Archiv für die Kategorie „Allgemein“

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‘Scarborough Men’ ist ein Rap, der etwas lustig daherkommt, beinhaltet aber eine herbe Kritik gegen das Rauchen, ein wenig Gegenwind gegen die gigantische Werbemaschinerie der Tabakindustrie, Don Quijote gegen die Windmühlen! Der Rap bietet einen guten Zugang zu einem wichtigen Thema. Er hat die Form eines Mini-Dramas. Eine Gruppe von Touristen wird von einem Reiseleiter durch ‘Scarborough Country’ geführt, erpicht darauf, die berühmten ‘Scarborough Men’ zu erleben. Die Begegnung findet allerdings auf einem Friedhof statt!

Frei nach dem Spruch ‘reif für die Insel’ handelt es sich in diesem Rap um die Sehnsucht  nach einer sonnigen Insel.

Hier ein Auszug:

Are you run down,

dog tired,

dreaming of an island

you can fly away to,

hide away in,

leave stress behind you,

have some fun,

get a great tan, too?

Yeah, an island in the sun,

that’s it, man.

Wait a minute!

I forgot it.

What? Forgot?

What did you forget?

I gotta think a minute,

What did I forget?

I thought I knew,

but shit!

I forgot it,

I forgot what I forgot.

If you forgot

what you forgot,

forget it, man,

it can’t be that important, man.

Sit back and relax.

It’ll come back to you

when you least expect it,

suddenly,

it’ll pop into your head

out of a clear blue sky,

and you’ll smile and say Hi!

Hi old friend!

How you doin’, man?

Nice to see you again.

Suggested Activities

Form several groups. Each group has to practice and perform the rap.

In addition, each group must write (and perform) a verse about one of the following topics:

1-What was your worst experience with regard to forgetting?

2-Why do you forget things. What are some of the reasons?

3-When do you forget things? What are the typical situations you forget things in?

4-What do you forget? What are some things you often forget?

Zum PDF-Download

‘Candy’ is a story with an unlikely premise. An English boy from the upper middle class meets and falls in love with a – prostitute! But in the skilful hands of Kevin Brooks the narrative is not only plausible, it is absolutely compelling. He paints a chilling picture of the brutal world of pimps and their ‘slaves’, including the devious means pimps use to turn innocent girls into prostitutes. Moreover, the author’s thoroughly-researched account of the power of drug addiction appears to be terrifyingly realistic. Finally, in Joe, the central figure and first-person narrator of the story, Candy, the prostitute he falls in love with, and Iggy, Candy’s savage pimp, Brooks has created three unforgettable characters.

Like the drugs it tells about, ‘Candy’ is a story with the power to hook its readers, leaving them wide-eyed and marvelling under its spell. This is young adult fiction at its best written by the award-winning author of ‘Martyn Pig’ and ‘Lucas’. In my opinion, it is thematically and lexically a very suitable reader for 11-12th classes.

‘Candy’ by Kevin Brooks, 2005

A well-crafted, fast-paced book by a thinking man’s tennis player. Agassi’s autobiography has the broad human appeal that can touch the heart not only of tennis players and fans, but of anyone who has ever heard of him.

I never liked Andre Agassi as a player. That had to do with the fact that I was a fervent Boris Becker fan.

So it was rather by chance that I found myself browsing his autobiography in a bookstore recently. But the first chapter, the inside story of one of the final games of

his career, was so interesting that I had to read the rest.

‘Open’ is, as the title suggests, an honest, candid account of Agassi’s life.

His childhood was dominated by a father who had only one goal in life: one of his children had to become the number one tennis player in the world. Mr. Agassi built a

tennis court behind his house, constructed a ball machine, and forced his children to absolve a murderous daily training. It is no wonder that Andre developed a deepseated

hatred for tennis.

Nevertheless, he achieved his father’s goal and became one of the best tennis players of all time.

With his negative feelings about tennis, it is amazing that Andre managed to play so successfully. The truth is, most of his career was accompanied by an intense inner

struggle to find the motivation to cope with the harsh demands of the life of a professional tennis player. It is interesting to speculate how good he could have

become if his attitude toward tennis had been positive.

The book is fast-paced and well written. Especially interesting are the passages about his rivalry with Boris Becker and Pete Sampras, and his touching account of

his clumsy but determined efforts to win the woman he loved and admired, Steffi Graf.

The final chapters are focussed on the other great love of his life, his foundation, the Andre Agassi College Preparation Academy, born of Andre’s strong desire to help

underprivileged children. It was that desire that supplied him with the motivation that enabled him to continue playing – and winning – at an age when most tennis players

are well into retirement. Finally, hobbled by a bad back, he ended his career at the age of 35.

As I said above, I was never an Agassi fan when he was a player. After reading his brilliant autobiography, I have become one.

Open An Autobiography by Andre Agassi

deutsche Version: Open  Das Selbstporträt

Dieser Rap wurde geschrieben als  Dialog zwischen einem, der süchtig nach Twitter ist, und einem Freund, der versucht, ihn davon abzubringen.

Hier ein Auszug:

MR.TWITTER RAP

Roles: T = Mr.Twitter

Refrain

They call me Mr. Twitter,

I tweet like a bird, yo!

Start the day with a tweet,

work, play and eat while tweeting,

tweet all day through,

tweet, tweet, tweet,

till I fall asleep.

T-What’s going down?

What’s happening to me?

I seem to be losing touch with friends and family -

with reality?

Es geht um eine weit verbreitete aber falsche Einstellung: Gewinnen ist alles! In Dialogform wird diese Einstellung zum Ausdruck gebracht und eine bessere Einstellung empfohlen.

Hier ein Auszug:

‘I’m a loser,

got the loser’s blues,

I hate to lose,

I hate to lose,

I hate to lose!’

‘Hey, man!

Losing’s not as bad

as it seems,

winning’s not everything.

Get what I mean?’

Ein scharfes Schwert schneidet sehr, eine scharfe Zunge noch viel mehr. Es geht in diesem Rap um das Unheil, das von bösen Worten angerichtet wird.

Hier ein Auszug:

You got a mean mouth, man,

what comes out is toxic, man,

not fit for human consumption,

it’s poison, man,

understand?

Deadly poison.

1-Don’t come to me,

lookin’ for sympathy,

you reap what you sow,

every bit of it,

all the shit you throw

you get back

and then more.

In diesem Rap geht es um den Dialog zwischen dem Engel und den Hirten, wobei einer der Hirten zunächst sich nicht ganz begeistert zeigt, beim Krippenspiel mitzumachen (ab Klasse 6).

Hier ein Auszug:

Angel (suddenly appearing to shepherds on a hill over Bethlehem)

How’s it going, guys?

Are you surprised?

It’s okay,

don’t be afraid,

I’ve got good news

for you and the whole wide world!

A child is born,

a special child,

special delivery,

I’ll say no more,

you’ll know what I mean,

you’ll understand

when you see that little man.

The Snakeman Rap ist auf die Lektüre Snakeman bezogen und kann als Abschluss-Bonbon zu dieser Lektüre eingesetzt werden.

Hier ein Auszug:

He’s long and tall,

head extra small,

hard cold eyes

that never smile.

It’s Snakeman

Ssssssssss

Snakeman. Yeah!

1-He moves through the school

silently

with two or three goons

for company.

He’s the king,

yeah the king,

I mean the King

of Portland High.

No one defies

Snakeman.

It’s dangerous, man,

you could get hurt,

marked for life

by the bite, the bi-bi-bi-bi-bi-bi-bite

of Snakeman.