Scotland,
to many Englishmen, is a bleak, somewhat uncivilized part of Britain, maybe
a bit quaint and certainly good for the balance of payments because of the
inexplicable attraction it exerts on dollar-laden Yanks, camera-toting Japs
or beer-bellied Krauts, but at bottom a country best given a wide berth,
inspite of its “rugged mountains towering grim and menacing above steep
glens, its tree-clad gorges and picturesque villages, filled with the soft
scent of peat smoke”. Hardly surprising then that in England Dr. Samuel
Johnson’s2 dictum
that “the only good thing in Scotland is the road to England” is well
remembered.
To
this day it is a widely held belief in England that strange tribes dwell in
the Highlands, people who can easily be spotted by their utterly ludicrous
costumes and customs. As for the former, mention must be made of the kilt
– a sort of pleated skirt, woven from thick, coarse wool – as the most
unbecoming piece of garb ever stitched together for men! And what about the
notorious variety of Scottish “music”, a cultural phenomenon hard to
overlook, or rather to “over-hear”? Well, the so-called bagpipes make
the blood of many an Englishman curdle, melodious as they may sound to the
perpetrator of these noises. The average Englishman – “Sassenach” to
the Scots – simply winces at these piercingly braying sounds and resorts
to plugging his eardrums in mere self-defence. And, switching from melody to
melodrama, what about the Scotsman’s excessive inclination to drain
several glasses of whisky at one gulp? Whisky, so etymologists tell us,
means “water of life”. Very telling indeed! Whenever the ferocious (or
should it be “vociferous”?) supporters of one of the two leading Glasgow
football clubs accompany their teams on a away match, especially abroad,
they can easily be picked out from the rest of the crowd – and this is
where the “melodrama” comes in – by being so inebriated that they are
hardly able to crawl back to their chartered planes. The unsavoury scenes on
board one is reluctant to imagine, particularly as liquor is sold duty-free!
Since we are on sports, one should also mention the Highland Games, which
are an exhibition of the weirdest assortment of competitions the world has
ever witnessed. Not only are there pipe-bands trying to “out-pipe” each
other, there is also a contest called “tossing the caber”, which the
Scots claim involves strength and skill, while to the “Sassenach”, who
might well be forgiven a certain feeling of unease in view of the blatant
disregard for all safety precautions, it would seem as if some athletic
clown was galumphing about, trying to balance a telegraph pole. But back to
wining and dining, because so far we have only dealt with the “wining”
aspect. In other words, what about Scottish food? Well, how do you feel
about haggis, Scotland’s
culinary contribution towards tickling the gourmet’s palate? You
have no idea what this Scottish delicacy might be. It is the
traditional Scottish dish, a pudding made of the heart, liver or other
intestines of a sheep or calf, minced with suet3
and oatmeal, seasoned and boiled in the stomach of said sheep or calf.
Haggis is also interesting from a linguistic point of view: this word, just
like “caber” above, shows that the Scots may speak some sort of language,
but it is certainly not English.
But
half a tick! Is there not another, equally obstinate and outlandish tribe
that is characterized by the very same features as the ones described above?
Its members live in drowsy mountain villages, are said to be ill-mannered,
if not plain rude, are prone to drink beer, which they call “liquid bread”,
in prodigious quantities, subsist on Blutwurst4 go in
for Fingerhak’ln5,
wear Lederhosen6,
are well versed in yodelling, have dismantled many a football stadium and
converse in a guttural vernacular that makes it well-nigh impossible for
their fellow countrymen – Saupreiß’n7 to
them – to understand them. You have three guesses as to which “tribe”
we are talking about here. But what about Nessie, the Scottish monster, made
all the more intriguing by its elusiveness? Surely, there isn’t a
corresponding mythical beast in yonder Bavaria! Of course, there is! It is
called Wolperdinger1,
an animal that purportedly only ventures forth from its secluded den when
there is a full moon. Needless to say, it has never been actually seen by
anybody either.
The
conclusions we are to draw from the parallels above, contrived though they
may seem, should be obvious.
W.E.P.
Annotations:
1) Wolperdinger (or: Wolpertinger): fabled Bavarian animal
2) Dr. Samuel Johnson: 1709-1784, English lexicographer,
critic and conversationalist. Dr. Johnson’s original statement – according to his
biographer James Boswell – runs as follows: ”The noblest prospect which a
Scotchman ever sees, is the high road that leads
to England.”
3) suet: the hard white fat on the kidneys and loins of
cattle, sheep and other animals, used to make foods (= “Nierenfett”)
4) Blutwurst: dark sausage with content of blood (literally
= “blood sausage”)
5) Fingerhak’ln: contest between two competitors,
involving the use of one’s fingers (cf. tug-of-war)
6) Lederhosen: leather breeches or leather shorts
7) Saupreiß’n: politically incorrect expression!
(≈ “dirty/stupid Prussian”, cf. “Sassenach”)
II. Questions on the text: The idea is to answer these
questions as briefly and concisely, as possible.
Very often two or three sentences may be enough. Use your
own words
as far as is appropriate. All quotations must be marked as such.
first part:
1)
What is the effect Scottish music has on the English or Sassenachs”?
6p
2)
What accounts for the “certain feeling of unease” (line.21/22 ) on the part of the Sassenachs”?
6p
3)
What are the similarities and differences as regards the “wining and dining”
of the two “tribes” mentioned in
the text?
10p
second part: STYLE
4)
How would you describe the general tone of this text. Is it the same tone all
the way through?
6p
5)
How is that tone brought about? What obvious stylistic features and/or devices
are used?
Find three
such different features/devices,
giving their technical term and commenting on
the
effect achieved by them. (Please, give the lines.)
18p
III. Mini-Translation: Translate the first sentence
of the text into good, idiomatic German Stick to the stylistic level of the original. (lines
1 – 4)
12p
IV. (slightly) Beyond the text: What are those “obvious
conclusions” we are to draw from the
many parallels the text contains? (cf. line 38) Please, answer this
question in not more than two or three sentences. This is not your essay topic!
10p
V. Essay/Comment: Write about 150
words on one
of the following topics. You can
write more, but you do
so at your own risk. This
“Klausur” is fairly comprehensive and you have to be economical
with your time In any case, please
count your words at the
end!
30p
1)
National prejudices and clichés die hard and it isn’t always old people who
fall victim to them. Discuss.
2)
Some cynics say that it is a misconception to believe that mass tourism has
done away with
national prejudice. On the contrary, they contend, mass tourism tends
to confirm existing prejudices.
Discuss.
3)
In France, which with 60 million tourists annually is one of the
most attractive tourist destinations
worldwide, the Green Party is waging a national campaign for strict
limits on tourism. A special target of
the party’s wrath is the rampant spread of seafront hotels. Gerard Onesta, a
Green Party official went so far as to
say: “The tourism industry has managed what Hitler couldn’t: build a
concrete wall along the Atlantic.” Are environmentalists, not only
in France, overanxious or does mass
tourism indeed pose a grave danger to the environment?
4)
Is staying at home an attractive alternative to travelling? Discuss. (LKE
Abitur topic 1995!)
[VI. Vocabulary: What’s the
German?
(This part has got nothing to do with the actual test!)
1) engagiert; 2) Vertrag;
3) Kriegsdienstverweigerer; 4) seicht; 5) eingefleischt; 6) gerichtlich
verfolgen; 7) austrocknen,
verdörren; 8) Verleumdung
(schriftlich); 9) überschwenglich; 10) Abzugshahn, Auslöser; 11) spürbar, fühlbar;
12) Ent-
zugserscheinungen; 13)
gesunder Menschenverstand; 14) Spalier, Gitter; 15) eine verirrte Kugel; 16)
Wiederaufforstung;
17) festgefahren,
blockiert; 18) Nachteil, „Haken bei der Sache“; 19) verfallen,
heruntergekommen („Gebäude“);
20)
Wechselstrom.
(Taken
from “Revision” 1 – 3, “Mount Everest” and “New York Revision“1
– 2)]
[Again,
like in the preceding "Klausur", this VOCABULARY SECTION is of no
interest to "the general public". Still, wouldn't it be great if you
knew all these useful words and expressions listed above?]
THE
BOTTOM LINE THE BOTTOM LINE THE BOTTOM LINE THE BOTTOM LINE
More
tests/"Klausuren" will follow !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
