+ Writing a Response to Literature Focus on Developing Commentary

+ What is Commentary?  Commentary is analysis of a particular passage. It explains what the author means.  It is your explanation and interpretation of the concrete detail. Commentary tells the reader what the author of the text means or how the concrete detail proves the topic sentence and/or thesis statement.  (Note: When choosing concrete details, be sure to choose quotes or passages that can be analyzed – in other words, choose details that are worthy of commentary.)

+ How do I write commentary? Do not restate what the author has written. That is called paraphrasing. Instead, discuss how and why the passage is important.

+ Where do I begin? It’s easy as 1, 2, 3… 1.) Locate a key word, phrase, or image in the quotation (concrete detail). 2.) Consider the connotations of the key words/phrase/image. (Connotation = the shades of meaning or the emotional suggestions) 3.)Finally, explain how the key word/phrase/image provides insight into what passage signifies (your analysis/interpretation).

+ What if I can’t find key words/phrases/images? Look for the following:  Literary devices such as simile, metaphor, irony, etc. Consider WHY the author uses this device. What is the writer trying to emphasize, highlight, or convey?  Character development: What is revealed about the character’s personality?  Theme: Is anything revealed about the author’s message? Now comment. Italicize or “quote” the words/phrases and integrate them into your sentence(s) as you analyze the significance of the passage.

+ Example 1: From “The Scarlet Ibis” by James Hurst “ It was in the clove of seasons, summer was dead but autumn had not been born, that the ibis lit in the bleeding tree. The flower garden was strained with rotting brown magnolia petals and ironweeds grew rank amid purple phlox. The five o’clocks by the chimney still marked time, but the oriele nest in the elm was untenanted and rocked back and forth like an empty cradle. The last graveyard flowers were blooming, and their smell drifted across the cotton field and through every room of our house, speaking softly the names of our dead” (Hurst, 350). Hurst fills his opening paragraph with images of death, creating a sense of foreboding that foreshadows the story’s tragic ending. The repetition of “dead” at the beginning and end of the paragraph emphasizes the importance of death in the story. Hurst continues this reinforcement by using precise words, such as “bleeding,” “rotting,” and “rank.” to bring to mind the process of dying and death.

+ Example 2: From “The Necklace” by Guy de Maupassant “ She suffered constantly, feeling that all the attributes of a gracious life, every luxury, should rightly have been hers. The poverty of her rooms--- the shabby walls, the worn furniture, the ugly upholstery--- caused her pain. All these things a woman of her class would not even have noticed, tormented her and made her angry. ” (de Maupassant, 382). Born into a class that feels foreign and wrong, Madame Loisel yearns for a “gracious life” filled with “every luxury [that] should rightly been hers.” Shallow and resentful, Mathilde is a woman blind to the blessings in her life. Instead, she allows herself to dwell on the negative and “painful” aspects of her life--- “the shabby walls, the worn furniture, the ugly upholstery.”

+ Example 3: From Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare “ Capulet, Montague/See what scourge is laid upon your hate/ That heaven finds means to kill your joys with love! ” (V.iii ). Shakespeare reinforces his message that great tragedy can result from “ hate ” and revenge. The Prince of Verona, the voice of reason, concludes that the punishment or “ scourge ” that the fathers will experience will be a life without their children. Because they could not make amends, the heavens resolved the ancient feud by killing their “ joys with love. ”

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