Schreiben / Writing (Textproduktion, Analyse, Stellungnahme)
Textproduktion dominates the written Abitur and carries the most marks. Two task types dominate the SH format: an analysis task (a fictional or non-fictional text, a cartoon, or a combination, followed by a commenting task on a related statement) and an argumentative task (comment, letter to the editor, speech, essay). You often choose between two tasks, and each combines a comprehension and analysis part (AFB I–II) with an evaluation part (AFB III), where the top grades are decided.
The analytic essay
- Introduction: topic, text type, author, title, source and date, main idea, intention - four to six sentences, no plot.
- Body: organised by aspects (the speaker's strategy, the imagery, the shift in tone), each paragraph with a topic sentence, evidence (short quotation with line number, paraphrase, device plus effect) and a link back to the question.
- Conclusion: findings, judgement, link to the course topic (post-colonialism, globalisation, US politics, media), no new evidence.
Argumentative writing
State a thesis in the introduction. Develop two or three arguments, each with a claim, reasoning and a concrete example. Include a counter-argument you actually refute, then close with a qualified restatement of your position. Signpost with “Admittedly…”, “However…”, “What matters more is…” only where the logic demands it.
Worked example
Cartoon: a politician stands on a melting ice floe holding a sign reading “Business as usual”. Task: analyse the cartoon and evaluate its message. Reasoning: denotation first (who, where, what text), then connotation (melting ice = climate change; the sign = refusal to act; the floe = the ground disappearing beneath him), then effect (ridicule through contradiction), then evaluation (the cartoonist blames short-term politics for systemic risk). A candidate who opens with “the cartoon shows that climate change is bad” has described nothing and evaluated nothing.
Traps that cost marks
- Plot summary instead of analysis: plot is evidence, never the answer.
- Naming a device without its effect (“There is a metaphor.”).
- Opinion leaking into the analysis, or missing from the comment task - that half carries the AFB III marks.
- Missing line references and overlong quotations.
- Ignoring the required text type: comment, letter to the editor and speech follow different conventions.
- Germanisms and comma splices, which are penalised under language accuracy rather than content.