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Literarische Texte verlangen nach einer Einordnung in den landeskundlichen Hintergrund. In einer Gemeinschaftsarbeit zeigen Britta Buch und Gesine Jost die für eine Auseinandersetzung mit Bernard Malamuds The Assistant wesentlichen Voraussetzungen auf und entwickeln entsprechende didaktisch-methodische Überlegungen.




Aufbau eines Verständnishorizontes
für Bernard Malamud, The Assistant

Gesine Jost



Inhaltsverzeichnis


I. Vorbemerkung

II. Doppelstunde: Thema: American Dream und dessen Bezug zu The Assistant
1. Einstieg/ Erarbeitung: A.) Lied/Gedicht
alternativ: B.) Werbeanzeigen (siehe B. Buch)
2. Brainstorming zum American Dream
3. Erarbeitung: Analyse des Textes von James Truslow Adams: The Epic of America
4. Transfer zu The Assistant/L-S-Gespräch

III. Doppelstunde: Thema Jewishness und Jewishness in The Assistant
1. Einstieg/ Erarbeitung: A.) Jewish religion/tradition
B.) Four Jewish immigration waves (siehe B. Buch)

Mögliche Themen zu Jewishness in The Assistant:
2. Erarbeitung/Transfer: Morris Bober's Jewishness
3. Vergleich der drei jüdischen Familien Bober, Karp, Pearl in bezug auf Jewishness (siehe B. Buch)
4. The importance of education to the Bober family (siehe B. Buch)
5. Morris Bober as a "Shlimozel" (siehe B. Buch)
6. Frank's process of becoming a Jew
7. Vorschlag eines Klausurthemas zu American Dream und Jewishness in The Assistant

IV. Literaturverzeichnis



I.) Vorbemerkung:

Die Unterrichtssequenz "Aufbau eines Verständnishorizontes für The Assistant" bietet die Möglichkeit, im Rahmen von zwei Doppelstunden auf eine eingehende und detaillierte Textrezeption und -analyse des Romans vorzubereiten. Gleichzeitig dient sie dazu, mögliches Vorwissen der SchülerInnen abzutasten und aufzunehmen, so daß der/die LehrerIn gegebenenfalls variieren kann, um eine unnötige Wiederholung von vorhandenem Wissen zu vermeiden. Es wird davon ausgegangen, daß der American Dream noch nicht im Englischunterricht thematisiert worden ist und der Roman im Verlaufe dieser Unterrichtssequenz von den SchülerInnen gelesen wird. Dem Lehrer stehen eine Reihe von methodischen Möglichkeiten zur Verfügung, um den Einstieg in die Lektüre so motivierend wie möglich zu gestalten. Den SchülerInnen soll diese Einführung als Anreiz zur weiteren Behandlung des Romans dienen und nicht als komplizierte Information belasten, die ihnen der Lehrer durch einen Vortrag gebündelt übermittelt.

Alle Textangaben beziehen sich auf die im Penguin Verlag erschienene Ausgabe von The Assistant (Bernard Malamud, The Assistant, Penguin Books, Clays Ltd. St. Ives 1967).

II.) Doppelstunde:

Thema: American Dream und dessen Bezug zu The Assistant

Erste Stunde:

1.) Einstieg/Erarbeitung:
A.) Lied/Gedicht
oder alternativ B.) Werbeanzeigen (Success Unlimited und Fortune Magazine, siehe dazu die Ausführungen von
Britta Buch)

A.) Lied/Gedicht

1.1.) Methodisch-didaktische Vorüberlegungen:
Da den SchülerInnen das Thema der Unterrichtsstunde nicht bekannt ist und da keine Textüberschrift oder Buchtitel explizit auf The American Dream hinweisen, können die SchülerInnen unbeeinflußt von einer sie bestimmenden Erwartungshaltung in die Thematik eingeführt werden. Der Eindruck, das Thema selbständig erarbeitet zu haben, wirkt motivierend für den weiteren Verlauf der Romanbesprechung. Nähere Anhaltspunkte oder Schlagwörter prägen sich den SchülerInnen besser ein.

Da nicht nur die kognitive (linke) Hälfte des Gehirns der SchülerInnen in Anspruch genommen werden soll, sondern vor allem die oft vernachlässigte affektive (rechte) Dimension, sind Lied bzw. Gedicht Transportmittel, die einen den SchülerInnen relativ unbewußten Einstieg ermöglichen. Sie sprechen auf der Gefühlsebene an und fordern zum Mitmachen auf. Lied wie auch Gedicht, sollen aus Zeit- und reinen Effektivitätsgründen nicht nähergehend untersucht werden (keine detaillierte Bestimmung von Stilmitteln oder Reimschema), da sie dem Thema American Dream vor allem zur inhaltlichen Vorbereitung dienen sollen. Als "Mittel zum Zweck" kann der/die LehrerIn entweder Lied oder Gedicht mit der Absicht einsetzen, dass die SchülerInnen angesichts des eindeutigen Inhaltes selbständig eine Verbindung zum American Dream ziehen. Sie sollen zusätzlich lernen, aus kurzen, bildlichen Texten the gist, also die sachliche Kernaussage, herauszufinden und in der Fremdsprache auszuformulieren. Da beide Texte sowohl ein Reimschema wie auch einen Rhythmus aufweisen - beim Lied zusätzlich eine Melodie -, können Sätze bzw. ganze Ausdrücke von den SchülerInnen leichter aufgenommen und behalten werden.

Die Aussagen der SchülerInnen, gelenkt durch eine konkrete Aufgabenstellung, sollen auf der Tafel bzw. dem Tageslichtprojektor fixiert werden und unter Leitung des/der LehrerIn einen Zugang zum American Dream schaffen. (Durch Auslandsaufenthalte in den U.S.A. in der Jahrgangsstufe 11 oder durch fächerübergreifenden Unterricht mag vereinzeltes Vorwissen vorhanden sein und so den Bezug erleichtern.) Falls kein eigenständiger Transfer zu dem American Dream seitens der SchülerInnen geleistet werden kann, steht es dem/der LehrerIn frei, das Thema in Form eines brainstorming einzuleiten, zu konkretisieren und mit einem anschließenden Text zu festigen.

Abschließend ist zu bemerken, dass ein Lied auf die SchülerInnen auditiv wirkt. Diese Art des Zugangs kann mit dem täglichen Hören von Musik im Alltag, d.h. mit Freizeit und Entspannung, assoziiert werden und ist aus diesem Grunde dem Gedicht vorzuziehen, das schulische Konnotationen mit sich trägt und von den Vokabeln her schwerer zugänglich ist.

Lied: I like to be in America (aus dem dem "Original Soundtrack" des Musicals Westside Story)
Gedicht: The New Colossus (Emma Lazarus, aus: Peter Bruck (ed.): The American Dream - Perspectives 1 (Stuttgart: Klett, 1986), p. 10/11)

1.2.) Aufgaben für das Gedicht The New Colossus:
a.) Who is the woman being described in the poem? How did you know? What do the symbols attributed to her suggest?
b.) What view of America is expressed in this poem? What opportunities does America offer according to this poem?


Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame,

With conquering limbs astride from land to land;

Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall stand

A mighty woman with a torch, whose flame

Is the imprisoned lightning, and her name

Mother of Exiles. From her beacon-hand

Glows world-wide welcome; her mild eyes command

The air-bridged harbor that twin cites frame.

"Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp!" cries she

With silent lips: "Give me your tired your poor,

your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,

The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.

Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,

I lift my lamp beside the golden door!"



(Vokabelhilfen für die Wörter: 1 brazen made of brass, an alloy of copper and zine - 2 astride with one leg on either side of s.th. - 3 beacon light for the guidance of ships - 4 twin-cities refers to two of the boroughs of New York, Brooklyn and Manhattan - 5 storied made famous in stories - 6 to huddle to crowd together - 7 wretched miserable - 8 to teem to be present in large numbers)

Erwartetes Schülerverhalten:
zu a.) Mentioning "seawashed, sunset gates" , "mighty woman with a torch" and the "air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame", the poet describes the Statue of Liberty. As well as being an entrance to the Western part of the world (-> known as the topic of frontier and the movement to the West), the statue is situated at the ocean shore, between Brooklyn and Manhattan, shaped as a woman and is holding a torch. She takes care of those who escaped their own countries due to religious or political prosecution ("huddles masses yearning to breathe free", "homeless") or economic problems ("poor"), having to endure hardships during their long and dangerous journey to a country across the ocean ("tired", "tempest-tost").

Like a mother to her children ("Mother of Exiles", "mild eyes command") she seems to be able to cope with anything the future might hold in store for the immigrants. She seems to be determined to protect them from any dangers that are to come ("mighty"). In a foreign and new environment she represents power ("imprisoned lightning"), stability and security, guiding ("beacon-hand", "I lift my lamp") those who arrive and making them feel at home ("glows world-wide welcome").

zu b.) The Statue of Liberty in this context reflects a rather positive picture of America. America is the country where those who are desperate flee to and find comfort. It guarantees protection and a free life for everybody who is in need of it, without taking their nationality, their social status or their religious beliefs into account. All men are equal in their desire to find a better life than that which they left behind. Starting from scratch, the refugees/immigrants are provided with equal chances to create a different life in a different country.

In opposition to European countries ("Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame") and to countries with an old history of civilization ("Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp!"), America is a "tabula rasa", having no traditional rules to adhere to, no prejudices yet to succumb to. Moreover, America promises wealth ("I lift my lamp beside the golden door") so that many immigrants are made to believe that the streets are actually paved with gold. (At this point, pupils might think of the phrase "from rags to riches", being part of the definition of the American Dream. Pupils might also refer to books or films such as Far and Away where the topic is dealt with.)

1.3.) Aufgaben für das Lied I like to be in America:
(Der Tafelanschrieb erfolgt in einer Tabelle, um die beiden gegensätzlichen Aussagen einander gegenüberzustellen und den Kontrast deutlich hervorzuheben.)

a.) What is this song about? Who is singing?
b.) In which way is America described? Can you give examples of the two parties arguing? Why do they disagree?


I like to be in America/Okay by me in America/Everything free in America/For a small fee in America

Buying on credit is so nice/And they get charged twice/I have my own washing machine/What will you have though to keep clean?

Skyscrapers bloom in America/Cadillacs zoom in America/ Industry boom in America/For a small room in America

Lots of new housing with more space/Lots of doors slamming in our face/I'll get a terrace appartment/Better get rid of your accent

Life can be bright in America/If you can fight in America/Life is alright in America/If you are white in America

Here you are free and you have pride/As long as you stay on your own side/Free to do anything you choose/Free to wipe tables and shine shoes

If you were primed in America/Awful nice crime in America/ Terrible time in America/ You forget I'm in America


(Frauen, Männer <- Schüler müssen selbst differenzieren und bekommen keine visuelle Hilfe.)

Erwartetes Schülerverhalten:
zu a.) This song is about life in America, particularly about the opportunities that America has got to offer, respectively does not offer. As can be told by the accent and the short introduction the female singer gives before the actual song starts, immigrants from Puerto Rico argue about their personal views of how they perceive America. Divided into two parties consisting of either women or men (reflected by the difference of pitch in their voices), the group of young grown-ups disagrees about the quality of life experienced in America, and, moreover, in how far they were able to realize their expectations and dreams.

zu b.) (a grid is drawn onto the board)
Women: In addition to being happy about the life they live ("I like to be in America/Okay by me in America"), they enjoy the technical luxuries ("have my own washing machine") that America provides them with. By singing that everything is blooming, zooming and booming, they express their respect about the radip growth of the city ("industry") happening around them, about big and impressive cars ("Cadillacs") and huge housing facilities ("skyscrapers", "Lots of new housing with more space", "I'll get a terrace appartment"). At the same time they feel accepted ("Here you are free and you have pride") in a country that promises freedom ("Free to do anything you choose") and equality to build up a life, a country that even helps you out with financial difficulties ("Buying on credit is so nice").

Men: They accuse America of not having kept the promise which once coaxed them to immigrate. Although they work hard, they seem to be stuck in their jobs without a chance to have a career ("wipe tables and shine shoes"). The American society discriminates against them owing to their nationality ("get rid of your accent", "Lots of doors slamming in our face", "If you are white in America"). Receiving only low wages, they cannot escape their poverty ("small room", "What will you have though to keep clean?"). Instead of being free to choose which way to go or how to live their lives, they are forced to stick to their own "breed" ("As long as you stay on your own side") because if they do not, they will suffer the consequences ("Awful nice crime", "Terrible time").

Conclusion: Whereas the women are enchanted and at the same time deceived by America's appearance, the men have long realized America's real face behind the golden mask. The female party still lives according to their dreams, staying at the surface and cannot see behind glamorous promises. The male party, however, describes reality realistically with all its difficulties and struggles to survive. (In their eyes the American Dream has failed.)

2. Brainstorming zum American Dream

2.1. Methodisch-didaktische Vorüberlegungen:
Nachdem die erste Stunde hauptsächlich zu einer kreativen Einleitung des Themas genutzt wurde, sollte der/die LehrerIn einen geeigneten Übergang zum eigentlichen Thema finden und die Ergebnisse von Lied bzw. Gedicht bündeln. Würde die Lehrperson den SchülerInnen nach dieser Einführung eine sachliche und präzise Definition des American Dream vorlegen, würden die erarbeiteten Ergebnisse regelrecht "verpuffen". Die SchülerInnen würden sich intensiv mit dem neuen Text beschäftigen, wären aber nicht dazu aufgefordert, aus eigener Initiative heraus eine Verbindung oder Definition zu geben.

Ein brainstorming ist geeignet, die Lücke zwischen einer zunächst indirekten Einleitung und einer offensichtlichen Analyse der American Dream Thematik zu schließen, und eine direkte Verbindung zwischen zuvor Erarbeitetem und einem erläuternden Sachtext herzustellen. Außerdem sind die SchülerInnen bei einem brainstorming gefordert, sich aktiv an einer Lösung bzw. einem Bezug zu beteiligen, anstatt eine Definition "vorgesetzt" zu bekommen. Der/die LehrerIn sollte hierbei den American Dream beim Namen nennen und versuchen, Bezüge zu den vorangegangenen Texten (Lied/Gedicht) herzustellen.

Zusätzlich dient ein brainstorming der Selbstbestätigung der SchülerInnen, die ihre eigenen Eindrücke an der Tafel bzw. dem Tageslichtprojektor gesammelt sehen. In diesem Falle ist es sinnvoll, letzteres Medium zu wählen, damit die spontanen Reaktionen der SchülerInnen zum American Dream später noch einmal aufgegriffen und mit weiteren Ergebnissen verglichen bzw. vertieft werden können.

2.2. Leitfragen zu dem brainstorming:
a.) What is a dream? How would you define a dream? What is the opposite of a dream?
b.) Have you ever heard of the expression The American Dream before? Where/in what context have you heard of the expression before? How would you define The American Dream?
c.) Is there any information in the song/poem which helps to explain what the expression The American Dream might mean?

Erwartetes Schülerverhalten:
zu a.) A dream can be a storyline, pictures that come to our minds while we are asleep. Psychologically speaking, it might be something that has happened to us during the day and that we have to come to terms with subconsciously at night. A dream can also be a vision, something that we strive for, that we hope to take hold of or achieve some time. Rather than being content with the situation we are now in, we long for something better in a different evironment.

The opposite of a dream would be a nightmare. It is something that haunts us and makes us lose our sleep. A nightmare can also be a situation that turns out differently from what we have expected. An idyllic setting or perfect event can change into a complete disaster bursting our hopes and dreams to pieces. Dream and nightmare often appear not too far apart from each other. The stronger one is convinced that his/her hopes and aspirations are going to be fulfilled, the less likely is reality able to keep up with such high expectations. A dream can become an illusion, an image that we have mistaken for reality.

zu b.) (It is not possible to know exactly what the pupils have in mind nor how much knowledge about the subject each one of them will contribute. They might mention films, comics, songs or situations abroad where they have come across the term American Dream.) As far as the definition is concerned, the dream, in this context is a vision/wish rather than a dream at night. In connection with America it might be something that, in all likelihood, can be found in this particular country and would definitely represent an improvement of the situation before.

zu c.) Poem: It is the immigrants who have the dream of living a better life than they lived before. Having an air of being exhausted and tired of escaping the life that they used to live, they are welcomed by a country which promises their dream to come true. Nobody would leave one's own country, familiar environment and language, friends and relatives, if they did not have a strong conviction that things will improve in one way or another. The Statue of Liberty embodies features of the American Dream which the immigrants gladly take as a sign of security. Part of the dream is wealth ("golden door"), freedom ("masses to breathe free") and the guarantee to feel at home ("homeless").

Song: The song emphasizes the contrast between dream (women) and nightmare (men). As immigrants from Puerto Rico they must have had an incentive to leave their country and go to a different one. Still believing in what the dream promises, the women sing of what it consists of: wealth ("Everything free in America"), conveniences ("washing machine", "Life can be bright"), progress (" Skyscrapers", "Industry boom") and freedom ("Free to do anything you choose"). To the men it was "just a dream" not a promise that could be trusted. The definition of the American dream is not absolute but an ambivalent one which is evidently able to raise both hopes and disapppointments.

(Thus the pupils are prepared to transfer the ambivalent impact of the American Dream to the novel The Assistant and its failure to the character of Morris.

-> vgl. Nr. 3 und 7 der Themenvorschläge)


Zweite Stunde:

3. Erarbeitung: Analyse des Textes von James Truslow Adams: The Epic of America

3.1. Methodisch-didaktische Vorüberlegung:
Da die SchülerInnen aufgrund des brainstorming auf das Thema American Dream eingestellt sind, sollten Vorbehalte gegenüber einem "trockenen" Sachtext weitestgehend abgebaut sein. Zur weiteren Vertiefung der Materie kann deshalb der Text The Epic of America herangezogen werden, der durch eine detaillierte Sachanalyse zu einer konkreten Definition des American Dream führt. Geeignet scheint gerade dieser Text aus zweierlei Gründen.

Er spiegelt in einem nicht zu komplizierten Zusammenhang die eigentlichen Komponenten des American Dream wider, die entweder rephrasiert oder auch in Schlagwörtern übernommen werden können. In relativ kurzer Zeit sollen die SchülerInnen diese "Eigenschaften", die Adams beschreibt, im Text finden (aus Zeitgründen oder aufgrund von Leistungsschwäche wäre zu überlegen, nur den ersten Teil von The Epic of America zu verwerten, der ein großes Angebot an Begrifflichkeiten vorweist). Um aber die SchülerInnen mit einer weitreichenden Definition dieses für die Oberstufe wichtigen Themas auszustatten, sollte die Lehrperson Adams Text in zwei Teile aufteilen (der Schluß, Zeile 60-73, kann weggelassen werden), für je eine Klassenhälfte, und in Partnerarbeit die Begriffe sammeln lassen (so sind auch die mündlich schwachen SchülerInnen gefordert).
Durch ausreichende Vokabelangaben kann dies in einem geringen Zeitraum von den SchülerInnen geleistet werden. So wird die aufgestellte Liste mit gesammelten Begriffen konkretisiert und vervollständigt. Die SchülerInnen sehen ihre Arbeit ergänzt und nicht verworfen. Deshalb sollte der/die LehrerIn die "alte" Folie mit den gesammelten Begriffen am Tageslichtprojektor erneut einsetzen und den SchülerInnen später als Kopie vorlegen.

Außerdem wurde der Text genau in der Zeit (1931) geschrieben, in der auch der Roman The Assistant spielt, in der Zeit der Great Depression. Die Definition des American Dream wird somit authentischer und erhält einen direkten Bezug zu dem Roman. Da eine Abweichung mit Zusatzinformationen vor allem in lernschwachen Klassen Verwirrung stiftet und Zeit in Anspruch nimmt, sollte der/die LehrerIn Informationen über diesen historischen Einschnitt in Amerika an diesem Punkt vermeiden und eher während der Romanbehandlung in direktem Bezug zum Werk erläutern; d.h.. die kurze Erläuterung des Herausgebers zu Autor und Werk (zu Anfang des eigentlichen Textes) sollte wegfallen. Das Minimum an Zeit zur Analyse des Textes wird ihm zwar nicht vollkommen als Textganzes gerecht, dient aber wiederum als "Mittel zum Zweck" der Romanvorbereitung.

Text: The Epic of America (James Truslow Adams, aus: B. Tracy, E. Helms (eds.): American Dreams - American Nightmares (Paderborn: Schöningh, 1981); Texts for English and American Studies 11. (Kopiervorlage: Anlage 1, Original: Anlage 2)

3.2. Kurze Lehrerinformation und Aufgaben zu dem Text:

Lehrerinformation: The term The American Dream was first introduced (coined) by James Truslow Adams but its ideas existed long before. They had, for example, already been determined in the Declaration of Independence in the year 1776 and even since the founding of the nation. As his observations present a macroanalysis rather than a scientifically exact study of American society, Adams gives us a general impression of what he thinks the American Dream consists of.

Aufgaben zum Text (Stillarbeitsphase):
a.) Read your part of the text.
b.) Name the major points of Adams' definition of the American Dream.
Erwartetes Schülerverhalten (Zusammentragen im Plenum, Ergebnisse werden auf "alter" Folie festgehalten, Liste wird ergänzt bzw. verbessert):

zu b.) Erster Teil (Zeilen 1-29)
- better, richer, fuller life for every man (3/4)
- opportunity for each according to his ability or achievement (4/5)
- all men are equal (13/14) (struggle against the inequality of birth)
- no class distinction, no social discrimination (18-20)
- everybody is given the same chances to succeed (24-26)
(> society provides opportunities, not results)
- wealth (4/ 22)

Zweiter Teil (Zeile 30-59)
- high spiritual and intellectual life (31/32)
- the ambition to strive to rise culturally and economically (38/45/46)
- to strive for the abiding values of life (54/55)

(Falls in diesem Zusammenhang der Begriff from rags to riches noch nicht gefallen ist, sollte er von dem/der LehrerIn zusätzlich eingeführt werden. Es wäre außerdem sinnvoll, das Thema American Dream wegen seines umfassenden und wichtigen Gehaltes in einer eigenen Unterrichtsreihe zu behandeln.)

4. Transfer zu The Assistant/L-S-Gespräch:

4.1.Methodisch-didaktische Vorüberlegungen:
Zum Abschluß dieser Doppelstunde sollte der/die LehrerIn einen Bezug von der Definition des American Dream zu dem eigentlichen Roman The Assistant schaffen. Die SchülerInnen sollen nach diesen Unterrichtsstunden einen Sinn in der Erarbeitung des American Dream erkennen. Erarbeitete Aspekte lassen sich mit Romanfiguren verbinden und fördern die Motivation, das Gelesene auf einer anderen Verständnisebene zu betrachten. Im allgemeinen werden so auch die Inhalte des American Dream vertieft und von den SchülerInnen besser behalten. Dadurch, dass ein Anknüpfungspunkt zu dem Roman gegeben ist, läßt sich andererseits auch der Einstieg in den Roman in die nächste Stunde erleichtern ( Wiedererkennungseffekt").
Der Roman sollte an diesem Punkt allerdings von den SchülerInnen schon ganz oder zum größten Teil gelesen worden sein, damit überhaupt ein L-S-Gespräch zustande kommt. Dies sollte wieder in Form eines lockeren brainstorming geschehen, ohne jedoch Gedanken oder mögliche Ergebnisse festzuhalten. Indem der Lehrer Namen einzelner Charaktere in den Raum wirft, sollen die Schüler angeregt werden, sich an Eindrücke oder Textpassagen in The Assistant zu erinnern und diese selbständig in Bezug zu dem American Dream zu setzen.

4.1. Fragestellung:
a.) (allgemein) Can you think of any connection between the ideas of the American Dream, as we have just described it, and this novel?
b.) What about Morris (shop), Karp (shop), Nat Pearl (education), Helen (dreams), Ida and Frank Alpine?

Erwartetes Schülerverhalten:
(Erfahrungsgemäß wird das Gespräch einen eher oberflächlichen Gehalt haben, da viele SchülerInnen den Roman noch nicht ausreichend gelesen haben, oder sich an geeignete Textstellen nicht mehr so genau erinnern können. Falls die Fragen wider Erwarten auf eine starke Resonanz stoßen, sollte der/die LehrerIn die Ergebnisse auf einer Folie fixieren, um spätere Rückbezüge zu ermöglichen.)

In contrast to Karp and Sam Pearl, Morris is not successful as a grocer, his store is not flourishing so that his wish for wealth (American Dream) has obviously not come true. Although Helen strives for a better education and her mother Ida encourages her to do so (-> American Dream), she has no financial means, like Nat Pearl, to realize her dreams. Frank Alpine comes from a low social background and unstable relationships. He commits crimes but finally tries to improve his character (-> American Dream). (Grober erster Eindruck)

III. Doppelstunde
Thema: Jewishness und Jewishness in The Assistant

1.) Einstieg/ Erarbeitung
A.) Jewish religion/traditions
B.) Four Jewish immigration waves
(siehe dazu die Ausführungen von
Britta Buch)

Erste Stunde:
A.) Jewish religion/ traditions

1.1. Methodisch-didaktische Vorüberlegungen:
Thematisch ist diese Doppelstunde viel offensichtlicher auf den Roman abgestimmt. Das Thema kann von den SchülerInnen viel direkter aufgenommen und mit Charakteren in Bezug gebracht werden als die abstrakteren Komponenten des American Dream. Werden in der zweiten Teilstunde die Four Jewish Immigration Waves eingeführt, so soll die erste Stunde vor allem der Sensibilisierung ("awareness") der SchülerInnen für eine andere Kultur und Religion dienen. Erste Eindrücke des The Assistant und auch Verständnisschwierigkeiten in Zusammenhang mit der jüdischen Religion und dem jüdischen Glauben sollen seitens der SchülerInnen geäußert werden (ein gewisses Grundwissen wird durch den Religionsunterricht in der Mittelstufe vorausgesetzt). Der/die LehrerIn sollte darauf achten, einen konkreten Wortschatz der Jewishness aufzubauen, d.h. auch jüdische Traditionen und Festtage in der Zielsprache umzusetzen wissen.

Um einen Lehrervortag zu vermeiden, wird das Thema anhand von Lexikoneinträgen erweitert und vertieft. Wieder stellt dies eine alternative Methode zu den vorgefertigten Schulbuchinformationen bzw. zu den Annotationen, die in der Schulbuchausgabe des The Assistant von Peter Freese bereits vorgegeben sind. Die Penguin Ausgabe wäre für den Unterricht m. E. am geeignetsten, da sie durch ununterbrochenen Text (ohne Ablenkung) eine Authentizität nachweist, wie sie der native speaker vorfindet und liest. Eine Einführung in das Thema Jewishness sollte aber, ungeachtet der Ausgabe des Roman, in jedem Fall erfolgen.

Wie der Roman weisen auch Lexikonartikel authentisches Material auf, das den OberstufenschülerInnen Übung im Umgang mit fremden, analytischen Definitionen bietet. Eine Bewältigung dieser Artikel motiviert die SchülerInnen insofern, als dass sie ihre Scheu vor anderssprachigen Nachschlagewerken überwinden und selbständig Inhalte aus dem Kontext erschließen lernen. Da der Inhalt systematisch geordnet ist und die Vokabeln einen hohen Schwierigkeitsgrad haben, erfährt der Wortschatz der SchülerInnen eine anspruchsvolle Erweiterung.

Die Lexikoneinträge im Dictionary of Jewish Lore and Legend sind für eine Partnerarbeit besonders geeignet, da sie relativ prägnant und in kurzem Umfang ein Schlagwort erläutern (Als Alternative können auch die etwas umgangssprachlicher formulierten Erklärungen aus The Joys of Yiddish genutzt werden - Beispiel 2). Die Auswahl der Einträge richtet sich nach der Verwendung einzelner im Roman auftauchender Begrifflichkeiten, die zum näheren Verständnis (romanspezifisch) des jüdischen Glaubens und der jüdischen Tradition wichtig sind. Den SchülerInnen wird je Kleingruppe eine Folie vorgelegt, auf der sie in eigenen Worten eine für die Klasse verständliche Definition in wenigen Stichpunkten aufschreiben und mündlich am Tageslichtprojeketor erklären sollen. Da die Anzahl der SchülerInnen in den einzelnen Gruppen sehr gering ist, werden auch mündlich schwache SchülerInnen dazu aufgefordert, die one-sentence-barrier zu überwinden und mit Hilfe der Folie vor der Klasse zu sprechen. Die Folien sollen später vervielfältigt und somit den Schülern zugänglich gemacht werden. Eigene Definitionen lassen sich besser behalten als vorgegebene.

1.2. Fragen zur Einstimmung auf das Thema Jewishness:
a.) What/who is a Jew? Have you ever met a Jew?
b.) Who are the Jews in the novel? How did you recognize that they were Jews?

Erwartetes Schülerverhalten:
zu a.) (Schülerinnen werden entweder von individual encounters berichten oder von Fakten, die sie im Religionsunterricht gelernt haben. Erste Begriffe wie Old Testament, synagogue und kosher werden fallen, von den SchülerInnen erläutert und sollten von dem/der LehrerIn an der Tafel festgehalten werden. )
zu b.) Morris and Ida Bober are definitely Jews as you can tell by the language and their reference to Jewish customs. The so-called Jewish ghetto also includes the Karp and Pearl family. Helen and Nat Pearl belong to a different generation, being brought up in America, a religiously mixed environment, although Helen refers more often to her Jewish background than Nat does. Jewish holidays and traditions are mentioned in the novel (hier können die SchülerInnen konkret werden). At the end, even Frank Alpine becomes a Jew as he lets himself be circumcised.
(Der Lehrer kann zusätzlich auf die Sprache, deren orthographischen und grammatischen Eigenheiten, verweisen.)

1.3. Einführung in das Judentum anhand von Lexikoneinträgen:
Zu wählende Schlagwörter: kosher (112, 189), prayer shawl/ Tallit (201), circumcision (151, 217), skull cap/head-covering (165, 207), Chosen People (170), goy/goyim/gentile, shlemiel/shlimozel (134), Jew, education, synagogue (112, 119), the Law/Torah ( 112), bar mitzvah (119), Kaddish (205), Passover/Pessach/ Passah (202), Rosh Hashana (202), Shabath/ shabbes (187), Purim (8, 11), Yom Kippur (112).

1. Beispiel circumcision:
(Hebrew 'berit milah', meaning 'covenant of circumcision') The removal from the foreskin of a baby boy on the eighth day after birth, or of a male proselyte, goes back to God's covenant with Abraham (gen 17, 11-12). Those who are circumcised are saved from the punishment after death by Abraham. Some of the great men of old were reputed to have been born already circumcised, a sign of special status, and circumcision for them merely consisted of the removal of a drop of blood from the penis. If a child is sick, the operation is delayed and may be postponed indefinitely on health grounds . In such cases the uncircumcised child is regarded as if circumcised, and indeed even wilful failure to circumcise does not affect the Jewish status of the child.

Most Jews, whatever their religious affiliation, have their sons circumcised with the exeption of some members of the anti-religious Yiddishist Bund. Jews in the past were willing to undergo martyrdom in order to circumcise their children. During the ceremony of circumcision, the child is momentarily placed on a chair set aside for the prophet Elijah, who attends every circumcision. The child is then placed on the knees of the godfather who holds the child while the professional circumcisor operates. The child is given a Hebrew name at the end of the ceremony. Parents are careful not to tell anyone the name beforehand because, according to the Kabbalah, only after the berit milah takes place is the child truly attached to God and fully human. The night before the operation, various rituals are performed to protect the child from the demon queen Lillith.
aus: Dictionary of Jewish Lore and Legend (Alan Unterman (Hrsg.), Thames and Hudson, London 1991)

2. Beispiel circumcision:
Among Jews, the baby boy to be circumcised is carried into the room where the circumcision is to be performed. One of the waiting men (the sandek, or godfather) receives the boy, and the males, standing, recite a Hebrew greeting: 'Blessed be he that cometh.' The sandek seats himself on a chair, known as the 'Chair of Elijah'. The baby is placed on the knees of the sandek, and a service begins. Prayers - before, during and after the circumcision - are pronounced. After the circumcision, the mohel or a rabbi utters this prayer: 'May the lad grow in vigour - of mind and of body - to a love of Torah, to the marriage canopy, and to a life of good works. 'A name is given to the baby. Then a blessing is offered over wine, a drop of which is placed on the baby's lips. A celebration follows, favouring wine and sponge cake (...). Circumcision is described as 'the seal of God' - a seal in the flesh, as it were. (In the early days of Christianity, baptism was called 'sealing'.) In Genesis 17:10, you may remember, the Lord says: 'This is my covenant ... every man child among you shall be circumcised.' And Abraham, who was a very great man, circumcised himself.

The circumcision is held to signalize an obligation - to observe the Covenant between God and Israel, to live and exemplify the life of virtue, to obey, teach and transmit God's law. In a wider sense, circumcision imprints in a man' s body a lifelong sign that Israel will be perpetuated through him - that his seed, passing through the circumcised portal, will create children who will in turn be pledged to the Jews. (...) The medical and hygienic advantages of circumcision are so widely known today that I need not expatiate upon them. And circumcision has become so wide-spread in the United States that it is no longer possible to distinguish Jews from non-Jews in a locker room. Even non-observing Jewish families have their male young circumcised, on or before the eighth day. I know of Jews who never go to a temple or a synagogue, who know no Hebrew, understand no Yiddish, were not Bar Mitzva - but were circumcised. (...)
aus: The Joys of Yiddish (Leo Rostein: Penguin Books, Cox & Wyme Ltd., St. Ives 1968, pp. 480-482).

Aufgabenstellung: Gather the most crucial information. /Name the major points. (note taking)

Erwartetes Schülerverhalten (zu circumcision):
- foreskin of the baby's penis is removed
- when boy is circumcised, he won't be punished after death (tradition of the covenant between Abraham and God)
- a promise to God to observe the Torah, to fulfil the covenant between God and Israel
- after circumcision, boy is fully human and has a relationship/is connected with God
- boy is given a Hebrew name at the end of the ceremony.

Mögliche Themen zu Jewishness in The Assistant:
2. Erarbeitung/Transfer: Morris Bober's Jewishness

2.1.Methodisch-didaktische Vorüberlegung:
In der Mitte des Romans (112/113) leitet Frank Alpine eine überaus wichtige Diskussion über die Ausübung und Praxis des Judentums ein. Seine provokant formulierten Fragen an Morris Bober fordern ehrliche und unumwundene Antworten, die der Jude bereitwillig gibt. Da in diesem Abschnitt explizit über das eigene persönliche "Jüdischsein" von Morris diskutiert wird, stellt dies ein zentrale Textstelle für den Roman und vor allem für das Thema Jewishness in The Assistant dar. Morris gewährt dem Leser durch seine ausführlichen Antworten einen tiefen Einblick in seine Persönlichkeit, seine Moral und sein Verhalten seiner Mitmenschen gegenüber. Inwiefern diese individuelle Religiosität sich auf seine Lebensweise auswirkt und ob das typisch orthodoxe Judentum (wie vorher durch die Lexikonartikel vorbereitet) mit dem des Morris übereinstimmt, sollen die SchülerInnen selbständig durch eine genaue Textanalyse zweier Passagen herausfinden (112/113 und 203).

2.2.) Analyse des Gesprächs Morris Bober und Frank Alpine über das Judentum (112/113) und der Ansprache des Rabbis bei Morris Bobers Beerdigung (203):
a.) What is Morris' personal definition of Jewishness?
b.) Now compare Morris' definition with the general (orthodox) picture of Jewishness that we have worked on. Does Morris comply with the traditional Jewishness?
c.) (Conclusion)

Erwartetes Schülerverhalten (in Tabelle gegenüberstellen):
zu a.) Morris' definition:
- important for being Jewish is to keep to the Jewish Law (Torah) (112/113)
- good-heartedness (112), having a Jewish heart and living in the Jewish experience (203)
- "to do what is right, to be honest, to be good" (towards other people) (112/113)
- treat everybody equally and with respect ("Why should we hurt somebody else? (...) For everybody it should be the best, not only for you or me.", 113)
- care for the person next to you ("I suffer for you", 113, "to want for others that which he wants also for himself", 203)
- hopeful suffering (203)
- true to the spirit of life (203)
- be humble and modest ("He asked for himself little - nothing", 203)

zu b.)Morris does not...
- go to the synagogue (112)
- wear a skull cap (112)
- eat and keep his kitchen kosher (112)
- respect Jewish holidays (11 2)
- pray three times a day (112)
- follow the formal traditions (203)

zu c.) Conclusion:
Being a Jew means more to Morris than following the traditional rules, he is not an orthodox Jew. He lives a broader and a more liberal definition of Jewishness (if you can still call it Jewishness). He defines himself as a "true Jew" insofar as he lives according to the "Jewish heart and experience". For Morris, it is not the strict religious pattern that determines his life but his ideals and values that he lives up to. For that reason it is merely his morality that is rooted in Jewry, taking "The Law" as a loose guideline for life and for justifying his actions. Morris realizes the idea of humanism, of a high spiritual level rather than of a specific religious position.
(Menschliche Grundwerte sind wichtig, nicht theologische Positionsbestimmungen.)

Weitere relevante Stellen, die Morris' Jewishness näher definieren:
(Der/die LehrerIn kann die SchülerInnen in z.B. einer Hausaufgabe danach suchen lassen)
He knew the mother. 'No more trust.'
The girl burst into tears.
Morris gave her a quarter-pound of butter, the bread and vinegar. He found a pencilled spot on the worn counter, near the cash register and wrote a sum under 'Drunk Woman'. (8)
The world suffers. He felt every schmerz. (10)
... was the soul of honesty - he could not escape his honesty, it was bedrock; to cheat would cause an explosion in him... (19)
What did the other know about the tragic quality of life? (20)
(Helen) 'I can't take away from you all your pay.' (Morris) 'You're not taking, I'm giving.' (23)
He understood. She was making amends for Nick's trip around the corner that morning. He cut her an extra slice of ham. (26)
Morris said, 'For fifteen years she (the Poilisheh) gets here her roll, so let her get.' (32)
Morris, who knew a poor man when he saw one, invited him (Frank) for coffee. (34)
The grocer was moved. Poor boy (Frank). (36)
That (theft) had happened more than once - usually some poor person stealing a breakfast. For this reason Morris preferred not to call the police but to get rid of the thief himself. (45)
'Let him (Frank) stay here on the couch,' Morris said to Ida. (...) 'Seriously', he said, 'He's a poor boy. I feel sorry for him.' (50/ 51)
'Rest your sick feet,' he answered. 'Sleep longer in the morning and stay more upstairs in the house. Who needs you should be so tired every night?' (72)
(response to Frank's question) 'Why should I steal from my customers? Do they steal from me?'
They would if they could.'
'When a man is honest he don't worry when he sleeps. This is more important than to steal a nickel.' (78)
No matter how hard buisness was, Morris tried to have some kind of little order waiting for him (Al). (...) Everybody knew how sick he was... (80)
Breitbart went bankrupt. (...) The grocer, seeing his fatigue, offered him a glass of tea with lemon. (80)
Morris's and Frank's conversation about Jewishness (112/ 113)
Morris then thought, yes, the clerk could have been stealing, but if so it was more his fault than Frank's. (...) The fault was therefore his for paying slave wages for a workman's service. (116)
(detective) 'By the way, Morris, did you ever find out who was stealing your milk that time?' 'Nobody steals any more,' said Morris. (128)
Overwhelmed by pity for the poor refugee, at what he had in all probability lived through, a man who had sweated blood to save a few brutal dollars, Morris, unable to stand the planned dishonesty, came from behind the counter, and, taking Podolsky by the coat lapels, told him earnestly that the store was run-down but that a boy with his health and strength ... could build it up ... (180/181)
He would not envy Charlie Sobeloff his dishonest wealth ... (184)
... what an embarassment that would be, waking up a whole family when she rang their bell; also arousing a doctor out of his precious sleep... (199)
Rabbi's speech (202/203)
Poor Papa; being naturally honest, he didn't believe that others come by their dishonesty naturally. (...) He gave away, in a sense, more than he owned. (...) He knew, at least, what was good. (204)

(Punkte 3-5 siehe Britta Buch)

6. Frank's process of becoming a Jew (in bezug auf Vorurteile)

6.1. Methodisch-didaktische Vorüberlegung
Die Person des Frank Alpine ist von großer Bedeutung für das Verständnis und den Ablauf der Romanhandlung. In seiner Komplexität fordert sie dazu heraus, vielschichtige Interpretationsansätze und Thematiken (z.B.: American Dream, Jewishness) auszuprobieren und anzuwenden. Angesichts seines gespaltenen und verwirrenden Charakters ist es sinnvoller, mit den SchülerInnen vereinzelte Entwicklunsstufen Franks zu untersuchen, als eine allgemeingültige Definition seiner Person zu finden.

Speziell in bezug auf das Judentum sollte der/die LehrerIn zeigen, dass Frank keine geradlinige und vorbildliche Entwicklung durchläuft, in der er eine Art Bekehrung zum Judentum erfährt. Es ist eher ein äußerst langwieriger und für den Leser oft auch unbefriedigender Prozeß, den Frank selbstverschuldet durchläuft. Die SchülerInnen sollen erarbeiten, dass Frank in einem sogenannten vicious circle festgehalten wird, auf welche Weise er gelegentlich auszubrechen versucht, und wie er ihn schließlich abschütteln kann. Es ist wichtig, die beeinflußbare Menschlichkeit seines Handelns, auch seiner Straftaten, in seinem Für und Wider herauszustellen und zu verdeutlichen.

Seine Vorurteile gegen die Juden zeugen hauptsächlich von großer Unkenntnis dieser Religion, die er durch Nachfragen und -lesen abzubauen lernt. Das eigentliche "Judentum", welches ihn fasziniert und auch später beeinflußt, beobachtet er tagtäglich bei Morris selbst. Indem er offenkundig Kritik übt, setzt Frank sich automatisch mit der jüdischen Lebensweise auseinander und gerät in ihren Bann. Abschließend sollte der Gedanke des vicious circle, zu dem auch die Bildung einer vorgefertigten Meinung durch Unwissen gehört, verallgemeinert und den SchülerInnen durch alltägliche Situationen vergegenwärtigt werden.

Eine Möglichkeit, Franks Entwicklungsprozeß in der Klasse zu erarbeiten, kann durch eine Untersuchung einzelner Textstellen stattfinden. Ohne die SchülerInnen vorher zu informieren, dass der Charakter des Frank Alpine keine geradlinige Entwicklung zu dem Judentum durchläuft, sollen in Gruppenarbeit jumbled sentences (chronologisch ungeordnete Textpassagen), vom dem/der LehrerIn aufgelistet, in eine sinnvolle Reihenfolge gebracht werden, um eine durchgängige Entwicklung Franks darzustellen. Obwohl die SchülerInnen versuchen werden, eine gewisse Chronologie (in Hinblick auf die Seitenzahlen) der Geschehnisse zu rekonstruieren, werden sie bald feststellen, dass sich Frank Alpine im Kreis dreht. Sobald er sich dem "Guten" zugewandt zu haben scheint, verführt ihn schon die nächste Situation im darauffolgenden Augenblick.

Nachdem die SchülerInnen die Auswirkung des vicious circle auf Frank erkannt haben, sollte der/die LehrerIn Anweisungen geben, die vorliegenden Passagen nach zwei Gesichtspunkten chronologisch zu ordnen: nach Rückfällen in sein "altes" Leben und nach Anstrengungen, sich einem besseren (nach Morris: jüdischen) Weg zuzuwenden. Mit diesen Ergebnissen kann den SchülerInnen die Komplexität von Franks Charakter und seine immer wieder neu ansetzenden überwindungsschwierigkeiten des "inneren Schweinehundes" verdeutlicht werden. Der/die Lehrerin sollte in einem anschließenden L-S-Gespräch vermitteln, dass Franks komplizierte Entwicklung (u.a. Abbau von Vorurteilen, Identitätsfindung) gerade durch seine Rückfälle realistisch wirkt. Wie gerade durch die Analyse der Textpassagen festgestellt, braucht es seine Zeit, ehe Franks Überzeugung überhaupt sein Handeln erreichen und bestimmen kann.

Abschließend sei von der Lehrperson zu bemerken, dass Unkenntnis und Nichtverstehen häufig zu Vorurteilen, gerade in religiösen und kulturellen Bereichen, führen (Frank ist ein Beispiel unter vielen). Gerade The Assistant ermahnt, diese Vorurteile durch Lernbereitschaft und tolerantes Verständnis abzubauen, was in der Beschneidung Franks und seinem Bekenntnis zum Judentum verdeutlicht wird.

6.2. Aufgaben zu den jumbled sentences - Frank's process of becoming J ewish:
a.) Try to reflect Frank's development of becoming a Jew by putting the passages in the right order.
(-> SchülerInnen erkennen, dass es keine geradlinige Entwicklung gibt.)
b.) Divide the passages into two groups: (1) Collect all the passages which indicate Frank's attempt to become a different person, his good intentions (development of becoming a Jew).
(2) Collect all the passages which show a breach/contrast to Frank's willingness to change

Textpassagen in chronologischer Reihenfolge

(bewertet nach den Fragen zu b.), positiv/negativ):
(+) The one at the sink hastily rinsed a cup and filled it with water. He brought it to the grocer ... (27)
(+) 'That's all the dough he has, let's beat it.' (28)
(-) 'I work like a mule for what I want, and just when it looks like I am going to get it I make some kind of a stupid move, and everything that is just about nailed down tight blows up in my face.' (35)
(-) '... and usually I end up like I started out, with nothing.' (...) 'All my life I wanted to accomplish something worth while - a thing people will say took a little doing, but I don't. (...) The result is I move into a place with nothing, and I move out with nothing....' (36)
(-) 'You people are Jews, aren't you?'
'Yes', said the grocer, still watching him.
'I always liked Jews.' His eyes were downcast. (it's a lie!) (37)
(-) 'Did you (Frank) steal from me my milk and rolls?'
'Yes,' he confessed. 'On acount of I was hungry.' (39)
(+) To get up in the middle of the night for three lousy cents was a joke but he did it for the Jew. (55)
(-) Alone, he did a lot of casual eating (...) he also opened packages of crackers, macaroons, cup-cakes and doughnuts, tearing up their rappers into small pieces and flushing them down the toilet. (56)
(-) Otto Vogel,..., warned him in a low voice, 'Don't work for a Yid, kiddo. They will steal your ass while you are sitting on it.' Frank, ..., felt embarassed for being there; ... (56/57)
(-) ..., for he had heard that these Jewish babes could be troublemakers and he was not looking for any of that now - at least no more than usual; ... (58)
(-) He thought she didn't look Jewish, which was all to the good. (59)
(-) During the day, ..., he sold at least a buck's worth, or a buck and a half, that he made no attempt to ring up on the register. Ida guessed nothing. (...) It wasn't hard for him to scrape up here a bit of change, there a bit. At the end of the second week he had ten dollars in his pocket. (...) He had nothing to be ashamed of, he thought - it was practically his own dough he was taking. (...) Thus he settles in his mind only to find himself remorseful. (...) Yet he felt a curious pleasure in his misery, as he had at times in the past when he was doing something he knew he oughtn't to, so he kept on dropping quarters into his pants pocket. (64/ 65)
(+) One night he felt very bad about all the wrong he was doing and vowed to himself to set himself straight. (65)
(+) He remembered thinking as they went into the store, A Jew is a Jew, what difference does it make? Now he thought, I held him up because he was a Jew. What the hell are they to me so that I gave them credit for it? (66)
( +) 'I want my gun, Ward. Where is it?'
'What for?'
'I want to throw it in the ocean.' (67)
(+) (rejecting Ward's offer to commit further crime) 'Not with me,' Frank said. (...) 'I've all I want.' (68)
(-) He thought he could anchor himself on it (air shaft) and see into the bathroom. (...) It was a mistake to do it, he thought. (...) ...her eyes reflecting his sins, rotten past, spoiled ideas, his passion poisoned by his shame. (...) ... instead of the grinding remorse he had expected to suffer, he felt a moving joy. (Helen under shower) (69/ 70)
(-) But he continued to steal. He would stop for a few days then almost with relief go back to it. There were times when stealing made him feel good. (...) ..., and it felt good to pluck a buck from under the Jew's nose. (...) Besides, he planned to return everything some time or why would he be marking down the figure of what he took? (78)
(+) He was afraid to look into the mirror for fear it would split apart and fall into the sink. (...) He was full of sudden rages for himself. (...) The rage he felt disappeared like a wind-storm that quietly pooped out, and he felt a sort of gentleness creeping in. (...) He was gentle to Morris, and the Jew was gentle to him. And he was filled with quiet gentleness for Helen and no longer climbed the air shaft... (78/ 79)
(-) What kind of a man did you have to be born to shut yourself up in an overgrown coffin and never once during the day, so help you, outside of going for your Yiddish newspaper, poke your beak out of the door for a snootful of air? The answer wasn't hard to say - you had to be a Jew. They were born prisoners. (79)
(-)That's what they live for, Frank thought, to suffer. And the one that has got the biggest pain in the gut and can hold on to it the longest without running to the toilet is the best Jew. No wonder they got on his nerves. (81)
(+) He wanted her (Helen) but the facts made a terrible construction. They were Jews and he was not, (81)
(-) Ward sat down and told him that it was a Jew he planned to rob, so Frank agreed to go with him. (85)
( +) He wasn't really sorry they had stuck up a Jew but he hadn't expected to be sorry that they had picked on this particular one, Bober; ... (82)
(+) ... that he had really known all his life he would some time, through throat blistered with shame, his eyes in the dirt, have to tell some poor son of a bitch that he was the one who had hurt or betrayed him. This thought had lived in him like claws; or like a thirst he could never spit out, a repulsive need to get out of his system all that had happened - (...) - to change his life before the smell of it suffocated him. (82)
(-) ...; besides, how much of a confession was the Jew entitled to for the seven and a half bucks he had taken, then put back into the cash register drawer, and for the knock on the head he had got from Ward, whom he himself had come with unwilingly? (...) That showed his goood intentions for the future, didn't it? (...) And was now even keeping him (Morris) from starvation in his little rat hole? (....) ..., he had decided that once he had told the grocer all there was to say about the hold-up, he would at the same time start paying back into the drawer. (83)
(-) ...; so after a time he gave up and let himself be a bum. He lived in gutters, cellars if he was lucky, slept in lots, ate what the dogs wouldn't, or couldn't, and what he scrounged out of garbage cans. (...) ... he was living this kind of life only because he hadn't known he was meant for something a whole lot better - to do something big, different. (...) ... and had spent all his energy to do the wrong things. (...) At crime he would change his luck, make adventure, live like a prince. He shivered with pleasure as he conceived robberies, assaults - murders if it had to be - each violent act helping to satisfy a craving that somebody suffer as his own fortune improved. (84)
(+) ..., but the minute they were both tying handkerchiefs around their mouths, the whole idea seemed senseless. (...) His plans of crime lay down and died. He could hardly breathe in his unhappiness. (85)
(+) '...I started out wrong and have to change my direction where I am going. ...' (88)
(+) (possible reaction to Morris's advice 'Don't throw away your chances for education.' (35) '... The first step to that, I know for sure now, is to get a good education. I didn't use to think like that, but the more I live the more I do. Now it's always on my mind.'(90) He was often at the library. (94) Frank said he had definitely made up his mind to start college in the fall. (96)
(-) Yet what was the pay-off, for instance, of marrying a dame like her and having to do with the Jews the rest of his life? (107)
(+) '... My nature is to give and I couldn't change it even if I wanted. ...' (108)
(+) His aspirations, she sensed, were somehow apart from the self he presented normally when he wasn't trying, though he was always more or less trying, ... (...) ...; for if he could make himself seem better, broader, wiser when he tried, then he had these things in him because you couldn't make them out of nothing. There was more to him than his appearance. (109)
(+) (Helen) 'Don't forget I'm Jewish.'
So what?' Frank said.
Inside the dark, recalling what he had answered her, he felt this elated feeling, as if he had crashed his head on through a brick wall but hadn't bruised himself. (110)
(+) 'Say, Morris, suppose somebody asked you what do the Jews believe in, what woul d you tell them?' (...) 'What I like to know is what is a Jew anyway?' (long conversation about Morris's Jewishness) (112)
(+) 'To be truthful to you, Morris, once I didn't have much use for the Jews.' (113)
(+) His eyes were quieter, wiser. His crooked nose fitted his face and his face fitted him. It stayed on straight. He was gentle, waiting for whatever he awaited with a grace .... (117)
(+) Frank ... was struggling to realize himself as a person, a more worthwhile ambition. ... Frank knew more about life and gave the impression of more potential depth. (120)
(+) (rejects Ward's offer again) 'I told you I am not interested in your jobs, Ward.' (129)
(+) ... that the clerk would now and then paste a two-dollar bill on some nag's useless nose, from which it blew off in the breeze. (135)
(+) ... the beauty of a person being able to do things the way he wanted to, to do good if he wanted; and this feeling was followed by regret - (...) ..., he made up his mind to return, bit by bit until all paid up, the hundred and forty-odd bucks he had filched from Morris in the months he had worked for him, ... (141)
(-) But when he pictured himself confessing, the Jew listening with a fat ear, he still could not stand the thought of it. (...) The past was the past and the hell with it. He had unwillingly taken part in an hold-up, but he was, like Morris, more a victim of Ward Minogue. (...) So what was there to confess if the whole thing had been sort of an accident? (142)
(+) ..planned to put it all back in the register: (...) After ringing up the six bucks, to erase the evidence of an unlikely sale he rang up 'no sale'. Frank then felt surge of joy at what he had done and his eyes misted. (143)
(-) He thought it would be better to take a buck out of the register drawer, out of the amount he had just put back. (...) The clerk, after a time of long agony, heard himself say, 'It's just a mistake, Morris.' (...) Anguished, the clerk tried lying. (...) Frank thought. This shouldn't be happening to me, for I am a different person now. (..) The clerk realized it hadn't occurred to him to borrow from the grocer. The reason was simple - he had never borrowed, he had always stolen. (145/ 146)
(-) (After raping Helen) Oh my God, why did I do it? Why did I ever do it? Why did I do it? (155)
(-) Where have you ever been, he asked the one in the glass, except on the inside of a circle? What have you done but always the wrong thing? (...) He had lived without will, betrayed every good intention. Had he ever confessed the hold-up to Morris? Hadn't he stolen from the cash register till the minute he was canned? In a single terrible act in the park hadn't he murdered the last of his good hopes, the love he had so long waited for - his chance at a future? His goddammed life had pushed him wherever he went; (...) There was no place left to escape to.(156/157)
(+) (saves Morris twice: gas (158/ 159) and fire (190))
(+) 'Look, Mrs,' Frank said. 'Why don't you stop worrying about the store while Morris is sick and let me take care of it?...' (161/ 162)
(+) He withdrew twenty-five dollars from his savings account and put the money into the register, ...(163)
(+) The wrong he had done her was never out of his mind. He hadn't intended wrong but he had done it; (...) ...and he would do it all on his own will, nobody pushing him but himself. He would do it with discipline and with love. (164)
(+) (allusion to skull cap) 'Helen,' he said, snatching off the cloth cap he now wore in the store,... (165)
(+) He also reduced the gas bill by lighting only one of the two radiators downstairs. (167)
(+) (tries to get debts from Carl, the painter and sympathizes with the hungry children. Leaves without the money.) (170)
(+) He read a book about the Jews, a short history . (...) He couldn't finish the book and brought it back to the library. (170)
(+) (Takes on 2nd job) The work was from ten to six a.m. and paid thirty-five dollars. When he got home in the morning, Frank opened the grocery. At the end of the week's working, without ringing it up, he put the thirty-five into the cash register. This, and Helen's wages, kept them from going under. (171)
(+) He thought endlessly of escape, but that would be what he always did last - beat it. This time he would stay. (171)
(+) (Frank confesses the hold up to Morris) The thing you got to understand is I am not the same person I once was. (176)
(+) When the bearded rabbi entered the chapel through a side door, Frank took off his hat but quickly put it on again . (201)
(+) The other funny thing is that there are more of them (Jews) around than anybody knows about. (204)
(+) 'Things are changed. I am not the same guy I was.' (...) ... but there he stood under the yellow lamp, fondling his lascivious cap. (207)
(+) He figured the best thing he could do was to help her get the college education she had always wanted. (...) He figured that to do it would be a rocky load on his head, but he had to do it, it was his only hope; he could think of no other. (209/ 210)
(+) (He confesses the hold-up to Helen.) (112)
(+) But he never missed a payment of rent to Ida. He valued his payments to her because Helen had returned to night college in the autumn, and if he didn't give the ninety to Ida, Helen wouldn 't have enough for her own needs. (213)
(+) 'Jesus,' he said, 'why am I killing myself so?' he gave himself many unhappy answers, the best being that while he was doing this he was doing nothing worse. (214)
(-) He climbed up the air shaft to spy on Helen in the bathroom. Twice he saw her disrobe. (...) he swore to himself that he would never spy on her again, but he did. And in the store he took to cheating the customers. (214)
(+) Then one day, for no reason he could give, though the reason felt familiar, he stopped climbing up the air shaft to peek at Helen, and he was honest in the store. (definitely changes!) (214)
(+) He had kept them alive. Because of him she (Helen) had enough to go to school at night. (...) It came to her that he had changed. (...) ... without understanding the why or the aftermath, or admitting there could be an end to the bad and a beginning of good. (215)
(+) It was the Bible and he sometimes thought there were parts of it he could have written himself. (217)
(+) One day in April Frank went to the hospital and had himself circumcised. For a couple of days he dragged himself around with a pain between his legs. The pain enraged and inspired him. After Passover he became a Jew. (217)

Points to talk about:
- Konversion zum Judentum mit einer Glaubensauffassung, die der Einstellung (humanism) von Morris entspricht.
- store is something that he clings on to, the only way to escape the vicious circle
If the store blows away some dark night I might as well be dead, Frank thought. He tried every way to hang on.(...)
With all but the last five dollars from the bank account, he bought a few gallons of cheap paint. (166)
Frank told anybody who asked that he was keeping the business going for the widow. (206)

- Frank's lowest point is when Morris forces him to leave for stealing money (177), and at the same time is rejected by Helen for literally raping her in a most vulnerable situation (150/151). The past has caught up with him.
- man can have no future as long as he hasn't come to terms with his past
- (Möglicher Verweis auf ein Wortspiel: Frank = trying to be "frank" -> "that he only pretended to be frank about himself")

Sinn der Analyse der einzelnen Passagen:

- Einblick in Franks struggle to strive
- Einführung des Begriffes vicious circle und seine Auswirkung.
- Beispiel, wie und mit welcher Anstrengung religiöse Vorurteile abgebaut werden können

7. Vorschlag eines Klausurthemas zu American Dream und Jewishness (spiritual success and economic failure) in The Assistant:

7.1. Methodisch-didaktische Vorbemerkung:
Die Klausur soll mit einem neuen Text die SchülerInnen dazu auffordern, selbständig einen Transfer zu dem Roman zu leisten.
In diesem Gedicht wird die Umkehr des American Dream in Form einer persönlichen Beziehung deutlich dargestellt. Für das lyrische Ich hat sich der American Dream zu einem nightmare entwickelt. Indem die erste Aufgabe (a.) die SchülerInnen zu einer inhaltlichen Auseinandersetzung mit dem Gedicht auffordert, stellt die zweite (b.) eine direkte Verbindung zu The Assitant her. Durch eingehende Vorbereitung in den Schulstunden sollten die SchülerInnen in der Lage sein, einen Transfer zu der Person des Morris Bober zu leisten (möglich wäre gegebenenfalls auch Frank Alpine). Die dritte Aufgabe (c.) fordert eine Wiedergabe und Inbezugsetzung des gelernten Stoffes (wie in Punkt 2 und 3 von Britta Buch herausgearbeitet). Eine Definition des persönlichen "Jüdischseins" des Morris, die auch Frank später übernimmt, und ein Bezug zu dem American Dream in The Assistant, der Wirtschaftlichkeit und dem (Miß-)Erfolg des Lebensmittelgeschäftes (bei Frank: zu seinem Leben insgesamt), sind hier gefordert. Abschließend (d.) sollen die SchülerInnen zeigen, dass sie die eigene Meinung mit sinnvollen Argumenten darstellen können. Als Aufhänger, der auf den American Dream verweist, bietet sich ein Cartoon an.


"America"

Although she feeds me bread of bitterness,
And sinks into my throat her tiger's tooth,
Stealing my breath of life, I will confess
I love this cultured hell that tests my youth!
Her vigor flows like tides into my blood
Giving me strength erect against my hate.
Her bigness sweeps my being like a flood.
Yet as a rebel fronts the king in state,
I stand within her wall with not a shred
Of terrror, malice, not a word of jeer.
Darkly I gaze into the days ahead,
And see her might and granite wonders there,
Beneath the touch of Time's unerring hand,
Like priceless treasures sinking in the sand.

Taken from: Selected Poems of Claude McKay, Sidney Solomon (ed.), (New York: Bookman Associates, 1953), p. 59.


Cartoon (Peanuts): Schroeder is playing the piano and Lucy is listening.
Lucy: "What happens if you practice for twenty years, and then end up not being rich and famous?"
Schroeder: "The joy is in the playing."
(Silence)
Lucy: "You're kidding!"

7.2 Klausuraufgaben:
a.) Describe the speaker's attitude towards his beloved.
b.) Which character in The Assistant fits the speaker's attitude? Go into details and give examples.
c.) In how far does the particular kind of Jewishness of this character oppose the The American Dream and comply with the tenor of the poem?
d.) Give a short personal comment on the cartoon.

IV.) Literaturverzeichnis

1. B. Malamud: The Assistant, Penguin, Clays Ltd., St. Ives 1967.
2. P. Bruck (ed.): The American Dream - Perspectives 1, Klett, Stuttgart 1986.
3. B. Tracy, E. Helms (edd.): American Dreams-American Nightmares, Paderborn: Schöningh, 1981. Texts for English and American Studies 11.
4. J.T. Adams: The Epic of America, Little, Brown and Company, Boston 1932.
5. A. Unterman (ed.): Dictionary of Jewish Lore and Legend, Tames and Hudson, London 1991.
6. L. Rosten: The Joys of Yiddish, Penguin, Cox & Wyme Ltd., St. Ives 1968.
7. S. Solomon (ed.): Selected Poems of Claude McKay, Bookman Associates, New York 195 3.
8. E. Fiedler, R. Jansen, M. Norman-Risch: America on Close-Up, Longman, Madrid 1990.


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