Grading and points. Some people have been asking me about the points and grading, so let me refer you again to this Grading Information chart which can help you estimate what kind of grade you are headed for at this time. In short, you need 410 points 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 so I can record the final grade for you in the Gradebook.
Mix and match points. Now that there are just five weeks of the semester left (Weeks 11-12-13-14-15), 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, then the Storybooks from Saturday, and then finally assignments turned in on Sunday and on Monday.
Campus events. I try to include a campus event every day, but there is literally not a single event on the campus calendar for Monday - even though I am sure there are all kinds of good events taking place! So, if you are someone involved in any kind of activity on campus, make sure to use the Campus Calendar to publicize your events. It's a great way to get the word out and it costs nothing.
April 2: Hans Christian Andersen. Today, 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.
