Literary Commentary

The Literary Commentary

A commentary (or explication de texte) is an exercise in the close reading of a text, in the analysis and appreciation of its significance and form (structure and style). Students often find such commentaries difficult, or content themselves with paraphrase. The following suggestions might therefore be helpful.

Questions to ask of a prose passage

• What TYPE OF PASSAGE is it in general (narrative, oratorical, dramatic, lyrical, descriptive, or other)?
• What is the fil conducteur of the text, its MAIN IDEA or purpose? Does the text have any special qualities that are immediately striking?
• What is the STRUCTURE of the passage? Is it organised in a certain way? Can its various parts be clearly delineated? Is there a pattern of subordination of one feature or group of features to another? Or, conversely, are there a number of conjunctions? How long are the sentences? Are individual sentences carefully organised? Do they tend to be independent of one another? Are there ellipses or inversions?
• Does the text progress through such STYLISTIC FEATURES as enumeration, interrogation, apostrophy, exclamation, or other? Do you notice any peculiarities of word order? Of punctuation? Are there repetitions of words? If so, for what effect? What are the results obtained by such DEVICES as simile, metaphor, periphrasis, understatement, hyperbole, and symbolism?
• How may the VOCABULARY be characterised? Is it abstract? Concrete? Are there allusions, proper names, archaisms, words used in special or etymological senses, incorrections, technical terms, words of local colour?
• What are the EXPRESSIVE WORDS of the passage, as opposed to the 'tool words' common to every text? Are nouns, verbs or other parts of speech used in any special way? Does the presence of certain stylistic traits seem to reveal something about the author's turn of mind or special interests? For example, does the choice of nouns reveal the author's attitude toward the external world? Is the author's individuality revealed by his/her choice of adjectives, adverbs, or verbs?
• Does the author favour a particular kind of IMAGERY?
• Is the RHYTHM of the passage of interest? What expressive purpose does it serve? Is there intentional rhythmic monotony? Do the sentences produce an effect of rhythmic harmony and balance, or the contrary? How?
• Examine the VERB TENSES chosen by the author. Do they express in some way his/her attitude toward the actions s/he is recounting?
• If IDEAS are of paramount importance in the text, what are they and what do they mean? How are they presented? Is it necessary to summarise them for clearer understanding? Are the thoughts linked together in a particular way? Does the author attempt to influence the reader by logic and facts, or by charm and persuasiveness?
• Does the passage have a pervading TONE (comic, ironic, tragic, or other)? Does the author convey his/her own attitude to the subject? Where and how?

 

Questions to ask of a poem

• Is the poem cast in a fixed form (sonnet or other)? If so, does the poet work easily within the confines of the predetermined framework, or does s/he seem to chafe at the form's restrictions?
• If not a forme fixe, what form has the poet chosen? Free verse (vers libres)? What kind or kinds of lines (vers) does the author use - octosyllabes, décasyllabes, alexandrins - or less common ones? Do different kinds of lines alternate or recur in any recognisable pattern?
• Are the lines arranged into stanzas (strophes)? How many strophes are there, and how many lines to each one? Is there any change in their arrangement or pattern?
• If the poem is not rhyme-less (vers blancs) what kind (or kinds) of rhyme scheme is used - rimes plates, rimes embrassées, rimes croisées - or more unusual, original, or complicated patterns? Is there alternation of rimes masculines and rimes féminines? Are the rhymes suffisantes, riches, or pauvres?
• Can the poem be logically divided into a certain number of parts? What type of transition exists between them (smooth, abrupt)? Does the poem, in its general organisation, move in a linear, ascending-descending, or circular manner?
• Is the meaning of each word of the poem clear, as well as all allusions, whether mythological, literary or other? Are there examples of punning or word-play (jeux de mots)? Are any words used in their etymological sense? For what purpose? Is the vocabulary predominantly abstract or concrete? Is it possible to group together a number of concrete or abstract words in certain categories?
• Do some words have more than one meaning? Is their ambiguity, deliberate or unintentional? Are some words used merely as padding to fill out the line (cheville), or because the poet needed a certain rhyme?
• Do certain types of words predominate (nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, etc.)? Are some types of words conspicuous by their absence? Do the adjectives and adverbs used seem particularly effective?
• Is any special use made of verb tenses or changes from one tense to another?
• Is the syntax regular, or are there inversions or other types of syntactic dislocation? For what reason do they occur?
• Does the poet seem particularly concerned with relationships between sound and meaning? In what specific instances? Do certain vowels or consonants predominate? With what effect? Are examples of the following to be found: alliteration, assonance, onomatopoeia, dissonance, internal rhyme? What is their function? Are there unusual or recherché effects of euphony or cacophony (as, for example, hiatus)? What relationships exist between the sounds and other elements of the poem?
• What is the basic rhythm of the poem (slow, fast, heavy irregular)? How is it modified during the course of the poem by the poet's treatment of césure, coupes, enjambement? With what aim of heightened expression or accentuation or underlining the meaning of certain words? What effect do they have upon maintaining, hastening, or retarding the movement of the poem? How is the tempo increased or slowed down in other ways (repetitions, mute e's, choice of certain sonorities, isolated lines, etc.)? What general relationship exists between the rhythm and other elements of the poem?

 

Writing the commentary

The commentary should consist of a general introduction, a detailed study of the text and a conclusion. It may be laid out as follows:

• General introduction

 

This should consist of one brief paragraph, situating the passage in its context. If you are dealing with an extract from a play, novel, long poem:

• state where the extract is situated in the text, e.g. act, scene
• give the relevant information about the situation at this point, i.e. whatever information is vital in order to bring out the full significance of the passage
• DO NOT explain the whole plot, basic relationships between characters, etc. and DO NOT paraphrase

If you are dealing with a short, complete poem:

• say from which collection of poems the poem is taken, and what significance (if any) this has
• state briefly the general subject(s) of passage

• Detailed study of the text (the main part of the commentary)

 

Go through the text commenting on any features of content or style that you find noteworthy, in the order in which they arise in the text. You may find it helpful to number lines for ease of reference.

(a) Content: ask yourself questions such as the following:

Extract and complete poem

• How does the general theme develop? Consider together with this the structure of the passage - how is it built up - e.g. does it fall naturally into certain divisions?
• How does the authors/he try to make us identify with - or alienate us from - the protagonists?

 

Extract only

• What is the importance of the passage from the point of view of the characters?
• What is the importance of the passage from the point of view of the plot? (e.g. in a play, is it part of the exposition, development or dénouement? Is the audience aware of facts which the characters are not aware of? If so, what is the effect of this irony?)
• What other links does the passage have with the rest of the book? e.g. is it part of a pattern or a recurring theme? Does it reflect author's/century's view of life?

 

(b) Style

General Mood or Tone:

• descriptive, emotional, reflective, dramatic, comic, tragic, satirical? What is our attention focused on?

 

Imagery:

• What kind of images? (simile, metaphor, symbol, personification...). Is there a chain of imagery? Is the imagery effective? Why? Does it help you to feel/visualise a problem or situation? What is the purpose of the imagery used? Is it for picturesque effect? To make the meaning clearer? To evoke a feeling?

 

Vocabulary:

• Concrete, abstract, simple, technical, pedantic, idiomatic or 'noble', precious, heroic, allusive or direct, chosen for sound...

 

Stylistic devices:

• Ambiguity, paradox, repetition, accumulation, antithesis, contrast, rhetorical question, exclamation, apostrophe, irony, satire, puns, inversion; effect of omission of certain grammatical forms, e.g. articles, use of first, third person, etc.

 

Versification and musicality:

• Rhythm: length and regularity of lines (i.e. is rhythm broken, smooth, rapid, slow, what mood does it convey?). Rhyme; also internal rhyme, assonance, alliteration. What effects created by repetition of certain sounds?

 

• Conclusion

• What can now be said about the passage that was not obvious at the outset?
• What is the general importance of the passage for work or author, predominant tone or atmosphere?

(b) In what ways is it typical of work or author, and period?