Commentary That Carries the Reasoning
IntroducedCommentary points two ways
- Backwards, it explains why this evidence supports this claim.
- Forwards, it prepares the claim the next paragraph will make.
- Commentary that only points backwards leaves paragraphs in a row rather than in a path.
A paragraph that points only backward has to walk into the next paragraph in reverse.
What the CED asks of it
- A line of reasoning is communicated through commentary that explains the logical relationship between evidence and claims.
- So commentary is not decoration on a paragraph — it is the material the reasoning is made of.
- Remove every commentary sentence from an essay and the line of reasoning goes with them.
Commentary is decoration added to a paragraph after the argument is made.
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It is the material the reasoning is made of — delete it and the line of reasoning goes too.
Writing commentary that moves
- First sentence: because / which means / so — the logical relationship.
- Second sentence: what this now allows you to claim next.
- Two sentences of commentary per paragraph is usually enough, and usually two more than students write.
Commentary or not?
Sort each sentence by whether it explains a relationship.
Good commentary points backwards to the evidence and ____ to the next claim.
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Forward-pointing commentary is what turns paragraphs in a row into paragraphs in a path.
"This shows that the policy failed" is not commentary. It announces a relationship without explaining it. Commentary has to say how the evidence bears on the claim — the word shows is where an explanation is supposed to begin, not end.
"This shows the policy failed" is best described as...
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The word shows is where an explanation should begin, not end.
Select all the sentence types that are not commentary.
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The fourth is the only one that explains a relationship.
Three sentences that are not commentary
- Restating the evidence in different words.
- Restating the claim in different words.
- Announcing that the evidence "shows" or "proves" the claim without saying how.
Match each audit result to what it tells you.
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Highlighting the commentary is the fastest diagnosis of an argument's real shape.
The commentary audit
- Highlight every commentary sentence in your draft.
- If a paragraph has none, that paragraph currently earns evidence marks only.
- If they are all restatements, the essay has claims and evidence and no reasoning at all.
Not commentary: "This shows the scheme did not work." Commentary: "Because the drop is concentrated in the group the scheme was funded to reach, the figure is not evidence of a general decline but of a targeting failure — which is why adding funding would repeat it." The second sentence also sets up the next claim.
Commentary explains the logical relationship between evidence and claim and is the material a line of reasoning is made of. Write two sentences per paragraph: the relationship, then what it now allows you to claim. Restating evidence or claiming something "shows" the point is not commentary.
Write from commentary that points forward
- One commentary sentence links the evidence to the claim.
- A second points forward to the next paragraph.
- Say why both are needed.
A writer adds two commentary sentences. The first links the evidence to this paragraph's claim. The second points forward to the next claim. Why keep both?
One sentence ties the evidence. The next aims the essay.
What does the second commentary sentence do?
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Forward commentary is how paragraphs become a path.