1. Ellen's Tips for a Text Commentary:
Reading: Take time to read the text several times through. You should be able
to identify the passage and say what its specificity is, i.e. what happens in this
passage that is " news " to the reader? And how does it affect or fit in with the
rest of the text?
Note-taking: Take note of anything that might be of interest, either
semantically (vocabulary), structurally (tenses, grammar, divisions), or
rhetorically (stylistics) speaking. Underline or highlight these words, however
best they retain your attention. What about the narrator? The focaliser?
Organisation: Find the dominant themes in the passage and try to organise them
into 3 sections, several might come under the same title. Keep away from pure
character studies, what you are aiming for is analysis, not description.
Links: See how the themes you have chosen might best fit together going from
the most general to the most specific. You might have to change their order if
one flows more easily into the other. This will then form the backbone of your
plan.
Intro
Theme A
Link
Theme B
Link
Theme C
Conclusion
Intro: The golden rule is "Keep it short and simple" (KISS)
Use key words that will appear in the main sections of your commentary.
Don't be tempted to say too much and let the cat out of the bag.
Always write the introduction last (you might change the order of your main
sections and then it won't seem coherent).
Conclusion: Do not be tempted to repeat what you have already said in your main
sections one more time. Your conclusion should be in the form of a "given that…
then…" and possibly open out to another idea for a commentary. The conclusion
might explain the effects of what is contained in the passage on the rest of the
novel, short story, play etc. A larger view is needed here, but beware of banal
platitudes! A question might be an idea to end on.