THE INTRODUCTION HOW TO WRITE COMMENTARIES 1

PURPOSE OF YOUR INTRODUCTION The best use of introduction time is to set out the essential points of your thesis. In other words, it should be a plan of the points that you are going to discuss in your commentary. The central technique should be identified. Other techniques should be identified in terms of their effects

WHAT YOU SHOULD INCLUDE Identify the text Subject Matter Context (if applicable) Central Technique (The Big Idea) Other techniques and their effects (Umbrella Hows)

THE AD

VERSACE AD This is an ad for Italian fashion brand Versace. It shows three people in front of a large Italian style mansion. In the foreground it has a woman who is constructed as rich and powerful by her dress and posture and behind her stand two people who are constructed as servants. Contextually, the ad has no clearly identifiable product because Versace is a brand which sells status and lifestyle more directly than any particular product. As a result, the central technique of this ad is the creation of a sense of wealth and power that is associated with the brand. The ad uses the techniques of placement, colour and camera angles to enhance the effect of power and status.

MILK AD

THE MILK AD This text is a generic ad for milk. It shows an anxious looking man tentatively offering cartons of milk to his unseen wife who is presumably suffering from pms. Contextually, it is important to understand that women who suffer from pms are stereotypically considered to become demanding, unreasonable and generally difficult to live with. If you have this contextual understanding then the reader will find the ad humorous which is its central technique. The humour in the ad is created through the use of stereotyping of the roles of men and women in this situation, positioning to put us looking down on the male and captions which provide humour by showing us the difficulty of the man’s situation.

TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD In Harper Lee’s novel To Kill A Mockingbird, how are writer’s choices used to foreground the theme of difference?

TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD In the text To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee interrogates the notion that people who are different are not as worthy as other people. To do this, she sets the novel in a small southern US town in the 1930s where prejudice against people who are different is considered as a normal part of life. The central technique she uses is characterisation, where she constructs a number of characters, such as Scout and Dolphus Raymond, who do not fit into the rigid social structures of the town or the time. She also uses a naïve narrative method to highlight the differences between the idealism and logic of a child compared to the prejudice and hypocrisy of the adult world. In addition to this she symbolically represents different characters as “mockingbirds”, or innocents who should not be persecuted just because they are not the same as everyone else.

DEATH AND THE MAIDEN This text is Act 1, Scene 3. In this scene, Paulina, the protagonist of the play, drags the unconscious body of Roberto onto the stage and ties it to a chair. She then leaves the house in his car, leaving his body, tied up on stage, clearly visible as the headlights flash across it. Contextually, this scene represents a turning point in the action because until now, Paulina has been constructed as a weak and frightened character. So her actions in this scene are not only out of character but also challenge the audience to understand why this has happened.

DEATH AND THE MAIDEN 2 This scene is particularly interesting because there is no dialogue therefore the central technique is the action on the stage. Other techniques used in the scene include lighting, where semi – darkness is used to hide Paulina’s actions and the car headlights are used to reveal the consequences of those actions. In addition, symbolism is used through sound effects and Paulina’s actions of ‘stuffing her panties’ in Roberto’s mouth. Both those pieces of symbolism are used to demonstrate the transition in Paulina’s character as she takes control of the events. This character transition personifies the big idea of the play: that redemption and reconciliation is only possible when people take power over their lives and the truth of the past comes out.

KEITH RICHARDS AUTOBIOGRAPHY This text is an extract from the autobiography of Rolling Stones guitarist Keith Richards. In this extract, Richards presents his experiences of learning to play the guitar, as well as his thoughts and opinions on the evolution of music. He believes that with the introduction of the music recording, music was no longer only to be enjoyed and learned by the rich but instead became accessible to all. Contextually, it is interesting to note that Richards supports his claims about music becoming available to so many people by recounting his own experiences as a young musician. The central technique of this text is the use of the extended metaphor relating to “the emancipation of music”. Through this, he emphasises the massive changes that came about in popular music through the availability of affordable recordings. In addition to this, he uses anecdotes from his own life to give credibility to his views and emotive language to emphasise the importance of this “incredible explosion of music”.