Prepping for the Blind Commentary

1. Prepping for the Blind Commentary Moccia

2. Reading the opening of a story… • Tone and mood developed • Thematic levels introduced • Characters are characterized • Foreshadowing • What else?

3. Mood vs. Tone • Tone: author’s implied attitude toward the subject about which s/he is writing • Mood: intended emotional state of the reader • Although there’s often a connection, these are two very distinct aspects of a story • You should be able to sum up both of these in 1 or 2 words

4. Style • “That summer in Seattle she had needed a job. She didn’t have any money. The man she was going to marry at the end of the summer was in officers’ training school. He didn’t have any money, either. But she was in love with the guy, and he was in love with her, etc.” • “Whist has long been noted for its influence upon what is termed the calculating power; and men of the highest order of intellect have been known to take an apparently unaccountable delight in it, while eschewing chess as frivolous.”

5. Heart of Commentary • A commentary's major point is as follows: Understanding how the STYLE (language choices, devices, etc.) helps create meaning (purpose, effect, theme, etc.)

6. Distinguishing between Language Choices and Effects/Purpose • There are aspects of writing that are a) within a writer’s textual control/choices, and there are aspects that are b) the effect of those choices • Diction vs. mood • Why can’t you say, “This author uses tone…”? “This author uses theme…”

7. Diction • If a writer uses any words, then s/he has “used diction” – so saying someone’s has used diction is meaningless • Find either a) illuminating uses of diction and/or b) patterns in diction • Examples: • Specific connotations • “Interesting use of violent diction to describe something not so violent”

8. Introductory paragraph • What should a reader understand at the end of your introductory paragraph? • Focus statement, and all that entails • What the passage the commentary is responding to is about

9. Quotes • Weave! • Use at least THREE per paragraph

10. Grading • Thesis, and how well the thesis is proved throughout the essay (40%) • Organization: the organization is clear and purposeful (20%) • Writing: the writing is clear, purposeful, and at a high school level (20%) • Grammar Formatting: grammar; MLA (20%)

11. Our Ironic Crucible Essay • What is ironic about the following statement? • The townspeople of Salem jumped to conclusions and just started blaming everyone of being witches.

12. MLA • Must be perfect!!!

13. Textual Evidence • What’s wrong with writing an essay without quotes, BESIDES not fulfilling the requirements of the essay assignment? • An essay without evidence is simply good reasoning; it can’t have proved its arguments.

14. Drama… • What are some of the problems with the following opening statement? • “Since the beginning of recorded history…” • Besides over-dramatization, which isn’t an aspect of strong writing, these sorts of statements are often a) not true, b) not provable, or c) not provable by you