Commentary

The good commentary takes the passage apart, observes in it meanings, structures, techniques, events and effects which were not obvious at first sight, and builds out of these observations a coherent and richer view of the passage. Commentary should be considered primarily a linguistic exercise in the sense that most of the observations you make should spring from close reading of the passage. the good commentary should persuade the reader that its arguments are justified by the text, and not simply imposed on the text by a partial, biased, or self-centred view.

Finding meaning On the level of the psychology of characters. Especially useful in novels, plays and autobiographical writing. Think about the characters' frame of mind, motives, and (most importantly, and often least obviously!) their ideals of conduct; in general, try to work out what might be going on in their minds, consciously or otherwise. (If you can't tell, try asking yourself why not, and what effect this creates.) On the level of Typicality. This means showing that the passage exemplifies the way things tend to happen in the book as a whole - or in the works of the author as a whole, or within a certain literary genre, or a certain social setting. On the level of World View. Many literary and political works seem to embody a view of the world, a set of values, fears and desires, which is very different from our "standard modern Western" world view. It is often possible to analyse a passage as exemplifying such an unusual world view. On the level of the Effect on the Reader. This involves showing how the passage can have a certain type of impact on a reader (creating or disturbing certain patterns of thought, image or emotion). On the level of Literary Structure. Most commonly used in commentaries on poems. This is probably the safest level, and can produce the best commentaries - but it can also produce the dullest! Showing how a passage (or a poem) is woven out of many different strands of narrative and imagery, out of rhyme and rhythm, repeated forms and sudden surprises, ancient myths and modern ideas, expectations fulfilled and frustrated, to create that peculiar richness which we associate with Literature...

to consider a) What changes in the course of the passage? What changes are there in tone, mood, style, rhythm, narrative view-point? b) What elements are repeated suspiciously often? Are there recurrent images, traits of character, tics of expression, types of event, sounds, rhythms? c) Who is speaking to whom? d) What are the ironies in the passage? What is said, presumed or desired, that is also undermined, shown to be dubious or undesirable? e) What elements in the passage are conventional? f) What might appear surprising, unusual, unexpected, inconsequent, even inexplicable in the passage? g) What peculiar light does the passage throw on the rest of the work (and vice versa)?

structure 1 Context, themes and structure; 2 Analysis; 3 Conclusion.

to address Where? (Contextualisation)  Situate and/or contextualise the passage. Give any information needed to make the passage intelligible to the reader, but keep to elements of plot/ characters/situation etc. that are relevant to an understanding of the passage; don’t summarise the whole plot.  What is the passage’s function? (for the text as a whole? with regard to the reader? In a certain historical, political or cultural context?) What? (Analysis of the Structure, Argument, and Narrative Perspective)  Define the central idea(s) / theme(s) / mood/ feeling, if any. Analyse the progression/ movement/ narrative structure of the passage: the stages of an argument, the interaction of the characters, the stages of succession of events.  Analyse the narrative perspective: do you find 1st person narration (récit à la première personne); 3rd person narration (récit à la troisième personne); omniscient narration (narration omnisciente); restricted / multiple points of view (point de vue restreint/multiple), authorial intrusion (intrusion de l’auteur), etc. – or a mixture of these?  Is the narrative perspective consistent or changing and what effects are created by this? What is the relationship between narrator/speaker and reader/audience? Does the author make use of any of the following: direct/indirect speech (discours direct/indirect), free indirect discourse (style indirect libre), interior monologue (monologue intérieur)? How? (Style and Rhetoric)  Syntax: simple/ complex? Departures from normal syntax? Role of questions (rhetorical?), exclamations?  Use of tenses, of pronouns?  Arrangements of words: repetition (répétition), parallelism (parallélisme), etc.  Vocabulary: range? register? Is it pictorial/ emotive/ abstract/...?  Tone: polemical/ sarcastic/ sentimental/ nostalgic etc.  Non-literal uses of language: irony (ironie), hyperbole (hyperbole), understatement (litote), metaphor (métaphore), metonymy (métonymie). Are they frequent or not? What is the effect of particular expressions?  Sound: alliteration (allitération), assonance (assonance), onomatopoeia (onomatopée). What is the created effect?  In the case of a verse, define the metre and rhyme scheme (if used) and analyse their effect.