Anja Frank – författare

Seminar paper from the year 2008 in the subject English Language and Literature Studies - Linguistics, grade: 1,3, University of Hamburg (Institut für Anglisitk und Amerikanistik), course: Cognitive English Grammar, language: English, abstract: That humans try to understand their environment by studying the available information is common knowledge, but how these processes of analyzing and understanding function within our brain is still a field that has not been entirely investigated, yet. Within the last years the interest of cognitive processes has grown enormously and has led to a whole new field of research. Inside this research field of cognitive grammar the theory of conceptual blending is the most interesting one for me. In my opinion, blending is an elegant way for creative processes. It illustrates the strong relationship between language and cognition. Furthermore, blends are an effective way to spread a message and to attract attention and curiosity towards an idea or a product. Examples of blends can be found in many sorts of situations, for instance, in cartoons, jokes, poetry or advertisements and there are many more situations which demonstrate the ubiquity of conceptual blending. Within this term paper, however, I want to concentrate on the field of advertisements. I will shortly present important information on conceptual blending and analyze two different ads according to the CB Theory developed by Gilles Fauconnier and Mark Turner. While studying and reading books about the topic I realized the crucial role of the recipients. Therefore, I started a survey with four test persons, wondering if all were able to decode the messages. I was also interested in their reaction towards the advertisements. I believe that this information is important when considering the effectiveness of the advertisements. That is why I have included their views and opinions below each analysis.

Seminar paper from the year 2006 in the subject American Studies - Literature, grade: 1,2, Ernst Moritz Arndt University of Greifswald (Anglistik/ Amerikanistik), course: Proseminar: American Poetry, language: English, abstract: The power of literature is a great one indeed. It absorbs us, transforms our environment, changes our way of thinking. For a moment we are able to live another life, try different opportunities and imagine fantastic worlds. Especially poems seem to touch us within our deepest soul. A poem can often say things that might never be said in any other way. It gives us goose bumps and butterflies in our stomach; it makes us cry, makes us laugh, makes us feel better- makes us think. Poetry expresses not only love, or disgust, but also giddy elation, mild bemusement, wild imagination and any other feelings we can or cannot imagine. Throughout the years many authors have expressed their opinions, hopes and critics in magazines, in books filled with pages and pages of poetry. Nevertheless some of them clearly stand out with their life and their work. Some of them are authors that made great contributions to the world of literature and that are still unforgotten. One of them is Edgar Allan Poe. Edgar Allan Poe did not only have a great influence on the development of horror and fantasy genres, he also stands (with Mary Shelley) for a new strain in literary Romanticism, later called Gothic. Poe is known as the father of the American short story and the detective story, but furthermore he wrote wonderful pieces of poetry. (Magistrale 2001: xiii) Tony Magistrale writes in his book “Student Companion to Edgar Allan Poe”: “Poe was one of those rare literary geniuses who not only labored successfully in multiple genres- poetry, fiction, the essay- but also went on to contribute significantly to defining and exploring the fullest range of possibilities inherent in these genres.“ (Magistrale 2001: xii) One of his most famous poems that spread out through the world and got translated into many languages is “The Raven”. This essay offers a summary and an interpretation of “The Raven” and tries to respect Poe’s own analysis in “The Philosophy of Composition”. Nevertheless, when reading or analyzing a poem it is always profitable to read about the life of the poet, too. Some of his biographical facts may be the link to understand his way of writing. That’s why this essay also deals with Edgar Allan Poe’s life and the time he grew up.

Die Studie untersucht bürgerschaftliches Engagement in Fördervereinen von Opern- und Theaterhäusern in Deutschland. Sie fragt nach den Selbst- und Gesellschaftsentwürfen, die hinter dem Bemühen um diese Kunstgattung stehen und nach den kollektiven Orientierungen, die sich in dem gemeinschaftlichen Engagement dokumentieren. Auf Grundlage von Gruppendiskussionen werden Sinnstrukturen des Engagements und ästhetischer Bezüge in ihren Deutungszusammenhängen und in interaktiven Prozessen rekonstruiert.

Die Studie untersucht bürgerschaftliches Engagement in Fördervereinen von Opern- und Theaterhäusern in Deutschland. Sie fragt nach den Selbst- und Gesellschaftsentwürfen, die hinter dem Bemühen um diese Kunstgattung stehen und nach den kollektiven Orientierungen, die sich in dem gemeinschaftlichen Engagement dokumentieren. Auf Grundlage von Gruppendiskussionen werden Sinnstrukturen des Engagements und ästhetischer Bezüge in ihren Deutungszusammenhängen und in interaktiven Prozessen rekonstruiert.

Seminar paper from the year 2005 in the subject English Language and Literature Studies - Linguistics, grade: 1,8, Ernst Moritz Arndt University of Greifswald (Anglistik/ Amerikanistik), course: Pragmatics, language: English, abstract: This essay deals with language describing important patterns of interactions which are commonplace in the world of work. The central focus lies on the description of the different kinds of speech acts and their functions. This also involves analysing certain social relations, cultural or gender differences and variations between workplaces which influence the interactions. The essay is based upon a research about intercultural workplace communication in Australia that was published in Inter-cultural Communication at Work , written by M. Clyne. In our multi-lingual world language plays an important role in creating a particular kind of working atmosphere. Especially the workplace combines the talents of many people with different traditions, habits, ideas, cultures and languages. But no matter if foreigner or not when joining a new company new technical terminology and group jargon have to be learned in order to keep up the acquired norms for interaction. This is an important issue when wanting to become an accepted colleague.