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German Coursework Titles

I know you've had many of these threads before, but I would like some help! I'm trying to decide on one of my coursework titles for A2 German (AQA), which has to be ~900 words long. And I'm not relying on my teachers for help!

So far, I've thought about "To what extent is Germany still a divided country?", in which I will talk about economic (unemployment, differences in pay), social (racism, crime) and mental differences (ostalgie, prejudices, lack of national identity etc), then mention some positive things (East catching up, feelings of unity more after the World Cup etc - though I can't really find much more...). However, I'm not at all sure whether this is a suitably analytical title; would it end up being like a list of East Germany's problems? Or is it too wide to be suitably analytical within 900 words? Is the title too hard? Anything I forgot to include?

Other titles I was thinking of were "Why has racism increased in Germany after the reunification?" which is perhaps more straightforward, and "Why are Germany's birth rates decreasing so rapidly and are the measures against it successful?" or something along those lines. What do you all think?

Reply 1

hobnob

14

Excalibur

So far, I've thought about "To what extent is Germany still a divided country?", in which I will talk about economic (unemployment, differences in pay), social (racism, crime) and mental differences (ostalgie, prejudices, lack of national identity etc), then mention some positive things (East catching up, feelings of unity more after the World Cup etc - though I can't really find much more...). However, I'm not at all sure whether this is a suitably analytical title; would it end up being like a list of East Germany's problems? Or is it too wide to be suitably analytical within 900 words? Is the title too hard? Anything I forgot to include?

Hmm, I'd say if you go for this topic, you'll have to be careful not to take sides too much, because at the moment it does sound a bit like you're siding with the east... :wink:

Other titles I was thinking of were "Why has racism increased in Germany after the reunification?" which is perhaps more straightforward,

It's more straightforward, but it assumes that racism has increased. Can you prove that's a fact?

and "Why are Germany's birth rates decreasing so rapidly and are the measures against it successful?" or something along those lines.

That's an easy one: Birth rates are decreasing because fewer people have children, and since they keep decreasing, the measures against them (whatever they are) clearly haven't been successful. :p:

Are you sure you could write 900 words on that, though?

Reply 2

Excalibur

OP

15

hobnob

Hmm, I'd say if you go for this topic, you'll have to be careful not to take sides too much, because at the moment it does sound a bit like you're siding with the east... :wink:

True. Just out of interest, do you, as a German, feel that Germany is still divided? I'm not sure whether the "Mauer im Kopf" things are just the media hyping it up, or whether there's an element of truth in there.

It's more straightforward, but it assumes that racism has increased. Can you prove that's a fact?

I suppose maybe a better question to poise would be "To what extent has racism increased?". Looking at the statistics of right-wing parties & racist attacks, those kind of racist views do seem to be on the uprise. The main reasons (what I found so far) are of course the economic problems & unemployment makes people vote for right wing extremists, Eastern people not being used to foreigners that much, etc - but I really can't find many other reasons.

That's an easy one: Birth rates are decreasing because fewer people have children, and since they keep decreasing, the measures against them (whatever they are) clearly haven't been successful. :p:

Are you sure you could write 900 words on that, though?

I was going to link it to perhaps some of the economic problems (of the east, in particular, because birth rate problems are worse in the east), which means that people are less likely to settle down and have families; the exodus of women from the east again leading to lower birth rates in the east; the long training/education periods mean mothers have less time to move up the career ladder so decides against having a family; half-day schools and lack of good childcare (particularly after the fall of the DDR) means it is more difficult to maintain a good work/life balance, etc. Most of these things are from newspaper articles and stuff though, so I'm not sure whether it's suitably true/analytical etc.

Is there anything contemporary/controversial that may be a good idea to do a coursework piece on? :frown:

I hate choosing titles :frown:

The actual writing isn't half as bad as choosing the topic!

Reply 3

hobnob

14

Excalibur

True. Just out of interest, do you, as a German, feel that Germany is still divided? I'm not sure whether the "Mauer im Kopf" things are just the media hyping it up, or whether there's an element of truth in there.
Hmm, I don't really know, to be honest. I suppose there are certain differences in terms of mentality, because people have simply had different cultural and social upbringings, but then again you get that pretty much everywhere. You wouldn't really call the UK a divided county just because northerners consider themselves different from southerners (and vice versa). As a matter of fact, Germany has a north/south divide as well, it just isn't talked about as much as the supposed "Mauer im Kopf" phenomenon.
I'd say the differences probably aren't as pronounced among young people. If someone is actually old enough to remember DDR times properly (i.e. he associates more with it than a few fond memories of brand names, a couple of songs with rather bizarre ideological content and the "Pioniere" movement), though, it will have affected his life quite significantly in a way that's probably hard to comprehend for someone who wasn't there. I.e. things like the physical experience of being walled in to things like being barred from going to university unless you were "working class". I mean, I've read about those things, obviously, but I don't think I'll ever be able to understand what actually experiencing them would have felt like. :dontknow:

I suppose maybe a better question to poise would be "To what extent has racism increased?". Looking at the statistics of right-wing parties & racist attacks, those kind of racist views do seem to be on the uprise.

Ah, but are statistics of racist attacks really a proof of racism itself being on the rise? It could be that people are just getting increasingly sensitive of those issues (partly because of the media attention), so more things are classed as racist incidents and more of those incidents are reported to the police.

The main reasons (what I found so far) are of course the economic problems & unemployment makes people vote for right wing extremists, Eastern people not being used to foreigners that much, etc - but I really can't find many other reasons.

Hmm, I know it's tempting to use such points, but at the end of the day, aren't they a bit simplistic? Surely they ought to have got used to seeing more foreigners by now... And while unemployment might make you more likely to vote for someone who promises to improve your situation, it won't necessarily make you more gullible and/or a racist if you weren't susceptible to that sort of ideology to begin with. It's really a bit of a tricky argument to make...

I was going to link it to perhaps some of the economic problems (of the east, in particular, because birth rate problems are worse in the east), which means that people are less likely to settle down and have families; the exodus of women from the east again leading to lower birth rates in the east; the long training/education periods mean mothers have less time to move up the career ladder so decides against having a family; half-day schools and lack of good childcare (particularly after the fall of the DDR) means it is more difficult to maintain a good work/life balance, etc. Most of these things are from newspaper articles and stuff though, so I'm not sure whether it's suitably true/analytical etc.

I'd say this would probably work best among the topics you've got so far, but I don't really know what sort of essay you'll be expected to write.
By the way, another point that's frequently mentioned is that people (particularly women) who go on into higher education frequently don't have children until they're well in their thirties.

Is there anything contemporary/controversial that may be a good idea to do a coursework piece on? :frown:

Schäuble's crazy "anti-terrorism" measures, perhaps?

Reply 4

NickEM

hobnob

Schäuble's crazy "anti-terrorism" measures, perhaps?

I'm thinking of using this idea for one of my pieces. However, I'm unsure as to how I can manipulate theme to show indepth knowledge of German society. Unfortunately, as per bloody usual, that's what this coursework is all about...

Edit: wow, I'm speaking like a Russian already. That should be *the theme.

Reply 5

hobnob

14

"Indepth knowledge of German society"? Now that's just ridiculous. How on earth could students who've only studied the language for a couple of years have that? :rolleyes:

Right, then how about writing an essay on how everyone in Germany is getting worked up about the university tuition fees that were introduced about a year ago, although those fees are significantly lower than the ones in the UK, even before top-up fees were introduced in the UK? Or how about the inane decision to call a couple of universities 'Elite-Universitäten' (in German, that's the term usually reserved for the likes of Oxbridge or Harvard), because it was felt that Germany lacked some of those?

Reply 6

Titaniyum

NickEM

I'm thinking of using this idea for one of my pieces. However, I'm unsure as to how I can manipulate theme to show indepth knowledge of German society. Unfortunately, as per bloody usual, that's what this coursework is all about...

Edit: wow, I'm speaking like a Russian already. That should be *the theme.

I was thinking of something similar to that too. I was thinking about giving an outline of what had been suggested and writing about the public's reaction to it and such. I'm not completely sure whether this would cover the criteria though, I guess I'm just going to have to speak to my teacher about it.

Agree with you completely though, the marking criteria for the coursework is absolutely ridiculous! How you can write an essay in near perfect German but not relate it to a German speaking country and end up with a significantly lower grade than someone who had written in fairly poor German but had included plenty of opinions and had related it back to Germany, is completely beyond me. It was the same with the writing exam for AS (assuming you're doing AQA too) and having to remember lists of facts and statistics to slot into our essays because of course, knowing these things is a real boost to your German. :rolleyes:

Reply 7

Excalibur

OP

15

Agree totally with both of you - I hate all this 'knowledge of society' rubbish they keep throwing at us. Sure, it's nice to have some relevance to German society because after all, the society/culture/history is part of learning the language - but I would much rather be able to use the language first! It's ridiculous that the actual quality of language makes up just 5/30 of the marks, with 20 for knowledge of society - your grammar could be all over the place but if it's related to Germany it's OK. I think Unit 2 was the worst in that respect, though - having to learn all those facts about how many kilograms they recycle each year etc was just a pain. :rolleyes:

Thanks hobnob. I'll have a bit more of a think about it.

Reply 8

kftjkp

I got full marks on the Unit 2 and didnt learn a single fact I just made them up. I think the knowledge of society is massively important, yes the language is too, but what is the point in having spot on grammar if you have nothing to talk about with it.

Anyway to the coursework titles: I like the "To what extent is Germany a divided country?" idea and I think your ideas were good and if you do go over the word limit (I think 1500 words might do the subject more justice) nobody is going to hang, draw and quarter you. I don't think it will turn into a list of East Germany's problems because there are numerous problems in the West as well - and to some extent the main reason that Germany is still divided is because of West Germans' attitudes towards Ossies (massive generalisation I know but I'm allowed!).

The other titles were OK if not a little boring if you don't mind me saying. It could be a little more focussed as well. Maybe mull them ones over but certainly the divided country.

German Coursework Titles

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