Line of Reasoning and Commentary
A line of reasoning is a sequence of claims
- A line of reasoning is the logical sequence of claims that work together to defend the overarching thesis statement.
- Three words matter: sequence (they have an order), together (they are not independent), defend (they all serve the thesis).
- A list of three true observations about a novel is not a line of reasoning.
A line of reasoning is...
Sequence, together, defend — three words that all do work.
Commentary is how the reasoning becomes visible
- A line of reasoning is communicated through commentary that explains the logical relationship between the overarching thesis and the claims/evidence within the body.
- So the reasoning lives in your head until commentary puts it on the page.
- An essay with good claims and no commentary has a line of reasoning the reader cannot see.
The line of reasoning is communicated through ____.
Until commentary puts it on the page, the reasoning lives only in your head.
What commentary actually says
- Commentary answers: why does this evidence support this claim, and why does this claim serve the thesis?
- Two links, and most weak essays write neither.
- Restating the quotation in your own words is not commentary — it is paraphrase wearing its clothes.
Is this sentence commentary?
Sort each sentence by the job it does in a body paragraph.
Select all the links commentary must make.
The third is paraphrase wearing commentary's clothes.
If your paragraphs could be reordered with no loss, you have a list rather than a line of reasoning. The CED's word is sequence — the claims work together, in an order, and a claim that depends on an earlier one must follow it.
If your body paragraphs could be shuffled with no loss, you have a line of reasoning.
You have a list. A line of reasoning is a sequence.
Ordering the claims
- Because it is a sequence, ask what the reader must accept first.
- A claim that depends on an earlier one must come after it.
- If your paragraphs could be shuffled with no loss, you have a list, not a line.
Put the reasoning check in order.
Reading the claims alone is what exposes a list pretending to be a line.
A reasoning check
- Write your claims as a numbered list and read them without the evidence.
- Does each one need the one before it? Does each one serve the thesis?
- Then check that every paragraph contains a sentence doing each of the two links.
Thesis: remembering is paralysis in this novel. Claim 1: the most reliable memories belong to the character with the least power. Claim 2: because of that, every act of recall in the book postpones a decision. Claim 3: so the ending's forgetting is the only action available. Reorder them and claims 2 and 3 lose their because and so.
A line of reasoning is the logical sequence of claims that work together to defend the thesis — sequence, together, defend. It is communicated through commentary that explains the relationship between thesis, claims and evidence. Commentary makes two links: evidence→claim and claim→thesis.