Lecture: 1 hour prerecorded (best listening before weekly Seminar session) Echo 360
Seminar: 2 hours Thursday 14.10 – 16 Room: Napier LG11

On successful completion of this course students will demonstrate:

1. a critical understanding of important aspects of German history and European culture and the improved linguistic skills to deal with their representation in different media (textual, visual)
2. the linguistic ability to identify, analyse, and evaluate cultural artefacts within their social, political and historical context including the history of media and knowledge
3. a better understanding of the processes of the generating and translation of meaning in the use of German for describing and analysing textual and visual materials
4. the ability to extract, synthesise and critically evaluate information from German primary and secondary sources in digital databases and libraries relating to course topics
5. the ability to work independently and cooperatively to explore issues and questions raised by texts and visual materials treated in the course and generate their own ideas
6. the ability to communicate information, ideas and arguments about topics treated in the course cogently, coherently, and with a degree of German on the upper-intermediate level, B2 of the Common European Framework for Languages
7. the ability to identify ethical, social, and literary issues relating topics treated in the course and assess their broader implications including transcultural perspectives
8. the knowledge base & analytical skills for further study & research in German Studies & the intercultural understanding desirable for students wanting to travel, work or study in Germany and Europe

The modes of teaching and learning employed in the course are largely classroom-based and face-to-face. They include:

1) A lecture gives an introduction to the history of literature by an examination of ‘Wald’ as a cultural construct in a range of different media, texts, paintings and films, students will gain an enhanced understanding of the literary and cultural history of Germany since 1800.

2) A two-hour seminar will have the concerted textual work at the centre of attention and include small group as well as individual discovery activities. From perspectives of literary themes and genres, we will closely look at cultural history by reading Märchen, stories, poems, and a novel in the seminar. Here the students will have the opportunity to get acquainted with central motifs of German literature which started to be cultivated in the period of Romanticism and still hold their meaning in today’s concepts.

3) Students are encouraged to take personal responsibility for their learning through:
 independent personal study
 independent computer-based learning
 online access to lecture materials and other resources

The information below is provided as a guide to assist students in engaging appropriately with the course requirements. Below are the hours per week and per semester students are expected to devote to their German studies in Introduction to German Literature:

Hours per week // Total hours

1 X 1-hour lecture // 12 hours per semester
1 X 2-hour seminar // 24 hours per semester
3 hours preparation for contact hours // 36 hours per semester
2 hours reading & repeated lecture listening // 24 hours per semester
5 hours research for presentation & assignments // 60 hours per semester

TOTAL = 156 hours per semester

See Appendix for a detailed program for the lecture and the seminar activities: Course Guide pp. 13-17.

Assignment Task Weight

1. Referat: oral presentation in German; 20% Formative
Beginners stream students 8 min // Continuers stream students 10 min + questions

2. Seminararbeit: minor research project in German; 25% Formative/Summative
based on the presentation: Beginners stream 500 words // Continuers stream 700 words

3. Minor written response in German/English to given questions; 15% Formative
related to the topics discussed in the seminar (part of the participation/preparation)

4. Major Research Project/Assignment: Beginners in English / Continuers in German
(main topics of the course) 40% Summative
___________________________________________________________________________
100% Total

1. Referat: Individual or in groups/pairs but with an equal part of individual oral presenting in German (of beginners 8 // continuers 10 minutes + questions). Referate should focus on a specific author and a text to be analysed, explained and interpreted. Text and author can be chosen by you or will be allocated to you in weeks 1 & 2. You are welcome to develop a topic of own choice but related to a theme cluster and to be confirmed in discussion with the course coordinator; time to be arranged (weeks 1-9). The oral presentation gives students the opportunity to explore a topic they are interested in and to practise presenting material in a concise format. The presentation must be directly related to the themes of the course.

2. The Seminararbeit is a minor research paper written in German (Beginners stream 500 words / Continuers stream 700 words) on themes based and expanding on the Referat’s topic chosen. The written seminar paper’s due date for uploading on MyUni is exactly 3 weeks after your Referat took place. Like the oral presentation, the minor research assignment gives the opportunity to explore your topic in more detail, and practise presenting the material in a written format. It should be correctly referenced (always including page numbers of articles/books and not just the year of the publication), have a clear structure and be presented in an appropriate register. You should expand on an aspect of the topic treated in your presentation and go a bit more into depth. Your Seminararbeit will be assessed on demonstrated knowledge of the primary sources, appropriate use and critical engagement of secondary sources and correct referencing (incl. page references and a bibliography / cited literature), a well-structured and independent argument which shows your own point of view and clear and reasonably sophisticated language which shows that you understand what is appropriate for a written as opposed to an oral presentation (see the general Humanities assessment criteria below for more detail on expectations).

3. Participation and the minor written response in English (300 words) for the beginners stream and in German (300 words) for the continuers stream requires to answer given questions related to topics of the course and their historical contexts. Questions to be given in the respective seminar sessions (weeks 3-6). Crucial for your successful participation is a thorough preparation of the week’s lecture and other materials and participation. Your learning experience and linguistic progress will improve with your active contribution and engagement with other members of the group in class and on MyUni. While reading Eichendorffs Aus dem Leben eines Taugenichts homework (weeks 1-8), each student will at least once be in charge to lead the discussion for a certain passage of the text which the whole class has prepared (sessions of week 9-12).

4. One Essay Beginners in English / Continuers in German (of 1800 words): on topics of the course incl. Eichendorffs Aus dem Leben eines Taugenichts, to be given in week 9 or 10. You must choose a topic different to the assessment tasks of your small group discovery (oral presentation & written seminar paper). The essay due date for uploading on MyUni is 13th June 2023 (1pm). This major research assignment is the major summative assessment for this course. It is designed to enable students to explore particular aspects of German literature in more depth. Students will be assessed on their demonstrated knowledge of primary sources and of the topic, their critical engagement with secondary sources on the topic and their ability to develop and express their own point of view. Furthermore, the essay will be assessed on its research design, including structure, correct referencing (always page numbers of cited literature and a bibliography with at least 8 relevant secondary literature in form of books/articles you made appropriate use of), an independent argument and flow of thoughts which shows critical understanding, a clear development of the theme and a reasonably sophisticated language. After marking, you will receive a comment from the course coordinator via MyUni response.

NB. The oral presentation together with the seminar paper based on it and the major research essay must be on different topics.

All written assignments, essays, the Seminararbeit and written responses must have a word count, the format of double line spacing, font size 12 and generously allocated margins (format DIN A4).

Seminararbeiten (minor research project) must be uploaded on MyUni exactly 3 weeks after your Referat and be handed over in the seminar in printed form with the yellow cover page signed, available on MyUni (Course information).

Written responses must be handed up in the seminar session in printed form with the yellow cover page signed, available on MyUni (Course information). Due dates are here 2 weeks after questions were given in Seminar.

Essays must be uploaded on MyUni by 13th June 2023 (1pm).
Students must not submit work for an assignment that has previously been submitted and assessed for this course or any other course.

Extensions – can only be sought under the provisions of the Modified Arrangements for Coursework Assessment Policy or the Reasonable Adjustments for Teaching and Assessment for Students with a Disability Policy. Applications must be made through the Faculty office.

Late Assignment – For work that is late without formal extension, 2 percentage points will be deducted from the mark for every day (or part thereof) the work is late to a maximum of 7 days (including weekends and public holidays). For example, an assignment that is 3 days late: raw score of 80% minus 6 marks lateness deduction = 74% final mark.
For work with formal extension, these penalties will apply from the extended due date.
There will be a cut-off date for each assignment 7 days (including weekends and public holidays) after the original due date unless otherwise stipulated on MyUni. Work will not be accepted after the cut-off date, and a mark of zero will automatically be awarded for the assignment. Applications for variations to the cut-off date can only be made by the Course Coordinator on pedagogical grounds and must be approved by the relevant School Learning and Teaching Committee.