Schülerprojekte

Hier informieren wir über einzelne Projekte, die an der Heinrich-Büssing-Schule durchgeführt wurden und aktuell durchgeführt werden. Überlegt doch mal, ob Ihr nicht auch ein Projekt mit Eurer Klasse machen wollt. Das könnten wir dann sogar hier veröffentlichen, wenn ihr wollt?!?

Drei komische Heilige in der HBS

16.2.2022 FOS 11

Deutschland in Trümmern und ein Weihnachtsfest ohne Geschenke – Autor Wolfgang Borchert stellt in seiner Kurzgeschichte „Die drei dunklen Könige“ von 1946 eine traurige Heilige Nacht kurz nach dem 2. Weltkrieg dar.

Das „Trümmerliteratur“ allerdings auch Spaß machen kann, zeigt die FOS 11 im Februar in der Abteilung Studienvorbereitende Bildungsgänge im Fach Deutsch bei Herrn Becker.

Die Aufgabe: Die Kurzgeschichte zuerst in ein Drehbuch umzuwandeln, um dann einen Kurzfilm zu drehen.

Vier der Ergebnisse finden Sie hier:

  • Mitglieder Gruppe 1: David, Per, Tom, Linus
  • Mitglieder Gruppe 2: Alex, Talia, Cedric, Jonas
  • Mitglieder Gruppe 3: Jasper, Deniz, Cem, Kilian
  • Mitglieder Gruppe 4: Almin, Anthony, Luis, Tristan

Herzlichen Dank an alle Beteiligten!

 

Literatur trifft Kreativität - Auseinandersetzung mit Mbues "Behold the dreamers"

Literatur trifft Kreativität – Unsere Interpretationsprojekte der Oberstufe

Was passiert, wenn literarische Tiefe auf kreative Gestaltung trifft? Im Leistungskurs Englisch des Jahrgangs 12 gingen unsere Schüler*innen über das reine Lesen hinaus – sie gestalteten, reflektierten und interpretierten literarische Figuren auf ganz eigene Weise.

Im Rahmen der Abiturvorbereitung wählten sie eine Figur aus dem prüfungsrelevanten Roman „Behold the dreamers“ von Imbolo Mbue und setzen sich auf kreative Weise mit deren innerem Konflikt, Entwicklung und Bedeutung auseinander.

Die Schüler*innen gestalteten visuell ausdrucksstarke Poster und Comicszenen mit einer charakteristischen Pose der Figur in einer Schlüsselszene und einem Zitat, das den inneren Konflikt oder die Lebenseinstellung der Figur widerspiegelt.

In der Rolle eines Literaturjournalisten analysierten sie 3–4 prägende Szenen des Romans mit Kapitelbezug die Figur im Kontext der Gesamtstruktur des Romans und alles in einem 5–10-minütigen, journalistisch gestalteten Audiobeitrag.

Begleitend verfassten alle Schüler*innen ein „Artist’s Statement“ auf Englisch, in dem sie ihre Interpretation und künstlerischen Entscheidungen reflektierten – sprachlich sicher, analytisch fundiert und persönlich.

In einem kurzen Reflexionsgespräch erläuterten die Schüler*innen abschließend ihre kreativen Entscheidungen – ein Beitrag zur Förderung von Eigenständigkeit, Medienkompetenz und literarischer Bildung.

Tiefgang, Kreativität und Ausdrucksstärke – in einem Projekt vereint.

Die Ergebnisse werden hier in einer schulinternen Ausstellung präsentiert – lassen Sie sich überraschen von den vielen Stimmen hinter den literarischen Figuren!

Cindy's inner pain - artist statement

Artist’s Statement on Cindy’s inner pain

The portrait for the book “Behold the Dreamers” by Imbolo Mbue shows the sad reality of the Edwards family. The main figure is Cindy Edwards, her head buried in her crossed arms, reflecting her shame and helplessness. She turns to alcohol to escape the heavy burden of keeping the family together. Meanwhile, her husband, Clark Edwards, is physically present but emotionally absent. He appears as a dark silhouette, holding a phone, symbolizing how work comes before his family.

The wine glass in Cindy’s hand carries deep meaning. Inside it is a trapped dove—her youngest son, Mightey—who is stuck in the family’s struggles and unable to find his own path. In contrast, her older son, Vincent, is a dove flying free from the glass. He has broken away, chasing his dream of traveling to India. While Vincent escapes, Mightey remains caught in the cycle of dysfunction.

The colors in the painting are mostly gray and simple. This reflects modern minimalism but also shows the emptiness and confusion within the family. Cindy blends into the background as if she is fading into the stress and sadness. The family is falling apart, and she feels lost. Her golden blonde hair, perfectly manicured nails, and the deep red wine stand out, creating a sharp contrast between outer beauty and inner suffering. These details highlight how she appears put together but is falling apart inside.

The meaning deepens with the quote: “He thinks… he thinks he has the right,” Cindy whimpered, slightly above a whisper. “Everyone… they all think they’ve got the right to treat me as they wish.” This moment shows Cindy’s breakdown. She realizes that not only does her husband mistreat her, but everyone around her sees her as an object. She feels hopeless, and her emotional collapse seems unavoidable 
 

On fear

On fear

This digital poster I made is about the Topic of fear, exploring the inner demons of the major characters (Jende Jonga and Clark Edwards) of the drama “Behold the Dreamers”. The en%re poster is in black and white style, because the dark atmosphere is fi(ng very well to describe their fears and worries inside their soul. On the le+ side if the poster is a destroyed Statue of Liberty in a desert landscape, near her Jende Jonga, nervously si(ng, holding his hand to his forehead. He says: “Please, God forbid bad things. Be2er you give me a bo2le of kerosene to drink and die right now.” (chapter 3; page 19; ll. 1-2). He is saying this because during a conversa%on with Winston and Bubakar they created a plan, in which Jende shall lie to the government, that the father of the girl, Jonga had sex with, is threatening to kill him and so get an asylum and a+er that easily the green card to stay with his family in America forever. But it’s very risky to do so. If this whole decep%on will be exposed (it will later), he fears that all the efforts to build a be2er life for his family, building a less poor life and difficult than in his family home country and his whole family will be deported back to Cameroon in the end. The fact that he came to the USA illegally makes this plan even riskier, so Jende Jonga's fear significantly increases. The destroyed statue in the desert perfectly illustrates his crumbling hopes to get a good life for him, his wife Neni and his son Liomi (Timba will born later in drama) and the worry about the deporta%on of all them with him. On the right side of digital poster is the office of Clark Edwards. Three skyscrapers can be seen behind the windows. Clark is si(ng on the le+ chair and Jende Jonga on the right chair. A+er a long conversa%on, Clark is answering Jende why he fires him, but says it in a nervous, cau%ous, evasive way: “It’s … it’s complicated”, guessing the truth, Jende asks: “Is it Mrs. Edwards, sir?”. Clark remains stubborn, without answering the ques%on of Jende (chapter 38; page 175; ll. 28-30). The a2empt to avoid telling Jende the truth, shows how deep the problems of his family are and how emo%onally unstable his wife (Cindy Edwards) is (the real reason for firing Jende is, that Cindy wanted it, feeling ashamed that Jende saw her troubled, bad lifestyle). This and the o+en quarrels with his own wife have a strong effect on Clark. The dark tones of the Background show how big his fear is to do anything wrong and confusion about how not to harm your friends, colleagues and family at the same %me. Clark is also afraid of losing control over his family and that this will collapse in the end, because he is much concentrated on the job, less on family 
 

Neni's decision to blackmail Cindy

My artwork focuses on Neni’s thoughts and inner life as she faces the decision to blackmail Cindy with the pictures she took of her using drugs. Neni is a strong and confident woman who would do everything to help her family in hard times. This scene was really interesting to work with, as I was surprised by her actions when reading it for the first time. While working with the scene, I noticed that her attitude changes over time. At the beginning, she was sure she had done the right thing and wanted to protect her family. But later, especially after facing criticism from her husband, she begins to second-guess her decision to blackmail Cindy. After Cindy’s death, she is shaken and feels guilty for what she did to a woman who was already in a bad situation.

I wanted to portray the different sides in Neni’s mind in my poster. Therefore, I thought about what might have influenced Neni on her decision to blackmail Cindy, and also what thoughts came to her afterwards. To showcase these in the poster, I researched colors associated with these general topics so I could stay consistent and create a section for each. My categories and colors were: wife (red), family (orange), friends (yellow), morality (light blue), personality – determination, courage, strength, intelligence (mid/dark blue), women cohesion (purple), mother (pink), and race (brown).

In the center of the poster, I placed the silhouette of a confident African woman to represent Neni. I picked a silhouette because the novel doesn’t give an exact physical description of Neni, and I wanted her to remain open to interpretation. The woman stands confidently to reflect Neni’s strength and determination, especially in how she acts to protect her family. I also wanted to highlight her cultural identity, as she comes from Cameroon. Her background shapes how she views her world and impacts her decisions.

Neni is a strong, determined, and smart person who knows how to navigate situations. As a caring mother and wife, family plays a big role in her life and she wants to protect her children and support her husband however she can. Lastly, she believes that people like Cindy look down on Africans and think they can do whatever they want with people like her. On the other hand, topics like her morality speak against her decision, as Neni is a Christian and is influenced by general social values. She also risks losing friends like Cindy or Anna, Cindy’s housekeeper. In addition, women’s cohesion is a factor against her actions, Neni had made a promise to Cindy after helping her in a vulnerable moment not to tell anyone what she had seen.

As stated above, I chose the colors based on their associations with each topic. The symbols were also chosen to represent the ideas behind each category. For “wife,” I used symbols of love (hearts, the word “love,” red roses) and placed wedding rings in the center to show her bond with her husband. For “family,” I used images that show how diverse families can be (like different citizenships), but also how they still support each other, including pictures of human families and a bird family. “Friends” is shown through symbols of joy, hope (sun, sunflowers), and memories (cameras). “Morality” is represented with a scale, the yin and yang symbol (balance between right and wrong), as well as an ankh or an eye to show moral awareness. For “personality,” I used symbols like books, mirrors, and icebergs to show her depth and intelligence, as well as symbols of her determination like a focused eye, a knife, and lightning. For “women cohesion,” I connected Neni and Cindy through symbols like expensive clothes, which Cindy gave her as a gift after Neni helped her. For “mother,” I used loving and caring symbols like hearts, baby feet, or a mother holding a child. Lastly, for “race,” I showed her Cameroonian identity through images of Limbe and the relationship between the Jonga and Edwards families. Symbols like chains and closed doors represent the difficulties Neni faced as a black woman, and how she believes the Edwards think they’re above them in society. I also used flowers across different categories to symbolize how all these sides are connected and influence Neni’s complex decision-making process.

What was challenging in the process of making the artwork was finding symbols and pictures that clearly represent each topic. It was also time-consuming to place them carefully in the poster to create a visually balanced design where colors and topics go well together. While working with the symbols and topics, I realized how rich and diverse Neni’s inner world is, and how many different elements might have influenced her decision to blackmail Cindy.

For the quote, I chose page 189, lines 37–40: “She sat down on the sofa, livid and humiliated. How could he see her as one of those kinds of people when all she was doing was trying to help their situation? And now she was wicked? She was a bad person for being a good mother and wife?” In my opinion, this shows Neni’s main reasons for blackmailing Cindy, but also her uncertainty about whether it was right. It also shows the influence her husband has on her inner world, since his opinion matters a lot to her. The quote connects to many of my topics, such as mother, wife, family, morality, and even personality.

 

American dream - artist statement

In preperation for this podcast episode, i decided to focus on Jende Jonga and Clark Edwards because they present two opposite experiences with the American Dream. Jende, an immigrant from Cameroon, approaches the dream with hope and ambition and wanted to build a better life in the US. Clark, a wealthy American banker, embodies the pressure and emotional cost that hides behind material success. the most fascinating thing about both men was not the fact that they had completely opposite social positions, it was the fact that both men are trapped in the same system, facing similiar struggles.

I purposely highlighted Jendes optimism at the beginning, particularly in Chapter 2, when he says to his wife Neni:“This is it, Neni. The beginning of everything.“ This quote served as a foundation for my interpretation. It depicts the agonizing irony that develops later in the novel in addition to the excitement of fresh starts. This belief is genuine and full of hope for Jende. He works hard, follows every rule and gives everything for his new country. However we witness, that his dream turned against him as his asylum case starts to fail. He is denied a future by the system he relied on. That contradiction is what makes his story so powerfull.

My intention with Clark Edwars was to show a more quiet, inward struggle. His confession that „I feel like im drowning“ in chapter 23 demonstrates that privileges does not shield people from feeling lost. He feels isolated by his wealth. He is defined by his career. In a startling turn of events, he really envies Jendes optimism. When Clark says „You‘re lucky.“ in Chapter 42 the roles are reversed. For me the most heartbreaking discoverie was, „You still believe things can get better.“ It reminded me that hope itself can be a form of power, even when everything else is taken away.

The creative process really pushed me to pay attention to the subtle moments in the novel, including silences, pauses and things that go unspoken. I realized how carefully Mbue weaves together the journey of both characters, allowing the reader to connect with people on two different sides of society. At the end, both are victims, each one in their own way, of a dream that asks too much of them.

This project really got me thinking about the complexity of human struggle. And how literature helps us to look past the headlines and labels. The American Dream isn‘t just an idea. It‘s a real life journey filled with contradictions. In Behold the Dreamers, we see that come alive through to men who, in the end, have more similarities than they might first appear to.
 

Cindy's suicide attempt - Artist statement

In my Podcast, I interpreted the character Cindy Edwards in context of her trying to kill herself. In my opinion, she represents the most complex character. While she has everything from the material aspect of life, like wealth and social status, she has nothing from the emotional aspect of life. When reading the book, I saw a woman crumbling from emotional neglect, trauma and no fulfillment in life. 

In order to represent this in the Podcast, I chose 4 scenes from the Book. All about her family. Central to my interpretation of Cindy was her longing for love, her loneliness and being without attention by anyone in her social environment. I chose those topics, because I think that those are crucial considering being so unhappy that you want to kill yourself. Those topics were also widely spread in the book, when we got to know Cindy. 

I was really fascinated by how she tried to keep up the image of the perfect woman, when she really wasn’t and desperate for help. To illustrate those topics, I used her loneliness from chapter 5, her breakdown from chapter 21, her confession of the childhood trauma in chapter 21 and her feeling betrayed as well in chapter 21.

While this was a podcast and not a visual artwork, I still made stylistic and artistic choices to enhance the overall presentation. To give the podcast a more professional feel, the Podcast got a short Intro and Outro. Additionally, I used background music to set a calm atmosphere. The topic of suicide is deeply emotional and potentially distressing. The gentle and calm music helps to soften this topic. I think it improves the listening experience. For improving the professionality a bit more, I asked a friend to record the questions. He has experience with audio and synchronizations. 

Additionally, he’s native English, so he could formulate those questions nice and help me with improving my answers from the grammatical aspect. The quote I used to symbolize Cindy Edwards “Everyone... they all think they’ve got the right to treat me as they wish” from chapter 21 is the perfect representation of Cindy’s core conflict. I already explained it in detail in the Podcast but so summarize it up, the Quote directly represents her powerlessness, her exhaustion and emotional neglect. Then it was in her breakdown at the holiday residence in the Hamptons, which represents the wealth and social status of her. Before this quote, she had a fight with her Husband. 

That represents her longing for love. She was slightly drunk, which represents her Drug addiction, which later killed her. And lastly it was in front of Neni which shows her real loneliness. That she doesn’t have somebody to go to. Reflecting on the process, I found it challenging to dive deeply into Cind’s pain. The more I read about Cindy, the more I realized how central she is to the larger message of the novel. The American Dream can be an emptiness, when it’s built on materialism not connection. This helped me to understand that sometimes the most tragic characters are the quietest ones, the ones who never scream, but disappear with time. This is what I tried to convey with the Podcast 
 

Neni's conflict

Vince Edwards between the worlds