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Titel
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The American Dream, the American Nightmare EKSAMEN
I dette emneforløb vil vi læse en række tekster inden for forskellige genrer, der kredser om temaet The American Dream & The American Nightmare. Vi vil bruge følgende definition af Den Amerikanske Drøm som udgangspunkt: “The phrase [The American Dream] itself first appeared 1916 in the Chicago Tribune and is defined by the Oxford English Dictionary as “the ideal that every citizen of the United States should have an equal opportunity to achieve success and prosperity through hard work, determination, and initiative”. That implies that everyone, regardless of ethnicity, birth or position is “able to attain to the fullest stature of which they are innately capable and be recognized by others for what they are” (Adams 404). However, you have to work hard for your dreams to come true. Popular became this phrase in the 1930s when the movie industry grew and was booming. Celebrities and movie stars seemed to prove that everyone can be successful and have a stable life in America “even if [you] have no real skills” (Sternheimer 11). This assumption was also supported by magazines who reflected the American Dream so that this upward mobility of personal success and triumph defined the hope of America.” (See https://www.grin.com/document/438828)
Også i dette forløb vil forskellige arbejdsformer blive bragt i spil, ikke mindst par- og gruppearbejde med henblik på elevpræsentationer. Under arbejdet med filmen "The Pursuit of Happyness" inddrages nogle centrale filmtekniske virkemidler, ligesom der undervejs vil blive udarbejdet elevtaler om Den Amerikanske Drøm. I forbindelse med læsningen af J.D. Salingers roman "The Catcher in the Rye" vil vi undersøge, hvad det er, der frastøder Holden Caulfield i jagten på karriere og berømmelse.
I arbejdet med Raymond Carvers tekster ”Popular Mechanics” og "Why Don't You Dance?" – eksempler på Literary Minimalism – vil vi se på kendetegn som korte sætninger (short main clauses), et beskedent udbud af adjektiver og adjektiver (a lack of adverbs and adjectives), et simpelt og hverdagsagtigt ordforråd (simple and colloquial everyday language) og en generel følelse af, at der er noget, som fortælleren kun antyder (suggests). På den måde kan man sige, at læseren bliver medskaber (co-creator) af teksten. Vi ser kun toppen af isbjerget (the tip of the iceberg); hvad der ligger under havoverfladen, skal vi selv grave frem ved at læse grundigt og have et godt blik for symbolbrugen.
Om Raymond Carver kan man sige følgende:
"Raymond Carver (1938-1988) may be best known for Robert Altman's film "Short Cuts" (1993), based on eight stories written by Raymond Carver. To the reading public, however, Raymond Carver's significance lies in his bringing new life to literary realism. The characters of Raymond Carver's stories are ordinary lower-middle class people whose lives are characterized by drinking problems, infidelity, broken marriages, eating and smoking too much, and failure to reach the goal of their obscure longings. They muddle through as best they can without ever coming to terms with their disappointment. Carver wrote from experience inasmuch as his own life and career were severely hampered by heavy drinking and constant financial worries. In spite of having to take crap jobs as a delivery boy, a janitor, and a gas-station attendant in order to provide for his family, Carver managed to finish a university degree, but more importantly, he took a course in creative writing, and, encouraged by the author John Gardner, Carver started on a career as a writer that eventually made him one of the most celebrated innovators of fictional realism since Ernest Hemingway.
Carver's style is characterized by an economy and terseness of language that allows an uncomfortable, inarticulate silence to lurk just beneath the surface, a style that mirrors the often painful inarticulateness of his characters.
There is a recognizable setting and plot in Carver's stories reflecting the everyday lives of ordinary American citizens, but the plot is rarely brought to a resolution that solves the predicament for his characters." ("Death Keeps No Calendar", Gyldendal 1999)
Tekstanalytisk vil der gennem hele forløbet vedvarende være fokus på centrale aspekter som tekstopbygning, sætningskonstruktioner, personkarakteristik, miljø, fortællersynsvinkel, atmosfære, sprog (billedsprog, spændingselementer, ordenes konnotationer), temaer og tekstbudskab.
I forbindelse med det sproglige fokus i tekstarbejdet – både i fiction og i non-fiction – arbejder vi videre med ord som high style/formality, low style/formality (informality), neutral style/langage, formal/informal language, simple/complex sentence structure, main clauses (paratactic sentence structure), subclauses (hypotactic sentence structure), short/long sentences, the imperative og exclamation marks. Desuden ser vi på det 'vocabulary' og den 'diction/wording', der bruges i en tekst, og undersøger ordenes værdiladethed og taler om ‘words of positive/negative connotations eller positively/negatively connoted (loaded/charged) words/phrases/sentences.
I enkeltheder gælder følgende:
Kernestof:
J.D. Salinger (1951): The Catcher in the Rye", Penguin Books (roman)
Fra: "From the New World to a Nation Divided (1607-1861), F. Hopenwasser & L. Stubbe Teglbjerg (red.), Systime 2009:
Hopenwasser & Stubbe Teglbjerg: The Puritans (s. 23-27) (lærerintroduktion til puritanernes rejse til The New World ombord på skibet The Mayflower i 1620)
J.A. Leo Lemay (1988): "The American Dream" (sagprosa)
Fra Internetadressen https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/46550/the-new-colossus:
Emma Lazarus (1883): "The New Colossus" (digt)
Fra: "Worlds of English", Anne Mette Finderup & Agnete Fog (red.), Systime, 2010:
Barack Obama (2008): "A More Perfect Union" (sagprosa)
Fra: "America in Close-Up", Eckhard Fiedler (red.), Longman, 2000:
Eckhard Fiedler (2000): "American Beliefs and Values" (sagprosa)
Gabriele Muccino (2006): "The Pursuit of Happyness" (film)
Fra: http://www.tesltimes.com/pmech.html:
Raymond Carver (1981): "Popular Mechanics" (novelle)
Fra: "Short Cuts", Raymond Carver, The Harvill Press 2007:
Raymond Carver: "Why Don't You Dance?" (novelle)
Raymond Carver: "They're Not Your Husband" (novelle; læst med Karina Fogtmann Berthelsen i 1.g-emnet om 'Food, Body & Health')
Fra internetadressen https://www.npr.org/2010/01/18/122701268/i-have-a-dream-speech-in-its-entirety:
Martin Luther King, Jr. (1963): "I Have a Dream" (tale læst i uddrag)
Fra internetadressen https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KLWpqXUk-Y0:
Matt Black (2022): "UnAmerican Dream" (dokumentar)
Fra Internetadressen https://www.nytimes.com/2019/02/05/opinion/american-dream.html:
Samuel L. Abrams (2019): "The American Dream is alive and well" (artikel)
Fra internetadressen https://eand.co/how-the-american-dream-became-the-american-nightmare-586fdf175cb0
Umair Hague (2021): ”How the American Dream Became the American Nightmare” (artikel)
Fra "Follow That Dream - American Themes", Bitten Arildsen & Chris Plougheld (red.), Systime 2013:
Thomas Jefferson et alia (1776): "The Declaration of Independence" (indledningen)
Fra internetadressen https://bidenwhitehouse.archives.gov/briefing-room/speeches-remarks/2022/09/01/remarks-by-president-bidenon-the-continued-battle-for-the-soul-of-the-nation/:
Joe Biden (2022): "Remarks by President Biden on the Continued Battle for the Soul of the Nation" (tale)
Supplerende materiale:
Fra internetadressen https://www.investopedia.com/terms/a/american-dream.asp#toc-understanding-the-american-dream:
Adam Barone (2023): ”What is the American Dream? Examples and How to Measure It” (sagprosa)
Fra internetadressen https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=le1QF3uoQNg:
Frank Sinatra (1977): "New York, New York" (sangtekst)
Fra internetadressen https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LHcP4MWABGY:
U2 (1984): "Pride/In the Name of Love" (sang)
Fra internetadressen https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9PrvciTGpRI:
Dan Zimmerman (2018): "What is the difference between Democrats and Republicans?" (video)
I løbet af 2.g vil eleverne med jævne mellemrum betræde Speakers' Corner og holde selvvalgte, vedkommende og aktuelle oplæg for hinanden om aktuelle emner og temaer fra den engelsksprogede verden.
I undervisningen har vi med meget jævne mellemrum beskrevet og talt om aktuelle billeder fra den engelsksprogede verden, men også fra andre egne af global interesse.
I dette forløb er der blevet læst cirka 200 normalsider. Forløbet udgør cirka XX% af det samlede engelskforløb for klassen.
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