<p>This study represents an analysis of the function of nature within the novels of Theodor Fontane. Nature is examined in its bearing on the form and content of individual novels, attention being given to the chronolhgical development of Fontane's work. An attempt is made to assess the significance of nature in the writer's art as a whole.</p> / Master of Arts (MA)

<p>The gradual change in attitude to modern theatrical dialogue is outlined and an investigation of frisch's dialogue is carried out. It is established that the lack of communication manifest in the dialogue between characters on stage has as its counterpart a high level of communication between stage and audience. The means whereby this is achieved lies in the manipulation of dalogue in- and cross-stage.</p> / Master of Arts (MA)

<p>The purpose of this study was to investigate the types and amounts of speaking activities in which beginning foreign language students engage, in order to determine how and to what extent students practice the language artificially in drills, directed dialogues and other forms of pseudo-communication, and how and to what extent they use the foreign language as a real means of communication.</p> <p>Seventeen grade 10 and grade 11 German classes in Hamilton-Wentworth publicly supported secondary schools were observed, and teacher questionnaires were completed by twenty local German teachers to verify the accuracy of the observations.</p> <p>The results of the observations and the questionnaires reveal that student talk in elementary foreign language classes is largely in the foreign language (86%),<br />but that this talk falls almost exclusively in the artificial range (98%). Only 2% of everything spoken by the students in grade 10 classes was real communication in the target language. Further, the data indicate that real communication activities do not increase substantially at the grade 11 level.</p> <p>Student exposure to real uses of the foreign language occurred primarily in the form of listening comprehension, in that 75% of all real communication spoken in German in<br />the grade 10 classes was the teacher giving instructions or making explanations. Even in this category, teachers used more English than German (61% English). In general a tendency was shovm both by teachers and students to use English whenever real communication was intended.</p> <p>Real communication is believed to be essential both to student motivation and to student achievement at the earliest stages of foreign language learning. Yet real<br />communication activities rarely occurred in the beginning foreign language classes observed in this study. Teachers cited two major obstacles in achieving real communication with their first year students: their limited vocabulary and their limited knowledge of structure. Teachers who overcame these two obstacles in the observations achieved real communication via the following technique: by using the vocabulary and structure from a drill, text, or dialogue which the students had already mastered to ask the students personal questions. This technique may be utilized as a follow-up step to every practice activity from the beginning of foreign language study and needs only to be planned and practiced regularly for real communication in elementary foreign language classes to substantially increase.</p> / Master of Arts (MA)

<p>This study assesses the importance of the contribution made by Uwe Johnson in his novels to the development of contemporary realistic writing, by examining political and<br />social problems raised by the post-war ideological division of Europe and the complex question of individuality in modern society. Johnson's three novels are considered on a comparative basis, with regard to narrative structure, settings and characterisation, in order to indicate his principal interests as a novelist and as an observer of society, and to sugeest significallt changes of emphasis within the novels.</p> / Master of Arts (MA)

<p>This thesis sets out to assess the special characteristics of the irony of the narrator in Wieland's Don Sylvio. The investigation centres upon close analysis of the main text. But, for perspective and accuracy of evaluation, this analysis is set within the context of th irony of the narrator as it is empirically defined in a brief review of other selected novels.</p> / Master of Arts (MA)

<p>This thesis consists of a biography of Reinhold Schneider and a translation of two stories which appeared in his 1943 collection of short stories entitled Die Dunkle Nacht. Each story is followed by notes which give explanations concerning historical background, biblical concepts and expressions, and problems in translation. The Bibliography is divided into "Works Cited" and "Works Consulted" for the reader who wishes to do further research on this author.</p> <p>The purpose of this thesis is to provide the English-speaking reader with an introduction to Reinhold Schneider, one of the few people who both wrote and published anti-Nazi literature within Germany during the Second World War. This courageous writer, who saw his role as giving his people "a helping word", sought to direct them back to the Absolute, revealed in the person of Jesus Christ. He also reminded them that the conscience is an indestructible part of man. The emphasis of this thesis presents itself equally in both Parts One and Two to show that Schneider deserved such names as "a voice in the wilderness" and "Germany's conscience" during this difficult period of history.</p> / Master of Arts (MA)

<p>This thesis discusses the Institution of the Duel in the dramas and prose works of Arthur Schitzler, and presents a translation into English of the novella Leutnant Gustl.</p> <p>A preliminary chapter provides short biographical details and outlines the general cultural, political and social atmosphere of the times.</p> <p>The concluding chapter discusses the translation and points out certain specific problems.</p> <p>All quotations from Schintzler's Dramas and Prose Works are from the following editions:</p> <p>Arthur Schnitzler, Gesammelte Werke: Die dramatische Werke.</p> <p>2 vols. Frankfurt am Main: Fischer Verlag, 1962.</p> <p>Arthur Schnitzler, Gesammelte Werke: Die erzáhlenden Schriften.</p> <p>2 vols. Frankfurt am Main: Fischer Verlag, 1962.</p> / Master of Arts (MA)

Master of Arts (MA)

<p>Felix Mitterer is a well-known Austrian playwright who has yet to receive extensive recognition in North America. He writes in the tradition of the <em>Volksstück</em>, a genre which is usually associated with clichés, crude comedy, sentimentality and entertainment for the masses. But increasingly, authors have manipulated the traditional aspects of this genre to create <em>Volksstücke</em> with a socially critical message. Mitterer has been associated with a movement begun in the late sixties known as the "new socially critical <em>Volksstück</em>." Most writers of this movement address provocative themes, but have alienated the intended audience of the <em>Volksstück</em>, the ordinary people, by creating works which are cynical, surreal or violent. Mitterer has modified the socially critical <em>Volksstück</em> so that it appeals to a wide audience.</p> <p>I will analyze how Mitterer has accomplished this by examining his two most popular and widely performed plays, Besuchszeit and Sibirien. I will explore his presentation of provocative themes - alienation resulting from a lack of communication, the problematic nature of traditional gender roles, difficulties arising from unrestrained progress, and the dehumanizing nature of institutions - and his manipulation of traditional <em>Volksstück</em> elements in order to demonstrate his unique combination of the mundane and the artistic. Then I will examine the critical response to performances of these two works in Austria, Germany and Switzerland, focusing on newspaper reviews, the major source of information on his works, in order to understand the strengths and weaknesses of his method of presentation. I will conclude by showing how he has modified both the traditional and the new socially critical <em>Volksstück</em> to create a more human version of this which appeals to a wide audience while achieving critical and scholarly recognition.</p> / Master of Arts (MA)

<p>As an instructor of beginners' German, the author of this thesis was introduced to the computer as a medium to teach foreign/second languages and wished to discover how effective the computer is as an aid to language learning.</p> <p>In order to look at the effectiveness of computer assisted language learning, the author of this thesis looked into the history and development of computer assisted language instruction and summarized the research in Part 1 of this thesis.</p> <p>To give the author first-hand experience with computer assisted language instruction, some computer exercises were prepared by her to be used in a pilot study conducted during the academic year 1989-90. A discussion of effective topics taught by computers as well as the set-up and results of this pilot study are given in Part 2 of this thesis.</p> <p>Finally, Part 3 of this thesis contains some general conclusions about computers as a medium in the language classroom. The most interesting conclusion, the computer's affect on student motivation, is drawn directly from the comments of the students involved in the pilot study as well as the author's own experience with language students using the computer as a learning tool.</p> / Master of Arts (MA)