auf Englisch verfasste Artikel

A small Shakespeare play- Besuch im englischen Theater

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Das Sprachprofil des derzeitigen Q1-Jahrgangs besuchte am 16. Februar eine Inszenierung des Stückes „Ein Sommernachtstraum“ (bzw. „A Midsummernight’s Dream“) des berühmten Schriftstellers William Shakespeare, in dem es um eine verworrenen Liebesgeschichte in einem mystischen Wald geht. Im Unterricht haben wir uns anschließend damit beschäftigt, Rezensionen für dieses Stück bzw. die Inszenierung, die wir gesehen haben, zu verfassen.

A small Shakespeare play

On the 16th of February I went to the play „Midsummernight’s Dream“, written by the famous playwright William Shakespeare. The play took place in the Fabrik in Altona and I went there with my English class.

The play is about a woman who is in love with a man but is being forced by her father to marry another man. She decides to run away with her lover into the woods. After a lot of plot twists they can live happily ever after. The adaptation was played with only 6 actors and most of them acted very well, but they ran into the problem of not being able to show interactions between two characters because they were played by the same actors. They had to shorten the play a bit to make it fit the 90 minute frame. The sets and costumes were well chosen. There was a lot of singing and all of the actors did very well at it. The seats were placed a bit unfortunate, because you couldn’t see the whole stage from every seat. The next issue with the venue was that the actors didn’t have any microphones, which made them very hard to understand, because they were mumbling quite a bit.

I think it was a good representation of the play, regarding the circumstances, but I would not recommend it, because the circumstances hinder the play of reaching a good level.

von Bennet Krükemeier, Q1s

Alcoholism und poverty – a vicious circle?

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Im Rahmen unseres Semesterthemas „United Kingdom“ haben wir, die Q1s, uns in den vergangenen Wochen damit beschäftigt, was die britische und auch die schottische Kultur ausmacht. Vor allem bei letzterer denken viele Menschen zuerst an das „Nationalgetränk“ Schottlands, den Whisky. Dabei ist Whisky in Schottland erst im 19. Jahrhundert zu seiner Bekannt- und Berühmtheit gekommen. Während der Industrialisierung herrschten in großen Teilen des Landes starke Armut und schlechte Lebensbedingungen. Um diese Sorgen für einen kurzen Moment zu vergessen, wandten sich damals viele Arbeiter dem Alkohol zu, es gab also eine starke Verbindung zwischen Alkohol und Armut. Doch wie sieht das heute aus? Zu der Verbindung zwischen Alkohol und Armut und möglichen Ursachen für diese Verbindung haben wir im Unterricht Essays geschrieben. Ein Beispiel für ein solches Essay findet sich untenstehend.

Essay – Alcoholism and poverty

If someone asked you to think of a person suffering from alcoholism, who would come to your mind? Would you picture a top manager worth two million dollar who is planning to build his second villa on a tropical island? Or do you think of the old man living under a railway bridge owning almost nothing except a bottle of whisky besides him?

I have to admit that this question cannot be answered completely objectively while taking all the facts into account, since probability theory shows that it is much more likely to pass a railway underpass than to personally know a top manager worth two million dollar. However, I think the answer that most of you instinctively had in mind reveals a problem that cannot be ignored. 

There is a definite link between alcoholism and poverty. The German Institute for Health Research found out that in 2023, 21,6 out of 1.000 people with an average annual income of less than 15.000 euros suffered from alcoholism. In comparison, among people with an income of 25.000 – 30.000 euros, only 12,39 suffered from alcoholism.

But does this link exist only in one direction? Does poverty lead to alcoholism? Or is it the other way around? There are a lot of possible reasons suggesting that alcoholism can lead to poverty but at least the same amount of reasons that support the opposite.

After all, alcohol is an inebriating substance that may allow people to forget reality – and with it their worries – for a short moment. Especially those who are poor, homeless or burdened by debts are longing for a short break from reality. This desire drives them to drink alcohol, especially since alcohol is relatively cheap and easy available, as nearly every supermarked sells some form of alcohol. That‘s why even  people with limited financial means can afford and feel the need to buy alcohol.

To make matters worse, people who live in poverty often suffer from social isolation which is why they don‘t have a stable social environment that could show them possible ways out of their situation. Instead of talking to a friend or a family member in order to find support,, they often see drinking as their only escape from reality.

Nevertheless, alcohol isn‘t necessarily the consequence of poverty – it can be its source as well.

Especially long-term alcohol consumption can not only lead to a decline in productivity but also to frequent absences or tardiness due to hangovers. Both of these aspects are possible reasons for a dismissal from one‘s job and losing employment may quickly push people into poverty.

But you don‘t necessarily have to lose your job to fall into poverty due to alcohol as this drug may also cause physical or mental damage that makes you unable to continue your work and instead of this pushes you into the dependance of social welfare or early rentirement that only guarantees the minimum subsistence level.

In addition, people who suffer from alcoholism spend a lot of their money on alcohol, which not only leaves them with less money for food or social activities that could bring them into contact with other people, but also means that their financial resources are steadily decreasing.

The link between alcoholism and poverty can therefore also – or especially – be seen as a vicious circle as alcoholism costs people a lot of money in the long run and poor people are more likely to suffer from alcoholism.

Altogether, one can either see alcohol as the cause of poverty or poverty as a cause of alcoholism and even argue that the two aspects are connected in a vicious circle, there are many arguments for each of these points of view concerning the social, economic and psychological aspects. What remains undisputed is that there is a very strong link between alcoholism and poverty that carries many dangers.

 

„International Women’s Day: Unnecessary celebration or essential reminder?“ – Rede aus dem Englischunterricht

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Im Rahmen des Englischunterrichts im Sprachprofil der Q1 haben wir letzte Woche die Aufgabe bekommen, ein Skript für eine Rede zum Weltfrauentag zu schreiben, die den Titel „International Women’s Day: Unnecessary celebration or essential reminder“ tragen sollte. Dieser Arbeitsauftrag stellte einen Abschluss zu unserem Thema der letzten Monate dar, in denen wir uns unter anderem mit Sexismus und Feminismus beschäftigt hatten. 

Anlässlich des Weltfrauentags und unserer Sonderausgabe hierzu habe ich mich also entschlossen, meine im Englischunterricht entstandene Rede hier zu veröffentlichen. 

 

„Ladies and gentlemen, dear fellow students, 

I am honored to be here today and talk to you about a topic that I believe is needed to be spoken about. Even though it is 2024 and maybe even because of that: Feminism. 

Have you ever had a conversation with someone who would say things like „Women have it so much better nowadays, we don’t even need feminism!“ or „Why isn’t there an international men’s day?“ when talking about gender equality? If not, you probably are the kind of person to make such statements. 

And I am not even trying to deny that there has been a lot of movement regarding the equality of the genders over the past decades. But if there really were full equality of men and women, why do women still fear going out in the dark alone while men do not? Why do we tell little girls that the boy who is kicking them in kindergarten simply likes them and they should keep up with it? And why do we still see mainly male CEOs and doctors but female nurses and elementary school teachers? Shouldn’t these jobs be split equally in an equal society? The answer to this is simple: Because every other day than March 8th the women of this world aren’t internationally celebrated, while the men are. 

And it’s not even just these smaller inequalities in our everyday life. I can see that feminism could seem unnecessary to someone who, for example, grew up with a mother who worked a full-time job or knows plenty of women who study and work in academically challenging fields. 

I would also say that I, myself, definitely have a lot of opportunities and chances in life, maybe even just as much as a boy my age who grew up in similar life circumstances like me. 

But it is called International Women’s Day for a reason. I am talking about the bigger picture. Because if we really wouldn’t need feminism anymore, why are there still so many girls and women in the world who aren’t allowed to work or get an education? And thousands of girls and women who get raped or murdered on a daily basis? I know that these are extreme examples, but sadly they are true ones as well. And they show us how important feminism always has been and still is. And only by not stopping to talk about gender equality and being feminist, because we have the option to be, even if don’t always see the need of it right away, we can take a step closer to world wide fairness. 

So, to come back to the question from the start: The International Women’s Day is definitely still an essential reminder in 2024 and needed in order to accomplish a more equal world. And the more steps we take on this path the more important it is to remember the true goal of feminism. 

Let us all celebrate the International Women’s Day for a better present and future!

Thank you very much for your attention.“