Ethan Frome Passage Commentary Writing Assignment
IB English 5-6 SL — Smith
2016-17
Your assignment is to compose a commentary on approximately 25-40 lines from the
Edith Wharton’s novel Ethan Frome. Your commentary should both stimulate and reflect your
critical thinking about the passage and will be assessed according to the IB Paper #1 rubric.
A good commentary is grounded in a close reading of the passage and integrates detailed
understanding with creativity of response and awareness of how language creates meaning. It
appreciates how the parts contribute to the whole and develops a comprehensive, systematic,
and persuasive explication.
Each passage is different and requires attention to its own significant features. It will
also elicit different responses from different readers. Thus, there is no prescribed method of
approach, no formula that can be applied to the diverse kinds of passage or work that can be
examined for commentary.
Following are some aspects of a passage you should discuss, and others you should think
about in order to generate ideas:
Aspects of a Passage
1. Place in plot. Place the passage in terms of the action, but chiefly as a way of explaining the
qualities of the passage—its atmosphere, its sense of conflict, etc. Do not tell the whole story
over again. Be efficient.
2. Plot. How much action occurs in the passage? (A brief analytical, summary of the action
and the structure of the action in the passage might be illuminating.) How important is the
action? Does it seem the center of the passage? Does the point of the passage seem to be to set
up what happens next? Does it seem merely to provide a sequence by which character might be
developed or setting realized? Does it use suspense, twists, excitement, violence; and, if so, to
what effect and how?
3. Structure. Does the passage consist of a series of subsections (one perhaps of dialogue, one
of description, and one of action, or, on the other hand, one of external focus, one of internal
focus, or, yet again, ones dependent on the subject matter of the particular passage)?
4. Point of view. First or third person? Limited omniscient? Free indirect discourse? So
what? What effects are thereby achieved and how is the passage colored by the particular point
of view?
5. Setting. How important is setting to the passage? What is its impact on the atmosphere?
How visually intense is setting? How is the sense of place created?
6. Mood. How is it created? Is it consistent? Is there a pattern of change? Is the mood of the
passage (or parts of it) consistent with the mood of the characters?
7. Tone. Does there seem to be a distinct narrative voice (whether 1st or 3rd person)? Does this
voice seem to be ironic, detached, objective, sympathetic, humorous, embittered, editorializing?
How can you tell? Does there seem to be a voice at all or do the events seem to come alive
through a transparent style?
8. Style. (The style in the narrative and in dialogue might have to be treated separately). Is it
spare, dry, polysyllabic, ornamented, coolly functional, lyrical? (You may wish to associate style
with tone.) Is the language and sentence structure mundane, colloquial, academic, ponderous,
sterile, florid? How does the style reinforce other elements of the passage?
9. Characterization. What techniques are used by which characters are made known:
editorializing, omniscient description, observing actions, dress, speech, architecture; listening in
on thoughts, or observing others’ assessments or reactions? More generally, how much does the
passage allow the development of a sense of personality and psychology—or, in other words,
how much are the characters rounded within the confines of the passage? What are the traits
you can identify with the characters? Also, in general terms how much does the passage seem
intended as an exploration of the psychology of the characters, or the creation of a sense of
character, and how much, in contrast, do the characters seem to exist to serve other narrative
functions?
10. Ideas/Themes. Does the passage seem to carry a burden of viewpoints; does the writer
seem to have some viewpoints which she wishes to transfer to the reader? Where do you find
these and in what ways are they made evident?
11. Other. This is probably the most important aspect of the passage! Many of the most
interesting observations you have to make will arise from the particular qualities of the
particular passage. You will want to select DETAILS from the passage, unusually evocative,
provocative, puzzling, powerful words or phrases and discuss their impact on or role in the
passage.
Above all, as with any literary writing, avoid simply describing. Make sure you interpret, assess,
react, and conjecture. Make sure you give something of yourself—without losing sight of shore.
Specifics

Annotation—photocopy or print out the passage. Mark your passage to generate ideas.

Introduction—your introduction should provide an angle or unifying principle that is
your personal understanding of the passage—state the meaning or dominant idea that
you see in the piece and identify which literary devices contribute to that meaning.
Avoid a generalized, formulaic intro. Get right on topic.

Commentary—
 should show your grasp of content
 should identify what makes the passage interesting—which is the form (structure,
shape, patterns) and style (diction, imagery) and tone
 is a detailed discussion of most striking effects
 presents a valid interpretation expressed in intro
 systematic in exploration of piece
 clearly, persuasively presented in an academic register

Expected length: 4-6 pages, double-spaced

Submitted to turnitin.com and as a paper copy to Mr. Smith