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Course Description:

Module coordinator: Joerg Seifert

The topical content of texts to be studied is related to the following two courses offered by the Department of History

• HI 203 European World, 1500 - 1750
• HI 242 Germany in the Age of the Reformation
• Academic Rationale:
  

Skills to be acquired are subject specific as well as transferable. They include:

• Consolidation and extension of the knowledge of German grammar and complex syntactical structures in written German.
• Development of history related vocabulary related to 15th/16th century German history.
• Consolidation and improvement of different types of reading techniques.
• Improvement of translation skills with a view to linguistic understanding and accuracy.
  

Topic-orientated grammatical content 

• Agreement of subject and verb;
• qualifying nouns by: adjectives, relative clauses, the genitive, participial structures;
• all tenses and position of verbs;
• modifying verbs by: adverbs, adverbial structures;
• present and past participles;
• subordinate clauses.

Reading techniques 

• Identifying external text characteristics;
• focussing on the initial sentences of each paragraph;
• distinguishing between main and subsidiary pieces of information;
• understanding precise information via detailed sentence analysis;
• identifying keywords;
• recognizing discourse structure by: identifying 'propositional signals' (wenn, trotzdem, entweder ... oder etc.);
• identifying syntactical pointers (negatives, comparisons), movable particles (nur, aber, schon, überhaupt, vielleicht);
• ascertaining content and intention of text by: identifying expressions of purpose, intent, consequences, results, causes and reasons;
• identifying and comparing points of view.

Topical content 

A broad range of historical texts to improve the students' level of competence in reading, interpreting and translating historical texts concerned with 16th Century German history. (e.g. Blickle Peter, Gemeindereformation, München: R. Oldenburg Verlag, 1987, and see bibliography).

 

Course Texts:

1. Becker, Bovenschen, Aus der Zeit der Verzweiflung, Zur Genese und Aktualität des Brackert etc. Hexenbildes, Frankfurt/M.: Suhrkamp 1977
2. Becker-Cantarino, B.,Der lange Weg zur Mündigkeit, Frauen und Literatur in Deutschland von 1500-1800, München: dtv,1989
3. Blickle, Peter, Die Reformation im Reich, Stuttgart: utb 1982
4. Ebert, Klaus (ed.), Thomas Müntzer im Urteil der Geschichte, Von Luther bis Ernst Bloch, Wuppertal: Peter Hammer Verlag, 1990
5. Engels, Friedrich, Der deutsche Bauernkrieg, München: L. Borowsky
6. Gebhardt, Handbuch der deutschen Geschichte
7. Bd. 8 Fuchs,W.P., Das Zeitalter der Reformation
8. Bd.9 Zeeden,W.W, Das Zeitalter der Glaubenskämpfe
9. Bd. 16 Treue, W., Wirtschaft, Gesellschaft und Technik vom 16. bis zum 18. Jahrhundert
10. Goertz, Hans-Jürgen,Pfaffenhaß und groß Geschrei, Die reformatorische Bewegung in Deutschland 1477-1529, München: C.H.Beck 1991
11. Heckel, Martin, Deutschland im konfessionellen Zeitalter, Göttingen: Vandenhoeck/Ruprecht 1983
12. Huch, Ricarda Deutsche Geschichte, Bd.I-III, in: Gesammelte Werke Bd.X, Gütersloh: Bertelsmann
13. Moeller, Bernd, Deutschland im Zeitalter der Reformation, Göttingen: Vandenhoeck/Ruprecht 1988
14. Nipperdey, Thomas, Reformation, Revolution, Utopie. Göttingen: Vandenhoeck/Ruprecht 1975
15. Nover, J.(ed.), Gutenberg und die Bedeutung der Buchdruckerkunst, Mainz, Joh. Wirth'sche Hofbuchdruckerei, 1900
16. Nowitzki-Patuschka, Frauen in der Reformation, Pfaffenweiler: Centaurus, 1990
17. Rabe, Horst, Deutsche Geschichte 1500-1600, Das Jahrhundert der Glaubensspaltung, München: C. H.Beck 1991
18. Ranke, Leopold,v., Deutsche Geschichte im Zeitalter der Reformation, Band I-IV, München & Leipzig: Duncker & Humblot, 1924
19. Ranke, Leopold, v., Geschichte Wallensteins, Düsseldorf: Athenäum 1978
20. Schiller, Friedrich,v.,Geschichte des dreissigjährigen Krieges, in: Historische Schriften, Frankfurt/M.: Büchergilde Gutenberg, 1959
21. Zimmermann, Wilh., Der große Bauernkrieg, Düsseldorf: Brücken-Verlag 1952

Grammar Practice

1. Alles Klar, German grammar through cartoons: demonstration and practice to examination level, Nelson, 1987
2. The Collins German/English-English/German Dictionary, Klett 1989
3. English Grammar for Students of German, by Cecile Zorach/Charlotte Melin, The Olivia and Hill Press, 1994
4. Also occasional use of other history related audio-visual material.

Teaching:

One seminar per week of two hours' duration. This class contact time should be supplemented by two hours independent study activities, vocabulary and grammar learning, reading, translation and comprehension practice with materials provided by the tutor. Students will also be encouraged to avail themselves of the Open Access facilities of the Language Centre, i.e. computers, magazines and newspapers.

Assessment:  

All students are required to complete one written test and one written examination. The use of a dictionary is allowed in the examinations.

Learning Outcomes

By the end of the module students should be able to:

Demonstrate a sound knowledge of German grammar, syntax and history related vocabulary as a prerequisite for efficiently dealing with the complex structures of written German in historical contexts.

Demonstrate a good degree of competence in reading techniques.

Demonstrate a good degree of competence in translation skills with a view to linguistic understanding and accuracy.