Explication Exercise
In any paper that requires you to deal with an original source (a text – diary, novel, essay,
letter, painting, photograph), talking about the text in general terms will weaken your
argument, and hence, your interpretation. Your job as a critic is not to tell your readers
what the work you've read is about, but to show them how the text works, thus
improving their understanding of what it says specifically.
It follows that almost any critical paper depends on explication – a word derived from
Latin explicare, to unfold or to explain. An explication explains by unfolding; it goes
through a given piece of text in detail, gradually revealing its meaning. Often, it relates
one piece of a work to other pieces, showing the reader how the author develops themes
as the book progresses.
There are two ways of writing explications. One is to ladle the text into the paper in a
block quote (not more than 8-9 double-indented lines; long block quotes make readers
skip), then work with it for several paragraphs, unfolding its meaning and implications.
The other way is to needle little pieces of the text into your own sentences, using the text
to further your argument. This exercise has to do with ladling. It is designed to give you
an alternative to dumping a block quotation in a paper without introduction and letting it
stand on its own – a common error in student papers.
In this exercise, you will be dealing with two passages out of The Decameron. You will
link them with a three paragraph bridge, in such a way that your link reveals the theme
the two passages have in common and shows how the second one deepens the
implications of the first. What you say is up to you (there's lots to say, and many ways to
say it), but the form of what you say must follow the rules below.
Start by blocking the passage on page 32 of the Decameron that begins by reflecting on
Ser Cepparello's wickedness, concluding that he is probably damned. "And if this is the
case . . ." and go to the end of the paragraph, concluding "being most certain that we shall
be heard."
Then, on a different piece of paper, block the opening of the book, on page 1: "Here
begins the book called . . . ." and stopping at the end of the italics.
Now, start your three-paragraph bridge between the two quotations, explaining how the
first relates to and deepens the meaning of the second.
1. Explicate the first passage by unfolding its meaning. The process will involve placing
the quote in context, telling us that it comes at the end of the first story of the first day,
that Ser Cepparello was a great sinner and a great story-teller, and whatever else you
thing pertinent. (Remember, you're not just explicating; even at this stage, you're heading
towards the second quotation.)
2. Extend your ideas by reflecting on the broader implications of the passage. While you
will still be talking about the passage you explicated, you will also be talking about irony,
double meanings, ambivalence, and other aspects of the book that the passage
exemplifies.
3. Finally, write a paragraph that discusses matters implied in the first quote and its
context (as you've set these up), but which can be explored completely on in the context
of the second quote. By the end of this paragraph, you should have the second quote all
set up and ready for further explication (which you don't have to do). The trick is to
make paragraphs 2 and 3 move towards the second quotation.