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.
Turn a claim into a paragraph that argues
A line of reasoning is an order of claims, and each paragraph has to earn its position.
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.