THE BIG FIVE

Here are five things you can look for and elaborate on in a
commentary for the DP test. This method works particularly
will with non-fiction texts and with visual texts.

1. AUDIENCE AND PURPOSE

Who wrote this text? (Remember that the text is often not
identified by author for you--you have to try and figure out who
the “writer” might be, based on clues in the text.) Who was it
written for? (The more precise you can be with the target audi-
ence, the better. Don’t write things like “It was written for everyone to read.” Why did
the author write it? (Was her purpose to inform? to entertain? to enlighten? to pro-
voke a response? to propose a solution? to provide a personal response? Remember
that a piece may have multiple purposes.

2. CONTENT AND THEME

What is the text about? What does it say? Can you summarize briefly the mes-
sage and content of the selection? What is the theme? Is there a lesson or moral in-
volved? Here is where you discuss both the literal text (what is actually there) and the
subtext (reading between the lines).

3. TONE AND MOOD

What is the writer’s tone? Does it remain constant? Does it change? Why does
the writer adopt this tone? How does it help the writer achieve her purpose? If the tone
changes, where? why? to what effect? How does the text make the reader feel? Are
we shocked? angered? inspired? Does our mood change as we work through the
text?

4. STYLISTIC DEVICES
What stylistic devices does the writer use? (How many of these do you know
well enough to discuss? You need to build a list of these for instant recall.) What pur-
pose does the writer have for using that metaphor or that simile or that allusion or that
symbol? How does that assonance or that parallel syntax or the asyndeton help the
writer achieve her purposes? What effect does the device have on the reader?

5. STRUCTURE
What is the structure of the piece? Is it a newspaper article? An editorial or
commentary? a short story or poem? Is it a blog entry? An advertisement? A political
cartoon? What are the usual conventions we would expect to see in that structure?
Why would the writer choose this structure to begin with? What deviations from the ex-
pected structure do you notice and why would the writer “break the rules” and do things
this way?