Write up your observations and analyses of the text you read in a commentary. You should develop a clear and explicit thesis statement for the novel, poetry, or drama under consideration. Your thesis statement should describe your position or argument in relation to the text. It should be expressed in plain language that readers will understand. Commentsaries are written for entertainment purposes and so they tend to be short and breezy. Although some commentaries are quite lengthy they can still be referred to as "short" essays because they are not intended to make a full-length study of the work under examination. A commentary may discuss any aspect of the text, but it usually focuses on one main idea. Often, commentators will try to explain what the work is about by discussing its structure, setting, or characters. They may also attempt to elucidate certain themes found within the text. Although commentaries do not have to be scholarly publications, most are not aimed at an audience with no previous knowledge of the text. Thus, they often contain detailed explanations of obscure words or phrases, which would not be necessary if the reader were reading the text for the first time. Some commentaries include bibliographies that list further readings on the topic, while others do not. However, even though they are not required, many scholars find commentaries useful tools for exploring different perspectives on a single work or event.