves that with the certainty of Thomas Andrews and J Bruce Ismay, and also with their building and 'making sure of' of Titanic, the technology then was not so much reliable, and not so accurate. It was still not fully developed in a way that it could be trusted.
I think that the film's interpretation of society is reliable. I think this because there were quite alot of scenes that showed how society was, in those times, And in a film's own way, it made time for these scenes, making the evidence visible while also flowing with the fictional story behind it.
In the film, it showed the iceberg slicing through the side, crashing onto the lower decks, and causing them to flood. As the iceberg was still in contact with the ship's side, the film viewed what was happening inside in the decks, Showing the water gushing in, flooding the deck, and how the people there tried to exist the doors immediately, as they were being closed so as to delay the rising of the water. In the minutes after witnessing the iceberg's attack, the captain and the workers were trying to get everyone on the lifeboats, but surely there were not enough for all of them. This was one of the reasons why people died. Having no lifeboats left for them, and the time for the ship's sinking eventually neared, until it split in half, causing people to fall off Titanic. The film showed this in detail, with focusing on how the people acted, and the actual process of the ship's sinking, the flooding inside, gradually moving a deck upward, and the splitting in half. The Titanic disappearing to the water, was seen aswell, and also briefly how the people felt about the whole event.
Out of the three sources of this event, the film, the survivor's story, and the historian's account, the survivor's story is the most reliable. This is because she was the one who actually had exprience in the event of the Titanic, and also because she told her story only a month after the happening, meaning that this is primary evidence. Even though this source was not so much useful in explaining why and how the ship sank, it was still more realistic, and very much more reliable than the others'. On the other hand, the historian's account was the most helpful in the describing of the proccess of the Titanic's sinking. It was the most detailed, and it only focused on that one crucial event. It had plenty of explanations on before, during, and after the sinking of the ship. Although, the down side to this source is that it was made in a few decades after the actual event, in 1995, making it secondary evidence, and also not so much reliable. The film of Titanic was the source that was made the latest, it being released in the year 1997. Already, this evidence does not sound so reliable, since it is also secondary evidence. The film covered the whole of the event, with also viewing in many aspects. It included the information of the historical happening, but also it was mixed with a fictional story behind it, the purpose being to make the people watching the film have knowledge of the Titanic's event, while also making it more entertaining, so that the audience will enjoy it too. Although with the fictional story, and the fact that the film was only 'based' on the happening of the Titanic, this source is not very useful in explaining why and how the Titanic sank, either is it very much reliable of the whole event.
I think that using the film Titanic, as historical evidence, is not a very good idea. This is because, as it is stated above, this is secondary evidence, and it being so, this source is not reliable. And knowing this fact, by the film being secondary evidence, it might have gotten the information also from other secondary evidences. My other reason is also that this source being a 'film', it's main purpose is for the high amount of audiences with using the entertainment that is what people expect from watching films. So, producing the film Titanic, based on the not purely reliable secondary evidences, and it's purpose of production, not being completely about the event, using this film for historical purposes is not a good idea. Therefore, the film Titanic is not useful as historical evidence.
i'm so sorry for always spamming your f-page! but please understand.. C:
History Essay on Titanic
How Useful Is The Film Titanic As Historical Evidence?
Films are generally made for entertainment purposes. So if the evidence of a historical event is the reason for the film, producers would also include fiction and exciting, unrelated happenings, in order to make it the entertainment people are after. Therefore, evaluating films is important, so that you would know which parts are the actual evidence of the event, and which are the fictional.
Titanic is an important topic because it was one of the largest passenger steamships, built at Harland and Wolff in Belfast, and the ship was said to be unsinkable. But it being proved not so, it caused Titanic to be talked about all over the world. Also because so many people died when it sank. It is called one of the deadliest peacetime maritime disasters.
In the twentieth century, the film shows the difference in society between that time and now.
First, the film points out about how the women, at that time, were treated, expected to act, and what the people thought of them. In Rose's role, her character is of the high-class, causing everyone around her to expect that she would be very posh and elegant. This is not wholey different from how wealthy people are treated nowadays, but the film showed more. Rose was engaged to a rather properous man, and so her mother made the decision that there was no use for her daughter to go to university. This confirms that education was not essential to women. They would be able to live without any troubles with just being married to a wealthy man.
When it came to the time that the ship was sinking, the women were first to get on the life boats, along with children and old people. This portrays that they were considered to be more important than any of the others.
The film also showed the opposition of the different classes. In the ship, the rooms the third-class had were small, and only consisted of one bathroom. It was cramped and they had less space, as a few people needed to share a room between each other. Compared to the higher class, they were accommodated with a very spacious room that it looked like a house, having one room for dining, bathing, and sleeping. As of the clothes they wore, the style of the third-class' were normal, and almost of a poor standard. While the first-class were dressed fancy, and even had assistance for the process of their clothing. The conversation each class had with each other were nowhere near similar, as the upper-class' topics were about their posh activities, while the other class conversed simply about the things that they normally do. When the captain ordered for the announcement of the ship's sinking, first-class were told politely and calmly, with no rushing in getting them to safety. But as for the lower class, the people who were in charge of informing them that the ship is sinking, did not have as much respect and calmness in doing so. Instead they shouted to tell the lower class, and pushed them out of their rooms, forcing them also to wear their life jackets. The first-class were the ones allowed to go on the lifeboats first, making the lower-class wait their turn. According to this part of the film, in those times, people of not much money were considered to be the last priority, even when in danger.
As Jack played cards to win the tickets for Titanic, this shows that riding on the Titanic would cost a very large amount of money. And as there were the few ships there, and Titanic was the only one heading for America, this tells us that emigrating was not that easy and there were not many options on travelling, in those times compared to today.
Thomas Andrews, being the one who designed it, and J Bruce Ismay, who thought of the idea, made sure that Titanic would not be sinkable. And of course, this was the reason why the tickets were expensive, and why the pople didn't have any worries of danger. But Titanic was not unsinkable, and it was proved so when it got hit by the iceberg. This proves that with the certainty of Thomas Andrews and J Bruce Ismay, and also with their building and 'making sure of' of Titanic, the technology then was not so much reliable, and not so accurate. It was still not fully developed in a way that it could be trusted.
I think that the film's interpretation of society is reliable. I think this because there were quite alot of scenes that showed how society was, in those times, And in a film's own way, it made time for these scenes, making the evidence visible while also flowing with the fictional story behind it.
In the film, it showed the iceberg slicing through the side, crashing onto the lower decks, and causing them to flood. As the iceberg was still in contact with the ship's side, the film viewed what was happening inside in the decks, Showing the water gushing in, flooding the deck, and how the people there tried to exist the doors immediately, as they were being closed so as to delay the rising of the water. In the minutes after witnessing the iceberg's attack, the captain and the workers were trying to get everyone on the lifeboats, but surely there were not enough for all of them. This was one of the reasons why people died. Having no lifeboats left for them, and the time for the ship's sinking eventually neared, until it split in half, causing people to fall off Titanic. The film showed this in detail, with focusing on how the people acted, and the actual process of the ship's sinking, the flooding inside, gradually moving a deck upward, and the splitting in half. The Titanic disappearing to the water, was seen aswell, and also briefly how the people felt about the whole event.
Out of the three sources of this event, the film, the survivor's story, and the historian's account, the survivor's story is the most reliable. This is because she was the one who actually had exprience in the event of the Titanic, and also because she told her story only a month after the happening, meaning that this is primary evidence. Even though this source was not so much useful in explaining why and how the ship sank, it was still more realistic, and very much more reliable than the others'. On the other hand, the historian's account was the most helpful in the describing of the proccess of the Titanic's sinking. It was the most detailed, and it only focused on that one crucial event. It had plenty of explanations on before, during, and after the sinking of the ship. Although, the down side to this source is that it was made in a few decades after the actual event, in 1995, making it secondary evidence, and also not so much reliable. The film of Titanic was the source that was made the latest, it being released in the year 1997. Already, this evidence does not sound so reliable, since it is also secondary evidence. The film covered the whole of the event, with also viewing in many aspects. It included the information of the historical happening, but also it was mixed with a fictional story behind it, the purpose being to make the people watching the film have knowledge of the Titanic's event, while also making it more entertaining, so that the audience will enjoy it too. Although with the fictional story, and the fact that the film was only 'based' on the happening of the Titanic, this source is not very useful in explaining why and how the Titanic sank, either is it very much reliable of the whole event.
I think that using the film Titanic, as historical evidence, is not a very good idea. This is because, as it is stated above, this is secondary evidence, and it being so, this source is not reliable. And knowing this fact, by the film being secondary evidence, it might have gotten the information also from other secondary evidences. My other reason is also that this source being a 'film', it's main purpose is for the high amount of audiences with using the entertainment that is what people expect from watching films. So, producing the film Titanic, based on the not purely reliable secondary evidences, and it's purpose of production, not being completely about the event, using this film for historical purposes is not a good idea. Therefore, the film Titanic is not useful as historical evidence.