what is commentary in a essay

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From Summary to Insight: A Guide to Writing Commentary Essays with Depth

Writing an essay can be daunting, let alone if you’re also providing commentary on it. But the reward of a job well done is worth the effort when you’re finished!

It has been noted that essays with thoughtful commentaries have a higher chance of being accepted for publication. So I’m here to help make it clear that essay writers need to understand the power of commentary and how to incorporate it into their work.

In this article, I’ll share my experience as a writer and provide insight on how to make your voice heard in an essay by using effective commentary. By following my advice, you’ll be able to craft a piece that stands out from the crowd and makes your thoughts shine through!

What Is Commentary In An Essay?

Over the course of your writing, you may have heard of the term ‘commentary’ in relation to essay writing. But what does it mean?

Simply put, commentary is analysis. It’s when you take a text and try to identify the deeper implications at play. In literary texts this could be symbolism, metaphors or dual meanings; with non-fiction texts it could include examining how an author makes use of evidence and arguments to support their position.

Writing a commentary essay requires close reading skills and the ability to interpret a wide range of information. It also requires you to think critically about how ideas are connected and draw conclusions about why certain elements are included in the text.

Commentary is an essential part of any essay because it allows your reader – who may not be as familiar with the text as you – to understand why you have drawn certain conclusions based on your interpretation.

It’s like giving them a guided tour through your thoughts and ideas so they can explore what makes your argument unique and interesting. Commentary also enables you to make connections between different aspects of the text that might not be obvious on first glance, helping bring out its significance even further.

By using commentary effectively, you can write an engaging essay that really gets your point across clearly.

The Significance Of Commentary In Essay Writing

Writing commentary in an essay can be a powerful tool for communicating ideas and arguments. It is essential to engage in critical thinking, interpretation, and analysis when writing commentary. Writing effective commentary requires the ability to construct a well-developed argument that supports the main point of the essay.

Here are 4 key elements of effective commentary:

A clear thesis statement
Relevant evidence that supports the argument
Interpretation and analysis of the evidence
A conclusion that summarizes the argument

Commentaries should be written with an engaging style that encourages readers to think critically about the topic at hand. Good literary commentary should be accessible, yet thought-provoking; it should both inform and entertain the audience. Additionally, it should challenge preconceived notions about a subject and provide an insightful perspective on why something matters or how it affects our lives.

In order to write effectively, one must first understand their audience and what they hope to communicate through their words. With this knowledge in mind, one can craft a compelling commentary that offers fresh insight into any given topic.

Transitioning seamlessly into the next section…

Key Elements Of Effective Commentary

Like the rising sun that signals a new day, effective commentary can offer a fresh perspective to an essay. With the right words and emphasis, it can engage readers in an entirely new way and bring them closer to understanding your argument.

Like a shimmering beacon of light, it has the power to grab their attention and draw them into your ideas.

Commentary does more than just summarize facts or provide background information – it also evaluates, interprets, and analyses information.

It’s an opportunity for you to delve into the heart of what you’re writing about, offering insight into its significance and exploring potential implications. By taking this approach, you can evaluate the importance of each point and develop your thesis with greater clarity.

Through thoughtful commentary, you can make connections between ideas that your readers may not have previously considered and help them reach their own conclusions about your argument.

Strategies For Writing Potent Commentary In Essays

Writing potent commentary in essays is essential to making a successful argument and gaining the reader’s interest. Here are four strategies that can help you write a good essay commentary:

Develop a strong thesis statement

A thesis statement serves as the core of your essay, and it should be explicit, engaging and supportable by evidence. It should also be concise so that readers can understand your main message immediately.

Understand the topic better

Spend some time researching the topic before you start writing to ensure you have a thorough understanding of it. This will give your commentary more depth and clarity.

Body And Paragraphs Organized

Make sure your body paragraphs are organized logically and clearly explain how your points relate to the overall theme or argument of your essay.

Each paragraph should have a single purpose, and make sure that all sentences within each paragraph work together to support that purpose.

Use literary analysis

When writing your commentary you can draw on elements like tone, imagery, diction, and syntax to make your argument more persuasive and compelling for readers. This will also help them better understand what you’re trying to communicate in your essay.

By incorporating these strategies into your essay writing process, you can create powerful commentary that effectively supports your argument and engages readers with meaningful insight into the text or topic at hand. With these tips in mind, let’s look at how to use quotations and examples in commentary to further enrich our arguments!

The Use Of Quotations And Examples In Commentary

Now that we’ve discussed strategies for writing powerful commentary in essays, let’s explore the use of quotations and examples when constructing these sentences.

Quotations and examples are essential for making strong commentary sentences that support an argument or analysis. When used correctly, they can be a great way to illustrate a point and add interest and texture to your argument.

When including a quotation in your commentary, it is important to make sure it is properly attributed. You should include both the author’s name and the source from which the quote was taken. This not only strengthens your argument by adding credibility, but it also shows you have done your research.

Examples are also effective for proving a point or introducing a new concept. They help to break up longer paragraphs, explain difficult concepts in more detail, and provide evidence or substantiation for an idea or opinion. When using examples in commentary sentences, it is important that they are relevant to the topic at hand and accurately represent what you are attempting to say in your essay.

With this information in mind, let’s move on to examining types of commentary in essays; comprehending the contrasts.

Types Of Commentary In Essays: Comprehending The Contrasts

As a student writing a commentary essay, it is important to understand the differences between analyzing, summarizing, and evaluating. To help comprehend these contrasts, let’s take a look at four main points:

1. Analyzing – Looking closely at something and breaking it down into smaller parts to better understand it.

2. Summarizing – Taking the information from a larger group of data and boiling it down into its key elements.

3. Relating – Exploring how two or more ideas are connected and how they affect each other.

4. Evaluating – Examining different aspects of an issue or argument and determining its worth or value by expressing an opinion about it.

Using these four points as a framework for writing your commentary essays can help you to be more effective in your analysis, summary and evaluation of any given topic.

Furthermore, this knowledge will also serve you well when crafting strategies for writing literary essays that contain thoughtful commentary elements.

With this in mind, let us now turn our attention to creating such strategies…

Strategies For Writing Commentary In Literary Essays

Having discussed the differences between types of commentary, let’s now turn to strategies for writing effective commentary in literary essays.

When it comes to providing commentary, it is important to understand that you are making a statement about something; whether it be an interpretation or opinion, you need to make a clear statement.

You should also comment on any phrases or passages that have stood out and explain why they are significant.

It is also important to identify the underlying message of the text. This means going beyond surface-level analysis and delving into the deeper meaning of the work.

To do this, think about what is not being said as much as what is being said.

Make sure your comments add depth to your analysis and provide new insights for your readers.

Finally, take care when constructing your sentences so that your points come across clearly and convincingly.

Writing Commentary For Convincing Essays

I’m sure you’re excited to finally get started on writing your commentary for a convincing essay! It can be intimidating to write about something without knowing what type of essay you’re working on. But if you take the time to read through the assignment and passage, you’ll have a much better idea of what you need to write.

When it comes to writing your commentary, try not to worry too much about “sounding smart” or “having all the right answers.” Instead, focus on writing like yourself—in your own voice, with your own ideas. The more authentic and engaging your writing is, the more persuasive it will be to readers.

So don’t be afraid to express yourself—you may just surprise yourself with how creative and interesting your thoughts can be! With that said, let’s move on to creating commentary that supports your thesis statement.

Creating Commentary That Supports Your Thesis Statement

As the saying goes, hindsight is 20/20. Looking back now, it’s clear that writing an effective commentary for a convincing essay requires some finesse and insight.

When starting to write, it’s important to have a good understanding of the topic you are discussing and to provide enough context for your audience to understand what you are discussing. Additionally, it helps to have an understanding of opposing viewpoints before you start writing so that you can avoid falling into common traps.

To create commentary that supports your thesis statement effectively, there are a few things you need to keep in mind:

1. Make sure your argument is sound and won’t be easily refuted by an opposing point of view.

2. Avoid introducing new evidence or topics in your commentary; instead focus on the evidence already presented in the essay body.

3. Take the time to help explain why certain evidence matters and why readers should care about it.

The goal of commentary is not just to express an opinion but also provide meaningful analysis that will help prove or disprove a point of view. By being mindful of these considerations when writing, it is possible to create effective commentary that will help readers better understand your argument and its implications.

Common Mistakes To Avoid In Commentary Writing

I think one of the biggest mistakes I can make when writing a commentary essay is to overgeneralize my points. It’s important to provide specific examples and evidence to back up my opinion and avoid making sweeping conclusions.

Additionally, when writing a commentary essay, it’s also easy to forget to include evidence to support my argument. Making sure to include evidence will make my piece of writing much more convincing and credible.

Avoiding Overgeneralization

When writing a commentary essay, it’s important to avoid overgeneralizing your topic.

Sure, it may be tempting to make sweeping statements about the issue at hand, but this won’t do justice to your argument.

Instead, try to focus on concrete evidence and facts that back up your opinion.

For example, include statistics or subjective accounts from experts in the field.

This will ensure that you don’t come off as too biased or uninformed in your commentary.

By avoiding overgeneralization and being specific in your evidence, you can present a much more convincing argument and captivate readers with innovation.

Remember: always strive for accuracy when building an argument!

Lack Of Evidence

When it comes to commentary writing, one of the biggest mistakes people make is not having enough evidence to back up their argument. Without any supporting evidence, your argument can easily be dismissed as biased and uninformed.

This is especially true when discussing contentious topics like politics or religion. It’s important to remember that you’re usually assigned a commentary essay for a reason—so make sure you have enough facts and figures to give your readers an informed opinion. Otherwise, you may struggle to convince them of your point of view.

To make sure your argument stands out from the crowd, research extensively and use concrete evidence whenever possible. This will show that you’ve put in the effort and will help ensure a more innovative outcome for your audience.

Tips For Revising And Editing Commentary

Revising and editing your commentary is an important step in writing an essay. It helps to ensure that you are conveying the most accurate and persuasive message.

To do this, it’s important to read through your writing again and summarize any points that you noticed while reading. This will allow you to make sure that each point is clear and concise. As students need to be able to write effectively, it is also important to pay close attention to the language used throughout the essay.

Looking for words that could be replaced with more precise ones or focusing on certain aspects of literature can help bring life to a paper.

It is also essential to check for grammar, spelling, punctuation, and other errors before submitting the essay. Making sure all of these elements are correct can help enhance the paper’s overall quality.

Additionally, as you review your work, look for any areas where clarification may be necessary. Taking a second look at what you wrote will help ensure that the reader fully understands all of your points and implications.

By following these tips when revising and editing commentary in an essay, readers can gain a clearer understanding of the author’s intended message.

Examples Of Strong And Poor Commentary In Essays

A necessary part of writing an essay is the commentary. It’s the all-important part that allows for a deeper understanding of what is being written and allows the reader to get a fuller picture of the writer’s thoughts.

Unfortunately, not everyone understands the need to understand commentary. Many writers think they can simply paraphrase their sources without paying attention to how they are using irony or antithesis, missing out on valuable opportunities to add depth and complexity to their work.

Commentary should be used to engage readers in a way that speaks directly to their subconscious desire for innovation. It should be written in a personal tone of voice with contractions and an engaging style that will grab readers’ attention and make them want more.

If done correctly, it can bring new life and insight into an essay, allowing it to stand out from the rest.

Paragraph Construction With Commentary

In this section, I’m going to be talking about paragraph construction with commentary. As part of writing an essay, it is important to think about how you are going to use literary elements and techniques to convey your main idea or argument. I was always taught by my instructor that the way you structure your paragraphs can really make a difference in how effective your message is.

So, let’s take a look at some tips for constructing well-crafted paragraphs that provide an engaging commentary.

First of all, try not to write too long of a sentence as this can lead to confusion for the reader.

Secondly, make sure that each paragraph has one clear point that ties back into the main argument or idea you are trying to convey in your essay.

Finally, use transition words and phrases as needed throughout the essay so that readers can easily follow along with your discussion.

All these steps help ensure that readers understand and appreciate what you have written in your essay. With these tips in mind, let’s move on to discussing transition words and phrases for commentary.

Transition Words And Phrases For Commentary

In the world of higher education, commentary is a powerful tool that can bring literature to life in a way that no other piece can. It’s almost magical how one can take an otherwise mundane poem and turn it into something extraordinary with just a few words. Commentary has the ability to transform isolation into coherence in ways that are simply astounding!

Here is a 4-point list for successful commentary:

1. Read the text multiple times before writing any comments.

2. Take notes on what stands out most to you.

3. Use concrete examples from the text to better illustrate your points.

4. Be sure to engage with your audience in a way that encourages them to think more deeply about the subject matter at hand.

Commentary is an invaluable skill for anyone looking to make their mark on a piece of literature, so use it wisely and always strive for excellence! With this knowledge, we can now move on to exploring how to write a conclusion with commentary – do’s and don’ts included!

Writing A Conclusion With Commentary: Do’s And Don’ts

Now that you know the transition words and phrases for commentary, it’s time to learn how to write a conclusion with commentary. It can seem complicated, but it doesn’t have to be.

One of the most important things to remember is not to rely too heavily on your homework. Spending too much time memorizing facts and figures won’t help you in the long run when it comes to showcasing your opinion. Therefore, try to focus on critical thinking skills instead of wasting time studying for hours on end.

While two sentences are usually enough for a conclusion, make sure that each one packs a punch and is full of insight and analysis. Hone your skills by getting feedback from others so you can refine your writing and develop a style that resonates with any reader.

This can help ensure that your concluding remarks leave an impactful impression on those who read them.

Overall, effective commentary is essential for producing a successful essay.

Writing commentary allows you to demonstrate your understanding and personal thoughts on the topic and can really amplify your argument.

By incorporating examples, quotations, and other evidence into your commentary, you are able to bring life to your writing in a manner that will make it stand out from the crowd.

As an age-old proverb says, “A picture paints a thousand words”; similarly, strong commentary paints an even grander picture of your argument.

With these tips in mind, I look forward to seeing you all write some truly standout essays!

AI-driven Writing

How to write a commentary essay: tips and examples.

Updated: May 13, 2024

Ever felt overwhelmed by the thought of writing a commentary essay? It can be daunting to express your thoughts coherently and engage your readers effectively. A commentary essay requires you to analyze a text critically, offering your perspective in a structured and detailed manner. This blog will guide you through understanding what a commentary essay is, exploring its types, and providing steps and tips to write one effectively, including examples and essential do's and don'ts.

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Understanding what a commentary essay is.

A commentary essay is a type of writing where you, the author, provide your personal interpretation and analytical comments on a given text. This could be a book, an article, a film, or any other form of media. The purpose of this essay is not just to summarize the content but to dive deep into its elements and offer insights based on your understanding. This kind of essay helps in sharpening critical thinking skills and allows you to convey your perspectives in a structured manner.

In academic and professional settings, the importance of a commentary essay lies in its ability to demonstrate your ability to critically engage with texts and articulate your thoughts clearly. Here are some key aspects that highlight its significance:

Enhances analytical skills : By analyzing different layers of the text.
Improves writing skills : As it requires clear and coherent expression of your thoughts.
Encourages independent thinking : You interpret the text in your unique way without relying solely on external commentaries.

Exploring Types of Commentary Essays

Several open books on a desk with labels showing different types of commentary essays, in a neat and organized study environment, with a clear and educational feel, Photography, captured from a high angle using a sharp focus lens, under soft ambient lighting.

Commentary essays come in various forms, each serving a unique purpose and audience. One popular type is the literary commentary , which focuses on analyzing a specific passage from a literary work. This type of commentary delves into the text's themes, stylistic choices, and overall significance within the larger context of the work. It's not about summarizing but rather interpreting and offering new insights about the text. Literary commentaries are particularly useful in academic settings where deep textual analysis is required to understand the nuances of literature.

Another distinct type is data commentary . Unlike its literary counterpart, data commentary does not deal with traditional texts. Instead, it focuses on interpreting and discussing data, often presented in formats such as graphs, tables, or charts. The key points of a data commentary might include the data's reliability, trends, and what these imply about the broader research context. This type is commonly found in scientific or technical fields, where understanding data is crucial for advancing knowledge and making informed decisions.

Steps to Writing a Commentary Essay

Writing a commentary essay involves a systematic approach that starts with thorough planning. Initially, you must carefully read and analyze the text to fully grasp its content and subtleties. This critical first step sets the foundation for your commentary, as it allows you to form a clear understanding of the text's main points and underlying messages. It's not just about understanding what the text says, but also about interpreting and evaluating its deeper meanings and implications.

After your initial analysis, the next step is to outline your essay. This outline should include an introduction that sets up your thesis statement, a body where you will expand on your main points with detailed commentary, and a conclusion that ties all your insights together and reinforces your thesis. The key to a successful commentary essay is linking your observations back to your main thesis , ensuring that each section of your essay contributes to a cohesive and persuasive argument.

Specific Methods for Crafting Commentary

One effective method for crafting insightful commentary in your essay is the "This Shows That" method . This technique involves starting your analysis sentences with the phrase "this shows that," which prompts you to explain the significance of a quotation or a detail from the text. This method helps in steering clear of mere plot summary by encouraging a deeper analysis of how specific elements of the text contribute to its overall meaning or theme.

Another powerful strategy is the "LET" method , which stands for Literary Elements and Techniques. This approach guides you to focus on the literary devices used in the text and discuss how they enhance the narrative or argument. For instance, you might analyze the use of metaphor, symbolism, or irony, and explain how these elements support the text's themes. By using the LET method, you can provide a more nuanced interpretation that highlights your ability to engage critically with literary texts.

Example of a Well-Written Commentary Essay

Let's consider an example of a well-written commentary essay on the poem "The Road Not Taken" by Robert Frost. The essay begins with an introduction that contextualizes the poem and presents the thesis: Frost uses the road as a metaphor for life's choices. The body paragraphs delve into detailed analysis:

Exploring the metaphor : The essay discusses how the "two roads diverged" symbolizes life decisions.
Imagery and tone : The commentary highlights how Frost's use of serene and contemplative imagery enhances the theme of choice.
Reader’s personal reflection : The essay includes the author’s personal interpretation, suggesting that the poem resonates with readers who face significant life choices.

In the conclusion, the essay synthesizes the analysis by reaffirming how Frost’s use of literary techniques, such as metaphor and imagery, effectively underscores the poem's deeper meaning about choices and consequences. This example demonstrates the key elements of a commentary essay:

Thesis-driven : It is centered around a clear, arguable thesis.
Textual evidence : It uses specific examples from the poem to support claims.
Personal interpretation : It reflects the writer’s unique perspective on the text.

Tips for Writing an Effective Commentary Essay

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When embarking on writing a commentary essay, it's crucial to focus on structure, style, and content . Begin with a clear and concise thesis statement that will guide the flow of your essay. This statement should not only state your main point but also set the tone for the arguments you will present. Here are some style tips to consider:

Use a formal yet engaging tone to connect with your reader.
Vary your sentence structures to keep the essay dynamic and interesting.
Employ rhetorical questions sparingly to provoke thought without overusing them.

Structurally, your essay should have a logical flow that makes it easy for readers to follow your analysis. Start with an introduction that hooks the reader and provides a roadmap of your commentary. The body of your essay should then elaborate on your thesis statement, with each paragraph focusing on a single idea supported by evidence from the text. Finally, ensure your conclusion ties all your points together and reinforces your thesis, leaving the reader with a strong impression of your analytical skills. Remember, the key to an effective commentary is not just in what you say, but in how you say it.

Concluding Your Commentary Essay Properly

Concluding your commentary essay is crucial as it's your final opportunity to make an impact on the reader. A strong conclusion will not only summarize the main points but also reinforce your thesis statement and show how your analysis adds to the understanding of the text. Consider linking back to your introduction or using a quotation that emphasizes your main point. This creates a sense of completeness and leaves the reader with a lasting impression of your insights.

To ensure your conclusion is effective, try these strategies:

Synthesize, don't just summarize : Briefly reiterate your main points to show how they interconnect and support your thesis.
Include a provocative insight or quotation : This can give your conclusion depth and resonance.
Propose questions or suggest further areas of study : This encourages the reader to think beyond the essay and apply your analysis in broader contexts. By implementing these methods, your conclusion will serve as a powerful capstone to your commentary essay.

Key Terminology in Commentary Writing

Understanding the key terminology in commentary writing is crucial for anyone looking to master this style of essay. Terms like "thesis statement" refer to the main idea or argument that your essay proposes and defends throughout the text. Another important term is "textual evidence," which includes quotations, summaries, or paraphrases from the text to support your thesis. These elements are vital as they provide the foundation and support for your commentary, ensuring that your analysis is grounded in the text itself.

Additionally, the term "analysis" in commentary writing involves breaking down the text into its components to understand its meanings, themes, and implications more deeply. This process is often supported by identifying and discussing various literary devices such as metaphor, symbolism, or irony used by the author. Recognizing these devices helps to enrich your interpretation, offering a more nuanced view of the text. Personal interpretation , another key term, refers to your unique perspective and insights on the text, which adds originality and depth to your essay.

Do's and Don'ts in Commentary Essay Writing

When writing a commentary essay, it's crucial to adhere to specific best practices while avoiding common pitfalls. Do ensure you always cite your sources to back up your analysis and provide credibility to your essay. Do include a clear and concise title that reflects your thesis and the essence of the commentary. It's also important to thoroughly understand and present the original content you are discussing, including details about the author and publication.

On the flip side, there are several things you should avoid to maintain the quality of your commentary essay. Don't merely summarize the entire content; instead, focus on analyzing and interpreting the text. Avoid including irrelevant citations just to fill space—every source should add value to your argument. Lastly, don't overlook the importance of proofreading ; always review your work to correct any grammatical or structural errors, ensuring your final piece is polished and professional.

Enhance Your Commentary Essay with Samwell.ai

Samwell.ai significantly simplifies the process of writing commentary essays by providing AI-powered writing assistance. This tool is designed to help you craft well-researched, insightful essays that adhere to academic integrity. With features like advanced plagiarism checks and access to authentic sources , Samwell.ai ensures that your essay is not only original but also rich in content and analysis. This is crucial in commentary essays where depth and originality are key.

Using Samwell.ai, students and professionals can focus more on developing their analytical skills without the stress of extensive research and citation management. Here’s how you can benefit:

Ease of use : The interface is user-friendly, making essay writing more accessible.
Time-saving features : Quick access to data and citations speeds up the writing process.
Enhanced learning : Provides multimedia integrations for a comprehensive understanding of topics. To experience these benefits firsthand, visit Samwell.ai and start enhancing your essays today.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you start a commentary in an essay.

Starting a commentary essay effectively involves setting up a clear and engaging introduction. Begin with a hook to capture the reader's interest, followed by background information on the text you will be analyzing. Then, introduce your thesis statement, which will guide the flow of your essay and state your main point. This structure not only prepares the reader for what is to come but also sets the tone for a coherent and persuasive argument.

What is an example for commentary?

An example of a commentary essay is analyzing the poem "The Road Not Taken" by Robert Frost. The essay could start with an introduction that contextualizes the poem and presents the thesis that Frost uses the road as a metaphor for life's choices. The body paragraphs would delve into detailed analysis, discussing the metaphor of the roads diverging, the use of serene and contemplative imagery, and the personal reflection of the reader. The conclusion would then synthesize this analysis, reaffirming how Frost’s literary techniques effectively underscore the poem's themes about choices and consequences.

What is the format of writing commentary?

The format of writing a commentary essay includes an introduction, body, and conclusion. Begin with an introduction that includes a hook, background information, and a thesis statement. The body should consist of several paragraphs, each focusing on a specific part of the analysis linked back to the thesis. Each paragraph should contain textual evidence and detailed commentary. Conclude the essay by synthesizing the main points, reinforcing the thesis, and suggesting further implications or questions for the reader to consider. This structured approach helps maintain a clear and logical flow, making your analysis easy to follow.

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What Is a Commentary in an Essay | Writing Guide & Examples

Icon Calendar 18 May 2024

When people need to express their thoughts or ideas about something, they need guidelines on how to write a commentary essay. This article begins by defining what is a commentary essay, its meaning, and outlining its basic structure. Some insights students can learn are that introductions should have hooks, background information, and thesis statements. Body paragraphs of a commentary essay should have topic sentences; evidence, mainly quotes; comments after the evidence; and transitions. The conclusion part should restate the thesis and summarize the main ideas. This guideline also gives a sample outline template, possible topics, and a practical example of a commentary essay. Lastly, the article teaches students 10 dos and 10 don’ts and 20 tips for writing a high-standard commentary essay.

How to Write an Outstanding Commentary Essay & Examples

Reading is an academic exercise that develops a person’s mental faculties of intellect, memory, reason, intuition, perception, and imagination. These faculties develop when people utilize what they have acquired through reading to write different types of essays , including reports and research papers. Therefore, reading and writing are related because they both induce intellectual development. This guideline on how to write a commentary in an essay teaches students and anyone passionate about writing how to create a good argumentative position that meets the quality standards for intellectual discourse and publication. The guideline also offers vital insights, including the definition of what is a commentary essay, its basic essay structure, different types, possible essay topics, 10 dos and 10 don’ts, and 20 tips for producing a high-standard essay. Therefore, reading this guideline is beneficial to students and others who may, from time to time, write a commentary in an essay to communicate ideas to specific audiences.

What Is a Commentary in an Essay | Writing Guide & Examples

Definition of What Is a Commentary in an Essay and Its Meaning

From a definition, a commentary is a descriptive account of an event, an expression of opinions about a political, economic, social, or cultural issue, or elucidating a point or topic of public interest. From this perspective, a commentary essay is a document that students write to express opinions about an issue or topic through a descriptive expression and explanation of ideas. In this respect, a commentary essay differs from other types of papers, including an argumentative essay, a personal narrative, a cause and effect essay, compare and contrast essay, or a problem and solution essay, as well as a report and a research paper, because it means expressing the writer’s perspective concerning an issue or topic. Commentaries are products of a critical analysis of societal problems across political, economic, social, and cultural dimensions. When writing a commentary essay, students should analyze and interpret the source under discussion, such as a text, film, article, video, advertisement, event, object, subject, book, poem, speech, presentation, literary work, novel, sculpture, or image, among others, using a basic sandwich rule: giving a commentary after each quote or citation.

Use exceptional writing services that guarantee original and well-researched papers.

Basic Structure of a Commentary Essay

Like other texts, a commentary paper has a basic essay structure that dictates how writers should organize their content. This structure has three components: an introduction, a body, and a conclusion. The introduction is where writers introduce their assigned topics using a hook, context, and an argumentative thesis statement. Although this type of commentary essay is not an argumentative essay, an argumentative thesis indicates the writer’s perspective on the issue, which can be contentious in the eyes of readers. The body of a commentary essay is where authors construct a defense of their perspective through body paragraphs; each body paragraph should have a topic sentence that establishes a claim; supporting evidence, like quotes, data, or examples; a commentary that analyzes and explains information cited in an essay; and a concluding sentence with a transition to create a logical connection to the next paragraph. In turn, the conclusion restates the thesis and makes a final remark.

5 Main Types of Commentary

Because a commentary in an essay expresses the writer’s perspective about an issue, idea, or topic, it is evident in the body section of a commentary essay, where people describe their perspectives every time they provide evidence. In this respect, there are different types of commentary. The first one is an opinion essay where writers analyze evidence, such as a quote, text, or image, and state their stands with their critics. The second type of a commentary essay is an interpretation, where authors explain a complex concept to enhance the reader’s understanding. The third type is character or subject’s feelings, where students depict the emotional state of the person they have described in a commentary sentence. The fourth type of commentary essay is a personal reaction, where people communicate their stances on an issue, while the fifth type is an evaluation, where writers evaluate a section and gives a critical judgment.

Alternative Commentary Types and Examples

Besides the types of commentary above, students may write alternative commentary types when their essay is part of a bigger writing project, such as a systematic exposition of an idea, theme, or topic. Students must know the unique features of each type, including when to use it, what to focus on, and how to organize a commentary essay’s content.

1️⃣ Close, Direct Analysis of Passages

An example of an alternative commentary is a close, direct analysis of robust passages from the source, such as an article, film, poem, literary work, book, or novel. In this respect, they are standard in bigger writing projects, like expositions or being part of a critic’s work. Students adopt this type of commentary when they have to read a passage in a text or pick a speech in a movie and write a film analysis essay that expresses the writer’s perspective on the central issues, ideas, or concepts. The following example of a commentary essay demonstrates a close, direct examination of the first stanza of the poem “Night Wind” by Christopher Dewdney:

Tonight the wind blows through

all the worlds I have known and

through all the lives I have led.

The wind blows in the trees,

deeper into each.

The wind blows forever,

strains like something

endlessly departing.

Restless, impatient,

it races without burden.

Example of a Commentary on Celebration of Nature in the First Stanza of Christopher Dewdney’s Poem “Night Wind”

Christopher Dewdney’s 1984 poem “Night Wind” celebrates nature by depicting the night wind as a permanent, free expression of nature. The poet describes the wind on a particular night in the first stanza. By using a first-person perspective in the first three lines, Dewdney depicts himself as an observer. This writing style expresses a personal dialogue in which the poet directly relates his senses, experiences, and impressions. Dewdney opens the poem with the words: “Tonight the wind blows through / all the worlds I have known and / through all the lives I have led.” In this passage, the author expresses to the reader how the unity of the wind in whatever time or place leaves a lasting impression on him. Ideally, he views the wind as an omnipresent force but also regards it as very transient and fleeting. The words “endlessly departing” indicate to the reader the sense that the wind encompasses the entire continuum of the poet’s existence. Nonetheless, it is always in a rush to be at another location. The reader gets the impression that wind is a celebration of nature when Dewdney mentions its interactions with nature: “The wind blows in the trees, deeper into each.” This statement induces an imagination of trees fighting against a pervasive wind. The poet ends the stanza by personifying the wind, and he assigns it human qualities of restlessness, impatience, and playfulness. In this respect, the first stanza uses the wind as a reason to celebrate nature.

2️⃣ Commentary Annotations

Annotations are another type of alternative commentary where writers use a short claim on a source, like a text, film, or image. This kind of commentary essay also looks like an annotated bibliography. Typically, writers adopt annotations when they need to explain complex words, phrases, or concepts to readers; give a historical or cultural context of the topic; support or challenge the author’s arguments in an essay; expose literary devices, like contrast, irony, or sarcasm, or rhetorical devices, like ethos, pathos, and logos; provide a personal interpretation of the text under analysis. Therefore, annotations aim to enhance the reader’s understanding of a short passage from a source. Below are three examples of annotations of complex content in writing a commentary essay for Christopher Dewdney’s Poem “Night Wind.”

3 Examples of a Commentary With Annotations

➖ “The night wind is an empire / in exodus, a deliverance / beside the dark shape of trees.”

This statement is in lines 13-15 of Dewdney’s poem, where the poet alludes to a biblical concept, exodus, to express the wind’s freedom. By stating that the wind is “… in exodus, a deliverance…,” Dewdney makes the reader compare the wind to the incident in the book of Exodus in the Bible where Moses leads the children of Israel, God’s chosen people, to Canaan, the promised land, after freeing a life of bondage in Egypt. In this respect, lines 13-15 confirm that the wind is free and expresses nature’s freedom.

➖ “The wind takes / me in its giddy rush and / gathers me into a storm of longing, / rising on wings of darkness.”

In this statement in lines 18-21, the phrase “wings of darkness” emphasizes the wind’s freedom and mystery. The poet contextualizes the wind as an unpredictable force that can take a person anywhere .

➖ “Along oceans and rivers, / the gale’s mysterious, unspoken imperative / is a joyous delirium with / nothing at its end.”

This passage in lines 36-39 expresses Dewdney’s excitement in not knowing where the wind may take him. It suggests that it does not matter where the wind takes him because he is truly free. In essence, the statement makes the reader imagine the wind as a mystery because it can take one anywhere, emphasizing the theme of freedom.

3️⃣ Data Commentary

Data commentary is another type of alternative essay commentary where writers summarize a study by analyzing critical information that helps readers have a sneak peek of the project. The features students should incorporate in a commentary essay include visual illustrations, like charts, diagrams, graphs, and tables, to capture statistical data, allowing readers to compare them easily. In this respect, data commentary reflects the results section of a research paper because that is where scholars use visual illustrations to report statistical data. Another feature is a conclusion summarizing a commentary essay by reiterating the key points and expressing the writer’s final remark, meaning the main perspective on the topic. Lastly, people must provide a reference page listing credible sources they consulted to write data commentaries, such as reports and research articles. Below is an example of data commentary.

Example of Data Commentary

Table 3 shows respondents’ responses to statements about the barriers to exercise prescription for people with mental illness. Those who agreed that patients’ mental health denies them the opportunity to exercise was 58%, while those who agreed that obtaining an injury during exercise is a concern was 45%. There was an overwhelming response by 87% of the respondents who agreed that exercise is beneficial and were interested in prescribing it for patients with mental health problems. However, only 13% agreed that prescribing exercise falls outside their job description. Nonetheless, 16% stated that they did not know how to prescribe exercise for the population. Overall, 71% approved that exercise professionals are best suited to prescribe exercise for people in the population.

Possible Uses of Block Quotations for Writing a Good Commentary Essay

When writing a commentary essay, students can use block quotations to organize comments. However, this feature is suitable mainly for extensive passages. In a simple definition, a block quote is a text that captures direct quotations longer than 40 words, which the writer offsets from the main text and does not include quotation marks. The text appears on a new line with a 0.5 inches indentation or five to seven spaces. Using single space for a block quote is standard, even in an essay requiring double spacing. Hence, students must know how to format block quotes in APA, MLA, Harvard, and Chicago/Turabian referencing styles when writing a commentary essay.

📕 APA Format

There are two ways in which students can write block quotes in the APA style when organizing their commentary essays.

I. The first block captures the author’s name before the quote:

In their tabulation of results, Vancampfort et al. (2019) showed:

Almost 75% of the respondents indicated that they would “definitely” attend further training for exercise prescriptions for people with mental illness, in particular, related to how to assess patients and how to motivate them towards an active lifestyle. More than seventy percent of the participants also reported that exercise to people with mental illness is actually best delivered by an exercise professional, although only one respondent referred patients to such an exercise professional (p. 2178).

“[Your comments on a block quote starts here]”

II. Alternatively, a block quote can have the author’s surname at the end:

According to the findings:

📕 MLA Format

Similarly, the MLA style has two ways of formatting a block quote when organizing commentary essays.

I. Having the surname of the author preceding a block quote in an essay:

The results by Vancampfort et al. indicate:

II. Having the author’s surname at the end of the quote:

📕 Harvard Format

The Harvard style also has two ways of formatting a block quote when organizing commentary essays.

I. Indicating the author’s surname before a block quote in an essay:

In their findings, Vancampfort et al. (2019) established that:

II. Citing the author’s surname at the end of a block quote:

📕 Chicago/Turabian Format

The Chicago/Turabian style also has two ways of formatting a block quote when organizing commentary essays.

I. Mentioning the author’s surname before a block quote in an essay:

According to Vancampfort et al.:

II. Showing the author’s surname in a footnote:

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Key Features of Formatting Block Quotes When Writing a Commentary Essay

Looking at the examples of writing a commentary in an essay above, there are some similarities and differences in formatting block quotes. APA and Harvard are similar because they show the research article’s publication year and the page number of the information the writer cites in their commentary essay. The main difference is the arrangement of these details, including the place of putting comas. On the other hand, the MLA and Chicago/Turabian styles are similar in that they do not show the research article’s publication year. The main difference is that the Chicago/Turabian style uses footnotes to show the author(s) and all the bibliography details at the commentary essay’s end. The MLA style shows only the author’s surname and the page number in the text. In turn, people begin writing their commentaries in the following line after a block quote as a standard paragraph in all the formats.

Easy Sample Topics for Writing a Great Commentary Essay

Students should choose easy essay topics when writing a commentary essay to avoid complicating their tasks. Ideally, a specific topic should indicate a particular source document one is commenting on, such as a text, film, or image. The standard practice is that instructors define essay topics or commemorative speech topics students should write about. However, people can choose other themes they are comfortable with if such instructions do not exist for writing a commentary essay. The best approach to choosing an easy topic is to engage with course content and read widely to generate and incubate ideas. When the time for writing a commentary essay comes, one finds it easy to construct arguments fitting the task. The following are possible commentary essay topics because they suggest analyzing and examining a source from the writer’s perspective.

In Memory of Amelia Earhart: Sky’s Fearless Lady
The Central Themes in Harper Lee’s novel “To Kill a Mockingbird”
“The Great Gatsby” Through Contemporary Lens
The Rhetorical Stance in Jessica Grose’s “Cleaning: The Final Feminist Frontier”
The Message in Robert Frost’s Poem “The Road Not Taken”
Maya Angelou’s Magic in “And Still I Rise”
Demystifying Mental Disorders Through the Film “Black Swan (2010)”
The Essence of Margaret Atwood’s “Negotiating With the Dead: A Writer on Writing”

Sample Outline Template for Writing a Commentary Essay

Title of a commentary essay must be precise to an assigned topic.
Title must be short, clear, and easily understandable.
Title must be interesting, catchy, and with relevant keywords.

I. Introduction Section of a Commentary Essay

Essay introduction must have a hook that interests readers enough to grab their attention and stirs a curiosity to continue reading.
Introduction must refer to a specific source (text, film, or image) and its author(s).
Introduction must summarize an assigned source that includes the main characters (if any), themes, or concepts.
Introduction must have a clear thesis statement that states the writer’s claim.

II. Body Section of a Commentary Essay

Body paragraphs (at least three):

Each body paragraph of a commentary essay must have a topic sentence that emphasizes a single idea central to the main claim in the thesis statement that the writer will defend in the paragraph.
Each body paragraph must include evidence from a source under analysis, such as a quote, indicating the character responsible and the context.
Each body paragraph must give a commentary about the evidence through relevant analysis, linking the information to the idea at the beginning of the paragraph and the claim in the thesis.
Each body paragraph must end with a closing statement and a bridge sentence to facilitate a logical flow to the next paragraph or section.

III. Conclusion Section of a Commentary Essay

Sum up a commentary essay by:

Restating the thesis.
Emphasizing the main ideas of a commentary essay.
Giving a final remark that confirms the importance of the essay topic.

Example of a Commentary Essay

Commentary Essay’s Title: The Rhetorical Stance in Jessica Grose’s “Cleaning: The Final Feminist Frontier”

I. Example of an Introduction of a Commentary Essay

A woman never rests, not with society constantly demanding her value at every turn. This idea is the message in Jessica Grose’s famous article, “Cleaning: The Final Feminist Frontier.” The author argues that cleaning remains a feature of women’s value in society, despite men’s growing involvement in childcare and cooking. The article also opens with personal accounts and convincing facts, suggesting its credibility as a source of information about the dynamics confronting American women. In her article, Grose communicates her message effectively by adopting a rhetorical stance characterized by emotional appeals.

II. Example of Body Paragraphs of a Commentary Essay

A. commentary on the main idea of the article.

Grose opens the article with a personal story of her and her husband cleaning their house after Hurricane Sandy forced them indoors. She uses the uneven distribution of the cleaning task in her marriage to point out the larger feminist issue of who between a husband and wife should do the job. The article gives three reasons why men shy away from the cleaning task, including the fact that it is women who receive praise for a clean house, the media focuses on men’s growing involvement in childcare and cooking, and it is not fun. According to Grose, even distribution of the cleaning task can happen by creating a task chart that shows who does what on the basis of skill and ability and adopting cleaning gadgets to make cleaning more fun.

Throughout the article, Grose uses sources to appeal to the readers’ ethos and build her argument. Some of the sources she uses to achieve these goals include a study by sociologists Judith Treas and Tsui-o Tai and an article by Matthew Krehbiel, North America Fabric Care Brand Manager for P&G. Citing these sources helps the author to build her credibility in the eyes of readers.

Regarding appeals to logos, Grose mentions statistics and interesting facts that help to enhance the logical progression of ideas central to her argument. To emphasize the uneven distribution of the cleaning task, she says, “My husband and I both work…I do the dishes nine times out of ten, and he barely knows how the washer and dryer work.” Such facts confirm and support the idea that women do more household chores than men. She also cites statistics, showing “55 percent of mothers working full-time in America do some housework daily compared to 18 percent of fathers.” In this respect, the article is factual about the uneven distribution of household chores that disadvantages women. As a result, the personal details and statistics from credible sources help Grose to impress upon the reader how society uses the domestic environment to subjugate women.

The article appeals to the readers’ pathos in the beginning and middle sections, where Grose uses emotionally-charged words and phrases to induce the audience’s sympathy. For example, Grose laments that, while she “was eight months pregnant,” her husband experienced the complexity of fighting “a massively pregnant person.” These words evoke an image in the readers’ mind that portrays women as vulnerable in the domestic space because of natural factors, like high emotions and pregnancy. Indeed, readers may feel sympathetic to Grose and the women who generally live in this social context. Moreover, using words and phrases, like ‘argued,’ ‘sucks,’ ‘be shunned,’ ‘be judged,’ and ‘headachey,’ evokes readers’ negative feelings about cleaning. As such, they are more drawn to sympathize with men and view men as selfish.

III. Example of a Conclusion of a Commentary Essay

Grose takes a rhetorical stand throughout the article to persuade her audience of the unfair distribution of cleaning labor in the domestic space. By referencing credible sources, citing statistics and interesting facts, and portraying women as adversely disadvantaged, Grose effectively appeals to the readers’ ethos, logos, and pathos. This rhetorical stand is critical in communicating how society remains unfair to women in the domestic space despite men’s growing involvement in some household chores like childcare and cooking.

4 Easy Steps for Writing a Commentary Essay

Writing a commentary essay is a technical process that requires students to grasp essential details. For example, these details reflect 4 writing steps: preparation, stage setup, writing a first draft, and wrap-up. Typically, each step’s details of writing a commentary essay reflect the wisdom writers should exhibit when creating any scholarly text.

Step 1: Preparation

Preparation is the first step of writing a commentary essay. As the name suggests, it is when writers take time to create a favorable environment to write their papers. The first task is identifying a single source, where students should select good sources they can analyze easily, including poems, novels, or films. The second task is to create a topic, where students must write short topics that communicate a precise message of a commentary essay.

Step 2: Stage Setup

Setting the stage is the second step of writing a commentary essay. The first task is to read, watch, or examine an assigned source to identify key themes and ideas. The second activity is to research reliable sources that help to generate ideas that align with these themes and concepts. The next task is to create a clear essay outline emphasizing the introduction, body, and conclusion with all the essential details.

Step 3: Writing a First Draft of a Commentary Essay

Writing a first draft is the third step in creating a commentary essay, and the focus is generating a paper that can be used for further editing and improvement. As such, students should organize their ideas into text, emphasizing the claim in the thesis statement, ideas in the topic sentences, evidence (quotes), and transitions in the body paragraphs. Students should also ensure the conclusion restates the thesis, summarizes the main ideas of a commentary essay, and gives a final remark about their commentaries, focusing on an assigned source and topic.

Step 4: Wrap-Up

The wrap-up is the last step in writing a commentary essay. The main focus is transforming a first draft into a final text by eliminating all mistakes and flaws. Typically, students should revise all sections that do not make sense to a central claim or those that affect the paper’s logical progression. They should also edit a commentary essay by adding or deleting words and phrases and eliminating grammatical mistakes, missing punctuation, formatting errors, and incorrect citations.

20 Tips for Writing a Commentary Essay

Looking at the information in the preceding sections, writing a great commentary essay is a complex task that requires students to demonstrate knowledge of what it takes to create a quality paper. Some of the tips for writing a commentary essay include identifying a single source, which can be a text, film, or image; noting the source’s basic information, like the author, title, and publication date; identifying the central themes in the source; writing an introduction that emphasizes the source’s basic information; creating a thesis that communicates a claim about the source; adopting the unique structure as above; beginning paragraphs with a topic sentence; incorporating quotes from the source into body paragraphs; commenting on the quotes and their significance; and concluding a commentary essay with a summary that makes a final remark about a single source and topic.

10 things to do when writing a commentary essay include:

identifying a source for writing a commentary essay;
reading, watching, or analyzing an assigned source carefully and closely;
outlining critical details, like themes, ideas, and literary devices;
writing an introduction with a hook and an argumentative thesis statement;
providing body paragraphs with topic sentences, concluding sentences, quotes, commentary, and transitions;
maintaining a formal tone in a commentary essay;
using the applicable format (APA, MLA, Harvard, or Chicago/Turabian) correctly;
presenting an introduction that summarizes a commentary essay;
avoiding grammatical mistakes;
proofreading a final version of a commentary essay.

10 things not to do include:

failing to document the source’s essential details, like the author’s name and surname;
concentrating on the introduction more than the body;
not incorporating quotes in body paragraphs;
focusing on too many ideas in a commentary essay;
not defending the claim in the thesis;
ignoring a unique outline of a commentary essay;
writing with too many grammatical mistakes;
using different formatting styles (APA, MLA, Harvard, and Chicago/Turabian);
not implementing transitions in body paragraphs;
creating a commentary essay without a logical flow of ideas and thoughts.

Summing Up on How to Write a Perfect Commentary Essay

Choose a single source that is simple to analyze.
Create a clear thesis that emphasizes the focus of a commentary essay, such as a claim.
Identify passages or themes in an assigned source that help to build an argumentative claim.
Use an introduction paragraph for its purpose: to introduce a specific topic. As such, it should be short and precise.
Use a body section for its purpose: to analyze a particular source and defend a central claim comprehensively. Therefore, it should be long and have quotes as evidence.
Use a conclusion part to summarize a commentary essay, and it should be concise. More importantly, it should leave readers with a lasting impression of a defined source and topic.

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Commentary Essay Example, Writing Guide, and Tips

Introduction

Welcome to The Knowledge Nest, your go-to resource for all things related to commentary essay writing. In this comprehensive guide, we will walk you through the process of crafting an impactful commentary essay, providing useful examples and valuable tips to help you enhance your writing skills.

What is a Commentary Essay?

A commentary essay is a type of academic writing that aims to analyze and provide an in-depth interpretation of a particular text or topic. It offers a critical examination and evaluation of the subject matter, exploring various perspectives and providing evidence-based arguments to support the author's viewpoint.

Why Write a Commentary Essay?

Writing a commentary essay allows you to develop critical thinking skills, enhance your analytical abilities, and strengthen your written communication. It provides a platform to express your ideas and opinions, engage with different viewpoints, and present a well-rounded analysis of the chosen subject matter.

Key Components of a Commentary Essay

1. Introduction: Begin your essay with a captivating introduction that presents the topic and provides context for the reader.

2. Thesis Statement: Craft a clear and concise thesis statement that outlines your main argument or perspective.

3. Body Paragraphs: Develop your analysis in well-structured body paragraphs, each focusing on a specific point or theme. Use relevant evidence, examples, and expert opinions to support your claims.

4. Counterarguments: Address potential counterarguments or alternative viewpoints and offer thoughtful rebuttals to strengthen your position.

5. Conclusion: Summarize the main points of your essay and reiterate your thesis statement, leaving the reader with a lasting impression.

Step-by-Step Guide to Writing a Commentary Essay

Step 1: choose a relevant topic.

Select a topic that aligns with your interests and falls within the scope of your assignment or academic requirements. Consider the relevance and significance of the subject matter to engage your readers.

Step 2: Conduct Extensive Research

Gather information from credible sources such as academic journals, books, reputable websites, and scholarly articles. Engage with different perspectives and take diligent notes to support your analysis.

Step 3: Outline Your Essay

Create a clear and well-structured outline that outlines the main points, arguments, and supporting evidence you will present in your essay. A well-organized outline ensures a cohesive and logical flow of ideas.

Step 4: Craft an Engaging Introduction

In your introduction, provide a brief overview of the topic and its significance. Hook the reader's attention with an intriguing opening sentence or a thought-provoking question.

Step 5: Develop Your Arguments in the Body Paragraphs

Divide your essay into distinct body paragraphs, each focusing on a specific point or theme. Begin each paragraph with a topic sentence that establishes the main idea, and support it with relevant evidence, examples, and analysis.

Step 6: Address Counterarguments

Acknowledge alternative viewpoints and counterarguments to demonstrate your awareness of different perspectives. Articulate thoughtful rebuttals that strengthen your arguments and distinguish your viewpoint.

Step 7: Conclude with Impact

In your conclusion, summarize the main points of your essay and restate your thesis statement. Leave the reader with a compelling closing thought or call-to-action that invites further reflection or discussion on the topic.

Commentary Essay Example

To provide you with a better understanding, let's consider an example of a commentary essay on the topic of climate change:

Introduction:

Climate change has emerged as one of the most pressing global issues of our time. This commentary essay aims to analyze the causes, impacts, and potential solutions to address this environmental crisis.

Body Paragraph 1: The Causes of Climate Change

The first body paragraph delves into the primary causes of climate change, such as greenhouse gas emissions, deforestation, and industrialization. It explores how human activities have contributed to the accelerated pace of global warming.

Body Paragraph 2: The Impacts of Climate Change

In the second body paragraph, we examine the far-reaching impacts of climate change on ecosystems, weather patterns, and human livelihoods. We explore the devastating consequences of rising sea levels, extreme weather events, and the loss of biodiversity.

Body Paragraph 3: Potential Solutions to Climate Change

The third body paragraph focuses on potential solutions to mitigate and adapt to climate change. It explores renewable energy sources, sustainable agricultural practices, and international collaboration as key strategies to combat this global crisis.

Conclusion:

In conclusion, the commentary essay emphasizes the urgent need for collective action to address climate change. By understanding its causes, impacts, and potential solutions, we can work towards a sustainable future for generations to come.

Writing a commentary essay enables you to dive deep into a specific topic, critically analyze it, and articulate your thoughts effectively. By following our comprehensive guide and utilizing the provided tips, you will be well-equipped to create impactful commentary essays and improve your writing skills.

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How to Write a Commentary Essay: Your Student’s Guide

A commentary essay is not the most popular type of academic assignment. Yet, you should know how to write this paper as it may also add up some points to your record book. This step-by-step article explains how to write a commentary essay. These pieces of advice provided by the professional online writers and editors from a custom writing service will help you reinforce your ability to write this type of assignment. It can be submitted as both homework or in-class assignment. Some tutors may assign a commentary as part of the examination. So, there is no way out but to learn how to write it.

What is a Commentary Essay?

To make it short, a literary commentary is a type of academic assignment aimed to reveal the results of analysis and detailed description of a particular piece of text. It can be a new or outdated article, but it is better to choose one that is not older than five years. There is no need to involve a general discussion on the topic/thesis statement. Still, it should have a strong thesis.

Except for academic purposes, commentaries are sporadically used for publishing purposes. That means that whenever a publisher needs a commentary for a recently published work, the editor should write one. The primary goal of such type of writing is to initiate a forum where people can voice and opine various perspectives on a given topic.

Commentary Essay Structure and Outline

You should clearly see the difference between commenting on a research paper and a commentary as a subgenre of academic writing. They differ in structure even though the purpose is the same.

In case you are writing a commentary essay as a separate assignment, you should pick a different structure that is reminiscent of the other academic genres. It should generate around 5 paragraphs in length with the proposed outline looking as follows:

Abstract (summarize the rest of the literary commentary in 250-300 words maximum — 1/3 of a page).
Introduction (introduce the analyzed piece and its author).
Several body paragraphs (include a topic sentence and transitions in each).
Conclusion (summarize everything said above, restate your thesis, and finish on a powerful accord).

You should not use any other references except for the one you analyze. It will be enough to cite the original source and use your own words to illustrate your points of view. As you see, there is no need to add a reference page in the end.

How about the process of writing itself? Take a look at the professional tips on writing a commentary essay below!

Commentary Essay Writing Guidelines

Involve broad thinking and analysis.

As an author, you must be well-versed in what you are writing in the commentary. Otherwise, you can neither judge the works of other authors objectively nor justify your own opinions. First off, cover the primary concepts and overall beliefs. It is also possible to include a cause-and-effect concept in such a situation. Except for the review of the analyzed content, it is crucial to extend the idea and add some personal touch to what you’re writing about.

Stick to the critical but respectful tone.

Portray a case in the present as well as share some forecast for the future, if possible. Play with the available data as well as with your own thoughts. If you feel like lacking competence in a particular field, it is recommended not to enforce your ideas as something may be wrong with your stance. Instead of focusing on the author of the text and criticizing them, your analysis can be restricted to the text alone. Make sure the tone of your discourse is constructive and sober.

Get ready before writing.

Before starting the first draft, read the analyzed piece several times to make sure you understand its central concept. Perhaps, you’ve missed some critical points between the lines while reading the message for the first time? Write out all the fundamental ideas on a separate sheet of paper to come back to them later in the writing process. Highlight the keywords, especially if you plan to submit this document online or publish it on a website. Check the meaning of the terminology you don’t know. Don't be afraid to use the dictionary!

Start with a hook.

How to start a commentary essay? That is a good question as you have to catch an eye of the audience and make them want to read your work to the end. The best way to grab the attention is to start with a bang: a shocking fact or a rhetorical question would do.

Why not sum up these tips along with some new recommendations? That’d be a ready-to-use checklist for you!

Tips on Writing a Commentary Essay

The basic tips that may help you on the way to outstanding commentary are:

Define the main problem.
Consider the theme and target audience.
Decide on the structure and genre of the paper.
Decide how to present the information.
Be clear about the language and style of your work.
Select the artistical devices to hone your supply.
Choose what to quote and what not to.
Turn the paper into a presentable speech.
Look for the feedback.
Proofread and edit the final draft.

If you still have some questions about writing a commentary essay, leave them to the bigs. We are ready to write your commentary essay for you anytime! Our customer-centric approach and student-friendly prices will give you the peace of mind that you need most. Place an order by one of the best paper writing services now!

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AP ® Lang teachers: looking to help your students improve their rhetorical analysis essays?

Coach Hall Writes

clear, concise rhetorical analysis instruction.

How to Write Commentary for Rhetorical Analysis

February 4, 2022 by Beth Hall

Wondering how to write commentary for rhetorical analysis? When writing a rhetorical analysis essay, having well thought out and strong commentary will make a significant difference in your writing.

So, what exactly is commentary? And how can you deliver high-quality commentary in your rhetorical analysis?

Commentary is your analysis and interpretation of the passage. Commentary explains how the evidence you present in the body paragraph proves your thesis. For more information about what commentary is, click here .

Your body paragraphs in your rhetorical analysis will consist of a topic sentence, analysis, and commentary. Many students think evidence is the most important piece, and while evidence is certainly important, commentary is paramount because it is what contains your argument and analysis. You can think of your evidence as answering the “what” and commentary answering the “how” or “why.”

In order to effectively write commentary in your body paragraphs, you need to have an understanding of the rhetorical situation. The rhetorical situation includes the following elements: the writer or speaker, the audience, the (historical) context, the exigence (ie. what prompted the writer to write), the purpose, and the message or argument.

The rhetorical situation is key to your commentary because it is what you are analyzing. Your commentary should address why the rhetorical choice the author is making is important to the rhetorical situation. (You can learn more about the rhetorical situation by reading this blog.)

How to Develop Your Commentary

Many students don’t develop their commentary enough because they aren’t sure what to say, or they feel they are running out of time.

When writing a rhetorical analysis essay, be sure to include precise verbs to convey what the writer is “doing.”

Here’s a list of rhetorically accurate verbs:

Acknowledges

Once you’ve made a claim about what the writing is “doing” (the rhetorical choice they are making,) then you need to explain the significance of that choice. Why is the writer “doing” that? This is commentary.

Here are some verbs that can help you generate commentary:

demonstrates
illustrates
underscores

The step to knowing how to write commentary for rhetorical analysis is knowing the right kinds of questions to ask. When you are addressing the rhetorical situation, you want to do more than scratch the surface level. Let’s look at examining the writer or speaker, for example. You may ask some of the following questions to help you create commentary about the rhetorical choice you are analyzing:

What are the speaker’s qualifications?
What does the choice reveal about the speaker’s beliefs/values/needs?
What do the choices reveal about the speaker’s relationship with the audience?

If you want more questions to guide you on analyzing the rhetorical situation, check out this blog.

How do I write a body paragraph with commentary?

Now that you know the parts that make up the commentary, and you understand how to examine the rhetorical situation, let’s put it all together. Let’s look at an excerpt of a body paragraph, and notice how commentary is used.

Albright references recent political examples in which countries could have settled but chose the more arduous path instead. By noting that America “must choose to turn inward” or “seize opportunities,” Albright suggests the value of making challenging, sometimes “trailblazing” decisions as opposed to selecting the easier, more isolating path . While this comment also serves as affirmation of President Clinton’s leadership and thus a subtle reminder of Albright’s credentials as Secretary of State , the contrast between “turning inward” and “seizing opportunities” introduces Albright’s message of perseverance.

In just this small excerpt, you can see how different elements (underlined) of the rhetorical situation are being addressed. When you are writing your own body paragraphs, it may be helpful to color-code the different elements of the rhetorical situation and identify them in your writing. This will help you check to make sure most of the elements are present.

How do you fix limited commentary?

If you find yourself writing with cliches, idioms, vague wording, or sentences that don’t directly address the rhetorical situation, you are likely writing limited commentary. You want each sentence to address your specific passage, so aim to create specific, clear analysis.

Here is what your writing may look like if you have limited commentary:

You use phrases like “the author uses diction”
You use cliches like “opens the reader’s eyes”
You use idioms like “touches the audience’s heart”

This type of writing is common and also fixable. Once you’ve identified these mistakes in your writing, you want to work on changing them.

First, you can fix phrases such as “the author uses” by strengthening your word choice. You want to add a descriptor or adjective in front of the item you are referring to, such as diction. This might mean changing “diction” to “patriotic diction.” Then, analyze why the author uses this rhetorical choice.

Second, you want to avoid cliches. Try rewording the cliche. Instead of “opens the reader’s eyes” try “forces the reader to consider.” This makes our language more precise and helps you expand your commentary.

Lastly, you want to stay away from idioms. These prepackaged expressions don’t tell the reader the why and the how behind the author’s writing choices. Instead of saying “touches the audience’s heart” try to identify what the writer is doing to evoke that emotional response. Specify which emotion the audience is experiencing and why the writer wants to elicit such an emotion.

Now that you know how to write commentary for rhetorical analysis, go rock your next AP® Lang essay!

DISCLAIMER: I am not affiliated with The College Board. The advice and opinions expressed in this blog post are my own.

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5.1 Developing commentary throughout paragraphs

2 min read • january 29, 2023

Hayley Potter

What is commentary?

Commentary is your own interpretation of a passage. What ideas does this passage put in your mind? What does it remind you of? What did you find interesting? This is all commentary .

Commentary proves how the evidence in your essay proves your amazing thesis . Evidence is super duper important, but what is critical to your RA essay is commentary . Without commentary your essay lacks personality and lacks your line of reasoning (check out guide 5.0). Evidence answers the what? And commentary answers the how and why. All critical to your RA essay.

Commentary depends on the rhetorical situation . The rhetorical situation : the writer or speaker , the audience, the context, the exigence (unit 4), the purpose , and the argument . You need the rhetorical situation because this is what your commentary is on.

Awesome RA verbs for your essay:

Awesome commentary words:

Commentary is best when you know the right questions to ask. This is where those amazing analyzing skills come out to play. Use them well and be a detective to figure out what the questions are. This will help you create commentary about the rhetoric you are analyzing.

Some Commentary Starters!

Author The author reveals/shows/presents/emphasizes/suggests... The author wants the reader to understand...

Character/Conflict The character makes this decision/says this quote because... At this point in the story, the character is realizing... When the character makes this choice we see that... In making this choice the story changes in this way...

The point of this conversation is... This passage/quote is effective beause This event in the novel shows/proves/explains… Because of this… This quote/passage adds to the reader’s appreciation of the story/poem because...

Analysis This reveals... This shows... This demonstrates...

Key Terms to Review ( 8 )

Rhetorical Situation

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Education and Communications
Studying Literature

How to Write a Literary Commentary

Last Updated: February 23, 2023 Fact Checked

This article was co-authored by Stephanie Wong Ken, MFA . Stephanie Wong Ken is a writer based in Canada. Stephanie's writing has appeared in Joyland, Catapult, Pithead Chapel, Cosmonaut's Avenue, and other publications. She holds an MFA in Fiction and Creative Writing from Portland State University. This article has been fact-checked, ensuring the accuracy of any cited facts and confirming the authority of its sources. This article has been viewed 703,861 times.

A literary commentary is a detailed analysis of a passage of text, focusing specifically on the text itself. It should not be confused with a literary analysis essay, as it does not need a thesis statement or a general discussion of the book as a whole. Instead, the literary commentary should only analyze and reflect on a specific passage. To write a literary commentary, start by reading the text and creating an outline. Then, dive right into a detailed discussion of the text. Make sure you polish the literary commentary for style, grammar, and spelling before handing it in so it is at its best.

Literary Commentary Help

Starting the Literary Commentary

Make sure you have a hard copy of the passage so you can mark it up as you read it. Jot down any initial thoughts or questions you may have about the text as you read it several times.

You should also look for words that are repeated in the text, as this means they are likely important. Notice if the same word is used in a different context in the passage and highlight each mention of the word.

Introduction section: Identify the text
Body section: Discuss the main features of the text
Conclusion section: Summarize your thoughts on the text

Writing the Literary Commentary

Step 1 Identify the title, author, and genre in the introduction.

For example, you may note, “Published in 1966, Seamus Heaney’s ‘Blackberry-Picking’ is a poem that appears in his poetry collection, Death of a Naturalist .”
If the text is from a larger work, do not write about the overall plot of the larger work. You should also not include details from the author’s biography or the historical period when the text was written, unless it feels relevant to the passage.

Step 2 Discuss the text’s subject, themes, and audience.

For example, in Seamus Heaney's poem, "Blackberry-Picking,” the subject is two people picking a large quantity of blackberries. [2] X Research source
The themes of the poem could be nature, hunger, and decay or rot.
The poem begins with a dedication to “Philip Hobsbaum,” which means he could be the intended audience of the poem, the “you” addressed in the poem.

Step 3 Look at the genre, form, and structure of the text.

The genre and form of the text will also help you determine the structure of the text. For example, Seamus Heaney's "Blackberry-Picking” takes the form of a poem and fits in the genre of poetry. It uses a familiar poetic structure, such as short lines of text and is broken into two stanzas.

For example, in Seamus Heaney's "Blackberry-Picking,” the speaker uses the first person voice. The speaker then addresses a “you” in the text, indicating there are two characters in the poem.

For example, in Seamus Heaney's "Blackberry-Picking,” the tone in the first stanza is nostalgic and light. The tone then shifts in the second stanza to be more serious and dark.

Step 6 Identify the literary devices in the text.

For example, if you are discussing Seamus Heaney's "Blackberry-Picking,” you may look at a simile like “You ate that first one and its flesh was sweet/Like thickened wine: summer's blood was in it.” Or you may discuss imagery like “a rat-grey fungus” or “fruit fermented.”
You can find a complete list of literary devices in literature online. [5] X Research source

For example, if you are discussing themes of decay in Seamus Heaney's "Blackberry-Picking,” you may quote a line like “I always felt like crying./It wasn't fair/That all the lovely canfuls smelt of rot.”

Step 8 Wrap up the commentary with a summary of your thoughts.

For example, you may end your literary commentary on Seamus Heaney's "Blackberry-Picking” by noting how the poem fits into the poetry collection and reflects common themes in Heaney’s work.

Polishing the Literary Commentary

Step 1 Read the commentary aloud to yourself.

You can also read the commentary aloud to someone else to get their feedback. Ask a peer, a friend, or a family member to listen to you read the commentary and then ask for their feedback.

Step 2 Confirm the commentary follows a clear outline.

You can go through the commentary and write down “introduction” or “discussion of text” next to the relevant paragraphs in the commentary. Doing this will ensure you cover all the necessary information in the commentary.

Step 3 Review the commentary for spelling, grammar, and punctuation.

If you are using a computer to write the literary commentary, you can use the spellcheck option in the computer program. However, you should not rely on spellcheck only to go through your work. Make sure you also do a close review of the commentary for any errors before you hand it in.

Community Q&A

↑ https://warwick.ac.uk/fac/arts/modernlanguages/intranet/undergraduate/skills/commesswriting/commentarywriting/
↑ https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/50981/blackberry-picking
↑ http://literary-devices.com/
↑ https://writingcenter.unc.edu/tips-and-tools/reading-aloud/
↑ https://writingcenter.unc.edu/tips-and-tools/editing-and-proofreading/

About This Article

To write a literary commentary, begin by closely reading the text at least twice while paying attention to the content and structure. While commentaries do not need a thesis statement, you should identify the title, author, and genre in your introduction. In your body paragraphs, discuss the text’s subject, themes, and audience while pointing out any literary devices, like metaphors or symbols, that you notice. Use quotes to illustrate your points and conclude with a summary of your thoughts on the text. For advice about how to read and annotate your text from our Writer reviewer, scroll down. Did this summary help you? Yes No

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Department of History

Guide to writing a commentary on primary source(s).

This shorter assignment (1,500-words, worth 10%) takes the form of a commentary on a primary source or two conceptually linked sources or a comparison of two primary sources. You could take any of the documents set out for the classes on the module website (whether or not we have yet discussed them) or find the longer versions of them if they are extracts, or choose another document (please ask me about the latter).

Each week we discuss pieces of primary text, so essentially this exercise replicates on paper the type of analysis you routinely conduct in class. The assignment will also help prepare you for both a second or third year dissertation, or a third year module, where close engagement with primary material is a basic requirement.

Focus on text, context and significance .

You don't need a question heading unless you would find it useful to give you an angle on the source(s).

Some questions you might want to ask (not all will be applicable to all sources, but many will be):

Text. What are the essential or notable features of what is being said [this might have to do with the language/wording used as much as the content]? What keywords, phrases or concepts are involved? Why are they important?
Context. Who wrote this and what do we know about them – is it important? What do we know about the aims of the author(s)? When was it written and is this significant? In what ways is it significant to know the historical context in which it was written?
What is the significance of what is being said? Is this text part of a larger series of texts and if so, does this larger corpus have significance? How does the piece relate to other texts and to the period as a whole? Was it representative? innovative? aberrant? Influential? What is its broader historical significance? How did readers react? Does the piece raise historiographical questions or relate to a historiographical debate? What are the key debates to which this relates? How have historians interpreted it or documents like it?

The marking criteria are the same as for any other piece of work. Reference secondary material in the normal way. You can refer to the online versions of the sample documents (cite as 'Coursework document X, p.y) or go back to the originals.

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Int J Qual Stud Health Well-being

Guidelines for writing a commentary

A commentary is a comment on a newly published article. A commentary may be invited by the chief editor or spontaneously submitted. Commentaries in International Journal of Qualitative Studies on Health and Well-being are peer reviewed. We now welcome commentaries!

What is a commentary?

The goal of publishing commentaries is to advance the research field by providing a forum for varying perspectives on a certain topic under consideration in the journal. The author of a commentary probably has in-depth knowledge of the topic and is eager to present a new and/or unique viewpoint on existing problems, fundamental concepts, or prevalent notions, or wants to discuss the implications of a newly implemented innovation. A commentary may also draw attention to current advances and speculate on future directions of a certain topic, and may include original data as well as state a personal opinion. While a commentary may be critical of an article published in the journal, it is important to maintain a respectful tone that is critical of ideas or conclusions but not of authors.

In summary, a commentary may be:

A critical challenge to one or more aspects of the focal article, arguing for a position other than that taken in the focal article.
An elaboration or extension of the position taken in the focal article, basically sympathetic to the position taken in the focal article but pushing the argument further.
An application of a theoretical or methodological perspective that sheds light on the issues addressed in the focal article.
A reflection on the writer's experiences in applying the issues addressed in the focal article, in particular health and well-being settings.
A comment on the applicability of the issues raised in the focal article to other settings, or to other cultures.

How to write a commentary

Commentaries in International Journal of Qualitative Studies on Health and Well-being should not exceed 10 manuscript pages. A tightly argued four- to six-page commentary is likely to be better received than a meandering 10-page ditto. Use these simple guidelines:

Do not summarize the focal article; just give the reference. Assume the reader has just read it. Move directly to identifying the key issues you want to raise.
Do not include general praise for the focal article.
Use only essential citations. For commentary purposes, cite only works absolutely essential to support your point.
Use a short title that emphasizes your key message. (It should be clear in context that all commentaries are a reaction to a particular paper).
Do not include an abstract.
Make clear your take-home message.
Make sure there is full author information (name, affiliation, address, phone, email) for all authors. Authors must be individuals.

Review process

Commentaries will be peer reviewed and most likely accepted if they are in line with the definitions and guidelines outlined. A small set of reviewers will read and evaluate all commentaries as they need to compare commentaries for issues of redundancy and to make evaluations of relative merit.

Queries for the editor

Authors should feel free to correspond with the chief editor prior to submitting a commentary if there are questions about any aspect of the evaluation and publication process. Authors may prepare a brief outline of the key points they desire to present in the commentary and send it to the chief editor.

Does it cost anything to submit a commentary?

Spontaneously submitted commentaries incur a cost of €65 per typeset page. The author will be invoiced once the commentary has been accepted for publication.

We hope you will send us a commentary whenever you think there is a need to broaden the perspectives on health and well-being presented in our journal.

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language arts

Ever been trapped in the reader’s equivalent of Groundhog Day , stuck reading the same paragraph over and over? Some research papers can tie up the reader for unnecessary periods of time. Synoptic sources, such as Evidence-Based Nursing , reduce the effort needed to be well-informed by selecting high quality studies from a wide range of journals, abstracting the studies, and adding value with an expert commentary. A commentary is an extended note that sets forth an expert’s take on the meaning of a study. At issue is whether the evidence from the study or review is sufficient to inform practice. Any study or review offers only a provisional truth, and a commentary is always based on imperfect knowledge. While caution may be justified, practitioners still need to integrate the new knowledge. An expert commentary is an opportunity to help readers with the integration process. This Notebook aims to provide some useful pointers on writing commentaries for Evidence-Based Nursing .

ON BEGINNING

Commenting on an abstracted study may appear, at first glance, to be a relatively simple task. Evidence-Based Nursing commentaries are short, and experienced nurses are likely to have views on many subjects within their fields. But talking among a group of colleagues and writing are quite different activities.

The role of an EBN commentator is to translate the findings into guidance for readers. To do this, the commentator needs to shift perspective from study content, as described in the abstract, to its clinical meaning. However, the clinical meaning may prove illusive and expressing an expert opinion, overwhelming. Margaret Atwood 1 writes of stories as being in the dark, and the writer having to go into a downward hole, needing that flash of light to bring stories in from the dark. Such a process reveals just how much thinking and reflection is involved in writing. Writing narrative for science may be a somewhat simpler process than writing fiction, but a blank page is no less daunting.

Weak approaches to writing involve waiting for inspiration or trying to write a perfect first draft. These strategies will create more pressure on the writer as the deadline for submission approaches. A more productive strategy involves breaking down the work into achievable steps, such as reading and generating ideas, organising ideas, preparing a first draft, revising drafts, and submitting a final draft. These steps can be taken one at a time, or several at a time, depending on the time available. The steps are not necessarily linear but may be cyclical as you become more involved in writing your commentary.

Reading always begins the process of writing a commentary, whether that means starting with the study itself or the background material provided with the study. A common example of background material is an editorial that may accompany the original study article and addresses the study and its implications. However, you might feel that such information could bias your first impressions of the study. If so, then your starting point will be the original article reporting on the study. Familiarity with the study is essential. A brief first read will help to identify the key message of the study. Reading the opening sentence of the discussion section in a paper can help by drawing your attention to the study’s meaning. For instance, regarding their study on the cost-effectiveness of 2 different pressure-relieving surfaces, Iglesias et al 2 stated the following in their discussion:

Alternating pressure mattresses to prevent pressure ulceration in patients admitted to hospital are associated with lower costs and greater benefits and are more likely to be cost-saving than alternating pressure overlays.

Such sentences are similar to the beginning of a newspaper lead. A lead answers the “ who, what, when, where, why, and how” in an article. This heuristic can provide the essence of a commentary. Sentences, such as the above example, provide the what, where, and some of the who , but the remaining elements must also be considered. A typical newspaper lead is not the only rule of thumb to follow when writing a commentary. An alternative heuristic might be “ what is already known , what is new, and what now .” This heuristic can also provide the structural beginnings of a commentary. Some general questions to consider when writing a commentary are listed in the box ⇓ .

Questions to consider when writing a commentary

What is the best way share this information with patients?

How would this evidence assist with integration of services?

What is the best way to embed this evidence in everyday practice so that it can be easily applied?

Who would benefit from knowing this evidence (consider both practitioners and patients)?

Where might this evidence be best applied (which practice settings, what type of country)?

Which subgroups of patients that might benefit most from knowing this evidence?

What impact does the evidence have on practitioners’ roles?

What impact does this information have on performance monitoring?

What are the specific barriers to implementing this evidence?

What other information needs to be known?

Whichever heuristic is followed, a commentator needs to focus on what he or she believes is essential before beginning writing. Ideas will come to you as you read, and it is worth noting these as you read, rather than waiting until you have finished reading. Don’t censor these thoughts, even if they appear irrelevant or inarticulate. They are an important first step in getting into the zone of writing. A second more detailed read of the study will generate more ideas and start to firm up your thoughts about the study. This process can be assisted by suggestions provided by the EBN Associate Editor. An Associate Editor is assigned to each study that is abstracted in Evidence-Based Nursing. The role of the Associate Editor is to provide clinical and methodological perspective and direction in the preparation of the abstract and commentary. The Associate Editor will have reviewed the original article and the structured abstract prepared by the journal staff. As such, he or she will have formed a view on the direction a commentator should pursue. Such views are not necessarily prescriptive but are often intended to provoke thoughtful responses. The Associate Editor’s views should be considered during second and third readings of the original article, as you move towards the specifics of your commentary.

The cycle of reading and thinking is only the first of 3 phases involved in completing a final draft. The remaining phases involve creating a first draft and then making revisions to a final draft.

ON FIRST DRAFTS

It is very rare to be inspired to write. Writing is quite simply the discipline of “getting on with it.” Awaiting inspiration will inevitably lead to blocking and avoidable stress. In a first draft, it matters little how you start. What matters is that you start and that you set aside regular sessions for writing until you have finished.

When you are getting ready to write a first draft, you may be full of inklings about what you might say, but you need to transform these unformed ideas into a more concrete view of the study. To focus in on your responses to a study, you can engage in some simple exercises such as the following:

Consider how you would describe the study in 1 sentence to your best friend.

Consider what would be the most convincing finding for a sceptical colleague.

Describe the findings to yourself in 5 words, then 3 words, then 1 word.

These exercises can also help you to formulate your conclusion.

A first draft is a fuller exposition of your ideas than simple notes. Generating a plan from the list of ideas you jotted down as you read the study is a good start. Such a plan can be a simple mind map of your notes rather than an outline of what you write. Such maps may also expose gaps in your thinking and lead to further notes. To move beyond notes, your ideas need to be translated into sentences. Your first sentences do not have to relate to the structure of your commentary. Begin at the beginning, the middle, or the conclusion of your commentary. Just start writing. Put sentences with meaningful links alongside each other. If you have an overall view of the study that you can describe in a single sentence, you may have the conclusion of your commentary at hand. Write on paper, or on computer, whichever is most familiar to you. Some may find it difficult to compose directly onto a computer screen and prefer to write it out on paper first. It matters not where the writing begins, so long as it begins.

Do not censor or revise during your first draft. This draft is the gravel, not the polished gem. A first draft is written only for yourself, and nobody else need see your first efforts. Stephen King believes that first drafts are best written behind closed doors. 3 Only later drafts escape for others’ purview. Do not revise even if you change you point of view during writing. Keep going until you reach your conclusion. It may take a couple of sessions to get to a completed first draft, but then stop writing. Rest and incubation are essential parts of writing. Sleep on it.

ON REVISION

Once you have a first draft, your work is 70% complete. In the light of a new day, your first draft may seem awful, but revision is not a new start. There will be phrases and sentences that you will keep in your second draft. If writing on paper, this is a good time to enter your writing into a computer. Such a process will promote revision. The best writers go through the same process. John Maxwell Coetzee, a Nobel Prize winner, has a character describe the process:

Surely you don’t scribble down the first thing that comes into your head and email it off to your publisher. Surely you wait for second thoughts. Surely you revise. Isn’t the whole of writing a matter of second thoughts—second thoughts and third thoughts and further thoughts? 4

Once you have a second draft that captures your thoughts about the study, some final polishing is necessary.

Your most important consideration should be to make every word meaningful. Search out and remove fluff. Be ruthless. Fluff does not contribute, it annoys. Meaningless words and phrases litter bad writing. Check the dictionary if unsure of a word’s meaning. No matter how proud you are of a word, if it is not accurately used, it is fluff. Delete it. Clichéd phrases are fluff: “Further research is needed,” “The reality of clinical practice is…” and “In actuality …” Adverbs are fluff. Adverbs often end in “…ly.” “Nurses care deeply…” is a bumper sticker, not part of a commentary. Hunt out jargon. Technical language is fine, but jargon will exclude the very readers you are trying to inform.

Commentaries are non-fiction and thus need complete sentences, not fragments. A complete sentence uses a noun and a verb. It need not be long. “Nurses care” is a complete sentence. Whether such sentiments are accurate is another question. Vary your sentence length to keep readers interested. By now you may be thoroughly sick of revising your draft. That’s a good sign. You now have a final draft.

ON STRUCTURE

Earlier, I mentioned that the heuristic “ what is already known , what is new , and what now” can provide a structural outline for commentaries. Such a structure is linear and not the only possible structure. It is relatively easy to experiment with form in a commentary. Cinematic film provides instruction on how to vary structure. Just as an opening shot might be a pan of the wider landscape that focuses in on a detail that opens the story, a commentary might move from context to specific details. For instance, Peter Griffiths introduces his commentary of a study investigating early discharge and home-based rehabilitation for stroke by stating:

Stroke is a major cause of long term disability. Much research has been done to determine the best way of delivering care after a stroke. 5

Thus, the context is set, with stroke being identified as a major health issue, and the organisation of care being a topic of considerable research. Griffiths then goes on to address what is new about the particular study he is considering.

Another approach to an opening is to move from specific to wider concerns, much like a very tight shot pulls back from the detail to pan the scene. David Thompson provides such an example by first describing the study and its key finding when commenting on a study of aspirin for primary prevention of cardiovascular disease:

The landmark 10 year study by Ridker et al of nearly 40 000 initially healthy women found that taking prophylactic low dose (100 mg) aspirin every other day did not confer the same benefits to women as it did to men. Few therapies have separately analysed effects by sex, and the findings lead us to ponder why many of the therapies used for women are not effective or are even harmful. 6

By first stating the study’s findings, Thompson can emphasise important details and then draw back to consider the wider implications of this study and others that have conducted sex-specific analyses.

While the opening needs to keep readers engaged and draw readers through the middle of your commentary, the ending is the most important part of a commentary. It is your final opportunity to make a lasting impact on readers. A good ending will reinforce your points and resonate in the minds of readers. Margaret Heaton, commenting on a review of pre-operative hair removal, wrote:

Practitioners should ask why evidence should not be applied, rather than why it should be applied. Policies can create room for such questioning by promoting the use of clipping or depilatory cream when individual practitioners believe it is appropriate. Shaving, whether wet or dry, should always be avoided. 7

Heaton’s concluding sentence is so forceful, it is difficult to see how she avoided using an exclamation mark. The “take home” message is very clear and will stay with readers.

The choice of whether to advise practitioners to use the evidence is at the centre of every commentary. We encourage commentators to make such choices. Many studies will merit a more diffident conclusion than that offered by Heaton, but that should not preclude clarity. In studies where there are gaps in the evidence, use of consensus statements and guidelines offer commentators a sensible conclusion. Julie Betts took just this approach to conclude her commentary on a review of dressings for venous leg ulcers:

Given the current absence of evidence, clinical choice of dressing should initially be that which is simple, inexpensive, and acceptable to patients. 8

An important element of any writing is its flow. Flow and structure are inseparable. The ideas a commentator wants to convey are crucial to the structure and flow of a commentary. Flow is built out of the linking and logic of your ideas. It is likely that you will use 2–4 paragraphs in your commentary. Each successive paragraph must build upon the preceding paragraph, and within each paragraph, each sentence must build upon the preceding sentence. Linda Patrick demonstrates superb linking between sentences following an opening about the burden of disease management:

Achieving optimal glycaemic control in type 2 diabetes can be complicated by the progressive nature of the disease, warranting more treatment over time to minimise complications. Patients are often reluctant to move to insulin injections, perceiving them as punitive for failed attempts at diabetes management. Alternatives such as inhaled insulin are seductive because of their potential to improve patient acceptance of treatment options, but the need for clinical trials to establish their safety and effectiveness cannot be understated. Studies such as the one by Rosenstock et al are necessary before we can promote widespread use of inhaled insulin. 9

The first sentence establishes the need for vigilant monitoring and increased treatment. The second sentence reveals why some patients are reluctant to change their regimen to injected insulin, setting the scene for the alternative regimen raised by the third sentence and the need for evidence before promoting such regimens in the fourth sentence. The variations in sentence length and internal structure also serve to produce a consistent flow in the commentary toward the concluding sentences.

Reading from hard copy rather than the computer screen and reading the commentary out loud are exercises that will help you to improve flow.

ON WRITING STYLE

Good science writing keeps the audience at the fore. Your readers will include other experienced clinicians, people new to the field, and curious generalists. A commentary must cater to all of these readers, and it is important to use language that promotes understanding. The commentary by Dawn Kingston on a smoking cessation intervention is a good example:

Tobacco smoking is a leading cause of death worldwide. Interventions to prevent the uptake of smoking are urgently needed. The study by Hollis et al is an important addition to the evidence. 10

The extent and urgency of the problem is outlined, and the importance of the study findings is asserted in brief, clear sentences. The style is akin to that of a newspaper editorial, and its staccato approach creates an urgency that reinforces Kingston’s points. This commentary reflects passionately held views.

A more academic style can also be used. Jane Joy, commenting on a review of therapies for constipation, employs technical terms, but without reducing clarity or excluding readers:

Constipation is defined by the passage of infrequent hard stool and is associated with bloating, flatulence, abdominal pain, and a feeling of incomplete evacuation. Specific patient groups, such as those with terminal illness, are at high risk of constipation, but the condition is also a common reason for consultation in general practice, especially for the young and old. 11

The term is defined, symptoms reviewed, and the patient populations identified, so that readers learn in the first sentence whether they need continue. The stylistic differences between Kingston and Joy also reflect the personal voice of the commentators. For instance, the tone in Joy’s passage is gentler as it courses towards a conclusion, perhaps reflecting a little more authorial distance from the topic.

Once you have submitted your commentary to the EBN editorial office, it will undergo several levels of editing. First, all commentaries are edited for journal style and format. Evidence-Based Nursing is publication of the BMJ Publishing Group and the Royal College of Nursing Publishing. It follows BMJ house style, which includes, for example, UK spelling. As well, because Evidence-Based Nursing is an abstract journal and each abstract and accompanying commentary must fit on a single printed page, there are several style conventions that are unique to Evidence-Based Nursing . For example, because of space restrictions, numbers within the narrative text of the abstract and commentary are almost always written out as numerals, even if they appear at the beginning of a sentence. Given the space limitations of the journal, commentaries that are too long must be edited for length. This is usually done within the context of the next level of editing described below.

Each commentary will also be reviewed and edited for content, structure, and writing. During this process, members of the editorial team (ie, the Research Associate, Associate Editor, and Co-Editor) act as representatives of the readers of the journal. 12 That is, they read the commentary from the perspective of a naïve reader and consider the various points that were raised throughout this Notebook. Look for more on editing of commentaries in future Notebooks. For now, the main point is to expect that your commentary will be edited—try not to be disheartened by these edits. All commentaries submitted to Evidence-Based Nursing , even in final draft, are still just that—drafts, which can be polished and crafted. The structured abstracts that are written by the journal staff also go through similar levels of editing. This doesn’t diminish the efforts of the commentator to put pen to paper—we respect those efforts and only want to help to make your message clearer.

Every commentary is ultimately about choice—it seeks to address the question “What is the value of this evidence?” Clinical practice will proceed without perfect knowledge, but we believe that expert commentaries are a useful opportunity to help clinicians synthesise evidence in the face of imperfect information. Commentaries that, in simple prose, lay out a few key ideas in clear sentences that flow from one to the next with a clear take-home message will be good commentaries. Commentaries require some effort to produce, but when approached by Evidence-Based Nursing , we hope that you will take the opportunity to help us and your colleagues.

↵ Atwood M. Negotiating with the dead: a writer on writing . Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2002 .
↵ Iglesias C, Nixon J, Cranny G, et al. Pressure relieving support surfaces (PRESSURE) trial: cost effectiveness analysis. BMJ 2006 ; 332 : 1416 –20. OpenUrl Abstract / FREE Full Text
↵ King S. On writing: a memoir of the craft . London: Hodder and Soughton, 2000 .
↵ Coetzee J M. Slow man . Sydney: Knopf, 2005 .
↵ Griffiths P. Commentary on: “Early discharge plus home based rehabilitation reduced length of initial hospital stay but did not improve health related quality of life in patients with acute stroke.” Evid Based Nurs 2000;3:127. Comment on: Anderson C, Rubenach S, Ni Nhurchu C, et al . Home or hospital for stroke rehabilitation? Results of a randomized controlled trial. I: health outcomes at 6 months. Stroke 2000 ; 31 : 1024 –31. OpenUrl Abstract / FREE Full Text
↵ Thompson D R. Commentary on: “Low dose aspirin lowered stroke risk but not risk of myocardial infarction or cardiovascular death in women. Evid Based Nurs . 2006;9:76. Comment on: Ridker PM, Cook NR, Lee I-M, et al, A randomized trial of low-dose aspirin in the primary prevention of cardiovascular disease in women. N Engl J Med 2005 ; 352 : 1293 –304. OpenUrl CrossRef PubMed Web of Science
↵ Heaton M. Commentary on “Review: evidence from ⩽2 low quality studies suggests no difference in surgical site infection with or without preoperative hair removal; depilatory cream and clipping are better than shaving. Evid Based Nurs . 2007;10:17. Comment on: Tanner J, Woodings D, Moncaster K, Preoperative hair removal to reduce surgical site infection. Cochrane Database Syst Rev 2006 ; ( 3 ) : CD004122 . OpenUrl PubMed
↵ Betts J. Commentary on: “Review: insufficient evidence exists for any one dressing type (used beneath compression) for venous leg ulcer healing.” Evidence-Based Nursing 2007;10:21. Comment on: Palfreyman SJ, Nelson EA, Lochiel R, et al . Dressings for healing venous leg ulcers. Cochrane Database Syst Rev 2006 ; ( 3 ) : CD001103 . OpenUrl PubMed
↵ Patrick L. Commentary on: “Inhaled insulin added to or replacing 2 oral agents reduced haemoglobin A 1c concentrations in type 2 diabetes.” Evid Based Nurs 2006;9:49. Comment on: Rosenstock J, Zinman B, Murphy LJ, et al . Inhaled insulin improves glycemic control when substituted for or added to oral combination therapy in type 2 diabetes: a randomized, controlled trial. Ann Intern Med 2005 ; 143 : 549 –58. OpenUrl PubMed Web of Science
↵ Kingston D. Commentary on: “Clinician advice, an interactive computer program, and motivational counselling during routine medical visits increased reported smoking abstinence among teens.” Evid Based Nurs 2005;8:105. Comment on: Hollis JF, Polen MR, Whitlock EP, et al . Teen reach: outcomes from a randomized controlled trial of a tobacco reduction program for teens seen in primary medical care. Pediatrics 2005 ; 115 : 981 –9. OpenUrl Abstract / FREE Full Text
↵ Joy J P. Commentary on: “Review: good evidence supports use of polyethylene glycol and tegaserod for constipation.” Evid Based Nurs 2005;8:109. Comment on: Ramkumar D, Rao SS. Efficacy and safety of traditional medical therapies for chronic constipation: systematic review. Am J Gastroenterol 2005 ; 100 : 936 –71. OpenUrl CrossRef PubMed Web of Science
↵ Kramer M, Call W, editors. Telling true stories: a non-fiction writer’s guide from the Nieman Foundation at Harvard University . USA: Plume, 2007 .

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Justine Payton standing under a wooden pier at a beach.

‘Where Did Justine Go?’ One Woman Disappears Into Devotion

Justine Payton was drawn to a Hare Krishna ashram for its yoga, meditation and vegan meals. She’s still figuring out what went wrong.

Justine Payton on Kure Beach near her new home in North Carolina. Credit... Travis Dove for The New York Times

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By Ruth Graham

Published May 22, 2024 Updated May 23, 2024

A few days before Christmas in 2020, quarantined with Covid in the basement of a Hare Krishna ashram in Philadelphia, Justine Payton admitted to herself how bad things had gotten.

She was 28 years old and had $72 to her name, after spending years working seven days a week in a cycle of cleaning, cooking, teaching, worship and selling books on the street. She rose at 4:30 each morning and her days ended at 9:30 p.m. If she violated the home’s strict rules — sneaking a piece of chocolate, say — her fellow devotees would report her to their leader, whom they knew as Mangal-arti.

Listen to this article with reporter commentary

Ms. Payton had moved to Philadelphia to help open the Mantra Lounge meditation center at the behest of Mangal-arti’s “spiritual master,” Devamrita Swami, a New York-born, Yale-educated leader in the Hare Krishna movement.

The responsibility was an honor, she believed at the time. The movement had given her joy, purpose and community when she desperately needed it. Now she was reaching new followers with the same things that first attracted her: cheap yoga and vegan meals, and then meditation, chanting, and volunteer work.

But over time, the experience soured into something she would later describe as emotionally and spiritually abusive. Although she was bringing in money for the center through book sales, she kept none of it, she said, and had to use her savings to pay for some toiletries and other necessities.

After Mangal-arti, who had no formal medical or psychological training, told her she had borderline personality disorder, she said, she had begun to doubt her own instincts about even the most basic facts of her existence, doubts that reflected Hare Krishna teachings about not relying on one’s own emotions. (Mangal-arti, whose legal name is Aarti Khoda, said in a statement to The New York Times that she did not make a diagnosis, but inquired whether Ms. Payton might have the disorder because of her “extreme behavior.”) Ms. Payton contemplated taking her own life. She was paranoid, lonely and very, very tired.

Ms. Payton didn’t think of herself as part of a larger story about the popularity of alternative spiritual practices in the splintering religious landscape of 21st-century America. She hadn’t yet parsed the borderlines separating willing self-abnegation, mental illness and abuse. She craved transcendence, and like an increasing number of Americans, she didn’t find it in Christianity or another historic monotheistic religion.

She found it instead in a much younger movement that, for previous generations of Americans, conjured hippie freedom or cult conformity. For her, though, those associations were long in the past. The Hare Krishna movement seemed to answer her deepest questions. She was a seeker, and for a while, she had found what she was looking for.

Ms. Payton wearing a pink sari in India.

When she got sick in the first year of the pandemic, however, the basement quarantine was the first time in five years that she had been alone for a sustained period of time. It was the first time she had time to think.

She picked up the phone and called her dad.

A Search for Faith

Ms. Payton was raised on a leafy downtown street in an affluent suburb of Chicago. She was close to her parents and her three siblings. When the children were little, the family had dance parties in the house. Ms. Payton would toss her hair around to the “Be-In” song from the musical “Hair”: “Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna,” she would sing. “Beads, flowers, freedom, happiness.”

She was baptized into the Roman Catholic Church, from which she imbibed the lesson that a large religious institution could have ugliness in its past, but still do good in individual lives. Her family later joined the United Church of Christ, a liberal Protestant denomination.

In an essay she wrote for a confirmation class in eighth grade, an experience meant to usher her into adult faith, she wrote that she wasn’t sure she believed in God. Ms. Payton’s highest value at the time was independence. She moved across the country for college, then took a semester off and lived in Rwanda.

She was about to leave for a study-abroad program in France when she came down with Guillain-Barré syndrome, a disorder in which the body’s immune system attacks its nerves. She was temporarily paralyzed from the neck down. She had climbed Mt. Kilimanjaro, and now she lived at home in the suburbs and couldn’t feed herself.

She turned 21 during her convalescence, and the radical loss of control made her question everything. She began thinking about what it meant to be separated from her own physical existence.

She read and reread “Siddhartha,” Herman Hesse’s novel and a defining text of 1960s youth culture. The story follows a man in India seeking spiritual enlightenment in the time of the Buddha.

“What is meditation?” the protagonist asks himself. “What is leaving one’s body? What is fasting? What is holding one’s breath? It is fleeing from the self, it is a short escape of the agony of being a self.”

She recovered from Guillain-Barré and decided to finish her college degree in New Zealand. There, an acquaintance passed along a flier for a Sunday feast at a Hare Krishna temple. Ms. Payton knew little about the Hare Krishna faith, beyond those childhood days of twirling around to music from “Hair.”

The environment she walked into that Sunday seemed made precisely for her. Since the 1990s, the movement has attempted to appeal more directly to Westerners.

The Hare Krishna movement evolved from a 16th-century Indian tradition, and exploded as a worldwide phenomenon when a charismatic Hindu guru known as A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada arrived in the United States in the 1960s, attracting crowds of young people to Tompkins Square Park in Manhattan with his chanting and his saffron robes. He called the movement the International Society for Krishna Consciousness, or ISKCON.

His timing was impeccable, meeting a counterculture primed to embrace ISKCON’s practices of communal living, ecstatic dancing and asceticism. Within five years, the chant “Hare Krishna” was everywhere: among throngs of devotees proselytizing in airports; in “Hair”; in a No. 1 hit song by George Harrison .

The first wave of American followers were mostly white, but over time the movement became more Indian American and less high-profile. By the 1980s, it was beset by scandals, including lawsuits over sexual abuse and accusations of “brainwashing.” In the late 1990s, the movement’s own official journal exposed widespread physical and sexual abuse of children at Hare Krishna boarding schools.

Some American followers still live at ashrams — the standard form of membership in the 1960s and ’70s — but many more have typical homes and jobs and attend services on weekends. A spokesman, Anuttama Dasa, estimated that ISKCON currently has roughly 100,000 fully initiated members around the world, and 15 million who attend meetings.

“There’s very few Western, American people that are joining the Hare Krishna movement today,” said E. Burke Rochford, a professor emeritus of religion at Middlebury College who has studied the faith for decades. “Yes, they’re interested in yoga and yes, meditation, but not in what ISKCON is requiring of their members.”

There is a sense of urgency among the aging first generation of devotees, he said, to recapture the imagination of younger white Americans — not to push out Indian immigrants, but to preserve Swami Prabhupada’s calling to reach non-Indian young people.

The center Ms. Payton wandered into in New Zealand in 2014 was headed by an American-born guru named Devamrita Swami, who has a mission to attract “Westerners,” meaning non-Indians. Devamrita Swami’s innovation was that ISKCON should be what the scholar Nicole Karapanagiotis has described as “an edgy meditation- and mindfulness-based social club.” Instead of temples with elaborate statues of Hindu deities, he opened “lofts” and “lounges” where Hindu imagery is minimal. He encouraged programming on environmental sustainability, rebranding ISKCON theology’s emphasis on giving up material pleasures as a tool for addressing climate change.

“You felt like an honored guest when you walked in there ,” Ms. Payton recalled in an interview. “The whole thing was kind of ethereal and captivating .” There was a vegetarian meal, music, incense and yoga. She started attending and volunteering regularly, and a few months later she moved into an ISKCON ashram in Wellington, New Zealand.

At the end of 2015, Devamrita Swami encouraged Ms. Payton to help Mangal-arti start an outreach program in Philadelphia.

Before she moved there, she went to Illinois to spend a few weeks with her parents, Dean and Lisa, who had initially been accepting of her entrance into the movement. They understood that the Hare Krishna faith spoke to their daughter’s compassion, as well as to her interests in climate change and veganism. By this point, however, they were becoming concerned.

“She had lost her autonomy,” Mr. Payton said. “Her tone changed, her bearing changed.”

“Where did Justine go?” Lisa Payton wondered.

Her witty, vivacious daughter now rose at 4 in the morning to chant, and spent all her time cooking, ceremonially offering each meal to the deity Krishna before allowing her family to eat. Her voice was getting softer, almost melodic.

Lisa tried to understand. Picture a mountain, a pastor at her church would tell her later. God is at the top, and Justine is on one of many paths up the mountain. But it felt as though her daughter’s path was leading her farther and farther away from her family, and from any semblance of the life they had imagined for her.

When Ms. Payton left for Philadelphia, she sent her father a handwritten letter that he still keeps in his wallet.

“I wish you could see how my heart has changed, how it is open to the world around me in a beautiful way,” she wrote. “I am happier and more content than ever.”

The Mantra Lounge

In Philadelphia, Ms. Payton moved with Mangal-arti and a few other devotees into a temple, and then into a rented house, while they worked to open the Mantra Lounge in the trendy neighborhood of Fishtown.

Mangal-arti was born in Calcutta. She found the Hare Krishna movement in her early 20s, while working in a bank in Australia, and she chose Devamrita Swami as her spiritual master, a role akin to a priest or mentor. She is charismatic and bright-eyed; in video recordings of her teaching, she speaks cheerfully and seems to make intense eye contact with her listeners.

Ms. Payton said in an interview that her mental health was already deteriorating badly by the time she got to Philadelphia. She had been raped in college, and was experiencing symptoms associated with post-traumatic stress disorder.

Mangal-arti was the first person Ms. Payton told about having been raped. Ms. Payton recalls her suggesting that her ensuing struggles were caused by insufficient faithfulness: She wasn’t bowing deeply enough during prayers, wasn’t working hard enough, and was trusting too much in her own instincts. Ms. Payton listened, and tried to purge herself of desire and disobedience. She began covering her head with her sari, as a sign of devotion.

In an initiation ceremony in 2017, she swore to abstain from “illicit sex,” intoxication, meat-eating and gambling, and she received a new name designating her as a servant of God: Gaura-bhakti.

The ceremony was standard for devotees seeking deeper commitment to the faith. What was not standard was that Ms. Payton felt that Mangal-arti was becoming the most important person in her life.

Three women who lived in the house said that they shared private information with Mangal-arti, only to discover that Mangal-arti later shared it with others. They said that Mangal-arti extended and then withheld affection in ways that were emotionally manipulative. Ms. Payton would later say that Mangal-arti fostered an “atmosphere of fear.”

Mr. Dasa, the spokesman for ISKCON, said the organization acted quickly to investigate Ms. Payton’s and other followers’ claims that Mangal-arti engaged in emotional abuse and manipulation.

“We in no way condone” Ms. Payton’s experience of “serious problems” at the ashram in Philadelphia, Mr. Dasa said in an interview. “It doesn’t at all represent the typical experience of a Krishna devotee at any of our hundreds of temples around the world.”

Mangal-arti did encourage Ms. Payton to pursue therapy independently, which her parents paid for.

“Mangal-arti appeared to be the only person whom Justine had a personal relationship with, intensifying her reliance on her,” her therapist wrote in a later statement summing up their sessions.

Ms. Payton stopped seeing that therapist after less than a year. Her last session was a joint meeting with the therapist and an “intense and overbearing” Mangal-arti, according to the therapist’s written account.

Other devotees reported similar experiences. After meeting Mangal-arti in Canada, Shannan Mann moved into the ashram in Philadelphia with Ms. Payton and a handful of others who worked at the Mantra Lounge. Mangal-arti had a long list of rules, down to how she should shower and how she should part her hair, Ms. Mann said. Ms. Mann, too, said Mangal-arti would be sweet and maternal one moment, and jealous and hostile the next. (In a statement, Mangal-arti called Ms. Mann’s account of her experiences “completely false and baseless”.)

Ms. Mann had known Ms. Payton in New Zealand. In Philadelphia, she was struck by how much Ms. Payton’s appearance had changed. She had lost weight and become strikingly pale, and she barely spoke. She had been transformed from a person Ms. Mann saw as bold and inquisitive to someone reduced to staring at Mangal-arti and “just wanting her approval for everything .”

In a statement, Mangal-arti disputed almost every element of Ms. Payton’s account of her time in Philadelphia, and said Ms. Payton seemed to have embarked on a “targeted campaign” against her. She also pointed out that Ms. Payton often thanked her during this period for her support.

Some people at the small ashram were happy. Mangal-arti provided multiple testimonials to The Times from people who spent time at the ashram in Philadelphia or who said they had known Ms. Payton and Ms. Mann in the past. All of them appear to remain involved in ISKCON or its practices. They described Mangal-arti as generous and fair, and characterized Ms. Payton and Ms. Mann as behaving erratically at the time, and as spreading falsehoods afterward.

‘Things Are Really Wrong Here’

Ms. Payton had been in Philadelphia for five years when she got Covid and moved into the basement of the ashram. For three weeks, she was on her own, free from the grueling schedule of selling and cooking and cleaning that had felt increasingly oppressive to her. “Things are really wrong here,” she remembers thinking.

Lisa and Dean drove to Philadelphia after Christmas to retrieve their daughter, picking her up on the curb outside the ashram early in the morning. She had stuffed her belongings into a few black garbage bags. They barely spoke as they drove back to Illinois.

Over time, she came to see what had happened to her in Philadelphia as abusive.

In 2021 she and three other former and aspiring devotees registered formal complaints against Mangal-arti that were reviewed by ISKCON’s governing body, a board that oversees the global organization. Some of the four complainants, and others, also made complaints about Devamrita Swami’s leadership.

After two years, the board’s North American branch ruled last year that Mangal-arti must apologize in writing to Ms. Payton and the other Mantra Lounge community members whom she had “hurt (mistreated, abused, shamed)” by her “actions and words,” and that she must not lead any ISKCON event or organization for three years, among other consequences.

In her statement, Mangal-arti described the ruling as hastily completed only after the The Times contacted ISKCON leadership last year, an accusation Mr. Dasa strongly denied. She said the organization did not follow up on the evidence she submitted to defend herself, and that ISKCON had issued an adjudication without an investigation.

ISKCON’s committee overseeing gurus reached a decision in early May requiring Devamrita Swami to undergo education on trauma and to submit a written plan to ensure that the “unhealthy dynamics” of Mantra Lounge would not be repeated, among other things. Mr. Dasa said the organization was also considering new training protocols “for ISKCON leaders to avoid these problems.”

The Mantra Lounge in Philadelphia closed in 2021.

Ms. Payton has tried to start her own life over, enrolling in graduate school in North Carolina, writing about her experiences, and restoring her relationships with her parents. Her boyfriend of two years recently proposed to her in a rented geodesic dome in the mountains near their home.

But it would be too simple, in her view, to call hers a happy ending. She lost friends permanently, she remains deeply ashamed, and she struggles with a sense that she has lost time she will never get back.

She still finds beauty in certain religious texts, including the Bhagavad Gita — although not the translations by the Hare Krishna movement’s founder. But she no longer practices any religion, and said she cannot imagine associating with a religious institution again.

She tries to be open to the experience of wonder, she said. “I think that’s at the root of what I was seeking all along.”

Susan C. Beachy , Alain Delaquérière and Sheelagh McNeill contributed research.

Read by Ruth Graham

Audio produced by Adrienne Hurst .

Ruth Graham is a national reporter, based in Dallas, covering religion, faith and values for The Times. More about Ruth Graham

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Commentary: The price for me, but not for thee?

This piece originally appeared on The Dispatch , a site that focuses on fact-based reporting and commentary on politics, policy and culture – informed by conservative principles.

I had Ryan Bourne of the Cato Institute on The Remnant last week. I was disappointed to learn he’s not related to either Jason or Randolph, but I was glad to have him on. He’s the editor of a great new book, The War on Prices: How Popular Misconceptions About Inflation, Prices, and Value Create Bad Policy . It’s a collection of top-flight essays on, you guessed it, how popular misconceptions about inflation, prices, and value create bad policy.

One of the things I like best is the title. Because, from a certain perspective – i.e. mine – the war on capitalism or the free market can be understood as a war on prices.

Prices are simultaneously simple – everyone knows what prices are, even if definitions vary a bit – and wildly complex. Socialism – I mean real socialism, not the herring-scented welfare-state capitalism of Scandinavia – doesn’t work because socialist systems cannot accurately price stuff. I could spend the next few paragraphs explaining the “ economic calculation problem ” and Ludwig Von Mises’ great contribution to economics. But I gotta keep moving. Also, they promised me I wouldn’t have to do math. I’m a words guy.

So, let’s talk about words. One of the problems with understanding the role of prices is that we have one word – “prices” – for two very different things. “Prices” in a socialist system aren’t the same thing as “prices” in a market system. It’s sort of like how totalitarian countries use words like “democratic” and “republic” while meaning something very, very different. China is not a “people’s republic” in any way that theorists of republicanism would recognize (certain French revolutionaries excluded). East Germany wasn’t a “democratic republic,” nor is the People’s Democratic Republic of (North) Korea.

One of my favorite bits in the movie Barcelona is about hamburgers. Set in late 1980s Spain, when anti-Americanism ran really hot, Spaniards liked to make fun of Americans as unsophisticated rubes. Ted, an American expat living in Spain explains to his visiting friend that hamburguesas – Spanish for hamburger – are emblematic of the problem. “Take hamburgers,” Ted explains. “Here, hamburguesas are really bad. It’s known that Americans like hamburgers, so again, we’re idiots. But they have no idea how delicious hamburgers can be. But it’s this ideal burger of memory we crave, not the disgusting imitations you get abroad.”

Prices in socialist countries are hamburguesas , prices in market systems are hamburgers. Just as the hamburguesas look like hamburgers, but don’t do the same job as hamburgers, the price tags in socialist systems – on cars, bread, whatever – look like prices, but they don’t do the same job as real prices.

Alex Tabarrok famously described prices in a market system as “a signal wrapped up in an incentive.” Market prices take into account vast amounts of information and boil it down to a single number. The price of a loaf of bread at your supermarket reflects an amazing number of variables: droughts in one place, rain in another, crop yields in both, fertilizer costs, anti-carb fads, the price of competing products, inflation, retail rent, war in Ukraine, agricultural subsidies, advertising, gas prices, location, the value of specific shelf-space, and on and on. Each of those factors is dependent on other factors with equally long lists of dependent and constantly changing variables. There are so many variables that no expert could grasp them all. But prices convey information without demanding knowledge of all those variables. Prices in a market economy reflect the “is” of a constantly changing economic reality.

In a command economy, on the other hand, prices reflect the “ought” as determined by a handful of experts. In Venezuela, socialist rulers – and those ruled by socialists – believed that a country with roughly 20 percent of the world’s oil shouldn’t have to pay a lot for gas. So, they subsidized the hell out of gas. As Kevin Williamson wrote in 2020, this ended up wrecking Venezuela’s oil industry. Fake prices at the pump, and the corruption and mismanagement they represent, distorted signals and prices up and down the sector, and the whole economy, to the point where the whole thing went kablooey (I’m simplifying things somewhat).

Fake prices are a form of corruption. Because the people setting the prices are putting politics and graft – but I repeat myself – in front of economic reality. The corruption could be theft – gotta move those stolen Incan matrimonial masks quickly – or fraud, or, well socialist (or nationalist!) economics.

Another way to think about it: Prices are only knowable through competition. It’s sort of like if you have only one football or baseball team, it’s impossible to get a real sense of how good the team is, because that can be revealed only by contests with other teams. You can know a lot about the inputs – how fast some players are, their ages, etc. – but until they’re tested against another team you won’t know the score, literally and figuratively. Indeed, scores are a little like prices. They reduce countless variables – conditions of the athletes, morale, strategy, teamwork, etc. – into a single number (for bettors, the odds or Vegas line serve a similar function). That number may not reflect the sum total of the parts, but it’s the number we work with – until the next game.

As von Mises put it, “Where there is no free market, there is no pricing mechanism; without a pricing mechanism, there is no economic calculation.”

It’s personal, and it’s business

So what’s the point of all this? Bourne and I got into a discussion about “personalized pricing,” which is a form of price discrimination . I am not opposed to all forms of price discrimination. I have no problem with “surge pricing.” When traffic is very heavy during peak hours or when, say, there’s a sporting event or concert, Uber or Lyft will raise prices. Critics call this “price gouging.” But this ignores that whole incentive-wrapped-in-a-signal thing. By raising the price, Uber and Lyft send a signal and an incentive to additional drivers to turn on their apps and make themselves available in the same way that high oil prices encourage oil exploration. The classic example of this is umbrella salesmen in big cities. When it’s sunny out, lots of umbrella salesmen don’t bother to bring their inventory out on the streets. Demand is low because need is low. The only way to sell an umbrella on a sunny day is to price the product so low that people will be willing to buy an unneeded umbrella because it’s such a bargain. When it rains, people need umbrellas, so the hawkers can charge a price that’s worth the effort. That will bring out more umbrella salesmen and umbrellas. It’s an efficient system of resource allocation, which is better for consumers in the aggregate .

With personalized pricing, the umbrella salesman charges rich people more than poor people. On one level that sounds fine, right? Sticking it to rich people and giving a (relative) bargain to poor people sounds kind of virtuous. This is basically how negotiations work. If you want to buy a Persian rug in some Turkish bazaar, the dealer takes measure of you and tries to guess how much he can get out of you. If he thinks you’re rich, his “absolute lowest price” is likely to be higher than if he thinks you’re not so well-off. No one’s holding a gun to anyone’s head, and if both get the carpet they want at a price they can live with, so what? Personalized pricing takes this and, with the magic of computers and animal sacrifice, tries to do the same thing at scale.

Well, I have two problems with this. One is conceptual, the other is … I don’t know the right word. Aesthetic? Emotional? Pre-rational?

So let’s deal with the conceptual one. What happens to the signal? The incentive is still there. The seller has the same incentive he always had – to make a profit. But doesn’t the signal get muddied? Tom Sowell seems to think so:

Price discrimination is both a symptom of a noncompetitive market and a further distortion of economic knowledge, as it conveys different information about the relative scarcity of the same product to different users – causing them to economize differently, and thus at least one of them wrongly.

Brian Albrecht – from whom I got that Sowell quote – disagrees. He thinks price discrimination of this sort conveys – or can sometimes convey – more information, not less. He also argues, persuasively, that price discrimination can be a net benefit to the general welfare. He uses an extended example of a burger joint to illustrate the point. But I’ll offer a different one.

When the first mobile phones came out, they were wildly expensive. They cost well more than $10,000 in today’s dollars. “Gouging” the rich – aka “early adopters” – made it possible to cover the massive upfront costs of developing the industry and the technology. Over time, the price went down to the point where, today, you can get a mobile phone – with a camera! – for less than the price of two Happy Meals at McDonald’s. The rich subsidized that. You can tell similar stories about miracle drugs, cars, computers, etc.

But this isn’t quite the same thing as personalized pricing. It seems to me that sticking it to the well-off when developing a new product or technology is different from sticking it to the rich just because you can get away with it. I’m open to Albrecht’s point that both approaches can be a net benefit for society (a Pareto improvement ) since pretty much every consensual economic transaction is non-zero sum. The rich person who voluntarily buys an overpriced umbrella still paid only what he thought it was worth to him. Lots of rich people waited for the price of mobile phones to go down before getting one.

But what happens to the signal and the incentive? Instead of finding a price that the market can bear, isn’t the game now to chase the marginal consumer you can overcharge? What does this do to the allocation of resources?

Apparently, most economists think this is awesome. In a really wonderful essay for The Atlantic , Christopher Beam writes :

When you think about it, though, dynamic pricing is a pretty crude way to match supply and demand. What you really want is to know exactly how much each customer is willing to pay, and then charge them that—which is why personalized pricing is the holy grail of modern revenue management. To an economist, “perfect price discrimination,” which means charging everyone exactly what they’re willing to pay, maximizes total surplus, the economist’s measure of goodness. In a world of perfect price discrimination, everyone is spending the most money, and selling the most stuff, of all possible worlds. It just so happens that under those conditions, the entirety of the surplus goes to the company.

I’m open to this, really. I’m certainly opposed to heavy-handed regulation that would deny companies the ability to experiment with such things. With one caveat: You need transparency. When you’re haggling with a carpet merchant in the souk, thanks in part to some less-than-flattering stereotypes about carpet merchants, you know the score. But what if you don’t know that some algorithm has decided that you can dig deeper than the next guy and charges you accordingly without telling you?

I’ll give you an example. When I was in Prague last fall, my daughter and I both took out our phones to call an Uber. She was quoted prices – for the same trip, from the same location, at the same time, with the same choice of vehicles – considerably lower than the prices I was quoted. Presumably both fares included profit, but if I called for the Uber, the profit would be greater (I have no idea if the driver would share in the greater profit, but I suspect not). But at no point did Uber tell me “this is the Jonah Goldberg price.”

Imagine shopping in a supermarket where the prices are all displayed digitally. Using AI and some panopticon-style tech, the store knows – maybe from reading my phone – that I’m well-off. The person pushing their cart a few steps in front of me is more down on his luck. As he walks down the aisle the prices for soup, cereal, or Pop-Tarts display one number, but as I walk by the numbers go up. That feels like actual , personal, price gouging, to me.

Now imagine the same scenario, except you’re shopping on Amazon and you can’t see the lower prices – for the same products – offered to someone logging on from a poorer part of town. The price doesn’t convey information about the scarcity of the product anymore, at least not as clearly.

(Hold on a second while I read an ad for Express VPN.)

So far, what I’ve been describing should sound like music to the ears of Elizabeth Warren types. Charging the rich more than the poor? Sign her up! Sure, she’d rather the gouged proceeds all go to the taxman, not the “greedy” corporations. But even here presumably the government gets bigger revenues from sales taxes and corporate profits. Part of me can’t help but see personalized pricing as private sector wealth tax. And Warren loves wealth taxes.

But of course, Warren hates all innovation in pricing because she thinks it will harm poor people as corporations cater everything toward customers with greater lifetime value. I don’t think that’s necessarily an unreasonable concern for reasons Beam gets into in his essay. After all, personalized pricing seeks to limit the bargains for everybody, rich and poor alike, by getting the highest price possible out of everybody. But there’s a greater incentive to keep richer consumers happy.

And that brings me to my second objection. Look, I love the free market. I literally wrote a book about how the ideas that created the free market were a “miracle” that pulled humanity out of crushing poverty and big chunks of humanity out of the clutches of tyranny. But I’ve always conceded that one of the problems with liberal democratic capitalism is that it feels wrong. We weren’t designed to live wholly in the world of contracts and commerce. We are not homo economicus – and contrary to a lot of anti-capitalist polemicists, virtually no champions of the free market ever claimed otherwise.

I have no problem with changing prices. Again, prices need to change to reflect economic reality. But I think there’s something important to the idea that when the prices change, they change for everybody. This was never a universal rule. Friends and family discounts have always been a thing, and always will be. Having “a guy” in this or that industry has always been a good thing. Famous and powerful people have always been able to skirt the laws of supply and demand for things like restaurant reservations. If I call a trendy restaurant and ask for a table for six for this Saturday, they’ll laugh. If I say I’m George Clooney or Barack Obama, they’ll probably ask what time is best.

But personalized pricing feels like it’s taking this sort of thing and implementing it at scale, or at least trying to.

It also feels – note, I’m using the word “feels” because I’m not sure I’m right – like a step backward. Or really two steps backward. The first step backward is that the old special prices for friends and family or for important people is the way pricing used to work before the advent of the modern economy. Price discrimination was just a subset of discrimination, pure and simple. A Jew who tried to buy a horse in czarist Russia might not be able to get one at all, but you can be sure he’d pay a premium if he could. This is why it would have paid to have a horse guy.

The second step backward is that haggling is bad enough, but being haggled without knowing it feels even worse. That’s why I think transparency is so important. I’m not cheap. I’m not even particularly frugal. But man, do I hate feeling like someone is getting over on me. When I travel, I will often stop at a store and buy snacks for the simple reason I feel like a sucker for being charged $14 for the small jar of cashews in my hotel room. I’ll do that even when I can pass the cost onto the people paying for my room. I just don’t want to give Big Hotel the satisfaction. But at least I know the hotel is gouging everybody on the cashews. (Yes, I know, it’s not gouging, it’s simply paying a premium for convenience, but you get me.) I’d be even more pissed if I knew the guy in the next room was getting a deal on the cashews.

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There’s just something kind of undemocratic about bespoke pricing – particularly hidden bespoke pricing – based on what some algorithm thinks about each and every one of us. Beam tells the story of John Wanamaker, the Philadelphia businessman who people say invented the price tag in the 1800. He “was a devout Christian whose advertisements promised ‘no favoritism.’ According to a hagiographic history of the Wanamaker empire from 1911, ‘One price to all was neither more nor less than the application to merchandising of the immortal note of equality sounded in the second sentence of the Declaration on Independence.’” Beam also notes that, “The price tag had practical benefits, too: You didn’t have to train employees to haggle.”

Thanks to the technology behind personalized prices, firms are able to get the “benefits” of haggling without the haggle. But it also reintroduces favoritism in new ways. Or at least it feels like that to me.

The free marketer in me says I shouldn’t worry. If this approach doesn’t “work” in some way—because consumers hate it, or find work-arounds (which they will have every incentive to find)—it won’t last. If it does last, it will because it satisfies needs and creates net improvements and efficiencies that are self-justifying.

But, as a thought experiment, imagine if government did the same thing. Yes, we have progressive taxation in the country. The more income you have, the more you pay in taxes, not just in absolute terms but as a share of your income (put aside partisan fluff about Warren Buffet’s secretary for the time being). What if, for “efficiency’s” sake the government implemented “personalized taxation.” It would be pretty obvious pretty quickly that people would get righteously pissed off. California’s experiment with charging higher-income people more for electricity than lower-income people has not gone swimmingly . How much angrier would you be if the taxes were tailored to you personally?

I have no confidence that government won’t try to get into this game. And if it does, corruption will be inevitable. Certain groups will get fake prices. We’d be a long way off from a Chinese style “social credit score” that includes bargains for favored groups, but it feels like we’d be moving in that direction. I could see a future where planners calculate the political price of everything while knowing next to nothing about the economic value.

Or maybe not. I’m still trying to figure it all out.

The views and opinions expressed in this column are the author's and do not necessarily reflect those of USA TODAY.

Commentary | Black Gen X: the bridge generation ushering in…

Commentary | Black Gen X: the bridge generation ushering in the ‘Golden Age of African Americans’ | GUEST COMMENTARY

From left, MC Ren, Dr. Dre, Ice Cube and DJ Yella from N.W.A appear at the 31st Annual Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony, noting hip-hop's art form and cultural contributions, in New York in 2016. FILE (Charles Sykes/Invision/AP)

“Jews, who had once been excluded from American establishment, became full-fledged members of it,” he writes. “They achieved power by and large without having to abandon their identity. In faculty lounges and television writer’s rooms, in small magazines and big publishing houses, they infused the wider culture with that identity. Their anxieties became American anxieties. Their dreams became American dreams.”

Try to imagine American society of the last century without the influence of the Jews — the ’60s without Bob Dylan; the ’70s without Norman Lear. Norman Mailer taught Americans how to think about war, and Elie Wiesel, how to think about peace. Gloria Steinem and Betty Friedan changed how we viewed women in society, and Phillip Roth and Saul Bellow changed how we viewed men. Elizabeth Taylor was our beauty, swimmer Mark Spitz, our strength, and Henry Kissinger, our shame. Albert Einstein and J. Robert Oppenheimer transformed our understanding of the physical world, while Steven Spielberg and Stan Lee gave shape to our imaginary one. And, over most every beating heart, at some point in its lifetime, rested the image of a polo player on horseback made famous by Ralph Lauren.

Once ostracized, Jewish Americans have stamped an indelible mark on American culture, which is even more remarkable given the relatively short period they have been in this country. By comparison, consider the history of Chinese Americans. They have been in the U.S. far longer, since just after the Civil War, and yet, can we honestly say that they have made as strong an impression on American society? Have they, “infused the wider culture with their identity,” as Foer put it?

In a country like ours, founded on Anglo-Saxon protestant traditions, how does a marginalized group accrue cultural influence while also — importantly — retaining its unique identity? Is there a demographical saturation point at which a group’s cultural characteristics automatically begin to infect the larger culture? Or, is it just about longevity? African Americans have been here since before there was a here, but can we honestly say Black people have had as pronounced an influence on American culture as, say, Irish Americans or Italians or Germans?

Michael Jackson, Dr. Dre, Whitney Houston and Kendrick Lamar have all made a huge impact on American culture — as have President Barack Obama, Toni Morrison and Beyonce. But has the influence of any one of these individuals, (or, for that matter, all of them collectively), done anything to “infuse the wider culture,” with Black identity? Have African American anxieties become America’s anxieties — our dreams, America’s dreams?

This is a difficult question to answer, but the country is clearly more tolerant, more appreciative of Black identity than it was when I was growing up in the 1980s. Consider, for example, the pervasiveness of Black slang today.

We were not permitted to use slang in the house when I was a child — it was considered vulgar. But today, Black slang is everywhere. Foreign leaders use it, it’s used to sell breakfast cereal, the musical Hamilton wouldn’t work without it. The next time you get a chance, turn on the Golf Channel and listen to the analysts describing the “whitest” of “white sports” using phrases like: “On the down low,” and “Back in the day,” and, “In my feels.” That is not the language Tiger Woods heard on the golf course growing up!

If Black culture is indeed beginning to influence American society, I believe a debt of gratitude is due to those valiant “cultural warriors” and “social pioneers” who did the yeoman work necessary to help shift American attitudes about African Americans — Black Generation X.

My generation, Black Gen X, Americans born between the years of 1965 and 1980, bore the lion’s share of the burden needed to acclimate the larger culture to Black Identity. Of course, every generation stands on the shoulders of the ones that came before. My generation owes an immeasurable debt to my parent’s generation. But we did our part too.

Black Gen X was the “test case generation.” In the wake of the Civil Rights Act of 1965, our generation was jettisoned like deep space probes out into American society, “to boldly go where no Black man had gone before.”

Black Gen X was the “translator generation,” sentenced to a life of suffering uncomfortable questions about everything from our hair, to our clothes, to our anatomy.

Black Gen X was the “bridge generation,” America’s social barometer of acceptable transcultural behavior. We taught Americans how to treat us, we challenged worn stereotypes, and we educated the larger culture about what it really meant to be Black in America.

And for our pains, we experienced isolation, loneliness and ridicule. The most cutting insults were hurled at us from our own corner — from among our friends and family who, unburdened by the daily indignities and frustrations of life as a member of the bridge generation, criticized us for purportedly, “acting white,” or “talking white,” when all we really wanted was to fit in, to be accepted in the worlds we were forced into. But, we persevered and took one for the team.

After 400 years of contempt, targeted abuse and derision, Black identity seems to have crossed some imaginary line, and it’s suddenly cool to be Black now. Black America may even be on a path to its own “Golden Age of African Americans.” If so, it’s due significantly to the influence, and the sacrifices, of the generation that bridged the gap between what was, and whatever is to come.

K. Ward Cummings ([email protected]) is a former senior adviser to members of Congress and a former director of intergovernmental affairs for the Maryland Secretary of State.

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COMMENTS

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Make sure to use smooth transitions. When you move to a new example, use a good transition word or phrase. Some examples are "similarly", "conversely", and "again". 6. Write a strong conclusion. Your conclusion is the piece that will tie the rest of your commentary together. Make sure to include a summary of your argument.
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Guide to Writing a Commentary on Primary Source (s) This shorter assignment (1,500-words, worth 10%) takes the form of a commentary on a primary source or two conceptually linked sources or a comparison of two primary sources. You could take any of the documents set out for the classes on the module website (whether or not we have yet discussed ...
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