Deutsch 406
Zusammenfassungen und Fragestellungen
For the four main films we watch this semester (Nosferatu, M, La Habanera,
Die Mörder sind unter uns), you are required to write a brief summary of the
film and pose two or more questions that will help to spark our discussion of
the film in class. For the other films we watch in conjunction with the four
main films, you will write only the two questions, not the full summary.
If you wish to get a jump on your writing, you are more than welcome to watch
films in advance of their due dates, but you may wish to view them again if
more than a week passes between your initial viewing and our first discussion
of the film.
These short papers will also help to improve your writing skills in German and
require you to employ analytical and logical reasoning skills by constructing
questions, which will help us to identify the important social, historical, and
artistic / aesthetic elements of each film. Below are specific criteria for the
summary and the questions and information regarding how I will assess your
contribution.
Summary
 In the heading of your summary, include the title of the film, its date of
release, and the name of the director.
 In the body of your summary, include a brief synopsis of the action of the
film: location, time period, the conflict(s), the resolution or lack thereof.
You will also need to demonstrate knowledge of important characters’
names and their relationships to one another as needed.
 Your summary should be an organized presentation of your ideas,
approximately 2 to 2 ½ pages in length (double-spaced, typed)
 As the semester progresses, I except to see some evidence that you are
beginning to employ appropriate film vocabulary concerning the
construction of the film. For example, we will be learning about mise-enscène—everything that goes into a scene including costumes, set, and
behavior of the actors—and camera work when we discuss the first film of
the semester. I would expect you to be able to use these terms for the
second and subsequent films. I would also expect to see some discussion of
how the films genre influences the choice the director makes with regard to
its aesthetics.
Questions
Your questions should attempt to tease out the deeper issues inherent in the
film. For our purposes, these questions will generally fall into two categories:
 the aesthetics of the film (i.e. how it is constructed in relationship to its
genre), for example: “How is the color of costumes used to signify class
differences and status in Gone With the Wind?”

the social/historical context of the film, for example: “What does the film
Gone With the Wind say about racial conflict in the USA in 1939?”
For the first type of question (concerning aesthetics), you might consider
starting with an aspect of the film that bothered you to ask your question. For
example, many silent films are very slow. Most viewers today find that rather
irritating because we are so used to films and commercials in particular that
move very fast. We are very skilled at reading a series of visual cues quickly. A
useful question to ask in this regard might be: “What does the film viewer of
this slow, silent film get to see that wouldn’t be possible if it were moving
faster? What does the director want us to see?” Questions asking whether an
aesthetic aspect of the film is “good” or “bad” are generally unhelpful. This is
a question of taste, not analysis. Observations and/or questions regarding
whether this film could have been different (i.e. “better”) had the filmmakers
had access to more advanced technology are interesting to ponder, but also
generally unhelpful. This type of question only leads into a dead-end of “what
ifs” and by-passes the “what is” of the film.
For the second type of question, you can use your knowledge of German and/or
world history and social history to formulate your question. The first film we
watch this semester, Nosferatu, was made soon after the end of World War I
(1922). Your question might be very straightforward and seemingly simple:
“How did World War I affect the content of this film?” Or it might delve a little
deeper: “What does this film say about the relationship to authority after
World War I?” Social history questions might focus on gender relationships,
generational conflicts, culture conflicts, political events, perceptions of class
and status, and the representation of outsiders/others (re. sexual orientation,
race, etc.).
You can ask one of each type of question or two of one type of question to
fulfill the assignment.
Grammar
I don’t expect your summary to be error-free, but I do expect to see that you
have made the effort to be responsible for your learning of German. If you
hand in a summary that is riddled with grammar errors, I will hand it back to
you for correction. You must hand it back by the next class period, but 10
points will be deducted from the final grade for the assignment. The
following errors will result in a returned essay:
 nouns not capitalized
 spelling errors
 missing “Umlaute”
 faulty punctuation throughout (two or three mistakes are acceptable)
 faulty word order throughout (two or three mistakes are acceptable)
faulty subject-verb agreement throughout (two or three mistakes are
acceptable)
 in general, an essay containing more than fifteen errors per page, including
the above

If you feel that your use of German grammar is particularly shaky, you must
avail yourself of one or more of a variety of resources: the free German tutor,
the proofing tools for German available on all campus computers, dictionaries
and grammar references (both print and on-line). I am also happy to meet with
you to go over an essay, but I want to see evidence that you have used one of
the resources mentioned above before we meet.
Assessment
I will assess your summary and questions based on the criteria outlined above,
the expectation that your work is turned in on time, and that you have taken
the time to proofread your work and correct the most glaring errors. I am
interested in a summary that shows a good knowledge of the characters and
plot elements of the film and attempts to analyze the underlying issues of the
film through thoughtful and thought-provoking questions. I will not assess your
summary based on whether you are “right.” Since this will be your first
approach at understanding the film, it is to be expected that you may wander
into an interpretation that may not work entirely. But I will let you know if you
need to consider alternative ways of looking at the film that work better.
Each summary will be worth 50 points and will be assessed accordingly:
Summary (25 points)
 25-23 points: Shows excellent knowledge of the plot elements and
characters, employs appropriate vocabulary to analyze one or two
aspects of the film’s aesthetics / form, organized presentation of
ideas
 22-20: Shows good knowledge of the plot elements and characters,
attempts to comment on the film’s aesthetics / form using film
vocabulary, but may use vocabulary inaccurately at times, organized
presentation of ideas
 19-18: Shows partial knowledge of the plot elements and characters,
comments on the film’s aesthetics / form but uses film vocabulary
inaccurately or not at all, organization of ideas unclear but can be
deciphered after multiple readings
 17-16: Shows incomplete or faulty knowledge of the plot elements
and characters, does not comment on the film’s aesthetics / form,
organization of ideas unclear
 15- below: Seems to indicate that the student did not watch the film
or only a portion of it, factual information about the film is missing
or faulty, complete lack of organization of ideas
 0: Summary was not completed on time or not at all.
Questions (15 points)
 15-14: Shows evidence of thoughtful analysis of film’s important
issues, addresses issues related to content and form and/or their
relationship to the historical context, uses appropriate film
vocabulary and relates film to others viewed during the semester
(increasingly so as the semester progresses)
 13-12: Shows awareness of film’s important issues, but may fail to
use appropriate film vocabulary or relate to other films viewed
during the semester
 11-10: “what-if” questions or ones that ask whether an aspect of the
film is “good” or “bad”, yes- and no-questions
 9-below: shows general lack of knowledge of the film
 0: No questions were submitted on time.
Grammar (10 points)
 10 points: free of errors, clear syntax
 9 points: up to 15 errors per page, clear syntax
 8-7 points: up to twenty errors per page, two or three examples of
unclear syntax per page
 6-below: mistakes are so numerous as to make reading difficult and
ideas unclear.