German Conversation and Composition From Natur to Umwelt: The German Culture of Nature

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1 German Conversation and Composition From Natur to Umwelt: The German Culture of Nature GERM-UA 111 Room: Bobst LL143 Fall 2017 M, W 11:00 am 12:15 am Professor Chadwick Smith Office Hours: Wednesdays, 1-2pm (& by appointment) 19 University Pl. cts233@nyu.edu 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. Prerequisite Successful completion of Intermediate German II, Intensive Intermediate German, or the approval of the Director of the Language Program. 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; Course Materials Required Books, Handbuch zur deutschen Grammatik. Wiederholen und Anwenden. Fifth edition. Rankin & Wells. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, Additional materials will be made available by the instructor. Requirements and Grading Attendance/Preparedness and active participation 35% Four Take Home Quizzes at 60 points 20% Regular Compositions and other written assignments 25%

2 Final paper (6-8 pages) 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 (25%) 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 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. Make sure to bring all necessary materials to class. You will be asked at times to open discussions with these notes. Not having your materials at hand in class will affect your final grade. Four Take Home Grammar Quizzes (20%) Approximately every three weeks, you will take a grammar related take-home quiz based on the 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. Homework & writing assignments (25%) The written assignments in this course are three response papers. Each assignment will be pages in length and worth 5% of your grade. Your assignments should be typed in 12-point font and double-spaced. In some 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. Additionally, there will be homework assignments specific to both to content and to grammar topics. Final paper (20%) At the end of the semester you will submit a final paper dealing with the texts and themes raised throughout the semester. It will be 8-10 pages and contain a strong central argument supported by evidence from the texts we have read.

3 No late work will be accepted. Cell Phones Cell phones and all other technological devices must be turned off during class out of respect for the instructor and fellow students. Please schedule all important phone communications outside of class time. Disability Support Services Students who may be requesting accommodations due to disabilities are encouraged to familiarize themselves with procedures and policies regarding disability support services at the following website: Students are encouraged to speak with teachers about these issues at the beginning of the term. All such conversations will be kept strictly confidential. 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 Semesterplan (subject to change): Datum Themen (& Sonstiges) Im Unterricht/Diskussion Hausaufgabe (für heute zu vorbereiten) Mi. 6 Sep. I: Die Grenze zwischen der Natur und dem Volk Einführung ins Thema Kultur oder Natur? Mo. 11 Sep. Brüder Grimm, Märchen Mi. 13 Sep. Brüder Grimm, Märchen Walter Benjamin, Der Erzähler Mo. 18 Sep. II: Naturerkenntnis durch Naturwissenschaft Lessing, Über naive und sentimentalische Dichtung Goethe Mi. 20 Sep. Lessing, Über naive und sentimentalische Dichtung Goethe Mo. 25 Sep. Goethe, Wanderers Nachtlied (1780/3) Hans-Georg Wehling, der deutsche Wald (2001) [ausz.] Mi. 27 Sep. Goethe, Wanderers Nachtlied (1780/3) Hans-Georg Wehling, der deutsche Wald (2001) [ausz.] Mo. 2 Oct. Freier Tag

5 Mi. 4 Oct. III: der Zeitalter der Entdeckungne Alexander v. Humboldt, Ansichten der Natur (noch festzulegen) Response paper #1 due. Mo. 9 Oct. Alexander v. Humboldt, Ansichten der Natur (noch festzulegen) Mi. 11 Oct. Daniel Kehlmann, Die Vermessung der Welt Mo. 16 Oct. Daniel Kehlmann, Die Vermessung der Welt Mi. 18 Oct. Daniel Kehlmann, Die Vermessung der Welt Mo. 23 Oct. IV: Einige neue theoretische Perspektiven Hans-Georg Wehling, der deutsche Wald (2001), Der Bürger im Stadt [ausz.] Mi. 25 Oct. Hans-Georg Wehling, der deutsche Wald (2001), Der Bürger im Stadt [ausz.] Mo. 30 Oct. Noch festzulegen Response paper #2 due. Mi. 1 Nov. Noch festzulegen Mo. 6 Nov. Freier Tag Mi. 8 Nov. V: Die Natur als Naturwissenschaft Adalbert Stifter, Bunte Steine (noch festzulegen)

6 Mo. 13 Nov. Adalbert Stifter, Bunte Steine (noch festzulegen) Mi. 15 Nov. Adalbert Stifter, Bunte Steine (noch festzulegen) Mo. 20 Nov. Mi. 22 Nov. to Fri. 24 Nov. Thanksgiving Recess Mo. 27 Nov. Roth Wolkenkratzer Mi. 29 Nov. Roth Wolkenkratzer Response paper #3 due. Mo. 4 Dec. Mi. 6 Dec. Aufholungstag Mo. 11 Dec. Wrap-up des Kurses