University of Tlemcen, Algeria

Department of English
Licence 3: Comprehension and Written Production
2021/2022

3. Comment

A commentary essay as a separate assignment is widely used among

academic institutions. Such an assignment aims to make students enable and
use their critical thinking, analyze a subject, and provide an individual
commentary essay.

Many students might think that commentary and analysis are two different
things. They ask what the difference is since teachers can talk about
commentary and analysis and use these terms interchangeably. The truth
is, these are basically the same words in the context of essay writing. In
simple terms, a commentary requires a person to analyze a certain block of
text and explain their understanding to the audience.

 Definition (iwriteessays.com)

A commentary essay is meant to give your

opinion, analysis, evaluation, or personal
reaction about a specific detail in an essay or
literary work. A commentary essay is mostly
used for news and magazine publications. It is
mostly focused on a complete analysis and a
detailed description of a given text.

Credits : Pr. H. Hamzaoui & Dr. Y. Messaoudi

 University of Tlemcen, Algeria
Department of English
Licence 3: Comprehension and Written Production
2021/2022

 Outline
Commentary Essay Outline

Introduction
 Hook An interesting sentence to grab the
reader’s attention.
 Background Information - Author: Include the literary work author’s
name.
- Title: State the title of the book or the
literary work.
- Main Characters: Mention the main
characters of the literary work.
 Thesis Statement Write a thesis to state your essay’s claim.
Body Paragraph(s)
 Topic Sentence State what the paragraph will discuss and
how you are going to prove (relate it to) your
thesis.
 Supporting Sentences - Evidence: -a) state who says the quote
and what is happening in the text when
they say the quote. –b) Cite/ paraphrase
the quote from the text.
- Commentary: Provide a commentary for
the quote and state how it proves your
thesis.
 Concluding Sentence - Restate to the reader your analysis and its
significance to the point in hand.
- Wrap-up the paragraph with a transition
(sentence) to the next paragraph.
Conclusion
To end the entire essay, it is necessary to create an overall concluding statement. This can be
either what you have learned from writing the essay, or what the audience should take away
from your work.
- Restate the thesis statement
- Summarize key points (arguments)
- Overall concluding statement (show why the text/literary work is important)

Credits : Pr. H. Hamzaoui & Dr. Y. Messaoudi

 University of Tlemcen, Algeria
Department of English
Licence 3: Comprehension and Written Production
2021/2022

 Example

Commentary

Commentary

Credits : Pr. H. Hamzaoui & Dr. Y. Messaoudi

 University of Tlemcen, Algeria
Department of English
Licence 3: Comprehension and Written Production
2021/2022

 Practice

1) Consider the enclosed commentary sample essay (Poetry

Commentary).
2) Compare the commentary essay outline to the analytical outline.
Take notes for discussion.

Credits : Pr. H. Hamzaoui & Dr. Y. Messaoudi