SUPERIOR READING COMMENTARIES WILL:

• Make accurate & fair use of text (quote or paraphrase) - true to main idea, mindful of context

• Establish clear main point or thesis based on (in response to) specific idea(s) (small or large) from reading. Identify, engage & discuss the issues.

• Go beyond text itself in responding to the idea, developing thesis. To do so, use means such as:

• comparison and/or contrast (within or across readings)
• apply, test, or expand upon the idea with well-targeted examples in real world
• use the idea to test or re-examine a previously held belief of your own
• turn single issue around, examining it in various lights
• evaluate the idea - critically examine its assumptions, reasoning, evidence, implications, limits
• analyze real world events using ideas from text
• agree or disagree with the text, and explore the implications or bases of your agreement or disagreement
• for readings from earlier historical periods: consider the wider context of the time; compare different authors from the same or different time periods; trace connections between periods; or examine and reflect on the reasons for differences between the authors' views and those of today (including your own)

• Avoid:

• merely summarizing
• merely summarizing and agreeing
• disagreeing without critically explaining why
• quoting briefly and go off on vague / cliché / off-target tangent
• giving your opinion on something unrelated to the passage
• giving your opinion without giving thoughtful reasons and evidence
• asserting incorrect historical facts in support of your view
• over-generalizing
• on readings from earlier historical periods, reacting unreflectively to the author's views from your 'present-centric' point of view.
• Major flaws in writing technicalities (see web page on errors to avoid)

• Your ideas will probably benefit significantly from a second drafting. Your writing should be highly focused. State your points clearly - clarity of writing means clarity of thought. Eliminate excessive words and unnecessary sentences. Compose your paragraphs to make their points.

• There are many, many ways to do an excellent commentary of any given reading. There is no formula. But the above guidelines will at least not lead you astray.

• If you are really stuck, start with one passage or general theme on which you have an already-existing opinion. Explain the passage and your reaction. Then force yourself to articulate reasons for your opinion. Compare them with the argument in the passage. Then explain any changes (or not) in your opinion as a result of the exercise.