Lesson 1: The 1848 Revolution, the Second Reich, and the First World War
Lesson Essay
When you can accomplish the learning objectives for this lesson, you should begin work on the lesson essay described below. You may use any assigned readings, your notes, and other course-related materials to complete this assignment. Be sure to reread the essay grading criteria on the Grades and Assessments page.
Your first essay should be about 750 words long, typed double space with one-inch margins on the sides. It is worth 100 points and should address the following:
Discuss why the different types of German expansionism (military, colonial, industrial) in the Wilhelmine period helped force Germany and Europe down the path toward war in 1914. What other factors (cultural, socio-political) also played a role in this context? Do you agree with those historians who argue that Germany was responsible for the outbreak of World War I? Why or why not?
Study Questions
To test your knowledge, answer the following study questions and click on the "show Answer(s)" link to check your answers.
1. Why has the question of Identity" been so central in German history?
2. Why did the Revolution of 1848/1849 fail?
3. What is the role of Bismarck In Wilhelmine Germany?
4. Why was there widespread enthusiasm at the outbreak of the First World War?
Lesson 2: German Expressionism and Dadaism
Lesson Essay
When you can accomplish the learning objectives for this lesson, you should begin work on the lesson essay described below. You may use any assigned readings, your notes, and other course-related materials to complete this assignment. Be sure to reread the essay grading criteria on the Grades and Assessments page.
This essay should be about 750 words long, typed double space with one-inch margins on the sides. It is worth 100 points and should address the following:
According to Siegfried Kracauer, the film The Cabinet of Doctor Caligari by Robert Wiene (1919) was revolutionary not only because of its expressionist form but also because of its political message. In your essay, briefly elaborate what this expressionist form consists of and how it reflects the movement as a whole.
Then relate these general characteristics of Expressionism to the formal characteristics of Wiene's film and to the film's socio-political "message." This will require you not only to reflect upon the overall situation in Germany at the time, but also the comment upon Kracauer's view that the narrative frame added later to the film completely undermines its revolutionary impulse.
Study Questions
To test your knowledge. answer the following study questions and click on the ''Show Answer(s)' link to check your answers.
1. Situate expressionism within the history of European art.
2. Briefly summarize the aesthetic characteristics of expressionist art.
3. What Is Dadaism?
4. Why has Robert Wiene's film The Cabinet of Doctor Colgan been so influential in the history of film?
https://www.dropbox.com/s/jj1y7oqq7cdgo9s/requires_germanlesson.rar?dl=0