Abituraufgabe Englisch - Beispielaufgabe

In diesem Text erhältst du eine Abituraufgabe, die du zur Übung für deine Prüfung nutzen kannst. Es handelt sich dabei um einen Sachtext, also einen non-fictional text. Du bekommst eine Rede auf Englisch, die du untersuchen sollst. Dabei orientierst du dich an der Aufgabenstellung. Nachdem du die Klausur selbst gelöst hast, kannst du dir die Musterlösung und den Erwartungshorizont ansehen und mit deinen Ergebnissen vergleichen. 

Ich wünsche dir viel Erfolg beim Lösen der Abituraufgabe! 

Nicht-fiktionaler Text - Politische Rede 

1. Textvorlage: Rede
2. Fundstelle des Textes: Baffour Ankomah, Why Africa must unite. In: New African, January 2000, p.7
3. Annotations: OAU - Organisation of African Union; Kwame Nkrumah - former president in Ghana; Zanzibari Revolution - in 1964 a revolt by leftists overthrew the sultanate and established a republic 

Baffour Ankomah, Why Africa must unite 

[...]  Forty-one years ago, in 1958, Treaty of Rome was signed which gave birth to the European Union. We have all seen what that Union has done to Europe. The last major war fought by Europeans against Europeans ended some 54 years ago. Even then they called it World War II. 

Though the French and the British are still quarrelling about whose beef is good enough for the dinner table, in general the European Union has hugely succeeded in bringing peace, co-operation, brotherhood, prosperity, and a voice to Europe. The richer nations of northern Europe have looked after their poorer cousins of the south. No wonder Greece doesn't want Turkey to join in. The fewer the merrier. Borders have come down in Europe. Free movement of EU citizens is assured.There is a common agricultural policy. There is a common currency. There is a common European bank. There is even a common European army (NATO, never mind the Americans are there, they are Europeans after all). 

Having got all these eggs in one basket safely delivered by the European Union, Europe now has the stability and peace of mind to enhance the quality of life of its people. Now Europeans can afford to sleep comfortably in their beds, knowing that war cannot easily break out in Europe as it used to do before the EU was born. With its already strong, individual economies and national institutions, does Europe need a union to become even stronger? If the answer is yes, why doesn't Africa need the OAU, which, with patience, may one day deliver an African union on the lines of the European Union? 

"We cannot ignore the teachings of history", Kwame Nkrumah of Ghana once said. I ask: Where will the African union come from without evolving from the OAU? Even the European Union did not start in its current form. It evolved from a Common Market which itself evolved from a European Coal and Steel Commission formed in 1951. Africa will have to start somewhere. 

The mere mention of Nkrumah brings to mind why the OAU is simply a talking shop. It is because of the union that Nkrumah so passionately articulated in that historic speech on 24 May 1963 in Addis Ababa, at the founding of the OAU; that union was reduced to a Charter and a toothless organisation the very next day. 

Any time I think about the lost opportunity, and the role Europe and America played in getting African leaders to reject the union idea, I ask myself: "If unity is good for Europe (as proved by the European Union), and America (as proved by the United States of America), why did Europe and America destroy the African union idea?"

Writing on this matter in his autobiography Sowing the Mustard Seed, published in 1977, President Museveni of Uganda said: "... There is now evidence to show that the frustration of these ventures [Nkrumah's dream of uniting the whole of Africa, and the Zanzibari Revolution] had the backing of American and British imperialism."

Why in heaven did they do that?, I ask. 

Before we get emotional, please let's look what Nkrumah was pleading with Africa to do:

1. A union government of African states
2. A common economic and industrial programme for Africa 
3. An African common market
4. A common African currency 
5. An African monetary zone 
6. An African central bank
7. A continental communication system
8. A common foreign policy and diplomacy 
9. A common system of defence
10. A common African citizenship 
11. A common African army with an African high command 

Ladies and Gentlemen, isn't this what Europeans and Americans have done? So why did the same people "frustrate" the African union idea, as Museveni says? From the experience of the last 40 years, it is clear that nobody is going to save Africa but Africans themselves. And the earlier we pulled our resources together as a continent in a union on the lines of the European Union, the better. And now is the time! 

Assignments 

1. Point out the reasons Ankomah puts forward to justify the idea if an African Union. (comprehension)
2. Analyse important features of language concentrating on structural and stylistic devices and make clear how Ankomah tries to convince his audience to support the OAU. (analysis)
3. Choose between: 

a) By also referring to some major conflicts in Africa as well as the role of the UN and the USA comment on Ankomah's belief "that nobody is going to save Africa but Africans themselves". (evaluation)

b) Imagine you are an African victim of a conflict area in Africa like Paul R. from the film Hotel Rwanda. Write a letter to Ankomah responding to his ideas and telling him about your specific problems. (re-creation of text)