Ashmitha_Arun Posted November 2, 2014 Report Share Posted November 2, 2014 Hey! We are asked to do the commentary on Animal Farm. I have no idea how to prepare within that 20 minutes...i mean what are the important points to highlight...in what order to go? Can you please help me? Thanks in advance Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
sushichan*-* Posted November 2, 2014 Report Share Posted November 2, 2014 This is the structure my English teacher shared with us. Hope it will help! § 1 Introduction. A short account of the text. Place the text into historical and /or internal textual context. Give a general statement reading the tone of the passage. Summarize with a basic thesis about the purpose of this passage (remember to take into consideration leading questions). Then give an overview of what you will be discussing (structure). § 2 Tone, viewpoint, narratorial perspective. How do these features reinforce your idea of perspective. What can we say about the narrator, for example? First person or third person? Omniscient? Is it In addition, are there conflicts / tensions in the text? Is the text internally consistent? § 3 Form and genre. What form is it? Is it a ballad or a sonnet? If prose, is it a part of a novel or a short story? Is it consistent, or fragmented in its form? How does the form inform the content: remember style is itself a kind of substance! § 4 Literary devices. Find as many as possible. Link all of them to your overarching thesis. Remember, these are some of your ‘hows’ and for each point we need to link the ‘hows’ with the ‘whys’. § 5 Conclusion. This is very different depending on the passage. Affirm your thesis and how the individual elements of the writing tie into this thesis. Then perhaps look outwards, contextualizing the text no longer in its past but out into the future. General comments: try to avoid a chronological approach as much as possible: bad practical criticisms tend to simply go through the text line by line. Instead: structure your response thematically according to your thesis; group your literary devices into elements, etc. 2 Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ashmitha_Arun Posted November 4, 2014 Author Report Share Posted November 4, 2014 Thanks a lot! (: Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
King112 Posted November 4, 2014 Report Share Posted November 4, 2014 This is the structure my English teacher shared with us. Hope it will help! § 1 Introduction. A short account of the text. Place the text into historical and /or internal textual context. Give a general statement reading the tone of the passage. Summarize with a basic thesis about the purpose of this passage (remember to take into consideration leading questions). Then give an overview of what you will be discussing (structure). § 2 Tone, viewpoint, narratorial perspective. How do these features reinforce your idea of perspective. What can we say about the narrator, for example? First person or third person? Omniscient? Is it In addition, are there conflicts / tensions in the text? Is the text internally consistent? § 3 Form and genre. What form is it? Is it a ballad or a sonnet? If prose, is it a part of a novel or a short story? Is it consistent, or fragmented in its form? How does the form inform the content: remember style is itself a kind of substance! § 4 Literary devices. Find as many as possible. Link all of them to your overarching thesis. Remember, these are some of your ‘hows’ and for each point we need to link the ‘hows’ with the ‘whys’. § 5 Conclusion. This is very different depending on the passage. Affirm your thesis and how the individual elements of the writing tie into this thesis. Then perhaps look outwards, contextualizing the text no longer in its past but out into the future. General comments: try to avoid a chronological approach as much as possible: bad practical criticisms tend to simply go through the text line by line. Instead: structure your response thematically according to your thesis; group your literary devices into elements, etc. I cant add any thing to order or content other than this. But my english teacher gave us these tips:a) Make detailed notes; write down everything- dialogues,diction,devices etc.b) Have a order ready so that you don't lose out on organisationc) Introduce yourself and give a brief explanation of the time period etc, so that the story makes sense. Hope I helped 1 Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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