German110AprilAs14
Friday, May 9, 2014
Class Review
When I went into this class, I had anticipated learning some about the culture, but a lot about the World Wars and the Nazi control; history like that. I was pleasantly surprised about how the class was conducted and the information we learned about! The class was kept very interesting by group presentations in place of lectures, on topics such as food/culture of various German states, reading the book All Quiet on the Western Front, as well as watching the movie; more group projects on music, theater, men and women of Germany, literature, and more in both the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. I thoroughly enjoyed how entertaining this class was, and how it kept us engaged for the whole time. Once again, I was very pleasantly surprised at how the class was conducted, and would gladly recommend it to others! Thank you very much for a fun semester, Professor Specht-Jarvis! :)
Monday, April 28, 2014
Role of Men and Women in 20th and 21st century Germany
https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1cHAgfvpdJy6K7bZKMz8OpZINwp7_x8zQuRu6b-j00yY/edit#slide=id.p
For this presentation, I worked with Krissy using Google drive once again. I was in charge of the men and gendered opinions section, while Krissy focused on women.
For this presentation, I worked with Krissy using Google drive once again. I was in charge of the men and gendered opinions section, while Krissy focused on women.
Wednesday, April 9, 2014
18th and 19th Century German Music, Theatre, and Dance
https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1Q4kc5XqKJh7LBTAyYXf6zq26kRCqWrqr_ifoR5NJKcc/edit#slide=id.p
For this project, my group members and I used google drive and split up the workload. Krissy was in charge of theatre, Bikash did dance, and Elijah and I handled music. Once again, I recommend Google Drive for it's convenience factor for working in groups. :)
Wednesday, April 2, 2014
Review of a Character: Paul Bäumer
In the beginning, Paul and his friends had been rallied by their schoolmaster, Kantorek, and he started out as an enthusiastic, care-free student excited about life. He was convinced about how glorious and patriotic to his country it would be for him to enlist in the army and fight. Once he'd been in the war for a while, however, he soon realizes that not much matters but survival. He learns to use the Earth to protect himself, learns the patterns of the various shells and the correct timing to leap from shell hole to shell hole. The war consumes him, taking away his youth and maturing him to an old man at only the young age of twenty. When he returns to his hometown, he cannot even relate to the ordinary life of his mother, sister, and others in the life of a small town. The citizens have a routine to their lives, whereas his life is chaos and is almost entirely unpredictable. Unfortunately, he would never get over this. What had originally been an exciting adventure to embark upon, turned his life into a nightmare he's inevitably unable to wake up from.
Paul Before the war, listening to Kantorek preach about the glories of war.
He had to endure watching the deaths of all of his friends, including Kemmerich.
As most soldiers find, they are unable to become accustomed to the ways of normal civilians again. Here Paul is with his sister and ill mother.
“I am young, I am twenty years old; yet I know nothing of life but despair, death, fear, and fatuous superficiality cast over an abyss of sorrow. I see how peoples are set against one another, and in silence, unknowingly, foolishly, obediently, innocently slay one another.”
― Erich Maria Remarque, All Quiet on the Western Front
― Erich Maria Remarque, All Quiet on the Western Front
Wednesday, March 26, 2014
Berlin Calling Movie Questions
April Anderson
Berlin Calling Movie Questions
1. What do drugs mean to Ickarus?
When Ickarus takes drugs, he believes he will be able to create more unique beats for his music, making him more marketable and popular in the German party/techno scene. The drugs free his mind and make him able to come up with the new beats for his album.
2. Why, when, and how are his fans taking drugs, and which drugs do they take?
The fans of Ickarus are most commonly seen taking drugs at the clubs where he is the DJ. They typically are crushing pills and snorting the lines, and I believe they take them mostly to “feel” the music and just lose themselves in the moment. To “feel good”. The drugs alter their state of mind, just like Ickarus when making his new album. However, people also sell and do drugs at home. These people are drinking various kinds of alcohol, and lots of different hard drugs like cocaine, ecstasy, ketamine, and more.
3. While we can see that his drug habits get him ill and into a psychosis, and while we witness his relapse and inability to work successfully, why does the subculture Ickarus belongs to focus on drugs?
I think the main reason the techno/party subculture focuses on drugs because the drugs and music make these people feel good, as I mentioned earlier. They ignore the negative side effects to feel good for the moment.
4. Compare the standards you know from your home society with the people you see depicted in this movie. Which are the stark differences and contrasts?
I grew up in a very small town, and was taught at home to never do drugs at all, because they're bad for me and addictive. We are taught in school not to do drugs or alcohol as well. People in my home society also like being in clean environment, whereas these places in the movie seemed dark and kind of dirty. Especially in the bathrooms, where people were doing drugs and having shameless, carefree, and most likely unprotected sex in filthy bathroom stalls. Although this happens in the United States in some certain places too, it just seems so much more “common” in Germany after watching Berlin Calling.
5. Germany is considered a strong industrial nation the world over. Do you think that the youth culture as depicted here could change that? How about work ethics of Ickarus and of Alice, the label director who fires and then re-signs him?
I most definitely do believe the upcoming youth culture depicted in the movie could change the status of Germany in the world. The movie shows that drugs and dirty work are involved in business and so many things, and eventually that’s not going to work out well. If an entire generation of youth grows up with these ideals, and the following generations to come, I could really see that as a downfall. However, I also would not believe that everybody in Germany is under the influence of drugs? I could be wrong, I’ve never been there.
6. Which similar "cult movies" of US origin have you seen, if any?
Off the top of my head, I’m not remembering all of the “cult” movies I’ve seen. One that probably could fit into this category, however, would be The Town, which is relatively new and a movie that I absolutely love. There are drugs involved, much like in Berlin Calling, and it’s about men involved in robberies with past histories together and revenge. I highly recommend watching this. Ecstasy
Cocaine
Ketamine
Wednesday, March 5, 2014
German Cuisine
German cuisine has evolved over time through:
- Social Changes
- Political Changes
The taste in cuisine varies from different regions in Germany as well.
-Main meats include:
- Pork
- Beef
- Poultry
-Average person consumes 134lbs of meat in a year, the most common being bratwurst.
(Bratwurst)
-Vegetables are generally used in stews, vegetable soups, or side dishes.
(Spargel with Hollandaise sauce and potatoes)
-Pasta/Noodles are usually made of flour and eggs.
-Common deserts are a variety of cakes and tarts.
(Black Forest Cake)
***BREAD is incredibly significant to German cuisine.
Germany's most popular breads:
- Rye-wheat
- Toast bread
- Whole-grain
- Wheat-rye
- White bread
- Multigrain, usually wheat-rye-oats with sesame or linseed
- Rye
- Sunflower seeds in dark rye bread
- Pumpkin seeds in dark rye bread
- Roasted onions in light wheat-rye bread
Meals:
-Breakfast, Lunch (main meal), then a smaller dinner.
Drinks:
-BEER, wine, and coffee are all common. MANY types of beer available.
Source:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/German_cuisine
Book Review: Evolution of the Soldiers
Before enlisting in the war. |
Despair during the war. The events will change the soldiers forever. |
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