Comparing three positions
A commentary, an interview and a letter on the same question — who claims what, who concedes what, and where they actually differ.
Two texts can be lined up as "for" and "against". Three cannot, and that is the point of this unit: the third voice usually refuses the terms of the first two.
For each text, write down one sentence: what does this author want to happen? Disagreements become visible immediately.
Watch in particular for the concession. An author who writes Ich will nichts beschönigen or Insofern ist die Kritik berechtigt has just handed you the limits of their own position — and exam questions are built on exactly those sentences.
Das stimmt. Nur zeigt sich …
concede, then redirect
the author accepts the fact and denies the conclusion
Insofern stimme ich beiden Seiten teilweise zu.
partial agreement with both — a third position
Gescheitert ist nicht das Modell, sondern unsere Umsetzung.
distinguishing two things the reader might confuse
Assuming the third text simply sides with one of the first two.Asking what question the third text thinks the others are getting wrong.
A three-way comparison is interesting precisely because the third voice usually changes the subject.
Words from this topic
- die die Umsetzungthe implementation
- die die Reihenfolgethe order, the sequence
- scheiternto fail
- das das Gegenteilthe opposite
- zustimmento agree
- die die Leistungthe performance, the service