Long-form reading
Holding an argument in mind across a dozen paragraphs, and telling the author’s view from the views they report.
A C1 text is too long to hold in your head sentence by sentence, so read it for its shape first: what is being claimed, what the claim is up against, and where the writer concedes. The details fall into place once the shape is clear.
The thesis of a German commentary is rarely in the first sentence. It usually appears after the positions have been set out — often introduced by Auffällig ist, Bemerkenswert ist, Was folgt daraus or a Allerdings that turns against what came before.
| Signal | What the paragraph is doing |
|---|---|
| Unbestritten ist, dass … | conceding, before objecting |
| Allerdings / Gleichwohl | turning against the previous point |
| Auffällig ist, wie … | introducing the writer’s own observation |
| Hinzu kommt / Erschwerend kommt hinzu | adding a further problem |
| Daraus ließe sich schließen … | a conclusion the writer will now limit |
| Man sollte … jedoch nicht überdehnen | limiting their own argument |
| Einschränkend ist anzumerken | flagging a limitation of the evidence |
| Was folgt daraus? | moving to consequences |
Telling the author’s view from a reported one is the single most important reading skill at this level. German marks quoted views clearly if you watch for the markers: direct quotation, Konjunktiv I, laut / zufolge, or a phrase like die verbreitete Vorstellung. Anything without such a marker is the author speaking.
Die verbreitete Vorstellung, ganze Berufe würden verschwinden, hält nur teilweise stand.
The widespread notion that whole professions will disappear only partly holds up.
the notion is other people’s; the verdict on it is the author’s
Kritiker dieser Deutung halten ihr entgegen, dass …
Critics of this reading object that …
explicitly someone else’s objection
Bemerkenswert ist, wie unterschiedlich die Positionen mit Zeit umgehen.
It is striking how differently the positions deal with time.
unmarked, evaluative — the author
A qualification is not a retreat. When a C1 writer says Man sollte diesen Schluss jedoch nicht überdehnen, they are defending the claim by bounding it — and a question about their position has to respect the bound.
The author cites a personnel manager, so the author agrees with him.The author cites him, then writes "Allerdings wäre es zu einfach …" — the quotation is used and then qualified.
Citing is not endorsing. Read on: what the author does with a quotation in the next paragraph is where their own position shows.
Words from this topic
- die die Verdrängungdisplacement, being squeezed out
- die die Weiterbildungfurther training, professional development
- die die Kennzahlthe metric, the indicator
- die die Deutungthe interpretation, the reading
- der der Umbruchthe upheaval, the structural break
- zutreffento be accurate, to apply
- überschätzento overestimate
- beanstandento object to, to take issue with
- unbequemuncomfortable, inconvenient (of a truth)