Commentary: Another Word for “Warrant”



Commentary: Another Word for “Warrant”What is commentary?Put very simply, commentary consists of your comments about the text or evidence you are analyzing in an essay. I quoted. Isn’t that enough? Doesn’t the evidence speak for itself?In a word, no. Quotes are necessary, but quotes BY THEMSELVES are not sufficient. You need to explain to the reader what each quote means. Your explanation is commentary.I explained what the quote meant. Isn’t that enough?Explanation of what the quote means is basically paraphrase. Whereas paraphrase is a helpful step in the right direction, it IS NOT ENOUGH. Put another way, commentary does not merely…1. translate the quote2. paraphrase the quote3. tell where the quote came from or who said itYou DO need to give this information, but this is information that is essentially “pre-commentary” information and considered part of the data. Here’s another way to look at it. If you are a prosecuting attorney, it is not enough to say, “Look, this person is guilty” (claim) “…because of this drop of blood found at the crime scene” (data). You must explain HOW COME that specific drop of blood proves the defendant is guilty.What does commentary do?Commentary does one or more of the following jobs:1. Commentary explains HOW a particular effect is created.2. Commentary explains HOW a quote demonstrates a particular technique.3. Commentary interprets imagery or symbols and gives their meaning4. Commentary explains what tone or mood is implied in a moment or statement5. Commentary points out information the quote reveals about the speaker6. Commentary explains how the context of a quotation reveals its meaning7. Commentary explains why a quotation is ironicWhat do you mean about “drag and drop” quotes?“Drag and drop” quotes are quotations you plunk into your paragraph without integrating them into a sentence. When you integrate a quotation, YOUR words should provide at least some of the commentary. If you do a really good job, commentary on just one quote could fill an entire paragraph.But wait! I said right here that Quote X did Technique Y! Why is that not commentary?Look. I just said right here that magic unicorns nestle in my toes. Just because you make an assertion does not mean that this assertion is true or that you have proven it to be so. Just saying that a quote does something is NOT THE SAME AS EXPLAINING HOW it does so.SOME EXAMPLES OF COMMENTARY:One of the "Rules of Courtly Love" states that "[n]othing forbids one woman being loved by two men or one man by two women," so therefore, Guinevere's jealousy of Lancelot is not justified; Elaine's love of him is acceptable under the code as long as Launcelot doesn't love her back.{Note that my part of this explains what the quote proves}Atwood’s Siren asks, “Shall I tell you the secret? And if I do / Will you get me out of this bird suit?” appealing to her audience’s desire to know this song with the flirtatious question “Shall I…?” and the even more compelling suggestion that her exterior appearance – a horrifying combination of half-woman, half-bird – is merely a costume, a “bird suit” that she could “get…out of” with some help, of course, from her riveted audience. Thus, the Siren compels her audience in two ways: by appealing both to intellectual and sexual curiosity, the Siren targets both the brain and the body in a one-two punch of rhetorical appeal.This information was adapted from a document distributed at the 2015 AP Language Conference in Las Vegas, Nevada. ................
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