Portfolio Entry # 14 - "Across the Great Divide"

"Across the Great Divide"

A title has the function of capturing readers attention and interest by giving them an idea of what the text purpose is. In this article, the title resorts to the reader´s historical knowledge about the German reunification. An astute reader may notice that the heading intentionally alludes to the Berlin Wall, the barrier that splitted Berlin from 1961 to 1989, erected by the communist German Democratic Republic in order to divide East Germany from West Germany both physically and simbollically. The wall is referred as ´the great divide´ because it was a boundary between two countries, but also between two contrasting political, economic, social and cultural viewpoints. Given that the article was written in 1999, ten years after the German reunification, the title “Across the great divide” invites readers to expect a portrayal of the situation at that time.

After ten years of Berlin Wall´s fall, there were still economic, political and social division within the Germany society. That is the panorama of Berlin depicted in the article. The first and second paragraphs describe the experiences of two citizens who were born and lived on each side of the former wall. Both agree on blaming the other person for their economic and labour problems. The third paragraph mentions that an attitudinal barrier replaces the physical wall. The fourth and fifth paragraphs deal with the little or almost no change in political behaviour of citizens from the East and West Berlin. The sixth paragraph states that the residents of the united city remain strangers and they would rather not change that situation. Disappointment over social security and living conditions are described in the seventh paragraph. The eighth passage has to do with the insecurity about how to live in a changing society. Social as well as economic differences still divide the two halves of the city, state the ninth and tenth paragraphs. The eleventh passage describes the nostalgia for the old way of life felt by eastern German people. That is seen as an ungrateful attitude by western German people, according to the description in the paragraph twelfth. The last extract –the conclusion- reveals that both eastern and western German people share similar values and expectations about the future.

Source:

• ·         Wallace, Ch. (1999). “Across the Great Divide”. Time. Nov. 15. Pp. 22-26.