a)„Fast food, fast fashion, fast friends."tricolon
b)„Is this really the best we can do?"rhetorical question
c)„The internet is a firehose of opinion."metaphor
d)„We came, we clicked, we forgot."tricolon / anaphora
e)„Every single one of us."hyperbole / emphasis
2Fact, opinion or appeal? Write F, O or A.
Facts can be checked. Opinions judge. Appeals tell the reader to do something.
a)Three billion people use social media.F
b)Social media is the worst invention of the century.O
c)Put your phone down and look up.A
d)Teenagers spend about three hours a day online.F
e)We must act before it is too late.A
3Complete the analysis sentences with the right verb.
addresses, compares, invites, makes
a)The author … the reader directly with „you". (addresses / tells)addresses
b)The metaphor … the internet with a firehose. (compares / says)compares
c)The rhetorical question … the reader to agree. (invites / asks)invites
d)The tricolon … the message more memorable. (makes / does)makes
4Write one sentence: What is the effect of the tricolon „Fast food, fast fashion, fast friends"?
Device – quote – effect on the reader
a)The tricolon …e.g. The tricolon links three areas of life through the repeated „fast", so the reader sees a single pattern of speed and shallowness — and „fast friends" at the end makes it personal.
Excerpt from an opinion column (invented, for practice): „Let's be honest: nobody reads the terms and conditions. We scroll, we tick, we surrender. Forty pages of legal prose stand between us and a game, a photo filter, a bus ticket — and we click „I agree" faster than we would sign for a parcel. The companies know this. They count on it. Every „we value your privacy" banner is a small masterpiece of theatre: the show of choice without the substance of it. I do not blame the users. Blaming a swimmer for the current is a fine way to keep the river as it is. I blame a system that has turned consent into a reflex. Until a click costs the company more than it costs us, nothing will change."
1Line of argument: Trace the author's reasoning in four steps.
Don't summarise the content — show how one point leads to the next.
a)1 Observation:
b)2 Explanation (who is responsible and how):
c)3 Rejection of an alternative view:
d)4 Conclusion / demand:
2Rhetorical and stylistic devices: Name the device, quote it and explain its effect.
Climax / tricolon, metaphor, analogy, direct address / inclusive we. Effect: what does it make the reader feel or accept?
a)„We scroll, we tick, we surrender."
b)„a small masterpiece of theatre"
c)„Blaming a swimmer for the current …"
d)„Let's be honest"
3Tone and intention: Describe the tone in two adjectives and explain how it serves the author's intention.
Tone: ironic, sarcastic, urgent, colloquial, confrontational … Intention: to criticise, to provoke, to mobilise.
a)Tone:
b)Intention:
c)How they fit:
4Write an analysis (180 to 220 words) of the excerpt.
Abitur operator „analyse": describe and explain the connection between what is said and how it is said. Present tense.
a)Introduction (text type, topic, thesis), line of argument, three devices with effect, tone, conclusion on how convincing the argument is.
Excerpt from an opinion column (invented, for practice): „Let's be honest: nobody reads the terms and conditions. We scroll, we tick, we surrender. Forty pages of legal prose stand between us and a game, a photo filter, a bus ticket — and we click „I agree" faster than we would sign for a parcel. The companies know this. They count on it. Every „we value your privacy" banner is a small masterpiece of theatre: the show of choice without the substance of it. I do not blame the users. Blaming a swimmer for the current is a fine way to keep the river as it is. I blame a system that has turned consent into a reflex. Until a click costs the company more than it costs us, nothing will change."
1Line of argument: Trace the author's reasoning in four steps.
Don't summarise the content — show how one point leads to the next.
a)1 Observation:(text)
b)2 Explanation (who is responsible and how):Nobody reads terms and conditions; users agree automatically.
c)3 Rejection of an alternative view:Companies know and rely on this; their privacy banners only pretend to offer a choice.
d)4 Conclusion / demand:The author refuses to blame users: like a swimmer in a current, they cannot resist a system built against them.
2Rhetorical and stylistic devices: Name the device, quote it and explain its effect.
Climax / tricolon, metaphor, analogy, direct address / inclusive we. Effect: what does it make the reader feel or accept?
a)„We scroll, we tick, we surrender."Tricolon with climax: three short parallel clauses that end in the strongest word; it makes agreement sound like defeat and speeds up the rhythm like the act of clicking itself.
b)„a small masterpiece of theatre"Metaphor / irony: praise („masterpiece") for something deceptive; the theatre image exposes the banners as performance without real choice.
c)„Blaming a swimmer for the current …"Analogy: the swimmer cannot change the current; it shifts responsibility from the individual to the structure and makes the author's position seem like common sense.
d)„Let's be honest"Direct, colloquial address with inclusive „we/us": the reader is on the author's side from the first word and shares the confession.
3Tone and intention: Describe the tone in two adjectives and explain how it serves the author's intention.
Tone: ironic, sarcastic, urgent, colloquial, confrontational … Intention: to criticise, to provoke, to mobilise.
a)Tone:e.g. ironic and confrontational (or: colloquial, urgent)
b)Intention:to criticise companies and the legal framework and to make readers demand change instead of feeling guilty
c)How they fit:The irony ridicules the companies' rituals; the inclusive we prevents the reader from feeling attacked, so the anger is directed outwards, at the system.
4Write an analysis (180 to 220 words) of the excerpt.
Abitur operator „analyse": describe and explain the connection between what is said and how it is said. Present tense.
a)Introduction (text type, topic, thesis), line of argument, three devices with effect, tone, conclusion on how convincing the argument is.Own text. Check: text type (opinion column) and thesis in the introduction, argument in steps, three devices with quote and effect, tone linked to intention, evaluation, present tense, 180 to 220 words.
Two opinion columns on the same topic (invented, for practice). Column A: „Banning phones in schools is not education. It is surrender. We are telling a generation that we cannot teach them to use the most important tool of their lives, so we will lock it in a box. Imagine a school in 1980 confiscating pens because some students passed notes." — Column B: „Every study we have says the same thing, and every teacher knows it without a study: a phone on the desk is a hole in the lesson. We do not let children bring televisions to class. We do not let them bring slot machines. A smartphone is both, with a camera attached."
1Compare the two columns.
Compare = similarities and differences, explained. Evaluate the analogies by asking whether the compared things really are alike.
a)Formulate each author's thesis in one sentence.
b)Compare the two analogies (pens in 1980; televisions and slot machines). Which is more convincing and why?
c)Both authors use „we". Compare who „we" refers to in each column and what the effect is.
d)Compare the tone of the two texts with evidence.
2Argumentation: Identify the weakness in each column's argument and explain it.
Look for false analogy, overgeneralisation („every study"), emotional language replacing evidence, missing middle ground.
a)Column A:
b)Column B:
3Write a comparative analysis (220 to 260 words) of the two excerpts.
Organise by aspect (thesis, analogy, address, tone), not text by text. Present tense.
a)Introduction (topic, text type, the two positions), comparison of argumentation and devices with quotes, comparison of tone, conclusion: which is more convincing and why.
Two opinion columns on the same topic (invented, for practice). Column A: „Banning phones in schools is not education. It is surrender. We are telling a generation that we cannot teach them to use the most important tool of their lives, so we will lock it in a box. Imagine a school in 1980 confiscating pens because some students passed notes." — Column B: „Every study we have says the same thing, and every teacher knows it without a study: a phone on the desk is a hole in the lesson. We do not let children bring televisions to class. We do not let them bring slot machines. A smartphone is both, with a camera attached."
1Compare the two columns.
Compare = similarities and differences, explained. Evaluate the analogies by asking whether the compared things really are alike.
a)Formulate each author's thesis in one sentence.(texts)
b)Compare the two analogies (pens in 1980; televisions and slot machines). Which is more convincing and why?A: Banning phones means giving up on teaching responsible use. B: Phones destroy lessons and should be treated like other distractions that are already banned.
c)Both authors use „we". Compare who „we" refers to in each column and what the effect is.A's analogy is weak: a pen is a learning tool with no built-in distraction, so the comparison flatters the phone. B's analogy is stronger because televisions and slot machines share the phone's key features (entertainment, addictive design), though it ignores the phone's uses for learning. B's is more convincing but one-sided.
d)Compare the tone of the two texts with evidence.In A, „we" is the adults / educators who are failing — the reader is made to feel responsible. In B, „we" is the reasonable community that already bans obvious distractions — the reader is invited to join common sense.
2Argumentation: Identify the weakness in each column's argument and explain it.
Look for false analogy, overgeneralisation („every study"), emotional language replacing evidence, missing middle ground.
a)Column A:A: false analogy (pen vs. phone) and an emotional label („surrender") instead of evidence that teaching phone use works.
b)Column B:B: overgeneralisation („every study", „every teacher knows") and an analogy that ignores the phone's educational uses; no middle ground such as rules for use.
3Write a comparative analysis (220 to 260 words) of the two excerpts.
Organise by aspect (thesis, analogy, address, tone), not text by text. Present tense.
a)Introduction (topic, text type, the two positions), comparison of argumentation and devices with quotes, comparison of tone, conclusion: which is more convincing and why.Own text. Check: both theses, comparison by aspect with quotes, analogies evaluated, „we" analysed, tone compared, reasoned conclusion, present tense, 220 to 260 words.
Argument before devices
First trace the line of argument: observation, explanation, objection, conclusion. Devices only make sense in relation to what they support.
Point – quote – effect
Every analytical sentence names a feature, quotes it briefly and explains what it does for the argument or the reader. „The author uses a tricolon" is a description; „… in order to make consent sound like defeat" is analysis.
Tone and intention
Tone: ironic, urgent, colloquial, confrontational, measured. Intention: to criticise, provoke, mobilise, reassure. Show how the tone serves the intention — and judge whether it works for the intended reader.