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Exploring German Literature

In this tutoring course the students will get to know some of the gems of German language literature and consider each work's themes and artistic craft.
Steven Roesch
Average rating:
5.0
Number of reviews:
(126)
Class

What's included

20 live meetings
10 in-class hours
Homework
1-2 hours per week. The students will be asked to read five to ten pages' worth of text on their own before each session and often to prepare written answers to comprehension and/or thought questions.

Class Experience

Depending on each student's background, interest, and facility with German, these works will include some of the following as well as similar texts:
- selections from Grimm's Fairy Tales
- Hauff, Die Geschichte von Kalif Storch
- Hesse, Maerchen
- Bochert, Nachts schlafen die Ratten doch
- Mann, Tonio Kroeger
- Duerrenmatt, Der Besuch der alten Dame
- Brecht, Der gute Mensch von Sezuan
- Ende, Momo
- Kaurin, Irgendwo ist immer Sueden

Components of the class will include:
- reading through each text in class and clarifying its content and meaning
- regular discussions - primarily in the German language - to delve into the psychology of 
characters, the use of rhetorical and literary tools (including irony, peripety, dramatic irony,
and symbolism), and ethical issues that the works raise
- regular vocabulary quizzes
- short writing assignments - to be completed outside of class - to deepen students'
grasp of each work and help them hone their writing skills
- creative activities such as "mind maps" to make scenes and situations in the texts more
concrete; alternate scenarios and endings for a text; and imagined conversations with a character or 
character

Following is an outline of the course, subject to adjustment based on individual student needs.

1. Der Junge, der auszog, um das Fuerchten zu lernen (The Boy Who Left Home to Learn How to Be Afraid) from Grimm's Fairy Tales, introduction
2. Der Junge, der auszog, um das Fuerchten zu lernen (The Boy Who Left Home to Learn How to Be Afraid) from Grimm's Fairy Tales, continued
reading and discussion
3. Der Junge, der auszog, um das Fuerchten zu lernen (The Boy Who Left Home to Learn How to Be Afraid) from Grimm's Fairy Tales
4. Hesse, Maerchen (Fairy Tale)
5. Hesse, Maerchen (Fairy Tale)
6. Hesse, Maerchen (Fairy Tale), discussion of Hesse's appropriation of fairy tale motifs
7.  Bochert, Nachts schlafen die Ratten doch (Rats Actually Do Sleep at Night)
8.  Bochert, Nachts schlafen die Ratten doch (Rats Actually Do Sleep at Night), discussion of post-World War II trends in 
German literature, including Group 47
9. Duerrenmatt, Der Besuch der alten Dame (The Visit)
10. Duerrenmatt, Der Besuch der alten Dame (The Visit)
11. Duerrenmatt, Der Besuch der alten Dame (The Visit)
12. Duerrenmatt, Der Besuch der alten Dame (The Visit), consideration of the work's relationship to ancient Greek
tragedy, in particular Sophocles' Oedipus Rex
13. Brecht, Der gute Mensch von Sezuan (The Good Person of Sechuan), discussion of what it means to be a "good" person
14. Brecht, Der gute Mensch von Sezuan (The Good Person of Sechuan), 
15. Brecht, Der gute Mensch von Sezuan (The Good Person of Sechuan), 
16. Brecht, Der gute Mensch von Sezuan, discussion about societal hindrances to ethical behavior
17. Frisch, Andorra (This is a place name - the title is the same in English.)
18. Frisch, Andorra
19. Frisch, Andorra
20. Frisch, Andorra, discussion of the psychology of prejudice and herd mentality

Other Details

Supply List
Although I'll supply short stories for those taking this course, students will also be asked to buy paperbacks on occasion. Purchasing a German paperback on Amazon or ebay.de usually runs to beween ten and twenty dollars per book.
Language of Instruction
German
External Resources
Learners will not need to use any apps or websites beyond the standard Outschool tools.
Joined January, 2021
5.0
126reviews
Profile
Teacher expertise and credentials
As the son of German parents who immigrated to the States, I grew up speaking German and later learned it formally in high school and at the university. Later on I was fortunate to live Germany for several years, for three years as a guest student at two state universities and then as an English instructor in different public schools for three years. I began tutoring German in the late Seventies and subsequently taught the language in public schools from 1985 to 2016, when I retired.  Since my retirement I've organized online courses for college-age students and adults that are typically focused on exam preparation (e.g., the B1 exam) and Business German. More recently, at the beginning of 2021, I began teaching German courses for younger students on Outschool.

Reviews

Live Private Class
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$35

weekly or $700 for 20 classes
1x per week, 20 weeks
30 min

Completed by 1 learner
Live video meetings
Ages: 12-18

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