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Unit 3/4 English > Stasiland: Chapter/Character Summaries > Flashcards

Stasiland: Chapter/Character Summaries Flashcards

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1
Q

List the first 14 chapters in Stasiland.

A
  1. Berlin, Winter 1996
  2. Miriam
  3. Bornholmer Bridge
  4. Charlie
  5. The Linoleum Palace
  6. Stasi HQ
  7. The Smell of Old Men
  8. Telephone Calls
  9. Julia has no story
  10. The Italian Boyfriend
  11. Major N.
  12. The Lipsi
  13. Von Schni-
  14. The worse you feel
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2
Q

List the last 14 chapters in Stasiland.

A
  1. Herr Christian
  2. Socialist Man
  3. Drawing the Line
  4. The Plate
  5. Klaus
  6. Herr Bock of Golm
  7. Frau Paul
  8. The Deal
  9. Hohenschönhausen
  10. Herr Bohnsack
  11. Berlin, Spring 2000
  12. The Wall
  13. Puzzlers
  14. Miriam and Charlie
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3
Q

What happens in Chapter 1: Berlin, Winter 1996?

A

. The start of Anna’s journey (link to Berlin, Spring 2000 which is one of the final chapters)
. The toilet attendant who can now travel but wont (but would like to see the Great Wall of China)
. She spent the previous night drinking with Klaus
. We learn of her fascination for Germany (from when she learn to speak German)
. She goes to the ministry of state security and “shrank like alice” whilst going through the doors
. Basic info on the Stasi
. Frau Hollitzer tells Funder about Miriam (sparks curiosity)
. Funder gets a part-time job in television and sets about looking for stories from “this land gone wrong.”

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4
Q

What happens in Chapter 2: Miriam?

A

. Funder’s job is to answer letters from viewers
. She gets one letter from a viewer living in Argentina - suggesting that they do an item on what things are actually like for East Germans
. Funder finds out that many don’t want to think about the past, many in fact find the whole Stasi thing “embarrassing”
. The viewer was angry about this and said that “history is made of personal stories” and that “issues are benign swept under the carpet in East Germany.” (This motivated Funder to uncover the truth)
. Funder meets Miriam and learns about her story

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5
Q

What happens in Chapter 3: Bornholmer Bridge?

A

. This chapter outlines Miriam’s failed attempt to escape (although almost successful). Remember that she is still 16 at this point.
. Bornholmer Bridge is the spot she chooses for her attempt.
. This is followed by her torture (lack of human rights) and the crafting of a ridiculous story that they “buy” initially (showing the paranoia of the regime)
. Anna cannot believe they buy the story she sells them in order to get some peace.

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6
Q

What happens in Chapter 4: Charlie?

A

. Miriam didn’t feel human when she came out of prison (baptism of welcome, brutality between prisoners, addressed by number, sanitary napkin economy, sweatshop making sheets).
. She met Charlie when she was released from prison

This chapter is named after Miriam’s husband who ‘saves’ her
after she is changed by prison, and shares many of her political views.
•Charlie dies in custody in suspicious circumstances. She explains the strange behaviour of the funeral parlour.
•Miriam has cut herself out of photographs with him
•Miriam also details how she and he could not work and could barely survive a kind of blacklisting. They apply to leave several times. She is deported suddenly after his death.

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7
Q

What happens in Chapter 5: The Linoleum Palace?

A
  • This refers to the apartment Anna rents from Julia. It is sparsely furnished, and Julia comes in irregularly to take more stuff. She compares it to Germany, which goes on despite times of the complete absence of joy.
  • She describes how no-one knows what to do with the Palast der Republik (GDR Parliament) and Hitler’s bunker.
  • She thinks of Miriam and puts an ad in the paper to speak to Stasi men. We find later she is overrun with responses – why do you think this is
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8
Q

What happens in Chapter 6: Stasi HQ?

A
  • Anna visits the Stasi museum (the old Stasi HQ) on Normanenstrasse
  • She describes their methods and how the Stasi evolved as a reaction to Nazism
  • Details the plans to detain all people bunder suspicion into ghetto-like areas (ironic after Nazism)
  • Also details how the wall came down
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9
Q

What happens in Chapter 7: The Smell of Old Men?

A

. Anna details the downfall of the Stasi after the wall comes down
•She watches a video where a psychologist says that the need to inform is a part of the German psyche, akin to their need for “order and thoroughness and stuff like that”.
•A cleaner talks to her about the fact that there were no womens toilets in the Stasi building – it was run by old men alone.

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10
Q

What happens in Chapter 8: Telephone Calls?

A
  • Miriam calls Anna to thank her, but remains at a distance.
  • She is also called by Herr Winz, who is a part of the Insiderkommittee, a group of ex-Stasi men.
  • He joyfully tells her how many spies and informers they had.
  • He also says capitalism is on its way out and gives her a copy of the Communist Manifesto.
  • Anna finds him comical and out of date/touch
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11
Q

What happens in Chapter 9: Julia’s Has No Story?

A
  • But she does! She says her family went through “Internal emigration” - they kept their thoughts private.
  • She talks about her (and her father’s) initial belief in the GDR, and mentions some positives such as a lack of prostitution.
  • She disappears (in form) before Anna can get much out of her.
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12
Q

What happens in Chapter 10: The Italian Boyfriend?

A
  • This is Julia’s real story. She had an Italian boyfriend, and was thus under surveillance. She could not continue to study where she wanted and couldn’t find a job.
  • GDR fictions (in the ‘unemployment office’). “You are not unemployed! You are seeking work!… There is no unemployment in the GDR
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13
Q

What happens in Chapter 11: Major N.?

A
  • He attempts to make Julia inform on her boyfriend, but she has already broken up with him.
  • He has a lot of detail about her personal life which alarms her, including her mail.
  • He threatens her, but she tells her family and miraculously fobs him off by threatening to write to Mielke. This shows us that some Stasi officers went beyond duty and spied on people without instruction.
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14
Q

What happens in Chapter 12: The Lipsi?

A
  • Named after a dance manufactured by the GDR with no bodily contact. She sees the video (along with the Black Channel) at Stasi HQ.
  • Goes towards Orwellian thought control.
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15
Q

What happens in Chapter 13. Von Schni-?

A
  • Anna interviews Karl-Eduard von Schnitzler, who hosted the Black Channel which produced propaganda demonising the West.
  • He still emphatically holds his views, and she finds him quite ridiculous and closed minded.
  • Interestingly, the wife’s maiden name is on the door – showing how reviled he is.
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16
Q

What happens in Chapter 14. The Worse You Feel?

A
  • Anna asks Miriam over for lunch. She reveals the story of her rape, showing the mistakes made by both sides of Germany.
  • This leads Anna to go drinking with Klaus.
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17
Q

What happens in Chapter 15: Herr Christian?

A
  • A charming man, who treats his Stasi past like a game. Anna says he treats her like a ‘co-conspirator’.
  • The difference is he was “never ideological”.
  • He is also punished by the regime for keeping secrets (an extra-marital affair)
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18
Q

What happens in Chapter 16: Socialist Man?

A
  • We meet Hagen Koch, once a “true believer” due to his upbringing. (Mielke’s cartographer)
  • He talk about the “them and us” mentality – better to be one of “us”, than one of “them”
  • He talks about his father who is blackmailed into joining the party (under threat of further imprisonment) and as a teacher must bring up his son according to GDR ideals. Hagen becomes a poster boy for the GDR.
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19
Q

What happens in Chapter 17: Drawing the Line?

A

. Koch talks about the need for the wall (they were robbing us blind) and how he began to question the regime after his marriage. They disapproved of this and attempt to split them up.
•Hagen is brought up on trumped up charges and his wife is threatened with the loss of their child if she does not support the party
•Eventually he discovers the truth and they remarry – he faces disciplinary proceedings.

20
Q

What happens in Chapter 18: The Plate?

A

. Hagen resigns from the army when he is not allowed to attend his father’s funeral as a western relative is attending.
•In defiance, he takes a plate congratulating his unit on their work.
•Their determinedness to get it back, even years later, shows the smallmindedness of the party.

21
Q

What happens in Chapter 19: Klaus?

A
  • Anna’s drinking buddy Klaus talks about his experiences as a rebellious rock star with the Stasi
  • Renft’s lyrics challenge the establishment and criticise the East German government
  • They are banned and told “they no longer exist”.
  • Many are later arrested and imprisoned. Pannach dies of a rare form of cancer, that appears to be caused by radioactive tracking experiments.
22
Q

What happens in Chapter 20: Herr Bock of Golm?

A
  • This Stasi man was in Spezialdiziplin (a handler who recruited informants).
  • He talks (impressed with his own cleverness) at the process of choosing someone to be an informer (use of blackmail)
  • He also demonstrates how well Stasi men are doing in the new system – successful rather than being held accountable.
  • He also behaves strangely upon her leaving, enjoying her discomfort at being stuck in the dark with him.
23
Q

What happens in Chapter 21: Frau Paul?

A
  • The initial story shows how people and families were separated by the wall – her sick baby Thorsten was in a hospital in West Berlin.
  • She tries to leave unsuccessfully herself and becomes embroiled with a group helping people leave East Berlin.
24
Q

What happens in Chapter 22: The Deal?

A

•Eventually she is picked up by the Stasi. A real story of genuine heroism – she has a baby stuck on the other side of the wall, and refuses to give up a West Berliner to stay out of prison and see her baby. These are the hidden stories of East Germany.

25
Q

What happens in Chapter 23: Hohenschönhausen?

A

. Frau Paul details her prison stay and the ridiculous trial.
. The prison was so secret that they could not receive visitors there – they were transported out to see them on limited occasions.
. She talks about tortures she and other inmates experienced. And how none of the men that performed these was ever brought to justice.
. The man she protected talks about his regard for her. (Michael Hinze)
. She talks about Mauer in Kopf – but also in a way that represent a fear of it all happening again. Because they haven’t seen the change or accountability needed.

26
Q

What happens in Chapter 24: Herr Bohnsack?

A
  • A Stasi man who outed himself, before he was outed
  • A spy who travelled to the West to spread disinformation. He was cultured and elite – and gives examples of Mielke being an idiot.
  • He destroyed files without permission when the wall came down
  • He has now been ostracized and harassed for his actions by the old Stasi men. But is not portrayed in any way as a hero.
  • Anna leaves (calls Miriam) to be with her sick mother
27
Q

What happens in Chapter 25: Berlin, Spring 2000?

A

. Anna returns to Germany after her mother’s death. She tries to get in contact with Miriam (no luck) and Julia (who has moved to America)
•She sits in the park and encounters a group of old men romanticising how good things were in the GDR. Anna thinks this is unrealistic.
•“…if you didn’t buck the system, then it wouldn’t harm you”. Anna says from what she can tell this isnt necessarily true.

28
Q

What happens in Chapter 26: The Wall?

A
  • A drunk sobs that he doesn’t want to be Germany anymore!
  • Hagen Koch is running a tourist bus exploring the history of the wall. He wants to remember the past.
  • This chapter also shows how things have changed since Anna was last here.
29
Q

What happens in Chapter 27: Puzzlers?

A

Anna visits the Nuremberg “Puzzle Women”. The public has a romantic idea about them but what Anna finds is a harsh reality – it is underfunded and understaffed and the harsh reality of 375 years worth of work makes her feel sorry for Miriam – for whom there may never be any truth or justice.

30
Q

What happens in Chapter 28: Miriam and Charlie

A

. Miriam bookends the text
•She has moved and seems a little more at peace
•She bemoans the existence of Ostalgie parties, and her boss tells her that she needs to conform to the culture of the station. This reminds her of the past.
•Miriam has lost faith that she will find out the truth about Charlie. So its not over for her – nor for many East Germans. I think this is what Anna concludes.

31
Q

List the major characters in Stasiland.

A 
. Anna Funder
. Miriam Weber
. Charlie Weber (Karl-Heinz Weber)
. Julia Behrend
. Major N
. Karl-Eduard Von Schnitzler
. Hagen Koch
. Heinz Koch
. Klaus Renft (Jentzsch)
. Frau (Sigrid) Paul
. Herr (Günter) Bohnsack
. Herr Christian
. Herr Winz
. Herr Bock
. Erich Mielke
. Erich Honecker
. The Puzzlers
32
Q

List the minor characters in Stasiland.

A 
. Uwe Schmidt
. Alexander Scheller 
. Fleischer
. Torsten 
. Frau Paul's husband (Hartmut)
. Helmet Schmidt
. Michael Girbachev p61
. Michael Hinze 
. Ursula
. Frau Anderson p122
. Irene and Dieter Behrend 
. Werner Koch p210
. Professor mushroom p250
. Herr Raillard p263
33
Q

Explain Miriam’s story.

A

CHAPTER 2
.Became an enemy of the state at the age of 16 (through the crime of sedition - with her friend Ursula)
. She was placed in solitary confinement for a month (no calls, lawyers, books, newspapers or visits)
. She was tricked into admitting what she did and then released to await her trial
CHAPTER 3
. Decided to try and escape to West Germany (sees a good opportunity at Bornholmer Bridge)
. Almost got across but tripped on an alarmed trip wire and got taken away - got put in a cell in Dimitroffstrasse
. Gets tortured with sleep deprivation and makes up a story in order to satisfy the paranoid Stasi
. She got one and a half years in Stauberg
CHAPTER 4
. Didn’t feel human when she got out of prison

CHAPTER 27
CHAPTER 28

34
Q

Explain Charlie’s story.

A

. Met Miriam when she was released from prison and pursued her - got together eventually and moved in together
. He had trained as a sports teacher - in the GDR, sport was closely linked with politics
. He knew about the doping of children in sports schools
. Pursued but the state - because he and his friend were under suspicion of wanting to leave the country
.

35
Q

Explain Julia’s story.

A

Bhbkh

36
Q

Explain Frau Paul’s story.

A

Kim,Mkmmmmnj

37
Q

Explain Klaus Renft’s story.

A

Njknjknji

38
Q

Explain Anna Funder’s story.

A

Include curiosity

39
Q

Explain Hagen Koch’s story.

A

Njnk mn

40
Q

Explain Herr Bohnsack’s story.

A

Mnbmnbmn

41
Q

Explain Herr Christians story.

A

M,,m,m

42
Q

Explain Von Schnitzler’s story.

A

Hjonijniu

43
Q

Explain Herr Winzs story.

A

Kim,m,m,m,

44
Q

Explain Her Bocks story.

A

Mm mm m nm

45
Q

Who were Erich Mielke, Erich Honecker and Michael Gorbachev?

A

M,m,,m

46
Q

Explain what the Stasi is.

A

Mkkmkk

47
Q

Who is Torsten, Michael Hinze and Major N?

A

Nmn nmm

Unit 3/4 English (12 decks)

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