Friday, November 5 - Sunday, November 7
HAPPY WEEKEND! You have reached the end of Week 11! The Week 11 Read and Respond assignment (blog commenting) is available now, and the remaining Week 11 assignments are due on Friday or on Saturday or Sunday - please make sure you get started on those assignments soon. Also, Friday morning, until noon, is the grace period if you forgot to do any of the assignments that were due on Thursday.
Week 11 Responding: Check your groups. The groups for Blog Responding are basically the same as last week, but there have been some small adjustments, based on the folks who are finished with the class. So, before you do the blog responding assignment, double-check on your group to make sure you are responding to the right folks.
Week 11 Internet: Visiting the other classes. (repeat announcement) For the Week 11 Internet assignment, you will see that the instructions are VERY different from previous weeks: you will be visiting the Storybooks in the other classes. So, please make sure you read the instructions for the Week 11 Internet assignment before you start reading the Storybooks for your Week 11 Internet assignment. There is also an extra credit option for Week 11 so that you can read some more stories in the Storybooks if you want.
Storybook Stack. I'm still working my way through the stack of Storybook assignments that people have turned in this week. If you want to check to make sure your assignment is in the stack, you can see the contents of the stack here. Everyone who turned in a Week 10 assignment on time should have gotten that back from me; if you turned in a late Week 10 assignment or an early assignment for Week 11 or later, I will do my best to get comments back to you on Friday. This is one of the busiest weeks of the semester for Storybooks because it is the week when there is the largest number of late assignments - so please be patient; I'll do my best to clear out the stack on Friday as usual.
Grading and the end of the semester. (repeat announcement) Please make sure you read Monday's announcements, if you have not done so already - you will find important information there about grading in this class, along with information about the end of the semester and also about "mixing and matching" to choose the assignments you want to do as you finish the semester.
November: Thanksgiving Break. (repeat announcement) You will be getting a full week off for Thanksgiving in this class. Thanksgiving falls on November 25 this year. Week 13 will start as usual on Tuesday, November 16 and you will have your usual Week 13 Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday assignments; I would urge you to finish up Week 13 on Friday, November 19. Then you can have the entire next week off from November 20 - November 28, with the Week 13 grace period on Monday morning, November 29. See the class calendar for more details.
Friday, November 5: Guy Fawkes Night. In England, the night of November 5 is celebrated as Bonfire Night - Guy Fawkes Night commemorating the occasion when the so-called "Gunpowder Plot" of 1605 was prevented. So, even though the holiday is named after Guy Fawkes, the holiday is not in his honor: Guy Fawkes, a Catholic, was involved in a plot to blow up the House of Parliament in England as a protest against the Protestant government's persecution of Catholics. The plot was discovered, and Guy Fawkes, along with the other conspirators, was condemned to death. In the celebrations of Bonfire Night, Guy Fawkes is often burned in effigy; those of you who have read T.S. Eliot's poem The Hollow Men may remember the line, "A penny for the old Guy" - and the origin of our English word "guy" actually goes back to this use of the word. The film V for Vendetta made the Guy Fawkes mask familiar to many of you, I am sure!
Week 11 Responding: Check your groups. The groups for Blog Responding are basically the same as last week, but there have been some small adjustments, based on the folks who are finished with the class. So, before you do the blog responding assignment, double-check on your group to make sure you are responding to the right folks.
Week 11 Internet: Visiting the other classes. (repeat announcement) For the Week 11 Internet assignment, you will see that the instructions are VERY different from previous weeks: you will be visiting the Storybooks in the other classes. So, please make sure you read the instructions for the Week 11 Internet assignment before you start reading the Storybooks for your Week 11 Internet assignment. There is also an extra credit option for Week 11 so that you can read some more stories in the Storybooks if you want.
Storybook Stack. I'm still working my way through the stack of Storybook assignments that people have turned in this week. If you want to check to make sure your assignment is in the stack, you can see the contents of the stack here. Everyone who turned in a Week 10 assignment on time should have gotten that back from me; if you turned in a late Week 10 assignment or an early assignment for Week 11 or later, I will do my best to get comments back to you on Friday. This is one of the busiest weeks of the semester for Storybooks because it is the week when there is the largest number of late assignments - so please be patient; I'll do my best to clear out the stack on Friday as usual.
Grading and the end of the semester. (repeat announcement) Please make sure you read Monday's announcements, if you have not done so already - you will find important information there about grading in this class, along with information about the end of the semester and also about "mixing and matching" to choose the assignments you want to do as you finish the semester.
November: Thanksgiving Break. (repeat announcement) You will be getting a full week off for Thanksgiving in this class. Thanksgiving falls on November 25 this year. Week 13 will start as usual on Tuesday, November 16 and you will have your usual Week 13 Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday assignments; I would urge you to finish up Week 13 on Friday, November 19. Then you can have the entire next week off from November 20 - November 28, with the Week 13 grace period on Monday morning, November 29. See the class calendar for more details.
Friday, November 5: Guy Fawkes Night. In England, the night of November 5 is celebrated as Bonfire Night - Guy Fawkes Night commemorating the occasion when the so-called "Gunpowder Plot" of 1605 was prevented. So, even though the holiday is named after Guy Fawkes, the holiday is not in his honor: Guy Fawkes, a Catholic, was involved in a plot to blow up the House of Parliament in England as a protest against the Protestant government's persecution of Catholics. The plot was discovered, and Guy Fawkes, along with the other conspirators, was condemned to death. In the celebrations of Bonfire Night, Guy Fawkes is often burned in effigy; those of you who have read T.S. Eliot's poem The Hollow Men may remember the line, "A penny for the old Guy" - and the origin of our English word "guy" actually goes back to this use of the word. The film V for Vendetta made the Guy Fawkes mask familiar to many of you, I am sure!
Thursday, November 4
Today is Thursday of WEEK 11 of the class. If you have not turned in your Week 10 Storybook assignment yet, you may turn that in BY NOON TODAY 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.
Finishing the class early. Some more people have finished up the class early: congratulations! You'll see that in the Gradebook there is an item marked "Final Grade." That is where I will record your grade for the class when you let me know you have completed the number of points you need: 410 for an A, 360 for a B, 320 for a C. It's entirely up to you what grade you want to finish with in the class. There is no need to apologize for stopping out with a grade of B or C. Whatever grade you decide to stop with is fine with me. The whole idea behind this points grading system is to let you know exactly where you stand and to allow you to choose to be finished with the class when you have the points you need.
Storybook Stack. There are still quite a few Storybook assignments in the stack and I am making my way through them in the order that they were turned in. If you turned something in before 10AM on Monday, you should have comments back from me already. If you turned something in later on Monday, or on Tuesday or Wednesday, it is probably still in the stack. If you want to check and make sure your assignment is in the stack, you can see the contents of the stack here.
Week 11 Internet: Visiting the other classes. (repeat announcement) For the Week 11 Internet assignment, you will see that the instructions are VERY different from previous weeks: you will be visiting the Storybooks in the other classes. So, please make sure you read the instructions for the Week 11 Internet assignment before you start reading the Storybooks for your Week 11 Internet assignment. There is also an extra credit option for Week 11 so that you can read some more stories in the Storybooks if you want.
November 4: Guido Reni. Today marks the birthday in the year 1575 of the famous Baroque artist Guido Reni (you can read about his life and career in this Wikipedia article). He did paintings with religious themes, and also paintings with mythological themes. Some of you may be familiar with the legend of Atalanta, whose suitors had to run against her in a race, and how Hippomenes was able to slow her down by tossing golden apples given to him by Aphrodite in order to distract her. That is the story illustrated in the painting below (or click here for a larger view), where you can see that Atalanta has already got one golden apple in hand while she bends down to pick up another one just now tossed by Hippomenes who continues to race on ahead.
Finishing the class early. Some more people have finished up the class early: congratulations! You'll see that in the Gradebook there is an item marked "Final Grade." That is where I will record your grade for the class when you let me know you have completed the number of points you need: 410 for an A, 360 for a B, 320 for a C. It's entirely up to you what grade you want to finish with in the class. There is no need to apologize for stopping out with a grade of B or C. Whatever grade you decide to stop with is fine with me. The whole idea behind this points grading system is to let you know exactly where you stand and to allow you to choose to be finished with the class when you have the points you need.
Storybook Stack. There are still quite a few Storybook assignments in the stack and I am making my way through them in the order that they were turned in. If you turned something in before 10AM on Monday, you should have comments back from me already. If you turned something in later on Monday, or on Tuesday or Wednesday, it is probably still in the stack. If you want to check and make sure your assignment is in the stack, you can see the contents of the stack here.
Week 11 Internet: Visiting the other classes. (repeat announcement) For the Week 11 Internet assignment, you will see that the instructions are VERY different from previous weeks: you will be visiting the Storybooks in the other classes. So, please make sure you read the instructions for the Week 11 Internet assignment before you start reading the Storybooks for your Week 11 Internet assignment. There is also an extra credit option for Week 11 so that you can read some more stories in the Storybooks if you want.
November 4: Guido Reni. Today marks the birthday in the year 1575 of the famous Baroque artist Guido Reni (you can read about his life and career in this Wikipedia article). He did paintings with religious themes, and also paintings with mythological themes. Some of you may be familiar with the legend of Atalanta, whose suitors had to run against her in a race, and how Hippomenes was able to slow her down by tossing golden apples given to him by Aphrodite in order to distract her. That is the story illustrated in the painting below (or click here for a larger view), where you can see that Atalanta has already got one golden apple in hand while she bends down to pick up another one just now tossed by Hippomenes who continues to race on ahead.
Wednesday, November 3
Today is Wednesday of WEEK 11 of the class. If you have not turned in your Week 10 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 11 Internet: Visiting the other classes. (repeat announcement) For the Week 11 Internet assignment, you will see that the instructions are VERY different from previous weeks: you will be visiting the Storybooks in the other classes. So, please make sure you read the instructions for the Week 11 Internet assignment before you start reading the Storybooks for your Week 11 Internet assignment. There is also an extra credit option for Week 11 so that you can read some more stories in the Storybooks if you want!
Grading and the end of the semester. (repeat announcement) Please make sure you read Monday's announcements, if you have not done so already - you will find important information there about grading in this class, along with information about the end of the semester and also about "mixing and matching" to choose the assignments you want to do as you finish the semester.
Storybook Stack. There are still a lot of Storybook assignments in the stack and I am making my way through them in the order that they were turned in. If you turned something in before 10PM on Sunday, you should have comments back from me already. If you turned something in later on Sunday or on Monday or Tuesday, it is probably still in the stack. If you want to check and make sure your assignment is in the stack, you can see the contents of the stack here.
November 3: Dog in space. The dog Laika ("Barker") became the first animal in outer space on this day in 1957. Laika traveled aboard the Soviet spaceship Sputnik 2. You can read more about this cosmonaut dog in the Wikipedia article. While the Soviets launched dogs into space, the United States space program launched chimps instead (Ham the chimp, the first hominid in space, flew a Project Mercury flight in 1961). Laika proved that it was possible for an animal to sustain a weightless state in outer space, although she did not return to earth (she died during the mission from heat stroke when a heating unit in the space capsule malfunctioned). A monument was unveiled this year in honor of Laika; click on the image to view a Russian news video about the dedication of the monument (yes, the news video is in Russian, but it's still fun to watch even if you don't speak Russian):
Week 11 Internet: Visiting the other classes. (repeat announcement) For the Week 11 Internet assignment, you will see that the instructions are VERY different from previous weeks: you will be visiting the Storybooks in the other classes. So, please make sure you read the instructions for the Week 11 Internet assignment before you start reading the Storybooks for your Week 11 Internet assignment. There is also an extra credit option for Week 11 so that you can read some more stories in the Storybooks if you want!
Grading and the end of the semester. (repeat announcement) Please make sure you read Monday's announcements, if you have not done so already - you will find important information there about grading in this class, along with information about the end of the semester and also about "mixing and matching" to choose the assignments you want to do as you finish the semester.
Storybook Stack. There are still a lot of Storybook assignments in the stack and I am making my way through them in the order that they were turned in. If you turned something in before 10PM on Sunday, you should have comments back from me already. If you turned something in later on Sunday or on Monday or Tuesday, it is probably still in the stack. If you want to check and make sure your assignment is in the stack, you can see the contents of the stack here.
November 3: Dog in space. The dog Laika ("Barker") became the first animal in outer space on this day in 1957. Laika traveled aboard the Soviet spaceship Sputnik 2. You can read more about this cosmonaut dog in the Wikipedia article. While the Soviets launched dogs into space, the United States space program launched chimps instead (Ham the chimp, the first hominid in space, flew a Project Mercury flight in 1961). Laika proved that it was possible for an animal to sustain a weightless state in outer space, although she did not return to earth (she died during the mission from heat stroke when a heating unit in the space capsule malfunctioned). A monument was unveiled this year in honor of Laika; click on the image to view a Russian news video about the dedication of the monument (yes, the news video is in Russian, but it's still fun to watch even if you don't speak Russian):
Tuesday, November 2
Today is Tuesday of WEEK 11 of the class, and I've re-arranged the Quiz area in Desire2Learn so Week 11 is on top. For those of you in Indian Epics, that means starting Buck's version of the Mahabharata, while it's more fairy tales in Myth-Folklore (this time from Denmark and Estonia), while it's French "urban legends" in World Literature. If you have not turned in your Week 10 Storybook assignment yet, you may still do that for partial credit.
Week 11 Internet: Visiting the other classes. For the Week 11 Internet assignment, you will see that the instructions are VERY different from previous weeks: you will be visiting the Storybooks in the other classes. So, please make sure you read the instructions for the Week 11 Internet assignment before you start reading the Storybooks for your Week 11 Internet assignment. There is also an extra credit option for Week 11 so that you can read some more stories in the Storybooks, too.
Storybook stack. As often on Tuesday, there is still a huge bunch of assignments in the Storybook stack. If you turned in a Storybook assignment on or before noon on Sunday, you should have comments back from me and points recorded in the Gradebook. If you turned something in later on Sunday or on Monday, it is probably still in the stack. You can check the contents of the stack to make sure I received your assignment. I will be reading and replying to the assignments in the order they were turned in.
November: Thanksgiving Break. You will be getting a full week off for Thanksgiving in this class. Thanksgiving falls on November 25 this year. Week 13 will start as usual on Tuesday, November 16 and you will have your usual Week 13 Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday assignments; I would urge you to finish up Week 13 on Friday, November 19. Then you can have the entire next week off from November 20 - November 28, with the Week 13 grace period on Monday morning, November 29. See the class calendar for more details.
Grading and the end of the semester. Please make sure you read Monday's announcements, if you have not done so already - you will find important information there about grading in this class, along with information about the end of the semester and also about "mixing and matching" to choose the assignments you want to do as you finish the semester.
November 2: All Souls Day. As mentioned in yesterday's announcement, after the holiday of All Saints on November 1, comes the holiday of All Souls on November 2. In many Catholic countries, the two days - November 1 and November 2 - are celebrated together as the Day (or Days) of the Dead, Día de los Muertos in Spanish. This is a traditional time for offering prayers on behalf of the dead, and also for visiting cemeteries and decorating the graves, as you can see here in this image of a tomb in Ocotepec, a town near Cuernavaca, Mexico:
Week 11 Internet: Visiting the other classes. For the Week 11 Internet assignment, you will see that the instructions are VERY different from previous weeks: you will be visiting the Storybooks in the other classes. So, please make sure you read the instructions for the Week 11 Internet assignment before you start reading the Storybooks for your Week 11 Internet assignment. There is also an extra credit option for Week 11 so that you can read some more stories in the Storybooks, too.
Storybook stack. As often on Tuesday, there is still a huge bunch of assignments in the Storybook stack. If you turned in a Storybook assignment on or before noon on Sunday, you should have comments back from me and points recorded in the Gradebook. If you turned something in later on Sunday or on Monday, it is probably still in the stack. You can check the contents of the stack to make sure I received your assignment. I will be reading and replying to the assignments in the order they were turned in.
November: Thanksgiving Break. You will be getting a full week off for Thanksgiving in this class. Thanksgiving falls on November 25 this year. Week 13 will start as usual on Tuesday, November 16 and you will have your usual Week 13 Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday assignments; I would urge you to finish up Week 13 on Friday, November 19. Then you can have the entire next week off from November 20 - November 28, with the Week 13 grace period on Monday morning, November 29. See the class calendar for more details.
Grading and the end of the semester. Please make sure you read Monday's announcements, if you have not done so already - you will find important information there about grading in this class, along with information about the end of the semester and also about "mixing and matching" to choose the assignments you want to do as you finish the semester.
November 2: All Souls Day. As mentioned in yesterday's announcement, after the holiday of All Saints on November 1, comes the holiday of All Souls on November 2. In many Catholic countries, the two days - November 1 and November 2 - are celebrated together as the Day (or Days) of the Dead, Día de los Muertos in Spanish. This is a traditional time for offering prayers on behalf of the dead, and also for visiting cemeteries and decorating the graves, as you can see here in this image of a tomb in Ocotepec, a town near Cuernavaca, Mexico:
Monday, November 1
Today is Monday. Week 10 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 11 will begin tomorrow - and those assignments are available now if you want to get started.
Grading and points. Some people have been asking me about the points and grading, so let me refer you again to this Grading Information page. In short, you need 410 to get an A, 360 points to get a B, and 320 points to get a C. When you get the number of points you need, you are done! It is fine with me if you decide to stop doing work for the class whenever you have the grade you want to receive (many of you are taking this class for Gen. Ed. requirements, which means you just need a C to get graduation credit). My only request is that you please let me know when you are done - that is a big help to me in managing things for the class.
Mix and match points. Now that there are just five weeks of the semester left, you might want to plan to do some "mix and match" in terms of just which assignments you want to complete this semester to get the points you need for the grade you want to get. So, based on the assignments you enjoy most/least in the class, you can certainly skip some assignments, provided that you end up with the points you need at the end. My only recommendation is that you do this cautiously. You don't want to skip so many assignments that you end up not getting the points you need for your desired grade.
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. You can check the contents of the stack to make sure I received your assignment. As usual, I will be reading and replying to the assignments in the order they were turned in, starting with the ones that were turned in on Friday afternoon and on Saturday.
All Saints Day - All Souls Eve. The reason Halloween was celebrated yesterday, on October 31, is that it was the Eve of All Hallows, i.e. the Eve of All Saints, which is celebrated today, November 1. Today is also the eve of All Souls Day which is celebrated on November 2. The holiday of All Saints celebrates all those who have died and attained blessedness in heaven, while All Souls celebrates all those who have died but who have not yet achieved the sanctity of heaven. In many countries, November 1 is a holiday during which people visit graveyards, bringing flowers to the graves of the dead. For example, November 1 is an important national holiday in Poland, where it is called Wszystkich Świętych, which means "All Saints" (image source):
Grading and points. Some people have been asking me about the points and grading, so let me refer you again to this Grading Information page. In short, you need 410 to get an A, 360 points to get a B, and 320 points to get a C. When you get the number of points you need, you are done! It is fine with me if you decide to stop doing work for the class whenever you have the grade you want to receive (many of you are taking this class for Gen. Ed. requirements, which means you just need a C to get graduation credit). My only request is that you please let me know when you are done - that is a big help to me in managing things for the class.
Mix and match points. Now that there are just five weeks of the semester left, you might want to plan to do some "mix and match" in terms of just which assignments you want to complete this semester to get the points you need for the grade you want to get. So, based on the assignments you enjoy most/least in the class, you can certainly skip some assignments, provided that you end up with the points you need at the end. My only recommendation is that you do this cautiously. You don't want to skip so many assignments that you end up not getting the points you need for your desired grade.
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. You can check the contents of the stack to make sure I received your assignment. As usual, I will be reading and replying to the assignments in the order they were turned in, starting with the ones that were turned in on Friday afternoon and on Saturday.
All Saints Day - All Souls Eve. The reason Halloween was celebrated yesterday, on October 31, is that it was the Eve of All Hallows, i.e. the Eve of All Saints, which is celebrated today, November 1. Today is also the eve of All Souls Day which is celebrated on November 2. The holiday of All Saints celebrates all those who have died and attained blessedness in heaven, while All Souls celebrates all those who have died but who have not yet achieved the sanctity of heaven. In many countries, November 1 is a holiday during which people visit graveyards, bringing flowers to the graves of the dead. For example, November 1 is an important national holiday in Poland, where it is called Wszystkich Świętych, which means "All Saints" (image source):
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