Character and Chapter Summary

Main Characters

<http://www.corporate-aliens.com/quotes/getquote.php?Paul-Baumer&quoteid=326> October, 2011

Paul Baumer - the narrator and protagonist of All Quiet on the Western Front, starts the war happy and compassionate and slowly detaches from his emotions and dies at the end of the book


Stanislaus Katczinsky- known as Kat and is Paul's best friend in the army in Paul's company, Kat is forty in the beginning of the novel, has a family at home, and is the most resourceful man in the company always finding food and other supplies when needed

Kantorek- a school teacher from Paul's High School the boys had who pressures young men to take pride in their country and join the army, a very ignorant man

Himmelstoss- the boys Corporal who is very short and is on a power trip giving the boys a hard time and once he's placed out in the fighting is a coward

Franz Kemmerich- another one of Paul's classmates who gets a leg wound in the first few chapters, gets his leg amputated and dies, and is the first time that Paul and the boys deal with a death, Paul takes it hard


Albert Kropp- one of Paul's good friends and a fellow classmate, a very intelligent and analytical man


Muller- also one of Paul's good friends and fellow classmates, a very practical and stubborn man who questions the men about what they're going to do after they get home


Tjaden- another Second Company friend of Paul's, big guy who eats a lot and has many issues with Corporal Himmelstoss and taking orders from him


Detering -  one of Paul's close friends in the army who misses his farm and family and tries to escape only to get caught and never heard of again

Gerard Duval -  the french soldier that Paul kills when he jumps into the same hole as Paul and is the first person Paul has killed hand to hand combat, Paul finds out he has a wife and children at home and is very traumatized by the event

Haie Westhus - becomes one of Paul's friends in the Second Company and is a huge man who was a peat digger before the war and hates peat digging

Lieutenant Bertinck:

<http://www.gettyimages.co.uk/detail/3279003/Hulton-Archive> October, 2011

I run a crew of good men. I was put in charge of this company and I will make sure I do the job well. I care for these men and believe if I show them respect I will receive respect, as simple as that. I was once in there position, so I understand how frightening and difficult it can be at times when you don't have much experience. When they run out of food I will make sure we get more. It's hard to see my men taken down but if the other men need there resources they should have them so they have enough strength to keep going and do a good job. I will not tolerate unjust or foolish actions, especially from our cook. I will do anything for these men because that is my duty, I am the leader of these boys. I am tough but you need to be tough to survive in this war. I have been here for two years and have not gotten injured yet and I intend for it to stay that way.

Chapter 11 Summary:

Main Characters:

Paul Baumer

Detering

Berger

Muller

Stanislaus Katczinsky

This chapter is very bitter and full of events. Fall has started for the men. Paul says the men are no longer individuals but melded as one. They are all soldiers and then individuals. In this chapter Detering cuts down some branches from a cherry blossom tree and attempts to escape home. He gets caught and is tried as a deserter and the men never hear of him again. 


 The chapter moves to when the men are on the front lines and their comrade Berger who runs out into lines of attack to either save or end the life of a messenger dog and get's a wound to the pelvis. Muller dies from a wound to the stomach and gives his boots to Paul which were previously Kemmerich's. The men also get dysentery which depletes the little energy they have. The men keep hearing rumors of the end coming but it does not come in this chapter or this book. 


 Paul says the summer of 1918 was the bloodiest summer and they all know the Germans are losing. The chapter ends with Paul's last friend 'Kat' getting a wound in the shin. The whole time Paul is carrying him back he get's more and more depressed about being left alone. When Paul arrives at the dressing center an orderly tells him it was a waste of time to bring a dead man. Paul bends down to rub Kat's temples and finds blood. Kat died from a small wound to the head that was unnoticed by Paul. Paul doesn't cry he appears to go numb, and says he knows nothing. It is a chapter leading to the end for Paul.    

Homework: Wk4

 "All Quiet on the Western Front" Response

<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/All_Quiet_on_the_
Western_Front > October 2011

     In the book All Quiet on the Western Front, Erich Maria Remarque has several meanings he wants the reader to pick up on.  The one that stood out the most to me was the permanent psychological effect war leaves on young men.  Erich Maria Remarque begins his story emphasizing this effect when Paul's friend Kemmerich has his leg amputated and their friend Muller begins asking for his boots.  When Muller does ask his other friends, including Paul, their reaction seems anything but sympathetic for Kemmerich, but it the war these boys are exposed to so much they start to work off of instincts.  These soldiers become detached and numb, and that is the only mechanism they have to handle the constant daily mental, emotional, and physical stress they're exposed to in war.  

     The author stresses the permanent  psychological effect on soldiers by example through Paul.  Throughout the book Paul thinks more and more about life back home and the fact that he will not know what to do when he returns.  He thinks that he will know nothing more than the war and doesn't know how to move on and continue with his life.  War becomes soldiers lives, their existence.  When an individual has been conditioned to have animalistic instincts to survive and has been dehumanized by their living conditions it is very hard for them to return to a regular life or mental stability alone.  Giving such graphic details in the story the author helps the reader place themselves closer to the main characters shoes because the reader has to detach themselves from the reality of the visuals in their mind to move forward in the story without feeling sickened or emotionally distraught.  I believe the author did a fantastic job of illustrating what soldiers psychologically go through without romanticizing it with honor and nationalism as many other novels do.  There are many other very important points Erich Maria Remarque makes in this novel, but this is the one I believe had the largest impact on me.

Homework: Wk3

HAMBURG, GERMANY





Hamburg on The Elbe River
http://www.germanywanderer.com/destinations/hamburg/hamburg-a-sea-port-on-the-elbe/attachment/hamburg-a-sea-port-on-the-elbe2/

I chose to research Hamburg, Germany because it is the second smallest German state.

HAMBURG:

The population of Hamburg is over 1.8 million, it is the second largest city in Germany, and the 7^th in the European Union. Hamburg is 291.5 square miles and almost three-hundred could fit into Minnesota. In the year 2010 the population of Minnesota was almost 5.5 million which in comparison to the size of Hamburg is significantly less. Hamburg is the second smallest German state after Bremen and is located in the north west corner of Germany with Lower-Saxony to the south and Schleswig-Holstein to the north. Hamburg is also located along the Elbe River which is extremely important for Hamburgs industry.

INDUSTRY:

Hamburg often get's called the gateway to the world because it's seaport is the third largest in all of Europe next to Antwerp and Rotterdam. The port is the ninth in the world with shipments of 9.8 million twenty-foot equivalent units of cargo (in 2007). Over 150,000 people live and work in Hamburgs port. Other important industries in Hamburg are steel, aluminum, and copper. In the year 2010, PPG Industries' aerospace business earned an Excellent Supplier Award in Gold from “Austrian aviation supplier FACC AG for 'consistent outstanding performance' providing coatings, sealants, aircraft maintenance chemicals, and packaging and application systems.” Hamburg also has the largest industry in newspaper and periodical publishing after Berlin. Roughly 130,000 people are employed in the media sector.

Clip: [Hamburg] Is seen as the digital industry pioneer and the German advertising world’s creative powerhouse with legion advertising and design agencies, film studios and media service providers. Publications from Hamburg account for almost 50 percent of the countrywide paid circulation of daily and weekly newspapers and consumer magazines. End Clip

ECONOMY:

Clip: The 2007 gross domestic product (GDP) totaled €88.9 billion. The city has the highest GDP in Germany – €50,000 per capita – and a relatively high employment rate, at 88 percent of the working-age population, employed in over 120,000 businesses. In 2007, the average income of employees was €30,937. End Clip.

TOURISM:

Tourists play a large role in Hamburgs economy. In the year 2007, Hamburg attracted almost four million visitors which is about half the amount of tourists attracted to Rome (almost seven million). Tourism also employes roughly 175,000 people and brings in a revenue of 9.3 billion Euros. Hamburg has one of the fastest growing tourism industries in Germany, the majority of visitors come from Germany. Tourist attractions include: Rathaus (city hall), Michel Church, Chilehaus (historic office building in the form of a ship), Speicherstadt (old warehouse district), and Reeperbahn (famed red light and nightclub district). Hamburg is also known as the capital of musical theater in Germany that offers more than forty theaters, sixty museums, and one-hundred music venues and clubs. Clip: In 2005, more than 18 million people visited concerts, exhibitions, theatres, cinemas, museums, and cultural events.


                                                                      Chilehaus

<http://www.conference-hotel.com/hotel_1087394498.htm> October 2011

HISTORY:

Clip: There is no firm evidence of settlement in Hamburg before the 4th century. Most city history´s use 810 as their starting point, when Karl the Great built a fortress called the Hammaburg, which was meant to serve as a focus point for Christian missionaries. [...]

In the 18th century, the economy of Hamburg continued to grow steadily and at the turn of the century, the population totaled 130,000. […]

In 1867, Hamburg joined the North German League and in 1888, it joined the German Customs League, both of which proved to be crucial events in its historical development: Hamburg became known as Germany´s Gateway to the world. By 1912, Hamburg's harbor was the third most important port in the world, after London and New York.

WORKS CITED

1. http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/27000.html

2. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hamburg

3. http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,,3901044,00.html

4. http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/253231/Hamburg/16041/The-economy

5. http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/253231/Hamburg/16040/The-people

6. http://www.ppg.com/en/newsroom/news/Pages/20110609A.aspx

7. http://marketing.hamburg.de/Medienhauptstadt.137.0.html?L=1

8. http://www.romanhomes.com/your_roman_vacation/pickpockets.htm

Homework- Wk2

Thüringen


http://www.123rf.com/photo_7983917_thuringia-on-old-administration-map-of-german-provinces-states-with-clipping-path.html

Thuringen is located in the middle of Germany and is bordered by Lower Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, Saxony, Bavaria, and Hesse. Thuringen is a total of 6,244 square miles. The capital of Thurigen is Erfurt and some of the popular cities located in Thurigen are Weimar, Jena, Bad Leibenstein, Eisenach, Gera, Gotha, and Ilmenau. Erfurt has the largest population of 203,803 people. The total population is approximately 2.4 million and out of the 2.4 million twenty-one percent are Protestants, three percent are Roman Catholic, seventy-two percent have no religious affiliation, and five percent are unknown. (1) (3) (6) German Thuringians were first noticed around 350 AD, but the Thuringen we know today was developed

     Clip: In 1952 [...] when the East German states were dissolved, Thuringia was divided between the Bezirke (districts) of Erfurt, Suhl, Gera, Halle, and Leipzig. Following the reunification of Germany, Thuringia was reconstituted as a state with boundaries similar to those of its post-World War II predecessor from the former East German districts […]. End Clip (6).

        Thüringen's natural resources are gravel sand, limestone, gypsum, and clay slate. The agricultural products Thüringen has are livestock, cereal, potatoes, vegetables, fruits, biofuels and biomass. Industries popular in Thüringen are automobile manufacture, automotive supply, microelectronics, optics, and optoelectronics. (1)

        Clip: The town of Jena is the birthplace of the modern optics industry and was chosen as a ''City of Science 2008'' for its expertise in lens manufacturing, medical and biotechnology, photovoltaic production, and software engineering. End Clip (4)

       The capital of Thuringen, Erfurt, is flourishing in bio- and solar technology (4).

Thuringen has a lot to offer to residents and visitors alike. The most memorable geographic characteristics in Thurigen are Thuringian Forest (a moutain chain in the southwest), Werra River which is a tributary of the Weser River, and in the northwest the Harz Mountains start. The eastern side of Thuringia is primarily plain with the exception on the Saale River that flows from north to south. (5) Traveling in Thüringen for tourists and residents can be a slow process unless a person travels on the Autobauhn. Most highways still travel through towns and villages, which causes delays. The Autobahn can be dangerous to travel on because in many areas there aren't posted speeds so travelers commonly go one-hundred twenty miles or faster. If a person cares to drive any slower they should try to stay in the right or middle lane. (2)

      A great thing for tourists in particular, going to Thuringia they can
      Clip: learn about their culture, and enjoy its nature and participate in outdoor activities. For instance, in Eisenach, you can follow the path of Martin Luther and see the Wartburg, where he converted the New Testament from the Greek words into German. Or take pleasure in melody by Johann Sebastian Bach played on period instruments. It’s a place that has rediscovered its original potential, a region offering dazzling cultural attractions and a high class of existence. It is also a bit cheaper than the more heavily touristed metropolises of Germany, with a lot of hotels and restaurants that provide a solid middle-class comfort at reasonable prices. End Clip (5)

Sources Used:

1. <http://www.nationsonline.org/oneworld/Germany/thueringen.htm> August 5^th. 2011

2. <http://www.itcwebdesigns.com/tour_germany/thuringia.htm> August 5^th. 2011

3. <http://www.citypopulation.de/Deutschland-Thuringen.html> August 5^th. 2011

4. <http://www.german-business-portal.info/GBP/Navigation/en/Country-Information/Thueringen/thueringen,did=147070.html?view=renderPrint> August 5^th. 2011

5. <http://www.mygermancity.com/thuringia> August 5^th. 2011

6. <http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/594417/Thuringia/277653/History> August 7^th, 2011

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