How to write a commentary essay

Handy tips to write the best commentary essay

What is a commentary essay?

Academic writing requires both subjective and objective interpretations. It requires more hard work as it contains more of analytical thinking which is required on the topic being written.

Commentary essay is one such kind of academic writing which is put up with these elements to write it. It requires understanding of the facts, interpretations, and data that must be written in a structured format.

Commentary essay is more putting up information across, but it is all about analytical thinking and critically writing about a topic.

Characteristics of a commentary essay:

1.Commentary essay is a series of interpretations and explanations

2.Commentary essay is used to for creating or placing opinion

3.Commentary essay is a platform to provide individual’s insight and personal reaction

Important elements of a commentary essay

1.Thesis statement: One of the important elements of an essay, a thesis statement must be included in order to provide strength. Backed with arguments, a thesis statement must be written in the introductory paragraph.

Thesis statement can be or few sentences which must be then linked to the other sections of an essay. 

2.Introduction section: An essay will always have three sections in it. The first one is an introduction section. This section must be written in order to introduce the topic which is being written. This must be interesting and engaging enough so as to induce interest in the reader’s mind.

In introduction section, the essence and gist of a topic must be brought out.

3.Hook statement:  A hook statement is like an oil to a machine; which keeps it running. These hook statements decide the credibility of an essay. Hence must be presented in an appropriate manner. It must be included in the introduction section.

To grab reader’s attention, hook statements must be added while keeping the originality of the content intact.

4.Body section: Considered as the heart of an essay, body section must consist of all the major information to be presented.There must be 3 paragraphs which should be included in the body section (If an essay is being written in a 5 paragraph format).

Each paragraph must consist of supportive arguments. Arguments must be backed with subordinating points which are the backbone of a thesis statement. 

5.Conclusion: Everything that starts must end well. An essay too must have a good beginning and a good conclusion.

Conclusion section must be written in order to synthesize with the points that were already discussed in an essay. Care must be taken not to reiterate an introduction section in name of conclusion.

6.Reference style: Every academic essay which is written must adhere to specific reference style. This will help in providing the required standard to an essay. Some of the standard reference styles that are utilized by the universities are APA, MLA, Harvard etc.

7.Arguments: Arguments are the set of statements which provide support to the thesis statement. These arguments are the evidence that are required in order to build a quality essay. 

Steps to write a commentary essay 

1.Choose a topic to write upon: To write a commentary essay, a topic which is suitable must be chosen. There are several resources available to choose a topic.

2.Know to which audience:  As commentary essay involves scientific writing and critical analysis of a topic, the writing style must be adopted to the targeted audience and written accordingly.

3.Research on the topic: Once a topic is selected, it is very important to research on the selected topic. There are several resources available which must be utilized in order to research on the particular topic.

Academic textbooks, journal, internet resources are few of the examples of resources for researching a topic.

4.Create an outline: To create the best essay, it must have an outline. An outline is nothing but providing a structure to an essay. This includes an introduction section, a body section, and a conclusion.     

6.Include resources for citations: As mentioned above, commentary essay must have critical points to interpret and analyze the given data, proper resources and citations must be cited.

7.Edit and revise the content: Once the essay gets completed, it must be edited for any mistakes. Some of the content which got omitted while writing the draft or any information that has to be presented can be done at this stage.

8.Proofread the content: The last stage of essay writing is to proofreading. Proofreading helps in refining the essay. Grammatical mistakes and punctuation mistakes must be given a closer look.