Friday, April 27 - Sunday, April 29


HAPPY WEEKEND! You have reached the end of Week 14! The Week 14 Read and Respond assignment (blog commenting) is available now, and the remaining Week 14 assignments are due on Friday or on Saturday or Sunday - please make sure you get started on those assignments soon. I would also strongly - STRONGLY - encourage you to finish your Week 15 assignments this weekend, since it is the LAST WEEKEND you will have available to do work for this class.

IMPORTANT SCHEDULE NOTE. For those of you who will still be doing classwork during Week 15 (dead week), please be aware that it is on a different schedule: All final Week 15 assignments are due by Friday, May 4, at NOON. In addition, unlike previous weeks, you do not have the option to turn in your Week 14 Storybook assignment late. Instead, your Week 14 Storybook assignment MUST be turned in on time - that is, during the Week 14 grace period Monday morning, April 30, at the very latest. You have to get the Week 14 assignment turned in on time so that I can get comments back to you in time to complete your Week 15 assignment by Friday at noon.

Course evaluation at eval.ou.edu. (repeat announcement) The course evaluations for this course and your other courses are available now at the eval.ou.edu website. I hope you will take a few minutes to complete the evaluation - your feedback is incredibly helpful to me in making improvements to these courses, and it is also a big help to the College in general as they continue to develop the online course program. Plus, you might win a free iPad just for participating!

Final Grades. (repeat announcement) As you reach the points you need for your final grade in this class - 410 points for an A, 360 points for a B, 320 points for a C - let me know, and I'll record the letter grade for you there in the Desire2Learn Gradebook. You can mix and match whatever assignments you prefer to get the final points you need but be careful as you make your choices, so that you don't accidentally come up short of the points you will need.

Storybook stack. As of Friday morning, there were a few Storybooks still in the stack; you can see here the contents of the stack. If you want to turn in a Storybook to get comments and points before the weekend, make sure you turn that in by 8AM on Friday.

Friday Events on Campus. There will be performances of Seussical the Musical, a musical based on the writings of Dr. Seuss, on Friday April 27 and Saturday April 28 at 8PM in the Rupel Jones Theater, with a Sunday April 29 matinee at 3PM (time/location/details). Find out more about this and other events at the Campus Calendar online.

Storybook ballot results! Thanks to all of you who took the time to cast your ballot, and congratulations to the winners, to all the nominees, and to EVERYBODY who learned how to make your own website this semester: I hope that is a skill that will turn out to be useful to you in the future! :-)

Myth-Folklore
Indian Epics
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Thursday, April 26

Today is Thursday of WEEK 14 of the class. If you have not turned in your Week 13 Storybook assignment yet, you may turn that in BY NOON for partial credit. For those of you in Myth-Folklore, Thursday morning, until noon, is the grace period if you forgot to do any of the assignments that were due on Wednesday.

STORYBOOK VOTING: Polls close at 5PM today. Today, Thursday, is your last chance to vote for your favorite Storybooks. Just like every semester, because all the Storybooks are so good, the votes are VERY close - so, yes, a single vote does make a difference in this very local micro-election. You can see the nominees here for both classes. The voting will go until 5PM today, Thursday, and I'll announce the results in Friday's announcements.

Storybook stack. There are still a few Storybooks in the stack which I hope to get to today. You can check the contents of the stack to make sure I have received your assignment. If you want to get comments back before the weekend, make sure to get your Storybooks turned in by Friday at 8AM.

Course evaluation at eval.ou.edu. For information about the course evaluation now available online, see yesterday's announcements.

Week 15 Schedule. For those of you who will still be doing classwork during Week 15 (dead week), see yesterday's announcements.

Grading and points. (repeat announcement) When you finish up with the class I record a "FINAL GRADE" in the D2L Gradebook so you can be sure you are done. So, just let me know when 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 (many people are taking this class just for Gen. Ed. credit, and I know that means it is often not a top priority). Whatever grade you decide to stop with is fine with me; just let me know when you are done, and I'll record the grade!

Thursday Events on Campus. World Literature Today Magazine is hosting a launch party to celebrate publication of its 350th issue at Café Plaid, 6PM - 8PM, 333 West Boyd Street on Campus Corner - free food, live music, and prizes, too! Find out more about this and other events at the Campus Calendar online.

April 26: Jet Li. Today, April 26, is the birthday of Jet Li, a Chinese martial arts master and film star, who was born in 1963. Happy Birthday, Jet Li! You can read more about Jet Li's life and career in this Wikipedia article. Jet Li has made some wonderful movies with mythological and legendary themes. For children and adults alike, there is The Forbidden Kingdom, in which he plays the Monkey King (Jackie Chan costars in that one). My favorite of his films is Hero, directed by Yimou Zhang, in which Jet Li plays a mysterious character - hero or traitor? It all depends on which version of the story you believe. Both these films are great examples of mythological legends made into adventurous and visually dazzling movies.

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Wednesday, April 25

Today is Wednesday of WEEK 14 of the class. If you have not turned in your Week 13 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.

Course evaluation at eval.ou.edu. The course evaluations should now be available at eval.ou.edu. THANKS in advance for your input! Every semester I make changes to these classes, trying out new things, improving things, etc., and your input is extremely valuable in deciding what changes to make. It is also very important in determining the future of the online course program; there is still a lot of resistance to online courses at OU, and student input is crucial in determining what direction the online course program will take. Plus, you might win an iPad! Every semester I keep hoping that a student in an online course will win an iPad (that seems only right after all) - maybe this will be the semester that it happens!

Storybook Stack. There are still quite a few Storybook assignments in the stack, but I have managed to read and respond to everything turned in by 9PM on Sunday. Storybooks turned in later on Sunday or on Monday or Tuesday are probably still in the stack. If you want to check to make sure your assignment is in the stack, you can see the contents of the stack here. Also, if the points from the Storybook will give you what you need to finish the class, send me an email to let me know, and I'll put your Storybook at the top of the stack. :-)

Storybook Ballots. (repeat announcement) I've tallied up the nominations that people turned in (thanks to everybody who participated in that part of the process!), and you can see the top nominations for each class here: Storybook Ballot Spring 2012. The ballot contains LINKS to all the Storybooks which you can use to refresh your memory or look at any Storybooks you have not seen before - and also to visit the Storybooks in the other class, if you are curious. For each class, you will find the actual ballot for voting in Desire2Learn in Week 14. This is just for fun - not for points or a grade or anything. If you have a few minutes to spare, please vote for your own personal favorites! The ballot will be available until 5PM on Thursday of this week and I'll announce the results Friday.

IMPORTANT Week 15 Schedule Note. (repeat announcement) For those of you who will still be doing classwork during Week 15 (dead week), please be aware that it is on a different schedule: the final deadline for Week 15 assignments is Friday, May 4, at noon. There is no weekend time and there is no Monday morning grace period since that would run into final exams. As a result, your Week 14 Storybook assignment must be turned in by Monday noon, April 30, at the latest - I cannot accept late Storybooks for Week 14 because that would not give me time to get comments back to you for your Week 15 assignment. So, please take note: there can be no late Week 14 Storybook assignments.

Wednesday Events on Campus. Activity and poet Lauren Zuniga will be in the Regents Room of the Union, 7PM-9PM, as part of the Center for Social Justice's Activist-in-Residence Program (time/location/details). Find out more about this and other events at the Campus Calendar online.

April 25: Battle of Gallipoli. Today marks the anniversary of the start of the Battle of Gallipoli, one of the most harrowing battles of World War One. It lasted from April 25 of 1915 until January 6 1916, with almost half a million casualties in total (220,000 British and French casualties, 253,000 Turkish casualties). The battle was fought on the peninsula of Gallipoli (Turkish Gelibolu), and the name comes from the Greek Καλλίπολη, "Kallipole," meaning "beautiful city," although there was nothing beautiful about this battle. There is a fine film by the Australian film director, Peter Weir, Gallipoli, that is definitely worth seeing (see movie poster below). April 25 is a day of remembrance, ANZAC Day, in Australia and New Zealand, commemorating those who fought at Gallipoli.

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Tuesday, April 24

Today is Tuesday of WEEK 14 of the class. That means you are finishing up Buck's Mahabharata in Indian Epics (Week 15 will be a Mahabharata review week), while it's American folklore in the Myth-Folklore class. For those of you who are working ahead, Week 15 is also available, and I would really encourage you to finish those assignments now so that you can take full advantage of dead week next week. If you have not turned in your Week 13 Storybook assignment yet, you may still do that for partial credit.

Storybook Ballots. I've tallied up the nominations that people turned in (thanks to everybody who participated in that part of the process!), and you can see the top nominations for each class here: Storybook Ballot Spring 2012. The ballot contains LINKS to all the Storybooks which you can use to refresh your memory or look at any Storybooks you have not seen before - and also to visit the Storybooks in the other class, if you are curious. For each class, you will find the actual ballot for voting in Desire2Learn in Week 14. This is just for fun - not for points or a grade or anything. If you have a few minutes to spare, please vote for your own personal favorites! The ballot will be available until 5PM on Thursday of this week and I'll announce the results Friday.

Storybook stack. There are still a lot of Storybooks in the stack; I've been focusing on the people whose Storybook assignment would give them the points they need to finish up the class. If you turned in an assignment before Sunday, you should have comments back from me; if you turned something in on Sunday or on Monday, it is probably still in the stack - and you can check the contents of the stack to make sure I have received your email. Meanwhile, if the points for that assignment will give you the points you need to finish the class, send me a separate email to let me know, and I'll put your Storybook at the top of the stack.

Internet Assignments. The Week 14 Internet assignment will be available on Wednesday of this week; meanwhile, for those of you who are working ahead, the Week 15 Internet assignment is available now.

IMPORTANT Week 15 Schedule Note. For those of you who will still be doing classwork during Week 15 (dead week), please be aware that it is on a different schedule: the final deadline for Week 15 assignments is Friday, May 4, at noon. There is no weekend time and there is no Monday morning grace period since that would run into final exams. As a result, your Week 14 Storybook assignment must be turned in by Monday noon, April 30, at the latest - I cannot accept late Storybooks for Week 14 because that would not give me time to get comments back to you for your Week 15 assignment. So, please take note: there can be no late Week 14 Storybook assignments.

Tuesday Events on Campus. There will be a workshop on Final Exam Test Management Techniques in 245 Wagner Hall, 4PM-5PM (time/location/details). Find out more about this and other events at the Campus Calendar online.

April 24: Daniel Defoe. Friday, April 24, is the anniversary of the death in the year 1731 of the great English writer, Daniel Defoe, who is best known today for his novel Robinson Crusoe, published in 1719, which is generally regarded as the first novel in the English language. You can read more about Robinson Crusoe in this Wikipedia article, which is also the source for this image from the first edition of the book (click here for a larger view). The full title of the book is quite a story in and of itself: The Life and strange Surprizing Adventures of Robinson Crusoe of York, Mariner: Who lived Eight and Twenty Years, all alone in an un-inhabited Island on the coast of America, near the Mouth of the Great River of Oroonoque; Having been cast on Shore by Shipwreck, where-in all the Men perished but himself. With An Account how he was at last as strangely deliver'd by Pyrates. Written by Himself:
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Monday, April 23

Today is Monday, and Week 13 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 at the end of Week 13. Week 14 will begin tomorrow - and those assignments are available now if you want to get started. The Week 15 assignments are also available now, too!

Storybook stack. As usual on Monday, the Storybook stack is very large! First thing on Monday morning, I will update the contents of the stack, and I will begin working my way through the stack based on the order in which things were turned in. If you are turning in multiple Storybook assignments, please do that with SEPARATE emails.

Week 13 Internet assignment. After people finish turning in their Storybook nominations for the Week 13 Internet assignment today at noon, I'll prepare a ballot with the most-nominated Storybooks for you to vote on. I will do my best to get that ready on Tuesday, with voting to take place this week, and winners to be announced on Friday. Thanks to everybody who turned in their nominations!

Week 14 Internet assignment. For the Week 14 Internet assignment, I hope you will choose to complete the online course evaluation of this class. The evaluation will take place at the eval.ou.edu website, and it will be available starting on Wednesday, April 25. You will be receiving an email directly from the College of Arts & Sciences with specific information about how to log on to the site. THANKS in advance for your input. Every semester I make changes to these classes, trying out new things, improving things, etc., and your input is very valuable in deciding what changes to make. Student input is also extremely important to the continuation of the online course program. Plus, you might win an iPad!

April 23: World Book Day. Today, April 23, is the traditional anniversary of the deaths of two of the world's great writers: the English playwright and poet William Shakespeare, and the Spanish novelist Miguel de Cervantes, author of Don Quixote, who both died in 1616. For this reason, the day April 23 has been declared by the United Nations as World Book Day, a celebration of reading and writing. You can read more about World Book Day in Wikipedia and at the UNESCO website.

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