20th Century German Writers and Poets

Today our group will be doing our presentation on 20th century German writers and poets in class. Don't miss it! But if you do, it can be viewed at this link.

19th Century Male/Female Roles Presentation

Yesterday we did our groups presentation on 19th century male and female roles in Germany during the 19th century. To view it, please click this link. Bear in mind, however, that much of the presentation was verbal, and not written on the slides. Hope you enjoy(ed) it!

3 Best Blogs

1. Lexi Ball

1. Overall appearance: 30/30 - Simple, clean, and easy to read
2. Completeness: 20/20
3. Solid writing/blogging: 20/20 - Easy to jump into, clear, and interesting
4. Images and sources support the topic of the posts: 10/10
5. Your own criterion: 19/20 - Background gives the blog a warm and inviting feel, and pictures add an interesting aspect
99/100

2. Jessica Nikula

1. Overall appearance: 30/30 - Unique and interesting background gives a good simple appearance
2. Completeness: 20/20
3. Solid writing/blogging: 19/20 Thorough writing that is easy to read
4. Images and sources support the topic of the posts: 10/10
5. Your own criterion: 19/20 - Could use a few more pictures, otherwise an excellent blog
98/100

3. Shelby Gunderson

1. Overall appearance: 30/30 - Interesting but unobtrusive background and pictures
2. Completeness: 20/20
3. Solid writing/blogging: 18/20 - Changing font and size makes reading more difficult, otherwise very good
4. Images and sources support the topic of the posts: 10/10
5. Your own criterion: 19/20 - Overall interesting and inviting
97/100

"All Quiet On The Western Front" Discussion

On Monday, October 4th we discussed the book we just read, "All Quiet On The Western Front" by Erich Maria Remarque. A large part of our discussion, and one of the big themes of the book, is identity. As we've discussed in class in the past, Germany has gone through three empires that have risen and fallen, and this has caused big issues with Germans being able to have a solid identity. In Remarque's book, the narrator and the people around him struggle with their identity as soldiers, and with their previous childhood identity and what it will be after the war, since they can't imagine it as anything but a soldier.

Although this book revolves around war, and my copy even says "The Classic War Novel of All Time" right on the front cover, it is not a book about a war, but of the people who were part of it. The story does not revolve around what is going on in the war, how the Germans are holding up against the Allied forces, or the strategies being used. Paul, the narrator, along with his friends Katczinsky, Kropp, Müller, Tjaden, Kemmerich, Detering, and Behm, many from a high school class in Germany, discusses their fight to not only survive, but to maintain their mental sanity.