Writing a Textual Commentary Step 1. Collect Information: When you sit down to develop and write a commentary, these are some questions you can use to get ideas. Take Notes as you proceed in asking questions. You will eventually see a few main ideas begin to emerge. Questions for a Fictional Text Story (understanding text / looking at plot) Always read the text 3-4 times to fully understand it before proceeding. Determine the fundamental aspects of the story (Who, What, Where, When...) you can highlight these elements to help with writing your commentary later. Logic of action (how is the plot structured? Where is the rising action, the climax, the falling action? Does the extract begin In Medias Res (in the middle of the action)? Are the plot events organized chronologically? Themes: what are the main themes you perceive at the first reading of the passage? Sections? Can the passage be divided into different sections? (different scenes? different dialogues? Characters leaving or entering a scene?) Lexical Fields: Look at the types of words used in the passage. Can you perceive lexical fields? For example are there many words that evoke a sense of tension, words that evoke a feeling of fear or an atmosphere of darkness? Words that refer to war? Words that refer to softness and vulnerability? Groups of words with similar meanings often help develop a theme in the passage. Rhetorical Devices: Rhetorical Devices or Figures de Style appear in many forms in fictional texts. See the book by Francoise Grellet (Literary Terms) for more details. Narration Participation of Narrator (homodiegetic = narrator is a character in the story, heterodiegetic = narrator is outside the story) Level of narration (Intradiegetic = narrator tells a story that is inserted into the main story, Extradiegetic = the narrator of the main/framing story) Perceptibility of the narrator (narrator makes comments about characters and stories? judges? or tells the story without intervening? Is narrator reliable? Unreliable? How does this affect your perception of the story? Narratee: who is the story being told to? (Character? implied reader? ) Management: How does the narrator manage the information the reader gains access to? What does the narrator show the reader? What does the narrator not show the reader. 1
Time Organization: Order: (analepsis = return to an event that takes place before main story events / prolepsis : projection into a future time beyond the time of the main story) Duration : how long / how much text is devoted to different event large amount of text = deceleration usually indicates importance. --small amount of text or no text = acceleration usually indicates a compression of time for insignificant events Frequency how many times is story told? Is it told only once (singulative)? Is it told many times through perspective of different characters (repetitive)? Is it a story of an habitual or conventional event that happened many times but is only told once (iterative)? Focalisation Internal focalization? External focalization? To what extent do we have access to a character s thoughts? Dialogism and polyphony Are the discourse and/or thoughts of many characters represented so as to create a multi-voiced or polyphonic effect, Are you give the impression of hearing many different voices in the text? If so, what is the relationship between these voices? (Look for variations in style and register) Characterization Presentation of Characters? Indirect? Direct? Means of Characterization: Names? (onomastics) Actions? (Look at what a character does or doesn t do) Appearance (how does physical appearance or clothing characterize the character?) Speech / Discourse / Thoughts? (Internal focalization?) Relationship to other characters (roles played by different characters) Space / Environment (how does the setting reflect the character s characteristics?) Round or flat characters? (developed or stereotypical?) How does the passage reflect a stage in the character s development? Setting Consider the following : --horizontal? vertical? Is there travel involved, movement from point A to point B or not. --interior/exterior (for example are we dealing with a large open forest, or rather the description of a tiny kitchen in a tiny house) --close-up / panoramic view (landscape) --static / dynamic space (is there a lot of movement, or is there stillness?) --foreground/background (are there some elements that are brought to our attention against a more general background?) --light/darkness --color? lack of? a lot of? --sounds? lack of? a lot of? --open or closed space (a prison cell vs. a desert both create very different effects) --density of matter/materials : consider what sorts of materials appear for example a description of a cotton candy factory, or the description of a muddy swamp, running water, all affect our perception of the particular scene. 2
--atmosphere? what words are used to create a particular atmosphere? --real/imaginary/mythical (what sort of space are we dealing with / dream space/ science fiction space/ mythical space??) --also consider who "sees" who is presenting the description of space sociological, psychological and symbolic meaning of the setting. (how is a space a reflection of the text s themes also... how does it function in relation to the main story?) are there any particular objects that have a symbolical value (for example the placement of a Bible in a scene where a murder takes place etc.) Text or Aesthetics Genre (what genre is the extract taken from? Social Novel? Bildungsroman (roman d apprentissage),...) Paratextuality : Gérard Genette defines paratext as elements that frame the text such as the author's name, the title, preface or introduction, or illustrations. These elements have an effect upon the way the reader approaches the book. The paratext acts as a zone of transition between the reader s world and the world of the text. Interpret the meaning of the title of the story or passage. How does it relate to the main themes of the text? How does it relate to the particular passage you are studying? Are there any other framing devices that are used (prefaces etc.) Tone/atmosphere How would you describe the atmosphere in the text? Pleasant? Sad? Cynical? Images: Are there any strong metaphors in the passage? Symbolism : are there any strong symbols in the passage? Intertextuality: Are there references to other works of art, historical events or figures, other literary works? If so, identity the source, how it is manifested in the text (implicitly, explicitly, through title of book, name of character, reproduction of a scene etc.) Consider how intertextuality contributes to meaning in the text. Implied author and implied reader What value scheme can you infer from the structure of the text? How is your perception of the author affected by the way the text is structured? (Remember we make a distinction between the Real Author (the person who writes the book) and the Implied Author (the impression we have of the author from reading the text). Metatextuality, metafiction Metafiction/Metatextuality : when a literary text in some way reflects back on itself as a work of fiction or work of art. The goal of metafiction is to make the reader take critical distance from the text and focus more on its structure than on the illusion it presents. Examples of textual situations that create a metafictional effect: * A story about a writer creating a story * A story about a reader reading a story 3
* A story which features itself (as a narrative or as a physical object) or refers to itself * A story containing another work of fiction within itself * A story addressing the specific conventions of story, such as title, character conventions, paragraphing or plots. * A novel where the narrator intentionally exposes him or herself as the author of the story * A book in which the book itself seeks interaction with the reader * Narrative footnotes, which continue the story while commenting on it * A story in which the characters are aware that they are in a story * An autobiographical fiction in which the main character, by the last parts of the book, has written the first parts and is reading some form of it to an audience (Source of list: Metafiction entry in Wikipedia) Step 2. Organizing your ideas 1- Re-read your notes try to identify the main points of interest. 2- Organise them and connect them logically. Try to identify three or four major parts, not more. 3- Find the logical connection between these points. Organise them logically from 1 st to last. (Usually we start with the most obvious theme and end with the most complex) 4- Define the main focus of your study, which will constitute the overall idea or theme that allows you to create a sense of coherence in your study (for example in the valley of ashes text from The Great Gatsby the idea of social decadence is the overall idea.) 5- Write the outline of your argument (the major points). 6- Write the major points in each part of the argument (many people choose to build a table with three columns for each of your 3-4 main points. One column for idea, one for quotations, another column for your interpretation of the quotation. It could look like this for a section on Perception Idea /Observation Quotation/Justification Interpretation of quotation ex. homodiegetic narrator in Valley of Ashes text There is always a halt there of at least a minute, and it was because of this that I first met Tom Buchanan's mistress 4 Impression of subjectivity of character/narrator story is as much about the perceptions of Nick as the story itself the image of modern social decadence is filtered through Nick s eyes. 7- Write the outline of the introduction: Situation or context ((place in overall work if you have knowledge of the entire work) Brief summary of passage Central focus of your commentary Outline of your argument **Avoid general comments like: Shakespeare is a playwright from the Elizabethan period... or F. Scott Fitzgerald was born in... (biographical comments and statements that are too obvious only make it look like you are trying to fill space rather than develop an introduction to set up your ideas. Remember that the goal of the introduction is to gradually introduce the reader to the main ideas you intend to discuss make it concise and engaging) 8. Write the outline of the conclusion (some students find it easier to write the conclusion after developing each section. However, be careful. Many students run out of time.)
Content of Conclusion: Final assessment: what conclusions does your argument lead to? Openings: relate your conclusions with an issue of more general interest The conclusion is generally shorter than the introduction. But it is also important. Do not summarize your arguments. The idea is to show the reader where you have arrived, not where you have been. Step 3. Writing your Textual Commentary 1. Now you can write your commentary. Do not forget to develop the argument logically, making transitions between paragraphs and sections and always, always explain your interpretation of the text and continue to underline textual elements. Always form new paragraphs when you introduce a new subsection to each main section. 2. Do not give titles for your different sections. You should announce the sections with a brief introduction to each section (a few lines will do). This will allow for a transition to each new idea. 3. Keep 10mn to read your commentary once you have finished and take time to correct your English and check your transitions. **Remember that a textual commentary always involves a back-and-forth movement between the text and the general themes or ideas you discuss. You should constantly return to the text to justify your observations, and always quote from the text, and you should also always situate the text in relation to the overall themes or ideas it explores. References GENETTE, Gérard. Figures III. Paris: Seuil,1972 RIMMON-KENAN, Shlomith. Narrative Fiction. London & New York,1983 TAANE, Eric. L explication de texte. Paris, Hachette Supérieur, 1997. GRELLET, Florence. A Handbook of Literary Terms. Paris, Hachette Supérieur, 1996, 2009. 5