What is commentary?

Commentary is your own interpretation of a passage. What ideas does this passage put in your mind? What does it remind you of? What did you find interesting? This is all commentary. 

Commentary proves how the evidence in your essay proves your amazing thesis. Evidence is super duper important, but what is critical to your RA essay is commentary. Without commentary your essay lacks personality and lacks your line of reasoning (check out guide 5.0). Evidence answers the what? And commentary answers the how and why. All critical to your RA essay. 

Commentary depends on the rhetorical situation. The rhetorical situation: the writer or speaker, the audience, the context, the exigence (unit 4), the purpose, and the argument. You need the rhetorical situation because this is what your commentary is on. 

Awesome RA verbs for your essay:

• Implies
• Implores
• Justifies
• Notes

**Make your claim on the rhetorical choice the author is making, then add your own commentary. **

Awesome commentary words: 

• implies
• portrays
• reveals
• Suggests

Commentary is best when you know the right questions to ask. This is where those amazing analyzing skills come out to play. Use them well and be a detective to figure out what the questions are. This will help you create commentary about the rhetoric you are analyzing. 

Some Commentary Starters!

Author The author reveals/shows/presents/emphasizes/suggests... The author wants the reader to understand...

Character/Conflict The character makes this decision/says this quote because... At this point in the story, the character is realizing... When the character makes this choice we see that... In making this choice the story changes in this way...

Language

The point of this conversation is... This passage/quote is effective beause This event in the novel shows/proves/explains… Because of this… This quote/passage adds to the reader’s appreciation of the story/poem because...

Analysis This reveals... This shows... This demonstrates...