Topic 2: Cultural Geography of Germany

Lesson Objective

The student will identify significant figures of German cultural history

Materials and Resources

Transparency 19 -
“Great People of German Culture”

Worksheet 11 - “The Land of Poets and Thinkers”

Strategies

Explain to students that Germany is known for its cultural wealth. The works of German artists and writers, poets and thinkers (“Dichter und Denker”), philosophers and musicians contributed to a rich cultural heritage that led into the very diverse cultural society that we know today.

Distribute Transparency 19 “Great People of German Culture” and Worksheet 11 “The Land of Poets and Thinkers” to students. Review the contributions of the various German “cultural giants” with students and identify some of their writings, masterpieces and compositions by title.

Have students work in groups to generate prominent U.S. writers, artists and composers and their works in the correct category on the worksheet.

Examples may include poets/thinkers: Robert Frost, Langston Hughes, Emily Dickinson; Writers: Toni Morrison, John Steinbeck, Annie Dillard; Playwrights: Arthur Miller, Tennessee Williams, Eugene O’Neill; Composers/ Musicians: Leonard Bernstein, Aaron Copland, Leontyne Price, Louis Armstrong, George Gershwin; Artists: Georgia O’Keefe, Ansel Adams, Mary Cassatt, Jackson Pollock, Alexander Calder.

Discuss with students how such contributions make a society a richer place to live.

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