Friday, February 19 - Sunday, February 21

HAPPY WEEKEND! You have reached the end of Week 5! The Week 5 Read and Respond assignment (blog commenting) is available now, and so is the Week 5 Internet assignment (Storybook commenting). Please make sure you get started on those assignments soon; they are due this weekend.

Introduction inspiration. Every Introduction is different, because every Storybook is different... but if you are looking for some inspiration and ideas, you might want to browse around some of these Introductions to Storybooks from this semester which people have already published - I've picked out three Introductions from each class this semester to try to show you the variety of ways people start their Storybooks. Maybe you can find some ideas that will inspire you as you create the introduction to your Storybook!

• End-of-the-World Tours
• Not a Fairy Godmother
• The Cosmic Egg
• The Six-Fold Evils
• Ravana: Tales of the Ten Heads
• Glorious Tales of Shiva
• Just-So-Stories: Humans & Animals
• Peace, Love & Stories: Canterbury Tales
• Hope's Journey

If you want to browse some more, you can find hundreds of previous Storybooks online - with a huge variety of Introductions to look at, if you are curious!

Storybook Stack. If you turned in a Week 4 Storybook assignment on time, you should have gotten comments back from me now, with points recorded in the Gradebook. If you turned in a late Week 4 Storybook, or an early Storybook for Week 5 or Week 6, it is probably still in the stack. My goal is always to get every Storybook returned before the weekend that is turned in before noon on Friday. Because the Introduction is often the hardest part of the Storybook for people to write, this is the week where it takes me the longest to read and reply to everybody's assignments... but, fingers crossed, I hope I can get through the stack and have comments back to everybody before the weekend for any assignment turned in by noon on Friday. :-)

Week 5 Internet assignment. (repeat announcement) If you did not read the previous announcement about the Week 5 Internet assignment and the Ning Comment Walls, make sure you take a look at those announcements now - you can even get extra credit for making your Comment Wall ready for visitors, both by making some more room on your Ning page, and also by adding a YouTube video to your page if you want, just for fun!

Sunday, February 21: International Mother Language Day. The United Nations agency UNESCO has declared February 21 an international holiday in celebration of the world's languages. You can read more about this holiday and its history at this Wikipedia article, along with an article listing the people who have been awarded the LinguaPax Prize, whose winner is announced each year on International Mother Language Day. Here is a map showing the language families of the world (from Goode's World Atlas); click on the image for a larger view:

Thursday, February 18

Today is Thursday of WEEK 5 of the class. If you have not turned in your Week 4 Storybook assignment yet, you have until noon on Thursday to turn that in for partial credit. For those of you in Myth-Folklore or World Lit, Thursday morning, until noon, is the grace period if you forgot to do any of the assignments that were due on Wednesday.

Storybook titles. On Friday afternoon, I will be updating the list of Storybooks one last time before the weekend. So, if you have not sent me your Storybook address yet, make sure you do that! Also, if you want to change the title I have listed, now is the time to do that - but keep it short, okay? You can display any title you want on your coverpage, but for the class list I need a title that is pretty short. You can see the Storybook lists here: World Literature - Myth-Folklore - Indian Epics.

Storybook Stack. I'm still working my way through the large stack of Storybook assignments that people have turned in - of all the weeks in the semester, this is the slowest week for me because the Introduction is usually the hardest part of the Storybook for people to write, and it takes me a lot more time to send back comments. But don't worry: I'll get through the stack before the weekend, I promise. If you turned in an assignment on Sunday, you should have comments back from me now. If you turned something in on Monday, Tuesday or Wednesday, it is probably still in the stack, waiting for me to get to it - you can check and make sure I have your assignment by looking at the contents of the stack here.

Week 5 Internet assignment. If you did not read the previous announcement about the Week 5 Internet assignment and the Ning Comment Walls, make sure you take a look at those announcements now - you can even get extra credit for making your Comment Wall ready for visitors, both by making some more room on your Ning page, and also by adding a YouTube video to your page if you want, just for fun!

February 18: Nikos Kazantzakis. Today marks the birthday of the Greek poet and novelist, Nikos Kazantzakis, who was born in 1883. You may know him as the author of the book The Last Temptation of Christ - but his special significance for those of you in the Myth-Folklore or World Literature classes is that he wrote a continuation of the Odyssey, a modern epic poem picking up where Homer left off - The Odyssey: A Modern Sequel. You can read more about his life and career in this Wikipedia article. Here is a photograph of the inscription on Kazantzakis's tomb - it's in modern Greek, but those of you who have studied ancient Greek will understand a lot of this: Δεν ελπίζω τίποτα, Δε φοβούμαι τίποτα, Είμαι λέφτερος (I hope nothing. I fear nothing. I am free.)

Wednesday, February 17

Today is Wednesday of WEEK 5 of the class. If you have not turned in your Week 4 Storybook assignment yet, you may still do that for partial credit. Wednesday morning, until noon, is the grace period if you forgot to do any of the assignments that were due on Tuesday.

Week 5 Internet assignment. If you did not read yesterday's announcements, make sure you take a look at those announcements now, especially the information about the Week 5 Internet assignment which is available now!

Storybook Stack. I'm still working my way through the large stack of Storybook assignments that people have turned in. If you turned in an assignment on or before Sunday at 10PM, you should have comments back from me now. If you turned something in after 10PM on Sunday or on Monday or on Tuesday, it is probably still in the stack, waiting for me to get to it. If you want to check and make sure your assignment is in the stack, you can see the contents of the stack here.

My Wednesday schedule. I do most of my work during regular business hours on Monday-Tuesday and Thursday-Friday, while scheduling my out-of-office commitments on Wednesdays. This Wednesday, I'll be away for part of the morning, but should be back in the afternoon and available to answer any email questions promptly!

February 17: Loreena McKennit. Today marks the birthday in 1957 of the Canadian musician Loreena McKennit. Happy birthday, Loreena! In the spirit of myth and folklore, Loreena has done wonderful work with traditional ballads and melodies from Celtic and Middle Eastern traditions and has created a distinctive wonderful style all her own. You can read about her work and career in this Wikipedia article, and you can listen to her MARVELOUS rendition of the traditional ballad, The Highwayman, here at YouTube.com.

Tuesday, February 16

Today is Tuesday of WEEK 5 of the class, and I've re-arranged the Quiz area in Desire2Learn so Week 5 is on top. This week's topic in the Myth-Folklore class is Rome, while those of you in World Literature will be reading the Hindu Hitopadesha - and in Indian Epics, Rama is about to begin his exile from Ayodhya. The Week 5 Internet assignment is available starting today! If you have not turned in your Week 4 Storybook assignment yet, you may still do that for partial credit.

Week 5 Internet assignment available NOW. For the next eight weeks (Week 5 through Week 12), your Internet assignment will consist of reading people's Storybooks and leaving comments for them. This is an assignment that you cannot do early - but on the first day of each new week in the class (that is, on Tuesday), the Internet assignment becomes available, and you have the rest of the week to complete it. So, today, Tuesday, is the first day of Week 5, and the Internet assignment for Week 5 is available. I hope you will enjoy looking at other people's coverpages and giving them some feedback!

The Ning Comment Wall. People will be leaving comments about your Storybook at the Ning Comment Wall which is part of your Profile page. In order to get your Profile page ready, I would strongly suggest that you make the latest activity and blog activity invisible, so that there will be more room on your Profile page for the Comment Wall. There is a Technology Tip so you can get extra credit for cleaning up your Ning Profile in order to make room for all the activity that will now start happening at your Comment Wall.

Storybook Stack. This week is probably the single biggest week for me in terms of the Storybook stack, and there is still a very large number of assignments waiting in the stack. If you turned in an assignment on SATURDAY, you should have comments back from me now. If you turned something in on Sunday or on Monday, it is probably still in the stack, waiting for me to get to it. If you want to check and make sure your assignment is in the stack, you can see the contents of the stack here.

February 16: Mardi Gras. Yesterday, I mentioned the Orthodox holiday of "Clean Monday," which comes before Lent. Today marks the more famous holiday of "Fat Tuesday," or Mardi Gras in French, a traditional time of celebration before the Lenten fast begins on Ash Wednesday. You can read about the holiday of Mardi Gras in Wikipedia. For a great mixture of Mardi Gras and mythology, I highly recommend the Brazilian film Black Orpheus, which is set in Rio during the extravagant Mardi Gras Carnival which is held there every year:

Plus here's a video clip from YouTube!

Monday, February 15

Today is Monday. Week 4 of the class is now over. Monday morning, until noon, is the grace period if you forgot to do any of the assignments that were due on Friday/Saturday/Sunday. Week 5 will begin tomorrow - and those assignments are available now if you want to get started!

You really can call me Laura! Although I sign my emails to you all as Laura, some of you still seem to feel like you need to call me Professor or Dr. or something fancy. No need for that at all, really! Since I'm on a first-name basis with all of you, please do the same and just call me Laura. :-)

Storybook Coverpages. I'll be updating the list of Storybook Coverpages for Myth-Folklore, World Literature and Indian Epics on Monday afternoon. You can continue to experiment with your Coverpage design all semester long, and you will be updating your Coverpage each time you add a new story. Here is the only requirement: DO NOT CHANGE THE ADDRESS of your Coverpage! You can make all the changes you want to the design and contents of the page, but it is vital that the name of the file, and thus the webpage address, remain the same as the address you are giving me now. Everybody in class will be using this link to access your Storybook - and starting on Tuesday, with the Week 5 Internet assignment, you will be looking at and commenting on each other's Storybooks via the class list.

Storybook stack. As always on Monday, I will have a huge bunch of assignments in the Storybook stack that were turned in over the weekend or on Monday morning. This is especially true today, since so few people turned in the Week 4 Storybook early. The first thing I will do on Monday morning when I get to work is to update the list of items in the Storybook stack. So, after 8 a.m. or so on Monday, you will be able to check the contents of the stack to make sure I received your assignment. I will be reading and reply to the assignments in the order they were turned in, beginning with the assignments turned in on Friday or Saturday. If you turned in your assignment on Sunday evening or later, you may have to wait a few days before you will get comments back from me.

Clean Monday: Beginning of Lent (Orthodox). You have probably heard of the Catholic festival of Mardi Gras (more about that tomorrow!) - but today, Monday, is the beginning of the Great Lent in the Orthodox Christian calendar, seven weeks before Orthodox Easter. It is called "Clean Monday" in English, Καθαρή Δευτέρα in Greek. The specific festivities vary from country to country; you can read about the different Orthodox countries in this Wikipedia article about the holiday. In Greece, a special unleavened bread is baked for this holiday, as you can see in the photo below: