Department
of German
Introduction to Modern
From Unification to Unification
GERM1060
Co-ordinator: Ms Ingrid Sharp
i.e.sharp@leeds.ac.uk
Table of Contents
Teaching and Research in the Department of German at
Leeds
Essay Questions Christmas 2005
Texts – Aufgaben for class work
Introduction to Modern
From Unification to Unification
GERM1060
Co-ordinator: Ms Ingrid Sharp
Aims of
this Module
By the end of the
module, you should be:
·
aware of the main events (political, social,
economic and cultural) that have shaped
·
aware of the main dilemmas that have shaped
German history as a whole in the period 1870-1990.
·
able to relate key events to the bigger
picture.
In short, we expect you to have both a factual knowledge of key moments in German history and a
conceptual understanding of the broader themes.
For example, you should be able to tell us about events such as the founding of the
Lectures will be in English or German, but seminars always in German – so
this is another opportunity to become confident in spoken German.
Rote Fäden (Fäden?)
- German
Unity: what kind of unified
state do Germans want to live in? Why has
- Liberalism
and Authoritarianism: what tensions
have existed between liberalism and authoritarianism in the search for a
unified German state? Is it possible to have a liberal German state? Or
must it always be authoritarian?
- National
Identity: what is ‘German’?
Teaching and Research
in the Department of German at Leeds
All members of the Department of German are engaged in research into a
range of aspects of German Culture, History and Society. The results of this
research are published in books, articles and reviews. It is on the basis of
this research that we are able to offer modules in the department which are
cutting-edge and reflect the latest thinking on ‘things German’.
The Department of German is particularly pleased to offer modules such as
Introduction to Modern Germany which
bring together the research interests of a number of members of staff. The
research activities and publications of the following lecturers contribute to
this module and and enhance your learning experience:
Paul Cooke: Representing
Ingo Cornils: ‘The German Student Movement. Legend and Legacy’, in: Debatte Vol.4 / No.2, pp. 36-62, 1996;
‘Successful failure? The impact of the German Student Movement on the Federal
Republic of Germany’, in: Stuart Taberner / Frank Finlay (eds.), Recasting
German Identity. Culture, Politics and Literature in the
Frank Finlay [with Stuart Taberner (eds.)]: Recasting German
Identity, Culture, Literature and
Politics in the
Chris Homewood: currently writing a Ph.D
on representations of 1970s’ German terrorism in German film
Annette Seidel Arpacı, ‘National Memory’s “Schlüsselkinder”: Migration, Pedagogy,
and Constructions of German “Remembrance Culture”’, in Beyond Normalisation:
Society, Culture and Politics in the
Ingrid Sharp: ‘Berlin and Gender
Relations’ in Schoenfeld, C. and
Finnan,C. (eds) Female Creativity
in the Weimar Republic, Routledge 2004; ‘The Sexual Unification
of Germany’, Journal of the History of Sexuality (2004)
Stuart Taberner: German Literature of the 1990s and Beyond (
Essential
These texts will cost you around £60 and will suffice for both
semesters. They will also be of great use in future German modules.
Overview
Stefan Berger, Inventing the Nation
1870-1914
Volker R.
Berghahn, Imperial
1918-1990
Mary Fulbrook, A History of
1945-present
Additional Recommended
Jonathan Sperber (ed.),
Michael Stürmer, The German Empire
Lectures take place every week. You must complement the lectures with your own reading. This part of the
module is a traditional
university lecture series: you will be
expected to read in advance and make notes. After the lecture, you should go
through your notes and summarise what you have learnt.
Semester One
Stefan Berger, Inventing the Nation: Chapter 4
Stefan Berger, Inventing the Nation: Chapter 4
- Reading
Week
Mary Fulbrook, The
Divided Nation: Chapter 4
Mary Fulbrook, The
Divided Nation: Chapter 4
- Final
week of semester
Semester Two
Mary Fulbrook, The
Divided Nation: Chapter 6
Mary Fulbrook, The
Divided Nation: Chapter 6
Mary Fulbrook, The
Divided Nation: Chapter 9
Mary
Fulbrook, The Divided Nation: Chapter 9
Stefan Berger, Inventing the Nation: Chapter 8
Stefan Berger, Inventing the Nation: Chapter 8
- Final week of semester
ASA is Dr Annette
Seidel Arpacı; PC is Dr Paul Cooke; FF is Professor Frank Finlay; IS is Ms
Ingrid Sharp.
Seminars
Seminars begin are
weekly and begin in week one. In seminars in odd weeks, you will discuss what you have heard in the lectures, that is, be asked to
summarise their content and comment on them. You will also develop vocabulary
and structures in these odd seminars.
In seminars in even weeks, you will
tackle the ‘Aufgaben’/tasks – in groups - which are included at the end of this
handbook. The seminars are conducted entirely in German and tasks MUST
BE prepared in advance.
Semester One
Seminar
1 (week two)
Seminar
2 (week four)
Stefan Berger, Inventing
the Nation: Chapter 4
Seminar
3 (week six)
Seminar
4 (week eight)
Mary Fulbrook, The Divided Nation: Chapter 4
Seminar
5 (week ten)
Semester Two
Seminar
1 (week two)
Mary Fulbrook, The Divided Nation: Chapter 6
Seminar
2 (week four)
Seminar
3 (week six)
Seminar
4 (week eight)
Mary Fulbrook, The
Divided Nation: Chapter 9
Seminar
5 (week ten)
Stefan Berger, Inventing the Nation: Chapter
8
Assessment
In German
- An essay of 250 words in German to be
handed in at the end of reading week of semester one (25%). This will be a
descriptive essay.
Example
question (there will be a choice!):
‘Beschreiben
Sie die deutsche Kolonialpolitik!’
‘Beschreiben
Sie Bismarcks politische Karriere!’
- An essay of 500 words in German to be
handed on the first day of the semester one examination period (25%). This
essay will require you to make an argument.
Example
questions:
‘Der
Zusammenbruch der Weimarer Republik war vorhersehbar. Diskutieren Sie!’
‘Das deutsche
Volk wollte Hitler und hat ihn auch verdient! Diskutieren Sie!’
- An examination of two hours
during the semester two examination period. Students will be required to
answer an essay question in German (50%).
In all cases, equal
weighting will given to accuracy and range of German and to
content and argument. Feedback will be given on student presentations in
the course of seminars and advice given as to necessary improvements in both
language and understanding of context.
For guidance on how
to write a good semester essay, see:
http://www.german.leeds.ac.uk/core3/campus/Writing%20your%20essay.htm
For guidance on how
to write a good examination essay, see:
http://www.german.leeds.ac.uk/learning/campus/How%20to%20write%20successful%20exam%20essays.htm
Background Reading for Presentations and
Essay-Writing
Essay Questions Christmas 2005
IMG essay titles
Semester 1 2005-6
First essay (descriptive 25% of Module mark)
Was verstehen Sie
unter ‘Weltpolitik’ im Zusammenhang mit dem sogenannten wilhelminischen
Zeitalter?
Erläutern Sie die wichtigsten
Kriegsziele der Deutschen im ersten Weltkrieg.
Beschreiben Sie die
innenpolitische Situation im neu geschaffenen
Deutschen Reich (nach
1871).
Second essay (more
analytical 25% of Module mark):
Wie wichtig war
Gustav Stresemann für die Stabilität der Weimarer Republik der 20er Jahre?
Nehmen Sie Stellung
zur folgenden Behauptung: ‘Die Dolchstoßlegende war der Hauptgrund für das
Scheitern der Weimarer Republik.’
‘Das
nationalsozialistische Deutschland basierte auf der Diktatur einer
Minderheit’.
Diskutieren Sie!
Modern German History
General
Richard
Evans, Rethinking German History
Mary
Fulbrook, ed. German History since 1800
Thomas
Nipperdey,
Simms,
Brendan, The Struggle for Mastery in
Blackbourn,
David, The Long Nineteenth Century: A History of
Nationalism,
Liberalism, and Conservatism in Nineteenth-Century Germany
Levinger,
Matthew Bernard, Enlightened Nationalism: The Transformation of Prussian
Political Culture, 1806-1848
Sheehan,
James J., German Liberalism in the Nineteenth Century
German
Nationalism post-1848 and Unification
Schulze,
Breuilly,
J., The Formation of the First German Nation-State, 1800-1870
Sheehan,
James, “What is German History? Reflections on the Role of the Nation in German
History and Historiography,” Journal of Modern History 53/1, 1981: 1-23.
Kaiserreich and Sonderweg
Mommsen,
Wolfgang, Imperial
Wehler,
Hans-Ulrich, The German Empire, 1871-1918
Evans,
Richard J. (ed.), Society and Politics in Wilhelmine
Berghahn,
V. R., Imperial
Blackbourn,
David. and Eley, Geoff., The Peculiarities of German History
World
War I
Kocka,
Jürgen, Facing Total War: German society, 1914-1918
Berghahn,
Fischer,
Fritz, War of Illusions: German Policies from 1911 to 1914
Chickering,
Roger, Imperial
German
Culture from Fin-de-Siècle to Weimar
Schorske,
Carl, Fin de Siècle Vienna: Politics and Culture
Fritzsche,
Peter, Reading
Gay,
Peter,
Hermand, Jost und Trommler Frank,
Die Kultur in der Weimarer Republik
The Weimar Republic
Feldman,
Gerald, The Great Disorder: Politics, Economics, and Society in the German
Inflation, 1914-1924
Mommsen,
Hans, The Rise and Fall of
Peukert,
Detlev, The
Third
Reich/World War II
Peukert,
Detlev, Inside Nazi
Kershaw,
Ian, The Nazi Dictatorship
Kershaw,
Ian, Popular Opinion and Political Dissent in the Third Reich
Kershaw,
Ian, The Hitler Myth
Kershaw,
Ian, Hitler
Mommsen,
Hans, From
Browning,
Christopher, The Path to Genocide.
Essays on Launching the Final Solution
Browning,
Christopher, Ordinary Men: Reserve Police Battalion 101 and the Final
Solution in
Goldhagen,
Daniel, Hitler's Willing Executioners.
Ordinary Germans and the Holocaust
Postwar
(
Fulbrook,
Mary, The Two Germanies 1945-1990 (1992)
Fulbrook,
Mary, Inside
Maier,
Charles, Dissolution. The Crisis of
Communism and the End of
Introduction
to Modern
From
Unification to Unification
GERM1060
Reading Week
Essay
Write an essay in German of 250 words
to be handed in ON THE FIRST MONDAY AFTER reading week (25%).
Either: ‘Beschreiben Sie die deutsche Kolonialpolitik!’
Or: ‘Beschreiben Sie Bismarcks politische Karriere!’
Or: ‘Beschreiben Sie den Anfang und das Ende der Weimarer Republik!’
Introduction to
Modern
From
Unification to Unification
GERM1060
Semester One Essay
Write an essay of 500 words in German
on ONE of the following. The essay
is to be handed on the first day of the semester one examination period
(25%).
This essay will require you to make
an argument (i.e not just be descriptive, as in the last essay). You must
advance a point of view!
See
http://www.german.leeds.ac.uk/core3/campus/Writing%20your%20essay.htm
for essay writing guidelines.
- ‘Das Ende der Weimarer Republik und
der Aufstieg Hitlers waren beide vorhersehbar’. Diskutieren Sie!
- ‘Das deutsche Volk wollte die Vernichtung
der Juden oder hat zumindest nichts dagegen unternommen’. Diskutieren Sie!
- ‘Der Holocaust bedeutete das Ende
einer deutschen
Nationalidentität’. Diskutieren Sie!
- ‘Die Vorstellung, dass Deutschland
den Krieg je gewinnen könnte, war eine Selbsttäuschung’. Diskutieren Sie!
——————————————————————————————————
This question paper consists of 1 printed page, each of which is
identified by the code number GERM 1060
GERM 1060
© UNIVERSITY OF LEEDS
(2005)
Introduction to Modern
Time allowed: 2 hours
Write an essay on ONE
of the following topics in German.
Equal weighting will given to accuracy and range of German and to content and argument.
- ‘Seit 1945 ist Deutschland ein völlig anderes Land als vorher’. Diskutieren Sie!
- ‘Die BRD war der bessere der beiden deutschen Nachkriegsstaaten’. Diskutieren Sie!
- ‘Der Beginn des Kalten Krieges bedeutete die endgültige Teilung
Deutschlands’. Diskutieren Sie!
- ‘Das Wirtschaftswunder in der BRD zementierte den westdeutschen
Staat’. Diskutieren Sie!
- ‘Willy Brandts Ostpolitik war die größte Leistung der 70er Jahre’. Diskutieren Sie!
- ‘Helmut Kohl war der beste Bundeskanzler der Bundesrepublik
Deutschland vor 1990’. Diskutieren Sie!
- ‘Ein echter Sozialismus auf deutschem Boden – das hat die DDR nie
geschafft’. Diskutieren Sie!
- ‘Manches war in der DDR besser’. Diskutieren Sie!
- ‘Michail Gorbatschow
hat den Fall der Berliner Mauer
herbeigeführt, und nicht die Deutschen’. Diskutieren Sie!
- ‘Mit der Wiedervereinigung wurde Deutschland endlich wieder “normal”’.
Diskutieren Sie!
Marking Scheme
The Department of German
operates marking schemes for essays, dissertations, assignments and
presentations in line with the University’s classification of degrees using the
20-90 module grade scale.
Essays and dissertations in
English/German (not as part of Core Language modules)
The level of knowledge and critical understanding of the topic
demonstrated by the candidate; the ability to organise and present this
knowledge in a coherent and convincing manner; the ability to identify and make
clear the key issues involved in answering the question; the ability to express
ideas fluently in appropriate, correctly spelled and punctuated, and
grammatically accurate language. For
essays submitted as coursework, references and bibliographical details should
be presented as set out in the Departmental guidelines on the submission of
written work. Essays that do not conform
to these standards will achieve a lower mark.
To achieve a First class mark
(70-90%), an essay will typically have some or all of the following
characteristics:
Ø will demonstrate a
high level of knowledge and a full understanding of the topic,
Ø will show a full
understanding of the requirements of the question, covering all the ground
required to give a full answer;
Ø will show a high
level of critical analysis;
Ø will have a clear
structure and coherent argument throughout, clearly identifying the key issues;
Ø will offer full
support for all points made;
Ø will make use of a
good range of primary and secondary sources;
Ø will be well
written throughout, stylistically clear and fully adequate to express ideas;
Ø will conform fully
to the standards outlined in the Departmental guidelines for the presentation of
written work including clear and appropriate referencing, correct spelling and
punctuation.
To achieve a mark in the Upper Second category (60-69%) II, i mark, an
essay will typically have some or all of the following characteristics:
Ø will demonstrate a
good level of knowledge and an understanding of the topic,
Ø will show a good
understanding of the requirements of the question, covering most of the ground
required to give a full answer;
Ø will show a high
level of critical analysis;
Ø will have a clear
structure and coherent argument throughout, clearly identifying the key issues;
Ø will offer support
for the points made;
Ø will make use of a
range of primary and secondary sources;
Ø will be largely
well written throughout, stylistically clear and adequate to express ideas;
Ø will largely
conform to the standards outlined in the Departmental guidelines for the
presentation of written work including clear and appropriate referencing,
correct spelling and punctuation.
To achieve a mark in the Lower Second category (50-59%), an essay will
typically have some or all of the following characteristics:
Ø will demonstrate a
reasonable knowledge and understanding of the topic,
Ø will show a
reasonable understanding of the requirements of the question, covering at least
half the ground required to give a full answer;
Ø may show some level
of critical analysis although the answer may be largely exposition;
Ø will show some
attempt at a clear structure although the line of argument may not always be
clear and coherent. At least half of the key issues will be identified although
there may be some irrelevant material;
Ø will offer some
support for the points made;
Ø will make use of a
limited number of primary and secondary sources;
Ø may not be well
written, but will be adequate to express ideas;
Ø may not conform to
the standards outlined in the Departmental guidelines for the presentation of
written work including clear and appropriate referencing, correct spelling and
punctuation.
To achieve a Third Class mark, an essay will typically have some or all
of the following characteristics:
Ø will demonstrate
only a limited knowledge and understanding of the topic,
Ø will show little
understanding of the requirements of the question, covering less than half the
ground required to give a full answer;
Ø will not
demonstrate critical analysis;
Ø will be badly
organised and the line of argument will be unclear and incoherent. Fewer than
half of the key issues will be identified and there will be a significant
amount of irrelevant material;
Ø will offer
inadequate support for the points made;
Ø will make use of
few if any primary and secondary sources;
Ø will not be well
written, language may be inadequate to express ideas;
Ø will not conform to
the standards outlined in the Departmental guidelines for the presentation of
written work including clear and appropriate referencing, correct spelling and
punctuation.
To achieve a fail mark, an essay will typically have some or all of the
following characteristics:
Ø will demonstrate
very limited knowledge and understanding of the topic,
Ø will show little or
no understanding of the requirements of the question, covering little if any of
the ground required to give a full answer;
Ø will not
demonstrate any critical analysis;
Ø will show little or
no shape or direction, will be badly organised and the line of argument unclear
and incoherent. Few if any of the key issues will be identified and there will
be a significant amount of irrelevant material;
Ø will offer little
or no support for the points made;
Ø will make use of
few if any primary and secondary sources;
Ø will not be well
written, language may be inadequate to express ideas;
Ø will not conform to
the standards outlined in the Departmental guidelines for the presentation of
written work including clear and appropriate referencing, correct spelling and
punctuation.
Essay
evaluation profile
NB:
the mark given to this essay is provisional, subject to confirmation by the
external examiner
Name:
....................................................... Question: ................................
Marker:
.................................................... Moderator: ......................................
Overall Class:
.......................................... Mark:
...............................................
Organisation
Strong introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Introduction vague
Clear progression
of argument . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Points made at random
Firm conclusion
based on arguments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Conclusion unclear
Grasp of issues
Issues understood
in detail . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Failure to grasp details
Broader issues
grasped . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Broader context absent
Analysis
Key issues clearly
identified . . . . . . . . . . . . . . issues not made clear
Coherent and
convincing argument . . . . . . . . . . . . . . implausible, incoherent
Language (German)
Clear, well-formed
sentences . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Sentences muddled
Correct and
effective use of vocab . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Vocab is poor
Grammar is accurate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Grammar is poor
Good range of
expression . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Poor range of expression
Use of sources
Sources
assimilated, well-used . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Reliant on undigested
and adequately acknowledged material
Good bibliography . . . . . . . . . . . . . . poor bibliography
Comments: