Read it Like a Writer & Notice how Writer's Research

Read Like a Writer Post

Wow, The Thing about Jellyfish has been a great read! I have been reading this entire book “like a writer” and admiring everything about Ali Benjamin’s writing craft. Specifically, I LOVE how she ties in animal research into her plot. The main character connects with science. She finds comfort in the predictability of science and we see a relationship build throughout the chapters with her science teacher.   As Suzy, the main character, becomes more and more focused (obsessed really) with her theory that a jellyfish is what caused her best friend’s death (rather than from drowning), she begins to share commonalities and differences between a jellyfish and a human. She weaves metaphors of herself as the jellyfish, and the world as humans—and using this info to share the magnificent wonders of the universe.

If I were using this text as a read aloud with upper elementary students (5th/6th grades), I would pull in the impact of research and fact in narrative writing. 

To provide a bit of background about this specific passage I’m about to share…. The main character shares many flashbacks of her friendship with Franny (the girl who drowned). Once inseparable, their friendship falls distant as Franny shifts to becoming friends with the “popular girls” and changes her behavior, her core that Franny knows inside and out, to fit in with the crowd. She can’t stop Franny, and Suzzy becomes victim to bullying and middle school harassment.

So here’s the passage I would use:

Another thing you should know: Jellyfish are stronger than we are. Consider this: A jellyfish sting is one of the fastest reactions in the animal kingdom. Their stingers are coiled like harpoons, millions of invisible weapons just waiting. When jellyfish tentacles brush a surface, even faintly, they spring into action. In just 700 billionths of a second—a tiny fraction of the time it would take a person to understand, to think, to react—the jellyfish releases those harpoons, all their position, with the pressure of a bullet.

Jellies can sting long past their own death, long after a tentacle is detached from the rest of the body. Jellyfish are stinging machines, and their stings are as violent as anything on Earth.

But they don’t have to think about that, about who they sting or why. Jellyfish don’t get bogged down by drama, love, friendship, or sorrow. They don’t get stuck in any of the stuff that gets people in trouble.

So, in this example, she is envying the jellyfish – because she is personally dealing with the drama, love, friendship, and sorry and all the hardships that accompany early adolescents. Perhaps in this passage, Franny is the jellyfish---stinging her long after her death.

Most students have a favorite animal—or animal they know a great deal about. There are so many of those amazing animal type picture books as well. For this mini-lesson I would pull this example, and possible others from this book, and talk about how she weaves her highly interesting facts about this animal and connects it to the tension of the story.

I then may do a quick write with a familiar animal (dog/cat) and have students compare/contrast how this animal is alike/different to humans. I then would model or write interactively with my students on how these comparisons can be embedded into a story before encouraging students to do the same. I would pull many of those amazing fact nonfiction books as mentor texts and opportunities for students to research. I think this lesson would be highly challenging, but motivating for this age group. Again, I have been fascinated by how this author weaves her extensive research on jellyfish seamlessly into the plot of this story.

Have a great week,

Dr. K.