HSC German Extension flashcards

32 cards. Read the term and the definition here. The deck at the top of this page is optional.

Hauptaussage

The central claim a text makes, as distinct from its topic or its supporting details. Summary items reward this; detail items reward specific facts instead.

Textbeleg

Direct quotation or precise line reference used to support an interpretive or comprehension claim. Without it, an assertion is treated as unsupported and earns no evidence marks.

Operator: nennen

Command word asking for a bare list of items or facts with no explanation. Answer in note form; elaboration adds nothing to the mark and costs time.

Operator: erläutern

Command word requiring explanation with reasons or examples, not mere description. Each point needs a because-clause or an illustration drawn from the text.

Operator: beurteilen

Command word requiring an evaluative judgement supported by criteria and evidence. State the verdict, justify it, and acknowledge at least one limitation or counter-consideration.

False friend: aktuell

Means current or up to date, not 'actual'. Misreading it reverses the sense of a sentence about present trends and is a common comprehension error.

Modal particles

Words such as halt, eben, doch, ja, mal that colour tone rather than add propositional content. Ignoring them flattens register and can miss a character's attitude.

Negation carriers

Words like nicht, kein, kaum, nie, ohne dass that reverse meaning. Locate them before translating a clause; a missed negation inverts the whole statement.

Ich-Erzähler

First-person narrator who reports only what the figure knows and perceives. This creates immediacy and intimacy but restricts information and can signal unreliability.

Auktorialer Erzähler

Third-person narrator standing outside the action, able to comment, foreshadow, and enter several figures' minds. Enables overview and explicit evaluation of characters.

Innerer Monolog

Uninterrupted rendering of a figure's thoughts, often in short paratactic sentences. Signals psychological pressure and gives direct access to unspoken motive.

Leitmotiv

A recurring image, phrase, or object that accumulates meaning across a text. Tracking its repetitions reveals the work's thematic argument.

Deutungshypothese

A one-sentence, arguable claim about what the text means, placed in the introduction. It must be debatable and provable from the text, not a plot summary.

Parataxe

Series of short main clauses without subordination. Produces rapid pace and can convey urgency, shock, or a childlike or clipped narrative voice.

Hypotaxe

Long sentences with multiple subordinate clauses. Slows pace and signals reflection, formality, or a narrator weighing complex causal relationships.

Figurencharakterisierung

Building a character from explicit comment plus implicit evidence: actions, speech style, others' reactions, and what the figure chooses to notice.

Spannungsbogen

The arc of tension from exposition through complication to climax and resolution. Naming where the arc peaks supports structural analysis with evidence.

Ironie

Saying the opposite of what is meant, signalled by context or tone. Interpretation must cite the signal and state the intended effect on the reader.

Wortwahl

Lexical choice analysed by connotation and register: colloquial, elevated, archaic, anglicised. Each choice positions the narrator or figure socially and emotionally.

Textaussage vs. Meinung

Textaussage is what the text states; eigene Meinung is your judgement. Signalling the shift explicitly keeps analysis and evaluation in separate, creditable categories.

Concession structure

Pattern zwar … aber or einerseits … andererseits: grant a valid opposing point, then rebut. Reads as balanced argument and earns evaluation marks.

Hedged evaluation

Qualified judgement using dürfte, scheint, lässt sich deuten als, es liegt nahe, dass. Keeps critical claims defensible without weakening the position.

Einseitigkeit

A limitation worth naming: the text presents one perspective, omits counter-evidence, or generalises from a single case. A concrete critical point, not vague disapproval.

Manipulative Rhetorik

Emotional appeals, loaded lexis, or unstated assumptions used to steer the reader. Identifying the technique and its target is stronger than simply objecting to it.

Adressatenbezug

Adjusting content, register, and address form to the intended reader. Wrong address form (du instead of Sie) is penalised even when the German is accurate.

Leserbrief conventions

Opens by referencing the article, develops agreement or objection with reasons, and closes with a demand or appeal. Formal Sie-form and a neutral-to-firm tone.

Rezension structure

Summarise content briefly, judge it against criteria, then recommend or warn. Judgement without criteria reads as opinion only and loses marks.

Verb-second rule

In main clauses the finite verb occupies second position, so an initial adverbial is followed by the verb, then the subject: Deshalb fordere ich mehr Zeit.

Subordinate clause order

After weil, obwohl, dass, wenn the finite verb moves to the end; separable prefixes rejoin it there, as in … weil sie früh aufsteht.

Redemittel by function

Fixed phrases grouped by purpose: stating opinion, giving example, drawing consequence, contrasting, concluding. Pre-learned chunks free attention for content during the exam.

Pronominaladverbien

Forms like dafür, darauf, damit, worüber that refer back to a whole clause. They create cohesion and prevent repetitive noun repetition in extended writing.

Register markers

Lexical and grammatical signals of formality: Sie versus du, Konjunktiv for politeness, colloquial particles. Consistency of register is assessed as part of task fulfilment.