Hey Veeky Forums, I need some help. I tried asking a similar question yesterday, although I've since decided to go with a slightly different route.
So, I've got to write a short story piece for my course, and one of the two prompts is "It is the victims of conflict that show us what is really important". We can't choose a prompt that's anything other than this and the other one.
Now, I've decided to make my piece about the struggles of the German citizens after WW1. I've tried asking Veeky Forums, but they aren't that helpful, so I thought I'd ask here.
I've come to realize that even though I studied about Germany during and after WW1, I can't remember shit. And I also can't think up of any good ideas.
I just need some ideas at the very least. I can't just state a bunch of historical facts, which is all I can think of doing. I wanted to write a piece that's sort of a self-reflection from a first-person view of a German citizen, and at the end it would be revealed that this citizen is Adolf Hitler, because why the fuck not. But this piece should have nothing to do with him or his actions until the very last paragraph. It needs to focus on the struggles of the average Germans.
The other prompt is "Conflict is inevitable, but combat is optional." I can't think of anything for that, which is why I went for the other prompt.
Can somebody please help me with this? I need to write this thing within the next 3 hours and hand it in tomorrow morning which is in 9 hours.
Dylan Scott
...
Ian White
You didn't even read my post in its entirety.
Jackson Cooper
Let's see how serious you are. What do you think the average German's struggle consisted of?
David Parker
From what I remember, I'd say that it would be lack of jobs, and the fact that the economy was falling apart and the inflation of the mark.
But I need more than just this. I need it to be on a more personal level, you know what I mean?
Asher Peterson
What were the causes for that?
Jose Edwards
For the inflation? Because the government (?) was making a shit ton of cash to pay their really large debt. And the treaty of Versailles signing that made them pay reparations didn't help either.
Look, I don't mean to rush you or anything, but are you going to help me?
Ayden Moore
>making adolf hitler into a person at a university user...
if you do want to go that route, it's sort of worth mentioning that hitler himself always had a political slant, so if you want to go the whole 'harsh treatment of enemies leads to terrible things happening' route then you can try for that
Gavin Hill
Yeah, I know, it's probably a bad idea but the twist is really just to fuck with my cunt of a teacher who knows jack shit about history and Hitler other than that he was a baddy. I want the bitch to sympathize for this German citizen until the very end.
Could you please expand a bit on the 'harsh treatment of enemies leads to terrible things happening' part? I don't think I understand. I need to write about how WW1 affected the German citizens in a negative way, and make it on a personal level. So like, how it affected the person's mental health, and their pride for their nation, how it tore apart their family, etc.
Liam Rogers
you can talk about how not only adolf suffered, but how he saw the common people suffer in droves (treaty of versailles, overinflation, lack of things to eat etc), and how that adversely affected his mental state
i'm only around 3 chapters into mein kampf mind you so i have no idea what he was actually doing at that time
Hunter Anderson
Thanks for the help.
Jordan Jackson
user i know this is entirely unconstructive but please don't write about hitler for your university short story, there are plenty of ways to address the prompt without invoking old mate adolf. For example, if you want to stick with the theme of inter-war Germany, how about talking about the conflict between fascists and communists in the late 20s? there's plenty of room to create a unique character & story without leaning on hitler which frankly is a tired point.
Michael Hall
I have absolutely no knowledge of the conflict between the fascists and the communists in the late 20s, and don't have enough time to properly learn about them and write up a whole new piece.
And like I said, the Adolf part was just a twist in the very last sentence to fuck with my course teacher. The rest of the piece would be read as someone who struggled with life after WW1. You wouldn't know it was Hitler.
Hudson Butler
look ok fair enough but im just saying that that Adolf plot twist immediately makes me cringe and might sour your otherwise solid work
Jose Phillips
Peoplr were poor. Just look at poor people today and you get a pretty clear image of how it was.
Levi King
Here's what I've written so far, sort of as a backbone for the story. Yeah, I know it's shit, and yeah, I know it's really short. But it's a first draft of something I know next to nothing about. And I'm really rushing this shit because I've got two more hours to have a final draft complete.
The first three paragraphs are just facts, that needs to change. I'll also have to fix the last paragraph, as it doesn't even follow what really happened.
Could someone give me some (constructive) criticism on this?
David Ross
concrete experiences and how hitler empathized
men being sent off in waves to face machinegun fire, the courage and strength to be sent out there only to return to a shattered nation widows, if your teacher is into the female perspective scenes of poverty in general, kids toying around with the worthless mark make sure to tie in hate towards the establishments which causes these issues as well
Luis Gutierrez
to further on that, put in some narrative/narratives
"one day i was walking and this happened, which made me reflect on this"
Dylan Murphy
Thank you.
>"one day i was walking and this happened, which made me reflect on this"
Should I make up a scenario for this, or try to find something that actually happened?
Sebastian Green
how constrained by time are you? and how long does the paper have to be?
Julian Miller
I have just about two hours, because I've got to sleep for at least five hours before handing it in tomorrow morning at 0800. It is currently 0047 here.
It's got to be ~2000 words.
Joshua Thompson
personally i'd go into detail on general experiences that he probably had
so in short, make it up, and if you have time or feel guilty about it you can type up new narratives based on reality
Tyler Ward
Thanks for the help, I appreciate it. I've added in the suggestions that you made. So basically I just turn each of those into short scenarios that he comes across, and write his made-up reflection on it?
Connor Green
yep as long as you have writing short narratives down you're good
godspeed, user, and may other anons help you if you need shit
Landon Garcia
Thank you again, you've really helped me out here user.
Isaiah Young
>Conflict is inevitable, but combat is optional. This prompt is WAY better if you want to focus on WW1.
Isaiah Bennett
Shit, really? Do you have any ideas for the prompt? I'm already at 1500 of the 2000 word essay I need to write, but I might as well see what could have been, for future reference.
Ethan Davis
WW1 led to the destruction of an entire nation and all her people, all over pathetic little land holding issues and nationalism in the Baltic region. Not to mention how Germany was in no way at fault for the war, they just happened to be the most powerful force in it and so the blame got put on them. This is all besides the fact that the only reason England really took part in the first place was simply to destroy Germany. They had no interest in the politics, they simply saw Germany as a threat to British imperial dominance in that time frame, specifically throughout Africa. They wanted to see the German Empire destroyed for their own benefit, not for the protection of their weak eastern allies.
Had it not fell to combat the Europe we know today would be entirely different and probably stronger on the whole because her economic engine wouldn't have been completely stopped, twice.