How do I receive full points when responding to a classmate on a discussion thread?

During Weeks 3 and 5, you will be responsible to answer discussion questions about one (1) of the four (4) poems we are discussing as a class. On your assigned day, all you have to do is thoughtfully answer the provided questions about a poem. On the other three days, other students will take care of the formal answering of questions, but you are still required to read their posted answers and comment on at least two of them each day.

What makes a strong response to a student’s posted answers?

Try your best to engage with the student using one or more of the following strategies:

1. Summarize what you think the student has articulated.

2. Point out where a student might have gone astray, wasn’t specific enough, or if you feel the student has misinterpreted the poem.

3. Share when/where you are in agreement with the stated answers.

4. Share when/where you are not in agreement with the stated answers.

5. Share when/where you are not sure if either of you have articulated the correct answer.

6. Quote directly from the poem to make it clear what exactly in the text you are referring to.

7. Ask questions. Small, technical questions, and large/unanswerable questions. Questions you aren’t sure how to answer.

8. Take a risk and assert something about the poem that might, on first reading, seem impossible.

9. Use your OWN experience to ‘figure out’ what a speaker might be feeling or experiencing in a poem (“I’ve eaten peaches before on hot, summer days; therefore, I know this type of joy …”).

10. Reach out to your fellow student. Be encouraging, enthusiastic, interested, inquisitive, thoughtful, & respectful.

If you engage in this way all or most of the time on at least two of your classmates’ posts on a given day, you will receive 4 points.

If you engage in this way most of the time on at least two of your classmates’ posts on a given day, you will receive 3 points.

If you somewhat engage in this way on at least two of your classmates’ posts on a given day, you will receive 2 points.

If you respond in a cursory fashion (“I liked your answers! They were good!”), or respond only once, you will receive 1 point.

Sample Posted Responses to Questions Re: “From Blossoms”:

Dear Kenneth:

I really appreciated your insight of Lee's respect and appreciation for nature, "impossible blossom, to sweet impossible blossom." It still amazes me to contemplate how everything just grows and matures automatically.

I didn't get that there was "someone with as much passion about peaches as Lee had," from the poem at all. I'm not sure what you part of the poem you are referencing when you discuss this element. An example would specific example or direct quote would be very helpful in relating this thought.

I agree with the answer in question number 3, that the repetition of using the word dust really drives home the sentiment of eating peaches on a hot summer day, with dust everywhere.

I think Lee adores eating peaches, and the reminiscence of time being spent with family. I assume she is with family in this poem.

I think that the last sentence you wrote helps me solve a puzzle I had in my head: why, in the middle of nowhere in her poem, does she bring up, "There are days we live / as if death were nowhere." I really don't know what to make of that line. Clearly it brings with it the notion that we take things for granted, including eating peaches. But it is really hard to think about the serious matters of the world, life and death, when one is enjoying a simple, calm pleasure. Don't we all need the break from the seriousness of life to simply enjoy a hot summer day and eating a peach?

Dear Jiayi:

I agree that the author takes an ordinary experience of eating a peach and showing us how the simple joy can be found in its juices. Peaches are my favorite summer fruit, and I really can experience the poem wholeheartedly.

I also agree that the use of "sweet" and "succulent" puts the reader in the experience. Succulent also conjures in my mind how a really ripe peach, drips hysterically with juice, everywhere. It's almost uncontrollable, and sticky too!

I like how you refer to the dust that collects from blossom to maturity and consumption. I think the repetition in the use of dust, conjures the image of driving along a rural road, in the dry, hot summer - where dust would be in an abundance. It's so hot and dusty, and you really want to eat the peach. I can also infer that from what you mention in your answer to question 5, "not only the skin, but the shade, / not only the sugar, but the days." This makes me think about how one looks for a shade tree on hot summer days.

I'm not certain that your proposed thesis is really clear. I think the point of the thesis needs to be centered around the meaning of the poem and how one interprets the meaning poem. In essence, you would be proving your interpretation of the poem.