Anke and I, we worked on the Spiegel article „Dueling Titans“, which deals with the power struggle between the USA and America; especially with its reasons, consequences and other background information.
First Step:
Art first, we had to split the issue in two parts, because the article was lengthy.So we compromised that Mi and Marina will work at the topic in regard to China, whereas Anke and I concentrate on the USA.It was difficult to make this decision, because you can’t really isolate this two aspects, but we didn’t know how to manage it in a different way.
After reading the article at home and marking the most important information, we thought about how to categorize them. Because we didn’t yet want to finalise at that point, we determined to search first of all for general information in the Internet before using the information out of the Spiegel.
So we surfed the internet temporarily and found interesting pages, which gave closer information to the topic.Some useful web pages I found:
http://www.spiegel.de/wirtschaft/0,1518,394646,00.html
http://kirstenheppner.net/site/arbeitsproben/print/dw_chinawirtschaft.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USA
Then, we collect the information which seemed to be suitable.
Second Step:
Anke and I found different and sometimes equal or resembling information, so we had to compare and to edit them.Then we bothered about the problem with the categories again and finally came to a resolution.
Our categories:
l Facts and economy of the US
l The USA in the past
l Reasons for the development of the problem
l USA‘s present economic situation
l Political reaction
l Proposals for Solution
In the next step we allocated the categories, which means we decided on which category Anke has to work and on which I.After that, we exchanged information and edited them again by removing information which didn’t suit. Next, we reread the text and worked out just the information about the USA.
Third and last step:
After that, we created the ppt- foils (with regard to the categories being alloted to us) by formulating keywords. This was complicated by the fact, that the keyword should not bee too long but nevertheless meaningful. We also searched for pictures and graphics which suit the content of our foils and put them into our presentation. After getting ready with that step, we applied ourselves to the special-effects, which subserve to let the presentation become more interesting.
When our presentation was apparently complete, we decided that it would be useful to think about an answer to the question whether the American fear is justified or not. Consequently, we wonder about arguments against and for this aspect. Later, we determined that we will create a foil referring to this question on which the advantages of the USA’s economy are listed up. Then, we formulated a statement concerning the stated question, which forms simultaneously the last sentence of our presentation.
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