MEDUSA AND THE SNAIL
Weeds and Roses
Weed #1—Use the prompt
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Halo analogy
Why are you given the whole prompt instead of just
a quote?
What does the prompt ask?
 “Defend,
challenge or qualify Thomas’s claims.”
 Okay, so what MUST you discuss?
Ways to use the prompt:
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Reference author
Reference title of work (be sure to UNDERLINE or
quote it!)
Pluck and plop
Consider big ideas
Look at three ways this was skillfully
accomplished:
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“Mistakes are everywhere. A person could not go a
day without seeing a mistake, whether it is an error
message on their computer or a car accident.
Biologist Lewis Thomas once said in his book Medusa
and the Snail, ‘We are built to make mistakes,
coded for error.’ Although many people view
mistakes as bad, hateful and nasty, errors help form
the basis of human learning. Thomas is correct in
saying that humans are meant to create mistakes.”
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“Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony, the light bulb, a
touchdown pass, a good score on a math test. All of
these have one mutual similarity. They each are the
product of mistakes followed by refinement, which then
produces a masterpiece. ‘If we were not provided with
the knack of being wrong, we could never get anything
useful.’ This quote from The Medusa and the Snail by
biologist Lewis Thomas summarizes the basic truth that in
a world void of any errors or mistakes, and the
consequences thereof, progress could not be made, and
opportunities would be ultimately lost.”
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“Life is full of mistakes. Lewis Thomas’s Medusa and
the Snail is based upon the importance of trial and
error. Thomas’s claims are correct. Errors and
mistakes are essential to everyday life; we, as
people, must learn to accept this widely-known
fact.”
Weed #2—Slow down to comment
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Most of us=good examples!
But…what do the examples need?
Analysis! Compare these two samples:
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“Edison attempted 1000 times
to make the light bulb; on the
1001st try, he succeeded. The
development of penicillin was
also brought about by mistake
when Alexander Flemming left
his sample a bit too long and
it grew mold.”
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“Edison attempted 1000 times
to make the light bulb; on the
1001st try, he succeeded.
With each stab, Edison
understood a bit more about
electricity and how it
functioned. Each attempt led
him further down the road to
success, even if it was because
he crossed another potential
option off his list. Edison’s
dogmatic nature ensured that
his “mistakes” would evolve
into something much greater,
indeed, a light bulb over his
head.
Weed #3—Use quotes!
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If you use the passage (and you all need to) you
MUST _ _ _ _ _!
What if you don’t?
Pluck and plop
Examples of Pluck and Plop
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Edison attempted 1000 times to make the light
bulb; on the 1001st try, he succeeded. With each
stab, Edison understood a bit more about electricity
and how it functioned. Each attempt led him further
down the road to success, even if it was because he
crossed another potential option off his list. Edison,
who had the “knack of being wrong,” ensured that
his “mistakes” would evolve into something much
greater, indeed, a light bulb over his head. Like
Thomas suggests, Edison made “move[s] based on
error” and in the end, culled a successful invention.
Weed #4—Use specific, concrete
details
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What is a specific, concrete detail?
Which are the strongest kinds?
Specific, CD or not?
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Me learning from horseback riding
Me falling off at a fence because I forgot to
balance.
Toys being invented
Silly Putty as a result of a misconstructed polymer
Shaq missing free-throws
Not performing well on the tennis court
Roses!
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Hey! Nice work using your vocab (correctly) in your
essays—I’m impressed!
Organizing around subclaims.
Finding a range of examples.
RER: due Thursday
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5.
Enlist help from your history, science teacher,
parent, librarian—do some work!—and come up
with three additional SPECIFIC, CONCRETE
examples. (None of them may be personal.)
Rewrite your intro to include at least a reference
to Thomas and M&S
Find two places in your essay where you can pluck
and plop from the text of M&S
Find your two weakest sentences. Rewrite them.
Circle three weak words. Find synonyms.
Sentence Revision
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Lewis Thomas is the
author of The Medusa
and the Snail, a section
of which is based upon
the importance of trial
and error.

Lewis Thomas’s Medusa
and the Snail is based
upon the importance
of trial and error.
What has the revision accomplished? How?
Let’s Try Another:
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That means if you are
not good with a sport,
a subject or whatever
else then if you just
practice then you will
eventually succeed
and be better than
before.”
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The quote suggests
that with practice, one
can improve their
volleyball serve, their
chemistry equations or
their cake recipe;
everyone can succeed.
What has the revision accomplished?
How?
Now you try:
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Sometimes people just
need more practice at
things and take more
time to get better we
all make mistakes
anyhow.
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Evaluate
Treat
Reflect