GERM-UA111 Conversation & Composition Berlin: Metropolis & Metamorphosis

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1 Fall 2011 GERM-UA111 Conversation & Composition Berlin: Metropolis & Metamorphosis MW 11:00-12:15 7 E 12th St., Room LL21 Professor Alys George alys.george@nyu.edu 19 University Place Room 330 Office hours: T 9:30-11, W 4-5, Tel: and by appointment Prerequisite Successful completion of Intermediate German II, Intensive Intermediate German, or the approval of the Director of the Language Program. Course description Conversation and Composition is designed for post-intermediate students of German with a solid grasp of German grammar and vocabulary who wish to expand on their knowledge of the German language, history, and culture through reading, discussion, and writing. Conversation and Composition is a reading, writing, and speaking intensive course. Emphasis will be placed on refining written and spoken expression, with particular focus on the ability to articulate opinions, exchange substantive information, and argue points of view; developing analytic and interpretive writing skills; and encouraging flexibility of expression. In addition, a thorough grammar review will be part of our work. If Walter Benjamin called Paris the capital of the nineteenth century, Berlin was in many ways the capital of the twentieth century. The city became a stage for remarkable shifts and ruptures that occurred between 1900 and 2000, and this course explores a century of radical cultural, historical, and political change. Berlin was, by turns, imperial capital; hothouse for the Weimar Republic s avant-garde impulses; National Socialism s imagined Germania ; post-world War II divided city; Cold War capital of the GDR; and, today, capital of a reunified Germany. We will take a cultural studies approach to twentieth-century Berlin and learn how to effectively read and interpret textual and visual materials. This course is designed to be interdisciplinary, so we will work with a variety of written genres (poetry, short stories, novel, journalistic non-fiction), visual art, architecture, and film. Course goals Over the course of the semester you will: further develop your ability to express yourself in oral and written German at the advanced level; learn to read German texts of various literary genres more critically, with an eye to identifying and analyzing structure, style, and content, as well as tone and register; improve your skills in writing German across different genres; hone your ability to discuss history and culture in German, while also expressing your personal opinions on an analytical, academic level; deepen your knowledge of the structures and grammar of the German language; expand your knowledge of themes and topics relating to the history, culture, and literature of twentieth- and twenty-first century Berlin.

2 Course materials 1. Required books (available at the NYU Bookstore) Rankin, Jamie and Larry D. Wells. Handbuch zur deutschen Grammatik. Wiederholen und Anwenden, 5 th edition. Boston: Heinle, [ISBN / ] Schneider, Peter. Der Mauerspringer [1982]. Reinbek bei Hamburg: Rowohlt, [ISBN / ] 2. A three-ring binder or other organizational system of your choice to keep course readings in one place. 3. A good, comprehensive bilingual dictionary (if you don t already have one). (Harper) Collins, Oxford Duden, PONS, Cambridge Klett and Langenscheidt are all acceptable. Additional course readings will be made available on our Blackboard site. Films During the semester you will need to view five films outside the classroom. They are all available on DVD or VHS at Bobst library and/or will be posted on our class s Blackboard site. Berlin Die Sinfonie der Großstadt (Walter Ruttmann, 1927) Die Mörder sind unter uns (Wolfgang Staudte, 1946) Berlin Ecke Schönhauser (Gerhard Klein, 1957) Das Leben der Anderen (Florian Henckel von Donnersmark, 2006) Berlin: Sinfonie einer Großstadt (Thomas Schadt, 2002) Blackboard website All members of the class are automatically granted access to the Blackboard website for this course. Here you will have access to the syllabus and course calendar, links to further information about authors, texts, and topics covered in this course, any handouts distributed in class, announcements about changes in the syllabus, and information about upcoming German-related events. Login at home.nyu.edu to access the site. Requirements & Grading Attendance 10% Preparedness and active class participation 20% Group presentation/session leading 5% Four take-home grammar quizzes 20% Compositions & writing assignments 25% Final portfolio project 20% Attendance (10%) As a significant part of this course is conversation, your attendance is required and will be checked at each class meeting. You will not be penalized for legitimate absence due to illness (documented by a note from NYU health services or a physician), emergency, or religious observance, but you must contact me ahead of time via or phone or alert me in class prior to your absence. You are responsible for making up assignments and material covered during an absence. Your FINAL COURSE GRADE will be lowered by one grade (i.e., an A would become an A-, or a C+ a C) for EACH unexcused absence after the second. Lateness will not be tolerated. Preparedness and active participation (20%) The success of this class requires your active engagement, both individually and as a group. Participation includes reading and preparing the assigned text/s and coming to class ready to discuss them, and/or seeing the assigned films, taking notes on them, and being ready to discuss

3 them. Moreover, you should be making a conscious and continuous effort to improve your spoken and written German. Preparedness entails: a) making sure you understand the text at hand to the best of your abilities (if you don t grasp something after having tried, please say so at the beginning of class chances are you re not the only one!); b) keeping a vocabulary list with important words and expressions (to be kept in the binder with your other course materials); c) thinking about and writing down at least three clusters of questions that you think would contribute to a productive discussion and deepen our understanding and discussion of the text/film at hand (these will also be kept in the binder). Make sure to bring all necessary materials to class. Not having your materials at hand in class will affect your final grade. Group presentation/session leading (5%) Each student will be responsible, as a group member, for preparing a presentation on a text/film, author, and/or on additional related material for one class session. Presentations should last ca. 15 minutes. You will provide discussion questions and lead that day s class discussion. Further information and guidelines, as well as a sign-up sheet TBA. Four take-home grammar quizzes (20%) Approximately every three weeks, you will take a grammar-related take-home quiz based on the exercises in Handbuch zur deutschen Grammatik. The quizzes are due back in the next session. Since class time should be mostly spent with texts/films and discussion, the grammar review is your responsibility. If you have questions or difficulties, you can of course share these in class. Please bring the Handbuch to each session in case we need to go over material in class. Compositions & writing assignments (25%) The regular written components of this course will include: a) three one-page response papers to course readings (15%); and b) a two-page response paper to one film (10%). Your assignments should be typed in 12-point font and double-spaced. In most cases, you will be revising and resubmitting your text after receiving either peer review or feedback from me. The final grade for each essay will take into account the first and second drafts: the first draft will be graded on content and grammar, the second draft on content, grammar, and self-editing of the first draft. Final portfolio project (20%) The final portfolio will be a project about one aspect of Berlin s culture and history we have studied this semester. It will consist of both oral and written components. Detailed information on its content and form is TBA. No late work will be accepted. This course is designed to be interactive. Errors are inevitable and important. They will be respectfully dealt with as developmental markers. Academic integrity Academic integrity is extremely important to me, and I fully support NYU s academic integrity guidelines. While it is permissible, even advisable, to collaborate on ideas, breaches of the university s academic integrity guidelines are taken extremely seriously and will result in consequences, including potential failure of the course. For a complete description of the academic integrity expectations and standards, see

4 GERM-UA111 Semesterplan Datum Im Unterricht: Themen Lesen/Vorbereiten Mi, 7. September Einführung in den Kurs Bodo Morshäuser: 129 Arten sich durch die Stadt zu bewegen [1998] Mo, 12. September Berlin um 1900: Karl Baedeker: Gesamtbild der Stadt [Auszug aus Reichshauptstadt, Berlin und Umgebung. Handbuch für Reisende, Stadtgeschichte, Stadtbild 1904] Bernd Stöver: Geschichte Berlins, S Mi, 14. September Walter Benjamin: Berliner Kindheit um neunzehnhundert [Auszug, 1938] Mo, 19. September Die Weimarer Republik Franz Hessel: Berlins Boulevard [Auszug aus Spazieren in Berlin, 1929]; Das andre Berlin [1929] Siegfried Kracauer: Straße ohne Erinnerung [1932] Mi, 21. September How to View a Film [A User s Guide to German Cultural Studies] Siegfried Kracauer: Lokomotive über der Friedrichsstraße [1933] Mo, 26. September Franz Hessel: An die Berlinerin [1929] Erika Mann: An den Berliner [1929] Franz Hessel: Berliner Familie 1931 Mi, 28. September How to Read a Poem [A User s Guide to German Cultural Studies] Gedichte von Erich Kästner, Joachim Ringelnatz, Christian Morgenstern, Kurt Tucholsky, Alfred Kerr, Yvan Goll [TBA] Schreiben, Grammatik, Film Bis 28. Sept.: Kapitel 1-4 HzdG vorbereiten: Syntax; Präsens; Perfekt; der-/ein-wörter Film: Berlin Die Sinfonie der Großstadt [1927] sehen und mit Notizen kommentieren Ausstellungsbesuch [bis 26. Sept.]: Maya Zack: Living Room [@The Jewish Museum] sehen und mit Notizen kommentieren Take-home-Quiz: HzdG 1-4 Mo, 3. Oktober Berlin im Dritten Reich Erich Kästner: Schwierigkeiten ein Held zu sein Bis 26. Okt.: Kapitel 5-9 HzdG vorbereiten: Fälle und Deklination; Präpositionen; Negation; Präteritum; Modalverben Mi, 5. Oktober Inge Deutschkron: Ich trug den gelben Stern Mo, 10. Oktober UNTERRICHTSFREI [Columbus Day-Feiertag] Mi, 12. Oktober Inge Deutschkron: Ich trug den gelben Stern

5 Datum Mo, 17. Oktober Mi, 19. Oktober Im Unterricht: Themen Die Stadt in Trümmern: Nachkriegsberlin Lesen/Vorbereiten Günter de Bruyn: Ein Ende Alfred Döblin: Gang vom Bahnhof Friedrichstraße nach den Linden Curt Riess: Berlin Berlin: Schreiben, Grammatik, Film Film: Die Mörder sind unter uns sehen und mit Notizen kommentieren Mo, 24. Oktober Die Vier-Sektoren-Stadt Film: Berlin Ecke Schönhauser sehen und mit Notizen kommentieren Mi, 26. Oktober Wolf Biermann: Berlin [1965] Wolf Biermann: Ballade vom preußischen Ikarus [1978] Take-home-Quiz: HzdG 5-9 Mo, 31. Oktober Emine Sevgi Özdamar: Die Brücke vom goldenen Horn [Auszug, 1998] Mi, 2. November Die geteilte Stadt Volker Braun: Die Mauer [1979] Helmut Heißenbüttel: Westberlinstadtlandschaftsgelegenheitsgedicht [1981] Günter Kunert: Eine Reise wert [1987] Ralph Grüneberger: Es war nicht alles schlecht [1996/97] Mo, 7. November Bis 21. Nov.: Kapitel HzdG vorbereiten: Reflexive Verben; Infinitive; Passiv; Adjektive; Adverbien; Komparativ/Superlativ Film: Das Leben der Anderen sehen und mit Notizen kommentieren Mi, 9. November Monika Maron: Zwei Berichte an die Stasi, 1976 Monika Maron: Heuchelei und Niedertracht [1995] Mo, 14. November Peter Schneider: Der Mauerspringer [1982] Mi, 16. November Peter Schneider: Der Mauerspringer [1982] Mo, 21. November Peter Schneider: Der Mauerspringer [1982] Take-home-Quiz: HzdG 10-15

6 Datum Mi, 23. November Im Unterricht: Themen Lesen/Vorbereiten Jens Sparschuh: Bahnhof Friedrichstraße. Ein Museum I [1988] Schreiben, Grammatik, Film Bis 14. Dez.: Kapitel 18-19, HzdG vorbereiten: Relativpronomen und -sätze; Fragen; Konjunktiv II; Konjunktiv I Mo, 28. November Mi, 30. November Die Wende und Wiedervereinigung Hauptstadt Berlin: Neues Berlin? Reiner Kunze: Die mauer [1990] Durs Grünbein: 12/11/89 [1991] Jens Sparschuh: Bahnhof Friedrichstraße. Ein Museum II [1995] Bodo Morshäuser: Schöne Rede [1998] Film: Berlin: Sinfonie einer Großstadt [2002] sehen und mit Notizen kommentieren Mo, 5. Dezember Ostalgie Monika Maron: Penkun hinter der Mauer [1999] Jana Hensel: Zonenkinder [Auszug, 2002] Mi, 7. Dezember Stadtsanierung: Die Debatte TBA über Erinnern und Vergessen Mo, 12. Dezember Wladimir Kaminer: Russendisko [Auszug, 2000] Mi, 14. Dezember Abschlussdiskussion Ingo Schulze: Mein Westen [2009] Take-home-Quiz: HzdG 18-19, 21-22