Faust as a Vehicle for Analyzing Fables and Heroism

Sonia Hewitt

“Alas, I have studied philosophy, / the law as well as medicine, / and to my sorrow, theology; / studied them well with ardent zeal, / yet here I am, a wretched fool, / no wiser than I was before." - the character Fausti

Introduction

As soon as I signed up for my first German course in high school, I began hearing about a literary work entitled Faust, and a really important German author named Goethe. Over and over I heard these names, and my curiosity grew and grew. I knew I wanted to wait until my German was good enough to read it in the language in which it was written. Four years of college went by, and I still didn’t feel prepared to read Faust. Finally, in my second year of graduate school, I saw the class in the course list that I had been waiting for: The Age of Goethe. I signed up and finally had the chance to read this monumental work, which is often referred to as the “German bible”ii. I was whisked into a dark and monstrous story of psychological, intellectual and moral struggle. There were potions and witches, and poodles that turned into the devil. There was murder and deceit and deep philosophical turmoil. Faust had turned out to be all that I had expected. It left me disturbed yet thoughtful. I have since sought to find a work that left such a lasting impact on me, yet have failed. Faust remains the most influential story of my literary experience.

Rationale

Newark High School is one of three high schools serving students in grades 9-12 in the Christina School District of Delaware. The school is located in Newark, Delaware, very close to the University of Delaware. Newark High serves around 1500 students, and has a diverse student population. Students who attend Newark High School are both local to the school as well as from Wilmington, Delaware. In order accommodate such a diverse population, the school offers many different programs. One such program, the Cambridge Program, aims to serve highly motivated, high-achieving students, and offers challenging courses and access to Advanced Placement courses. Newark High School also offers honors and college prep level courses for students not interested in or suited for the Cambridge program. The high school also accommodates students who struggle to achieve in a traditional school environment, by offering the Twilight Program, in

which students can come after school to earn credit hours. As the only German teacher on staff, I teach all levels of German, from 1-4.

I have wanted to teach Faust for a very long time, but have not felt that my students’ levels of German were sufficient, and have also not been able to determine a way of teaching the text in a way that would make it accessible to all learners. I have finally realized however, that any text in a world language is feasible, as long as you make your expectations reasonable. I have also been introduced to a new teaching style, which I will discuss later, that I feel will allow me to make Faust interesting and engaging for all of my learners. Due to the difficulty of the text, this unit will occur in level 4, at the end of the curriculum.

Level 4 language learners are expected to perform at an “Intermediate Low” level of language recognition and productioniii. According to the national standards from the American Council on Teaching Foreign Languages (ACTFL), intermediate low “readers are able to understand some information from the simplest connected texts dealing with a limited number of personal and social needs, although there may be frequent misunderstandings. Readers at this level will be challenged to derive meaning from connected texts of any length.” (See Appendix C to see these standards in their entirety). Therefore it will be impossible to teach the entire Faust play. The unit instead will focus on a limited number of important scenes from the work. In addition, an intermediate low speaker can “express personal meaning by combining and recombining what they know and what they hear from their interlocutors into short statements and discrete sentences. Their responses are often filled with hesitancy and inaccuracies as they search for appropriate linguistic forms and vocabulary while attempting to give form to the message.” Therefore any recreation or production of the play will have to be significantly modified in order to be doable for all of my German 4 language learners. Keeping these language level expectations in mind, the outcomes for the unit that include production in the language will be as follows. Students will be expected to retell the basic plot of the story in German, using simple language and memorized expressions. Student will act out short excerpts from the play in groups. Finally, students will be expected to create a play with the same universal heroic struggles as Faust and act one scene out in German.

The Delaware World language standards for a level 4 language class state that students will “present reports in the target language, orally and/or in writing, on topics being studied in other classes” (See Appendix B to see these standards in their entirety)iv. With this as well as the content of the seminar in mind, students will analyze and identify the parts of a story, (introduction, rising action, crisis, climax, falling action, and resolution), something they are required to do in English class. They will also describe the Romantic period of German literature and describe the importance of Goethe in German history and literature. In addition, the Delaware World Language Standards require students to “speculate on why certain products originate in and/or are important to

particular cultures by analyzing selected products from the target cultures.” I would like students to analyze why Faust became so important in Germany, and is often referred to as the German Bible. Finally, these standards also state that learners will “hypothesize the relationship between cultural perspectives and expressive products (e.g., music, visual arts, and appropriate forms of literature) by analyzing selected products from the target cultures and their own.” I would like students to research and find an American or British work that is as important to its respective culture as Faust is to German culture. I imagine that the last three standards will be accomplished in English, as I do not think my students have the language skills to express such sophisticated ideas in German.

Content

Fable

In our seminar we discussed multiple types of stories, including myths, legends, and fables. The story I have chosen to incorporate in my unit, Faust, is a fable. I will then review these characteristics and we will come up with examples. A fable is usually partly true, and always of great importance to the culture in which it was written. A fable usually incorporates the supernatural. Faust is partly true in that the setting has a realistic and historical foundation, but it also relies heavily on the incorporation of the supernatural, as the antagonist is the devil himselfv. Faust also has undeniable cultural significance, as it is often referred to as the German Bible and considered to be wholly representative of the “German consciousness” (Brown). Prior to reading the play, students will be asked to access prior knowledge and brainstorm the characteristics of a fable. After having read the play students will be asked to reflect on how Faust exemplifies the characteristics of a fable.

Goethe

At the very beginning of the unit, students will be asked to research and write about the life of Goethe. They will be asked to use German website in order to gather information. Below is a detailed description of Goethe which contains examples of information I would expect the students to write in their biographies. The following information is a summary of a biography found in Faust: Theater of the World, by Jane K. Brownvi.

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe was born in Frankfurt am Main in 1749 to a wealthy patrician and to the daughter of the mayor. Only one of his siblings survived childbirth, a sister, Cornelia Goethe Schlosser. His father educated him until he forced Goethe to attend law school in Leipzig. Goethe was forced to return home due to severe illness, and this is where he wrote his first play, The Wayward Lover”. From 1769-1770 Goethe studied alchemy with a friend of his mother. This fact will be referred back to as we begin reading Faust, as one of the first scenes depicts Dr. Faustus trying to find fulfillment through the practice of alchemy. In 1771 Goethe finished law school and

began practicing law. In 1773 Goethe began to write Faust, but did not complete it until 1806. Goethe published his first novel, The Sorrows of Young Werther, in 1774. This work was banned due to its “immorality”, but became intensely popular in Europe and ensured Goethe’s renown for the rest of his life. Goethe became very interested in biology, and in 1784 discovered the intermaxillary bone in the human skeleton. In 1790 Goethe’s mistress, Christiane Vulpus gave birth to Julius August Walther Goethe, and the first publication of Faust was released. Goethe also began to study optics around this time. Goethe met Schiller, another important German writer, in 1794, and wrote the first great Bildungsroman (educational novel), Wilhelm Meister’s Apprenticeship, in 1795. Two years later Schiller convinced Goethe to continue to work on Faust. In 1798 Goethe published Theory of Color, a book about optics, which he considered to be his greatest accomplishment. Goethe also became increasingly interested in geology and botany. Goethe’s great interest in science will again be referred to as we read Faust, as the main character spends most of his life looking to science to find meaning in life. Goethe’s then wife, Christiane, died in 1816. Faust was performed for the first time in 1829 to celebrate Goethe’s 80th birthday. His son died in 1830, and Goethe himself died in 1832.

Romanticism in Germany

Students will also be required to read a short description of the Romantic period of German literature. After having read Faust, student siwll be asked to reflect on whether Faust exemplifies the characteristics of a romantic work.

The Romantic period in German literature developed between 1750 and 1870 in response to Classicism and Neoclassicism, which called for adherence to tradition and rules, to Christianity, and to political authority (Thompson, 2005). Romanticism, in contrast, valued the individual spirit and rebellion against authority. “Imagination was praised over reason, emotions over logic, and intuition over science” (Thompson, 2005). This value for spontaneity and rebellion is evident in the form and structure of romantic works as well, as traditional guidelines for composition were cast aside, and authors had artistic freedom to structure their works as they pleased (Thompson, 2005). Romantics valued “striving” over contentmentvii. They believed that one should also reach for something more (southwest).

Faust as a Romantic work

Faust is considered a romantic work, and Goethe as an influential romantic writer. The structure of Faust is clearly romantic, as the scenes are strung together in a seemingly haphazard manner, which is supposed to reflect the randomness of the human experience, but also makes the play that much more difficult to follow. (Lipinski, 2008) The fact that the main character, Dr. Faustus, has spent his life acquiring knowledge and is left suicidal and searching for something more meaningful demonstrates the romantic notion of spirituality over science. (Lipinski, 2008) Faust’s desire for something more demonstrates

the romantic emphasis on striving over contentment. (Lipinski, 2008) This desire for something more is what drives Faust to make the deal with Mephistopheles in the first place. The presence of Mephistopheles as the antagonist demonstrates the Romantic emphasis on the supernatural. Goethe’s opinion of Christianity, as demonstrated in Faust, seems to be conflicted (nova). As a romantic author, one would expect him to demonstrate a rebellion against religious authority. At first glance it would appear that this the case, as Faust makes a deal with the devil, clearly not an acceptable action for a Christian. More significant however, is the fact that Faust is eventually forgiven by God for all of his evil deeds and for making the pact in the first place, in effect approving of all of his unchristian behaviour. On the other hand, Gretchen is a deeply devout Christian, and is portrayed as a victim of the manipulation of Faust and Mephistopheles. The reader feels sympathy for her, the Christian, and scorn for Faust and Mephistopheles, who are clearly not acting in accordance with the values of Christianity. Goethe depicts Gretchen in a positive light, even redeeming her character at the end of the play. It is difficult therefore to determine Goethe’s opinion of Christianity, as portrayed in Faust. It is clear however that Faust incorporates many of the ideals of a romantic work. Students will be asked to identify ways in which the play Faust reflects romantic characteristics.

Faust: Summary

The students will then begin to read the play. It is not reasonable to expect to read the entire play, but which scenes should be excluded should be left to the teacher’s discretion.

The play opens with a scene in heaven, in which Mephistopheles and God make a bet about Faust. Mephistopheles believes he can lead Faust to a life of sin, and God believes that Faust will decide to live a moral life. This bet is the premise of the play.

The following summary uses Faust: Theater of the World as a reference.

We are introduced to Faust as he sits in his study and determines that science and book knowledge have left him unsatisfied, and he will now try magic to find meaning. He attempts to summon a spirit, who rejects him, resulting in Faust deciding to commit suicide by taking poison. He is just about to take the poison when he hears the church bells indicating it is Easter morning, and decides not to take the poison.

Faust and his assistant, Werner, take a walk on Easter morning, but Faust is reminded of his inability to cure the Plague, and becomes depressed again. On the way home a black poodle begins to follow Faust. Faust brings the poodle back to his study, where he begins to translate a religious work, and the poodle transforms into Mephistopheles.

Mephistopheles returns and offers Faust a deal. If Mephistopheles can make Faust no longer strive for something more out of life (be content in the moment), he can take Faust’s soul. Faust does not believe that Mephistopheles can make him stop yearning for more, and so accepts the deal.

Faust passes a pretty girl, Gretchen, on the street and immediately falls in love. He demands that Mephistopheles “get” Gretchen for him. Mephistopheles tells Faust that he needs to get a gift for her.

We meet Gretchen as she thinks about meeting Faust on the street and leaves her room just as Faust and Mephistopheles enter. Faust leaves a gift of jewels for her. Gretchen shows the jewels to her mother, who takes them to a priest.

Faust and Gretchen walk and become enamored with each other, but Mephistopheles interrupts the two as they embrace, but later mocks Faust for not consummating his relationship with Gretchen. Meanwhile, Gretchen yearns for Faust, resulting in her agreeing to give her mother a sleeping potion so that she can sleep with Faust. Immediately following this scene we learn that Gretchen is pregnant.

Gretchen’s brother appears and runs into Mephistopheles. He immediately suspects that he is Gretchen’s lover and attacks him. Mephistopheles forces Faust to fight, and Valentine dies, calling his sister a whore. Making matters worse, we find out Gretchen’s mother died from the potion Gretchen gave her. Gretchen faints from the emotional and physical strain.

Faust has a vision of Gretchen about to be beheaded, and we immediately discover that Gretchen is in a dungeon for killing her baby, about to be executed. Faust asks Mephistopheles to save her and Mephistopheles agrees, if Faust can convince Gretchen to leave. Faust finds Gretchen and tries to convince her to run away, but Gretchen doesn’t understand why Faust, in his haste to escape, won’t embrace her. Gretchen refuses to leave, renouncing Faust. A voice from the skies announces that Gretchen is saved, and Faust and Mephistopheles flee.

Structure of a Story

In our seminar we discussed at length dramatic structure. There are five parts to a story, which include the introduction, rising action, crisis, climax, and resolution. In the introduction the audience learns about the setting and main characters. It gives the audience a basic idea of what the story will be about. The rising action is the part of the story in which the tension builds. Little by little a conflict is developed, and as the story progresses the tension created by the conflict increases. The crisis and the climax occur very close to each other. The crisis is the event that drives the tension to its breaking

point, and the climax is the result of the crisis. The climax is often called the turning point, as nothing can be the same after the climax has occurred. The resolution is how the story comes to a close. Prior to reading Faust, students will be asked to come up with the parts of dramatic structure, and to practice identifying these structures in popular stories.

The introduction of Faust consists of the first two scenes of Faust, in which we learn that God and Mephistopheles have made a bet, and that Faust is desperate to find meaning in life. The rising action begins when the poodle begins to follow Faust home and ends when we find out that Gretchen is pregnant. The crisis occurs in the church when Gretchen faints form her psychological distress, and the climax occurs when Gretchen kills her baby. The falling action includes Faust trying to rescue Gretchen from the dungeon, and the resolution occurs when Gretchen tells Faust to leave and God announces that Gretchen is saved. After having read Faust students will be asked to identify these sections of dramatic structure of the play.

Hero

In the seminar we examined the traits of a hero, and how these traits are universal across nation and culture. We then discussed how the universality of heroic traits leads to accessibility of all heroic stories to people of all cultures, because they are based on the same psychological attributes of all humankind. In Joseph Campbell’s book, “The Hero with a Thousand Faces,” he describes that the archetypal hero can be found throughout every genre of literature and undergoes the same journey in each work.viii The main character desires something, struggles to obtain it, and attains or fails to attain his/her goal in the end.

In this unit students will brainstorm about the characteristics of a hero, and then decide whether popular characters of popular stories are in fact heroes. In the end of the unit we will reflect upon whether Faust fits the characteristics of the archetypal hero. In addition, the final project at the end of the unit will be to research or create a play that has similar themes to Faust, which would include analyzing the heroism of Faust.

Strategies

TPRS

I will use the teaching method of TPRS (Teaching Proficiency through Reading and Storytelling) to teach this unit on Goethe and Faust. Last year I was introduced to this educational strategy when I attended an informal seminar facilitated by a colleague. After playing the role of the student in the colleague’s lesson, I was able to produce small amounts of French, whereas only two hours before I had been entirely unfamiliar with the language. More importantly, I had felt little anxiety participating in the lesson, which is

very important, as student anxiety is a major obstacle that world language teachers must overcome in the classroom. At this seminar I received a book written by the founder of the TPRS strategy, Blaine Ray, and fueled by the success I had witnessed during the seminar, I began to explore TPRS further. The text provided evidence of the success of TPRS, and several features of this strategy caught my attention.

I find myself speaking entirely too much English in the classroom. Using the target language in class is time-consuming, tedious, and requires extensive planning; therefore it is easy to resort to speaking English in the classroom. What could be accomplished in one class period in English may take two or three class periods in the target language. Students also express frustration very quickly when exposed to the target language, which can result in a lack of engagement and motivation. As a result, designing lessons that overcome these obstacles is extremely time-consuming and difficult. The TPRS methodology offers some interesting solutions to the issues created by using the target language almost exclusively.

TPRS is based almost entirely on the theory of Stephen Krashen, who proposed that language acquisition occurs first from comprehensible input. The learner must be exposed to continuous spoken and written language. In addition, this input must be at what Krashen calls “I+1”, or input that is just barely beyond what the learner can easily comprehendix. Krashen also proposes that this input should be comprehensible in order to lower the learner’s anxiety level. Blaine Ray came up with theory of TPRS based on this research. He suggests that the teacher organize units based entirely around “stories”. The teacher chooses three “structures” to focus on throughout the unit. These structures are usually centered around verbs or verb expressions, such as the expression “I have, you have, he has”. The teacher then selects a very limited number of vocabulary words or expressions in order to provide a context in which to teach the structures, and creates a story that incorporates these structures and vocabulary. The teacher makes any and all words that might be unfamiliar easily accessible to the students by writing them on the board or posting them around the room. Next, the teacher assigns the student roles, which can be as few or as many as the teacher chooses. These roles could involve beeping a horn when anyone speaks in English, timing how long the class stays in the target language, acting out scenes in the story, making plot decisions, counting how many times a featured structure appears in the story, writing down the story in English, etc.

The teacher then “asks the story”, meaning that the teacher tells the main components of the story but lets the students decide some of the details. For example, the teacher may tell the students that the main character is afraid of something, but then the teacher allows the students to decide what the fear actually is. The more props the teacher has, the better, as students react strongly to seeing the physical items. The teacher then checks for comprehension, by asking a series of scaffolded questions. The first round of questions would only require a yes/no answer, but then the second round of questions might require

a one-word answer. Depending on the level of comprehension, the teacher might also be able to require complete sentences.

Once the story has been told, there are several activities that Blaine Ray suggests. One activity involves the student receiving written copies of the story, and then taking turns with a partner reading the story aloud and translating it. A popular closing activity for a TPRS lesson would be to select a “reader leader” who points to the story (projected on the board), as the students translate the sentences aloud as a group. Another activity recommended by Blaine is called “Movie Talk,” in which the teacher projects a few minutes of a muted video on the board and uses the structures of the unit to describe the action in the movie. A TPRS assessment might consist of creating a storyboard of the story or acting out some or all of the story. A unique element of TPRS is that there is almost no explicit grammar explanation, which is a major difference from traditional world language teaching strategies. Grammar that does not relate to the selected structures of that particular story should be vaguely clarified in a very brief discussion (less than 30 seconds), called “pop-up grammar”, or completely postponed until it becomes a major structure to be acquired. Quizzes and tests should be entirely in the context of the story, such as true or false statements about the story, or vocabulary from the story.

I believe that TPRS will offer solutions to the issues that I have encountered requires students to assume different roles throughout the lesson, as well as to make important plot decisions. These two aspects of TPRS make it likely that students will become more engaged throughout the class. Finally, because TPRS requires COMPREHENSIBLE input, students should begin to have less anxiety about attempting to produce the language in the classroom, and will be less likely to “shut down” due to not understanding or feeling overwhelmed. In summary, Blaine Ray’s book convinced me that his method is certainly worth trying, although it is a daunting and intimidating task, as it requires a completely new approach to and way of thinking about teaching a world language. In fact, Newark High School’s World Language Department has decided to implement TPRS in all languages for all Level 1 classes in the upcoming 2014-2015 school year.

Using this methodology, I expect to see increased comprehension and engagement and lower levels of frustration and anxiety. I foresee issues with classroom management, as it will be difficult to stay engaged in the story while managing behavior problems. I plan to incorporate a daily point system, called the Rigor Rubric (see Appendix A), however to track student behavior and offer incentives for on-task behavior and discouragement from disruptive behavior. In conclusion, the incorporation of TPRS in my classroom will be challenging, but will hopefully prove to be worth the effort as demonstrated by increased student achievement and engagement.

Activities

Activity 1

In the first few days of this unit students will examine the life of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. In order to do this effectively in German, students need to be able to recognize vocabulary related to describing life events. Therefore on the first day of the unit I will tell a “TPRS” story that introduces past tense life event vocabulary as well as how to say dates in German. This lesson will begin with a warm-up question that asks students to brainstorm what types of information is included in a biography. Once we have discussed the warm-up questions, I will introduce the TPRS story. I will inform students that the vocabulary we are attending to includes the verbs “to be born, to grow up, to marry, to become, and to die”. As I tell the story, students will be graded according to the rigor rubric (See Appendix) for “active listening”, and will complete a fill in the blank worksheet to check for comprehension. Immediately following this activity, students will participate in a “Reading Train” activity. Students will receive a copy of the story. Desks will be arranged in a line of two desks facing each other. Students will sit opposite each other and begin reading in pairs. The first student of the pair will read the first sentence of the story in German. The second student then translates the sentence into English. Then the same students reads the next student in German, and the first student translates. This process continues until I announce that time is up, and then one row of students rotates so they each student is sitting across from a new student. This process continues until the prescribed amount of time is over. The lesson will conclude with an exit ticket that asks the students to write four sentences about a famous person using the vocabulary from the story.

Activity 2

The driving event in Faust is the bet made between God and Mephistopheles, in which they discuss how Faust would react and behave when presented with hypothetical situations, and hypothesize whether they would be successful in directing Faust’s behavior and decisions. In order to describe these scenarios the conditional tense must be used. Therefore students must be able to recognize and produce the conditional tense in order to discuss and examine this crucial theme of Faust. Since this scene is one of the very first scenes, this lesson must occur prior to beginning to read Faust. This lesson will begin with a warm-up question that asks the students to answer some hypothetical scenarios in English. As we discuss the answers, I will guide the students to recognize the conditional structure “I would” in English. Then I will introduce the TPRS story. The structures that this story introduces are “if…then” statements and the conditional tense. I will use movie talk this time however to tell the story. I will show the scene from Aladdin in which the genie appears, and makes suggestions about what Aladdin should wish for. The movie clip will be muted, and I will narrate the scene in German, telling the story of a boy who wonders what life would be like if certain scenarios took

place. For example, he wonders what would happen if he were king. Once again, students will be graded for active listening and participation according to the rigor rubric and will fill out a worksheet as I tell the story. Once we have completed the story, I will ask students to infer how the conditional tense is formed in German. Next, students will complete a worksheet in which the must use conditional tense to complete “if…then” statements. This lesson will conclude with an exit ticket that asks students to hypothesize about three specific situations.

Activity 3

The concluding assessment for the Faust unit will be to create excerpts of a play with similar characteristics to that of Faust. In order to do this, students will need to reflect upon and clearly demonstrate understanding of dramatic structure, Faust’s heroic qualities, and the Romantic era of German literature. Students must only create one scene in enough detail to present to the class. They must only develop the rest of the play only in the form of an outline. Both the scene and the outline will be in German. Students will be given three 80 minutes blocks to develop their scenes and outline. The fourth block will be dedicated to presenting the scenes to class. Students will be graded according to a rubric, and the audience will be graded on attentiveness according to the rigor rubric.

Bibliography

"ACTFL Proficiency Guidelines." American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages. April 3, 2012. Accessed December 23, 2014.

http://www.actfl.org/publications/guidelines-and-manuals/actfl-proficiency-guidelines-2012 .

This website explains the national standards for world language learners.

Brown, Jane K. Faust: Theater of the World. New York: Twayne Publishers, 1992.

This source discusses various aspects of Goethe and Faust, including an analysis of Goethe’s life and works, as well as a summary and an in depth analysis of the play Faust.

Campbell, Joseph. The Hero with a Thousand Faces. 2d ed. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 1972.

This source examines the universal characteristics of a hero.

“Grade Level Expectations.” Delaware Department of Education. February 9, 2010.

Accessed December 23, 2014.

http://www.doe.k12.de.us/cms/lib09/DE01922744/Centricity/Domain/139/DRC%20WL%20GLEs%20Mod1.pdf

This website explains the Delaware grade level expectations for world language learners.

Hedges, Inez. Framing Faust: Twentieth-Century Cultural Struggles. Carbondale, Ill:

Southern Illinois University Press, 2005.

This source discusses how Faust is still relevant for teachers and readers in the 21st century.

Lipinski, Linda. “Faust Supplemental Study Guide.” World Telecourse II. Last

modified January 9, 2008.

http://faculty.southwest.tn.edu/llipinski/engl2320t201/content/lesson18handout.htm

This source discusses various aspects of Goethe and Faust, including Romanticism, Faust as a Romantic work, and an analysis of the play.

Slavic, Ben. "Jobs For Kids." TPRS and Comprehensible Input Training. January 1, 2013. Accessed December 8, 2014. http://benslavic.com/jobs-for-kids.html.

This is a website that provides many resources for teachers of TPRS.

Slavic, Ben. TPRS In a Year. 4th Edition ed. Dover, Colorado: Ben Slavic, 2008. Print.’

This source explains in great detail the teaching methodology of TPRS.

Thompson, Dr. Diane. “Faust Study Guide.” World Literature II. Last modified August 8, 2005. http://novaonline.nvcc.edu/eli/eng252/fauststudy.htm

This source discusses various aspects of Goethe and Faust, including Romanticism, Faust as a Romantic work, and an analysis of the play.

“What are myths, legends and folktales?” Last modified 2006.

http://myths.e2bn.org/teachers/info311-what-are-myths-legends-and-

folktales.html

This website explains the characteristics of myths, legends and fairy tales.

Appendix A

National Standards for World Language addressed in this unit

The national standards for World Language learners can be found: http://www.actfl.org/publications/guidelines-and-manuals/actfl-proficiency-guidelines-2012

Intermediate Low: Speaking

Speakers at the Intermediate Low sublevel are able to handle successfully a limited number of uncomplicated communicative tasks by creating with the language in straightforward social situations. Conversation is restricted to some of the concrete exchanges and predictable topics necessary for survival in the target-language culture. These topics relate to basic personal information; for example, self and family, some daily activities and personal preferences, and some immediate needs, such as ordering food and making simple purchases. At the Intermediate Low sublevel, speakers are primarily reactive and struggle toanswer direct questions or requests for information. They are also able to ask a few appropriate questions. Intermediate Low speakers manage to sustain the functions of the Intermediate level, although just barely.

Intermediate Low speakers express personal meaning by combining and recombining what they know and what they hear from their interlocutors into short statements and discrete sentences. Their responses are often filled with hesitancy and inaccuracies as they search for appropriate linguistic forms and vocabulary while attempting to give form to the message. Their speech is characterized by frequent pauses, ineffective reformulations and self-corrections. Their pronunciation, vocabulary, and syntax are strongly influenced by their first language. In spite of frequent misunderstandings that may require repetition or rephrasing, Intermediate Low speakers can generally be understood by sympathetic interlocutors, particularly by those accustomed to dealing with non-natives.

Intermediate Low

At the Intermediate Low sublevel, readers are able to understand some information from the simplest connected texts dealing with a limited number of personal and social needs, although there may be frequent misunderstandings. Readers at this level will be challenged to derive meaning from connected texts of any length.

Appendix B

Standards addressed in this unit

The high school expectations for World Language learners can be found on the Delaware Department of Education website:

http://dedoe.schoolwires.net/Page/291

Appendix C: Jobs For Kids

This abbreviated list from Ben Slavic highlights the key Jobs for Kids in the TPRS classroom. It is up to the teacher’s discretion for which jobs will be used at any one time. A comprehensive list may be found at www.benslavic.com PQA Structure Counters* (3) – The PQA counters do so much. They do things that we are not even aware of, functioning as a kind of social glue. They bring us together in pursuit of a common goal. Pure gold. Story Quiz Writer* - described in detail on this site but I'm not sure where. Story Writer* - described in detail on this site but I'm not sure where. Story Artist* - described in detail on this site but I'm not sure where. Lehrer/Lehrerin (there can be two of these) - they quickly decide on things like if the house is red or blue so that the teacher doesn't have to take a side. Skill #36 in TPRS in a Year! Sound Effects Guru - either via a machine or actually produced by the kid Reader Leader. This is the kid who leads the class in the choral reading of texts. He or she reads slowly and loudly and literally brings the class along. Alarm clock/English Abuse – kid who can make the most annoying sound in class sounds off at the slightest sign that the teacher may be going into an English rant or when the class needs to take a quiz (sometimes we just need to stop the story and take the quiz. The kid sounds off and the teacher thanks her/him profusely and segues right back into German. The message to the rest of the students is clear. We’re here to listen to German, not to listen to the teacher talk about German in English. Official Timer –This kid times how long the class can go in the TL. Class times are written on the board. The kids get competitive and class pride is often on the line. Vanna White – he or she strolls along the word wall and points out words as the lesson unfolds, helping the teacher. Actors – will synchronize actions to teacher’s speaking or reading. It's a job in that we always like to use our best, least distractible actors.

Worterbuchmeister– the kid who looks up the (very few) new words that the kids bring in via cute answers, words like “squid”.

Appendix D

This rubric will be used to evaluate how well students completed the play writing assignment for the Faust Unit

Appendix E

Performance Assessment Rubric

This rubric was created by the Jefferson County School District in Kentucky, and has widely been accepted as a useful rubric in evaluating language production.

http://www.jefferson.k12.ky.us/departments/gheens/Index.html

Appendix F

RIGOR RUBRIC