Version vom 21. Oktober 2010, 10:40 Uhr

★ About me ★

• Born on the Valentine's Day ♥
• Now living in a small town near Hofheim
• Intensive courses are German (Mr Edrich) and English (Mr Thelenberg)
• Dislikes Maths and Chemistry

★ Thoughts on the election in Germany ★

• 1. Don't give communism a chance... This form of government cannot be realized!
• 2. Hopefully as many people as possible decide to vote
• 3. Is the opposition going to be changed?
• 4. Angie again as the woman chancellor?

★ What the Americans expect from Obama ★

1. Los Angeles Times Is Obama the only chance for white men getting out of trouble?

2. The Independent Information about his campaign.

★ What I expect from Obama and the election in Germany ★

I hope both governments, in Germany as well as in the United States, will be able to stop the economic crisis and the climate change so that we can be confident again about international relations concerning the future.

★ Barack Obama gets the Nobel Peace Prize ★

• He is only the fourth president of the United States who got it
• I think many peoples' opinion about it is that it's maybe a little bit too early to award Obama the Nobel Peace Prize
• Nevertheless we have to mention that Obama was able to change the atmosphere in his country and make the nation being optimistic again
• In his laudatory speech he was very humble

★ Poetry ★

• Your voice is like music to my ears.

= beautiful, pleasant, good atmosphere, makes s.o. happy, emotional, harmonic

• Our love is a burning flame.

= warm, wild, uncontrolable, fire is an essential element so you need it, emotional, exciting, light

• You seem to be an angel.

= spiritual creatures, heaven, innocent, beautiful, soul, god's messages, kind, grace

• You are more precious than any diamond.

= expensive, valuable, hardest material, life, perfection, purity, promise between husband and wife 

• Being with you is like dancing. <

= joy, celebration, rhythm, emotional, sexual attraction, fun

• You're the sun in my sky.

= universal power, warmth, creates life, center of existence, light, glory, necessary for living

Differences in male and female brain structures

Scientists found out that men’s brains are slightly bigger than women’s. Parts of the brain are different sized, for example the limbic cortex which is responsible for emotions and decisions is larger in a woman’s brain. It is also more connected and complicated than a man’s brain, so it can work faster. Their explanation for that is that man think by using the grey matter which consists of active neurons while women use the white matter which are the connections between the neurons, so in a woman’s brain the neurons are closer together. The neurons in special areas of the cortex the neurons are densely crowded which are the ones that control signals coming in and out. This is the reason why women score higher in language-tests. Men and women also use different parts of their brains for the same tasks but in the end they come to the same results. In general, men and women have the same IQ-scor

★ David Lodge: Changing Places ★

Translation 21th october

Beide Protagonisten in Lodges Buch werden auf clevere Art so dargestellt, dass sie die nationalen Charakterzüge, von denen wir grundsätzlich ausgehen, egal ob richtig oder falsch, der typischen Engländer und Amerikaner personifizieren. Philip Swallow ist ein höflicher, ruhiger und schüchterner Zeitgenosse, der uns als Musterbeispiel eines soliden Familienvaters vorgestellt wird und seine Frau Hilary und seine zwei kleinen Kinder über alles liebt. Weil er ein Literaturprofessor ist, ist er (farblos) langweilig und uniteressant; er verbrachte seine Zeit in Rummidge mit einem aussichtslosen Lehrerjob, mit wenig Hoffnung auf eine Promotion, ein Mann, der sich gelangweilt fühlt sowie einunerfülltes Leben führt als er für seine neuen Abenteuer in Amerika aufbricht.

Im Gegensatz dazu ist Morris Zapp ein selbstsicherer, arroganter, lustiger und lüsterner Akademiker, der weltweit den Ruf eines erstklassigen Experten aller Dinge, die mit dem klassischen Schreibstil Jane Austens zusammenhängen. Durch einen bewussten, kleinen Anstoß auf die Scheinheiligkeit der literarischen Welt zeigt uns Lodge, dass Zapp fünf wissenschaftliche Bücher über Austen geschrieben hat, obwohl er persönlich ihre Werke etwas langweilig findet. Nachdem er vor akademischem Hochmut strotzt und ein derart unvergleichlicher Frauenheld ist, scheint es nur passend für seine feministische Frau, Desirée, die sagt, was sie denkt, dass sie ihn vor die Tür setzen will.

Während Lodge viel Spaß dabei hat, den Gegensatz zwischen dem direkten, geradlinigen amerikanischen Stil des brillianten und rauen Zapp und dem höflichen, eher ausweichenden englischen Stil des schüchternen und nicht selbstbewussten Swallow aufzuzeigen, scheint er seinen Lesern zu vermitteln, dass die englische akademische Welt ein paar mehr frei denkende Morris-Zapp-Typen gebrauchen könnte. Als er 1985 in einem Interview einen Kommentar zu dem Charakter von Zapp abgab, sagte er in der Tat, dass "ein da ein kleines Bisschen Morris Zapp in mir ist, denke ich, und ich auf den wortgewandten, rauen, anstößigen jüdischen Typ eines amerikanischen Akademikers anspringe. Ich fühle immer, dass das Leben zweimal so schnell abläuft, wenn man in ihrer Gesellschaft ist."

Two main Characters: Personality, Family, Career

University Life and Academical System

Life in the USA vs. Life in Britain

★ H o m e w o r k ★

Summary

15.10.09

Why young people like Obama By Vanessa van Petten

Vanessa van Petten, Why Young People Like Obama, access 15.10.09, http://www.radicalparenting.com/2008/02/17/why-young-people-like-obama/

- she gives an explanation why young people are so fascinated by Barack Obama

- several reasons are listed:

• Obama is young → He’s faced with their problems

• Obama makes them feel important → He appreciates their commitment for his campaign

• They are enthusiastic about the “change” he is talking about; He “infects” them with his optimism

• His campaign is focused on the internet → Young people feel addressed by him because he uses the language of their own generation

• Obama is charming and handsome → Young women and girls like his look. The best looking guy always wins

Questions on the text

December, 8th

What are the essential elements that characterize the American Dream? How did the dream develop?

The American Dream is the desire for a better, richer and happier life. As a promise of prosperity and fortune as well as a non-material search for happiness, the American Dream is the national belief in the fulfilment of human wishes. There are several essential elements characterizing the American Dream. Firstly, it was mentioned in the Declaration of Independence of 1776 („[…] liberty and the pursuit of happiness“). For the early settlers, America meant to be a new and a better life. Other, less religously settlers were also dreaming of a new land and having many opportunities there. A very significant part of the American Dream is very hard work in order to achieve your aims. With moving the frontier westwards, the American Dream has become mainly the idea of believing in the future and being very confident. Though it used to be a desire for material and spiritual improvement, the American Dream almost only means the achievement of the material aspect. Critics say that the American Dream is an illusion beacause of still having corruption or poverty in the US, even if most of the people are working hard to improve their lives.

The Feminisation Of Education

Homework 5.3.2010 Questions on the text 4.

In her text, Melanie Philips claims several theses which I find rather unconvincing. It is true that there has been a feminisation of the education system and this is a significant problem, not only in the UK. But in the article she has published in the Daily Mail, Philips is talking about some differences and reasons and their negative effects which are simply exaggerated.

The first incorrect thesis is that boys drop out high school more often than girls do because girls mature in a younger age than boys and as a result of that, boys feel outclassed by females. In my opinion, this argument is very weak because males tend to learn in an other way than girls. They aren't as good prepared as girls and so they get worse marks and I think this is simply the main reason why they drop out. Also the statement that the high drop-out rate among boys is a consequence of maturing later than girls is just wrong. Even boys who are less matured than girls are able to succeed as well as they do because girls reach their adolescence earlier than boys. Consequently, girls have also less ambition while they grow up but this is just normal for youngsters and you cannot assume that boys do worse at school than girls just because they feel outclassed by girls.

Another overstated claim is that males need to refuse from any features that identify them with women and behave like machos. Melanie Phillips states that girls are reminded to be female every month whereas boys aren't. In order to prove their masculinity, boys and men are forced to use this macho behavior. Phillips says, everything that is meant to be feminine is rejected by boys because society makes a boy changing his character and gaining lots of masculine features. I think that our society is mostly emancipated and boys learn by birth that they are on the same level as girls. When they grow up and go to school, boys tend to choose science subjects and girls do better at humanities and languages. In conclusion, there is a balance between girls and boys in school, so boys do have a lot of things they can identify with, so the average boy doesn't have to be nasty and disgusting to show that he's male. There are more ways to do that.

Taking everything into consideration, we can assume that Melanie Phillips article contains some true and important points, for example that the differences at school are not caused by predjudice but by choice. And also that there is a general tendency to active discrimination of boys at school is pointed out correctly. But on the other hand we have to mention that there are also several overstated points she is describing in her article.

Characterization of Romeo as a lover

Romeo a a lover characterizes himself by his certain language and by his behaviour. He tells Rosaline and Juliet that they are the only ones for him and that he would never love someone so deeply. ["Farewell, thou canst not teach me to forget"(17/228)] This makes himself very uncredible and opportunistic. He claims that love is making him sad ["a choking gall, and a preserving sweet"(15/185), "...a sick man..."(15/193)] Romeo also seems to be desperate and wants to have a physical connection to „his“ girls because he wants to touch Juliets cheek. [“My lips, two blushing Pilgrims, ready stand…” ] Consequently, Romeo is a very dramatical and poetical lover who tells his women that they are the best and the most beautiful ones by using special poetical language [“…As a rich jewel in a Ethiop’s ear.” , “Oh she doth teach the torches to burn bright“ ,“Beauty too rich for use, for earth too dear.” ]