1ii Stasiland - Focus Questions-2 PDF

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Reading & Comparing Texts: Stasiland (Anna Funder) – Key Discussion Questions 1. Make a timeline of the events leading to the collapse of the GDR. 2. What sense do we get from this first chapter of East Germany and the Stasi? How do Funder's descriptions add to this? 3. What is the emotional reaction of readers to this first Chapter? 4. What fascinated Funder about the Stasi and their stories? 5. What does the beginning of Miriam's story tell us about the attitude of young people in 1968 and the reach of the Stasi? 6. What paradoxes are apparent in Miriam's story of escape and capture? 7. What do the circumstances of Charlie's death suggest about the way the Stasi operated? 8. Why did Miriam return to Leipzig? 9. Funder describes Miriam as "brave and strong and broken". In what way is she these three things? 10. In what way is Funder's apartment a metaphor for what is happening in the former GDR? 11. Why did the opening of the Stasi files cause such controversy? 12. What might explain Winz’s disillusionment with Capitalism? 13. What fictions were acknowledged as fact in Julia’s recount of GDR life? 14. What was Major N's motivation for his intimidation of Julia? 15. Frau Anderson suggests that many of the old regime are "turncoats". What does this suggest about their ideology? 16. What does Funder discover in her interview with Von Schnitzler? 17. How does Herr Christian view his role with the Stasi? 18. In what ways were the Stasi able to manipulate Herr Koch's circumstances to suit their purposes? 19. What are some of the difficulties the GDR had transitioning to a democracy? 20. What did the Stasi fear from the Klaus Renft Combo? 21. What does Frau Paul's circumstances suggest about life for the ordinary East German and the Stasi mentality? 22. What does Frau Paul’s discussion about an escape attempt suggest about the Stasi? 23. What view does Frau Paul have of herself and why is this described as "the picture the Stasi made for her"? 24. Why did Herr Bohnsack "out" himself? 25. What view does Professor Mushroom have of the GDR? 26. What does the Guard tower represent for Herr Koch? 27. Why is Funder surprised by what she finds at the Stasi File Authority? 28. What is Herr Raillard saying by the statistics he gives Funder? 29. Why was the government so insistent on constructing the 'Contemporary History Forum'? 30. Does Funder change from the beginning of the book to the end?"

Source: Stasiland (Funder, 2002)...