Finishing up the class. Congratulations to Lynette and Bethany who have finished up the class already with 410 points already - wow! That is a great example of the power of working ahead and of racking up those extra credit points. For others of you who are getting close (including any of you who are going to opt to finish with 360 points for the B or 320 points for the C), send me a note when you get to your stopping point and I'll record the final grade for you in the Gradebook so you can be sure that you are doine.
NEW RESPONDING GROUPS. The blog responding groups have been shuffled around this week, so you should find some new people to read and respond to when you do the blog responding assignment for Week 10. If somehow I've accidentally left anybody off the list, please let me know. This is done completely at random, so you may be in someone you have been in a group with before, or you may have all new people - that is the magic of randomness!
Storybook Stack. I'm still working my way through the stack of Storybook assignments that people have turned in. I've read and replied to all the Week 9 assignments turned in on time, but if you turned in a late Week 9 assignment, or an early assignment for Week 10, 11 or 12, it may still be in the stack. My goal is to get comments back to everyone by the end of the day Friday for assignments turned in before Friday at noon. If you want to check and make sure your assignment is in the stack, you can see the contents of the stack here. If you want comments back before the weekend, make sure you turn in your assignment by noon on Friday.
Storybooks: Three story option. (repeat announcement) If you are on schedule right now with the Storybook, turning in your third story for Week 10, you may decide to just finish the Storybook with just three stories. So, think about that when you go to add the new story to your Storybook for Week 10. If you do not need the 20 points for adding the fourth story and revising it, you can choose to conclude your Storybook with just three stories in it, making this third story your final story. Quite a few students choose to do this every semester, and it is fine with me! If you decide to finish with just three stories, here is what you would do: Week 10 Third Story; Week 11 Revise Third Story; (skip Week 12 and Week 13); Week 14 Revise Introduction; Week 15 Final Revisions. It's up to you, based on your personal preferences and the number of points you will be needing to get the grade you want (410 total for an A, 360 total for a B, 320 total for a C).
Week 10 Internet assignment: Extra credit option. (repeat announcement) In addition to the usual task of reading three Storybooks and commenting on them, there is an "extra credit" option this week where you can read three more Storybooks and comment on them for an additional 6 points. Somebody suggested that I add this option for the next few weeks so that you have more of a chance to read all the Storybooks in your class, and that seemed like a good idea to me! So, in Week 10, and also in Week 11 and Week 12, you have the option of doubling up and reading more Storybooks for extra credit if you want. See the Internet assignment instructions for more details.
April 2: Hans Christian Andersen. Friday, April 2, marks the birthday of Hans Christian Andersen in the year 1805. Some of you in the Myth-Folklore class may be reading Hans Christian Andersen's stories this week! You can find some background information about his life and career at the Myth-Folklore website or in this Wikipedia article. Andersen is probably most famous today for his story about "The Little Mermaid" - although his version is very different from the Disney film, which is only loosely based on Andersen's tale. Andersen is also the author of "The Princess and the Pea," "The Ugly Duckling" and many other wonderful stories. The image below is a photograph taken of Andersen in 1869; he died a few years later, in 1875, at the age of 70. You can read over one hundred of Andersen's stories in English at the Gilead.org website.
