"For Julia, In Deep Water" Response: 12 June 2014

Sentence 1: Observation
In John Morris' poem, "For Julia, In Deep Water," Morris utilizes passive construction to describe the actions of the parents.

Sentence 2: Contextualize
At the beginning and the at the end of the poem, the parents, in particular the father, stand helpless as they watch their daughter struggle with learning under the "encouraging arms" of the instructor (Morris, 6).

Sentence 3: Textual Evidence
For example, the first line of the poem: "the instructor we hire" in active construction would read 'we hire the instructor, and the second stanza, line 16, reinforces the passive nature of the parents when Morris states, the mother "is doing nothing."

Sentence 4-6: Discuss and Analyze
In both of these examples, the parents, unlike the instructor, stand frozen as their young daughter learns to swim. However, perhaps only through their passivity can Julia learn anything. Although Julia's swimming lesson acts as the narrative of the poem, perhaps the parents in the poem are actively engaged in a learning process as much as Julia, the process of letting a child become an adult.

Sentence 7: Conclude
As most parents would agree, their children will always be their babies, but perhaps the most challenging part of parenting is letting go and allowing children to become independent, individual adults.      

*When you write your post, you do not have to separate it into sentences like I have done. Yours will be in paragraph form. This is just to model how I wrote this post. You may want to do this at first, then take the headings out when you are ready to publish.

How to Write a Post

Follow these steps for writing your post:

Before You Write: 

1. Read the blog post prompt BEFORE you read the material for that week. Now, you know what type of things to look for as you actively read.

2. Actively read the material for that week.This seems obvious but do not try to post on something you have not read. Do not attempt to copy (plagiarize) material from other blogs, posts, websites, etc. If you didn't read, count that daily grade as a loss and do better next week. The consequences of cheating will be much worse than a missed daily grade, mainly, you will get a zero AND lose my trust.

Writing: 
1. Follow the model below:

Sentence 1: State your observation or claim.
*It is best to begin with the author and title of work about which you are posting. Ex: In Conrad's Heart of Darkness......
*It is always best if this claim is original, insightful, and not just a surface level observation.

Sentence 2: Contextualize your observation
*Where does this observation exist in the text? What just happened? What is about to happen? Give us a place to look without summarizing. This is only one sentence.

Sentence 3: Provide Textual Evidence with page #
*Remember that textual evidence should never 'float.' It should be placed in a sentence.
Examples:
-When Marlow states "................" (Conrad, 45).
-Conrad suggests "..........................." (45).
-You can also incorporate the author's words into your own sentence as long as you use quotation marks and cite the author and page # at the end of the sentence.
*Periods go AFTER the citation. You only use one period per sentence.
*Literary Present Tense

Sentence(s) 4-6: Discuss and analyze
*What is being said in the textual evidence? Dig underneath just surface level.
*How does the textual evidence relate to your observation or claim (Sentence 1)?
*What is the relevance of this observation in reference to the piece as a whole or this particular section?
Note: In the analysis portion, you must add one sentence or up to 3. This is the place in the response where you can really go in-depth. Answer the first asterisks=surface level; Answer the first and second asterisks= getting there; Answer all three= in-depth analysis.

Last Sentence (5 or 7): Conclude
*Connect to other things you have read or the real-world.
OR
*Discuss possible predictions for the importance of this observation later in the work.
OR
*Answer the SO WHAT?

After Writing: 

1. Proofread! Spelling, grammar, and basic conventions of the English language do count.

2. Check your page #'s and citations!

3. Make sure you have at least 5 sentences and really no more than 7.

4. Select "Publish."