Guidelines for Part IB
The scheduled papers will introduce you to some of the most important events and movements in European intellectual, literary and political history. The German-speaking nations have had a decisive hand in making Europe, and European culture, what it is today. A knowledge of German is equally essential for understanding medieval Europe, and studying the history of the German language is a natural complement to the study of Romance philology or of linguistics. One common feature of the German scheduled papers on the whole, and of the accompanying lectures, is that they emphasise the historical and general philosophical dimension to a much greater extent than those of any other Section in the Faculty.
In Part IB听the Section currently runs five German options: GE 2, 4, 5, 6 and 7.听It is sensible in making your choice of IB subjects to ask what they might lead on to or complement when you come to Part听II. In particular you should remember that in Part听II you will have to offer a dissertation or translation project (and may choose to offer two dissertations) and that a dissertation may (and probably should) lie in the area of a paper which you have already studied, so that you can feel confident of your general knowledge of the background to what should be a closely-focussed project. In the detailed list of options which follows you will find some specific advice on which papers at the IB level best fit in with which subjects for Part听II (including dissertations).
You may substitute a Long Essay for any of the Part IB papers in German. For students from other triposes who wish to take these papers, a good reading knowledge of German is required (at least AS-level or equivalent). Students from all triposes also have the option of choosing to be examined for these papers by .
The Section also participates in three听听for Part听II. These are not available in Part IB, but if you are thinking of taking one of them in your final year you should be thinking now about which options this year will best prepare you for them.
In all cases specimen or past examination papers, which are kept in the MMLL Library, give some idea of the kind of questions that are set. See also听听and the听
Summary of the German scheduled papers for Part IB
A full list of all the MMLL scheduled papers available is given in听.
