L1 Video Review PDF

Preview

Summary

Video Review for Women in American History ...

Description

Alexis Griggs Dr. Kathleen Huttenmaier WMST/HIST 394: Women In American History 1 October 2014 L1 Video Review •

Title of film The title of this film is A Midwife’s Tale. 2. Main topic of film. The main topic of the film was about Martha Ballard, the diary that she left behind, and Laurel Ulrich trying to decode Martha Ballard’s diary through the span of 8 years. 3. What were the important points of the film? An important point in this film is how much time, effort, and detail Laurel put into trying to understand Martha Ballard’s diary. She took into account every single name mentioned as well as other things like where they were, their financial situations, and their families. Another important point of this film to understand was Martha herself and everything she encountered as a midwife and as a woman. She had to deal with a great deal of diseases during that time. She also had to endure many loses, just like anyone in the medical field, she could not save everyone. I think this was quite difficult for Martha whenever a child died because she had a daughter herself and she had lost three daughters prior to her daughter Hannah being born. In the film, Laurel says that whenever Martha would nurse other women’s children she was recalling her own experience. 4. What did you learn from this film? I learned a lot about Martha Ballard, the life that she had, and the experiences she went through as a midwife. She lived in a time where diseases would wipe out entire towns. I also learned how difficult it was for Laurel Ulrich to break down Martha’s diary and to understand everything she wrote. She didn’t just read it and then summarize Martha’s life. She took into account every single detail in Martha’s diary. Laurel Ulrich took on a difficult task that not many people would. As she said in the film when she would tell archivists that she was researching women in the 18th century, they told her time and time again that she wouldn’t find anything, which Laurel agreed with. Yet, Laurel took on that difficult task anyways and was successful in doing so. 5. Who were the main characters?

Laurel Ulrich and Martha Ballard were the main characters of this film....