All in all I’m satisfied with our presentation.

I think it was a difficult topic because Maren and I had to share our article with another group. Because of the many comparisons between China and the USA we had some problems to devide the information. Another problem was that we had not enough time to compare our presentation to the one from Marina and Mi. If we had had more time, maybe we would have managed to create one presentation with direct comparisons between the “Dueling Titans“.

I think our presentation itself was good. The thing I’m not satisfied with is that I was too nervous although I was good prepared. So I have to improve presenting in english because this was never a real topic in former classes.

But the colaboration with Maren worked quite good and so I’m content.

Madonna- American Life
Do I have to change my name?
Will it get me far?
Should I lose some weight?
Am I gonna be a star?I tried to be a boy,
I tried to be a girl
I tried to be a mess,
I tried to be the best
I guess I did it wrong,
That’s why I wrote this song

My comment on the song

I think Madonna excoriates the American culture and thinking. Expecially the American Dream, an attitude of life which says that everybody has the chance to have more money and a better and happier life, is criticised.

Madonna who is living an American dream as a star does a kind of self-critical statement. In some passages it even sounds like a search for identity which is also a big theme in the American Dream.

This song is noted for the provocative video, which was canceled after two days. It included an open statement against George Bush and the Iraq war but she recognized that it would be better to considerate of the US-army in Iraq.

Madonna wanted her song to resist against the war, the cruelty and violence.

I think she managed to write a song against the American Dream and everyone notices, “that nothing is what it seems.”

But in my opinion a video has to fit to the song and just because of a canceled video and a created scandal her criticism on the government is not that clear. Some people even say that the video was only made to spark the interest in her new album “American Life.”

All things considered I mostly chose the right prepositions.

I had some problems to distinguish the prepositions on and in.

“The factory workers have been on strike since January.”

“Children! Don’t play on the street! It’s dangerous!”

“He always comes on time.”

A good website to look at some rules of the prepositions of location.