Concrete Details vs. Commentary Written by Suzanne Donovan- Marlowe Cope Middle School Redlands, CA Adapted by Angela Carrington University City High School San Diego, CA

Here’s the difference between: Concrete Details vs. Commentary Facts from the text Facts about a character Facts about what happens in the story Facts you can see right on the page Facts!!!!! Opinions about the facts Opinions about the character Opinions about the story Ideas from your own head Opinions!!!!

Concrete Details vs. Commentary Sometimes abbreviated as “CD” Sometimes abbreviated as “CM”

For every 1 Concrete Detail Concrete Details vs. Commentary You must have 2 Commentary sentences

Don’t have much meaning by themselves Concrete Details vs. Commentary The reader is influenced by how you interpret the concrete detail

Concrete Details vs. Commentary * She does all the cooking, cleaning, and sewing by herself. This is a fact from the story *She has no one to share her burdens. *She is treated like a second-class citizen. These are opinions about the fact

Concrete Details vs. Commentary * She does all the cooking, cleaning, and sewing by herself. This is a fact from the story *What commentary could you put here that would make this concrete detail seem like a positive? These are opinions about the fact