Language Center

Related Stories

• Schnell

  Modeled after Ralf Kaiser's MAL EBEN, Bryan and Heather's poem Schnell seeks to capture the ephemeral quality of life. The poem's progression from birth until death points resignedly to the ever increasing pace of life, while the narrowing spaces between lines imply a lost appreciation for the beauty of the unnoticed. Death finally frees us to see what we miss when we live too quickly. Read More

• Die nicht so böse Hexe

  Nick introduces his story: The not-so-evil witch is a tale of adventure, mystery, and intrigue where one witch’s patience and desire to be loved is put to the test. The moral of the story is to be nice, especially to witches. Enjoy! Read More

• Immer wieder mache

  Aaron and Molly’s poem begins with the subject in a highly negative state of mind and expressing his or her emotions, using the repeated phrase immer wieder (again and again). They chose to imply the subject, ich, by using the first-person singular form, and because they liked the flow of that form more than the infinitive form. As the poem forges ahead, the subject displays progressively less negative states of being, until, at the center of the poem, there is a turning point as the subject begins to first hope (hoffen) and then change (ändern). The work continues with each earlier emotion being resolved in reverse order, that is, the less negative ones first until the subject is eventually transformed from a state of pain to one of joy. The poem concludes with the subject being so overcome with happiness that he or she ends the poem in a joke. Read More