Reports

Oral Reports in University Courses on German Literature at Hamburg University

The action takes place at the beginning of term in the hallowed halls of a temple of wisdom, a German university. I love oxymorons.

Dramatis Personae:
Dr. B.K., temporary lecturer in German Literature.
Us, group of students consisting of four people and two teams working on two different reports.

Or so we thought.

Prologue

A classroom in a German University full of students. First Lesson of the course.
Dr. B.K starts to organise the reports, giving out topics and the like.
She tells us that it is also possible to come up with own topics.
Since this is a seminar on Myths and Mythology in 18. and 19. Century Literature, there are quite a lot of very interesting topics.
My partner and I decide to ask her whether we can do a report on the part on Dionysos. Another team was faster than we were.
Tough luck.
Dr B.K.: Oh, that doesn't matter. We could do with two reports on Dionysos, anyway. So, one group convers the Frank-text, and you two can concentrate on the Dionysos-cult and it's role specifically... Oh, perhaps you should do a report on Euripides' "The Bacchae"... do you want to do that?"
We: *nod*

It did strike us as a bit odd since Euripides is not really a known 18. or 19. century German author, but it would be quite informative as a background for the report of the other two who were going to do a report on "Der Kommende Gott" by Manfred Frank (don't read this book. Interesting content, but he doesn't ever come to the point). It is mainly concerned with the New Mythology phenomenon of the time and Dionysos, which is fascinating, but... well. Not anyone can be fascinating. I know that problem. But then, I don't publish books.

Next thing our dearest lecturer did: rearrange her course plan without informing the groups. She apparently said it at the beginning of a lesson.

Did we know that? No.

Were we pleased when we got the news on Monday of this week? Hardly.

Did she remember she had told us to do a report on Euripides?
Guess.

Scene 1
In class, Monday the 10th of May. One of the other team had written her an E-Mail explaining she was sick which contained her phone number which Dr.B.K. was kindly asked to pass on to her partner which accidentally was passed on to me.
After the lesson, she asked me and my partner about our report on "Der Kommende Gott" - which is not our topic.

She: "WHAT?!! You have not read the book yet?!!!"
We: "Uhm... according to our plan, our report is due in a fortnight, and..."
She: "You of COURSE should not trust the course plan!!" [sic. or sick, even.]
We: "Oh."
She: "So. WHY haven't you read the book?!"
We: "Uhm - we were the team which was going to do a report on Euripides as a short excursus and we were going to read the book to be able to place special emphasis on..."
She: "What?! Euripides?! But he is completely unimportant!"
We: *stare at her blankly*
She: "You are really NOT AT ALL WELL PREPARED, ARE YOU?!!"
We: *exchange glances, open mouth to protest...*
She: *glaring* "Alright. I tell you what. You go to the library NOW and read. The. Book. And on Wednesday, you tell me WHAT you are planning to do! I will have to do the rest, of course..." *glares some more*
We: *exchange glances with the members of the group who was going to do a report on "Der Kommende Gott"- the book in question -
"But... weren't we going to do one report on Euripides and one on the Frank text...?"
She: "NO!!! Euripides is virtually without any influence on that period!!!"
We: *stare*

To be continued. 

Did I mention my other two oral reports this week?

Soo... I am going to do a report on a book which I haven't read and which is a PAIN to read because it is the collection of lectures of a person who hardly ever concludes his musings and spends most of the time quoting from a zillion people we could never cover - without explaining why he does. Instead of the other report on which my partner and I had already started. Alright, we were far from being finished, because my partner and I did not know the report was already due next week, and maybe we should have started with having a look at what the other team was going to do because our topic could have been - and still is! - a good basis for the topic, but we thought it would be more intelligent to get started with ours and then talk to the others about what they were going to cover.
Now, the four of us are doing the same report.

Am I happy?

Oh, yes.

Can anyone remind me again just WHY I decided to do German Literature as a minor subject and not Philosophy?