Class Procedures and Reminders:
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. 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, so if you did not turn in your assignment until Sunday evening or later, it will be a few days before I get comments back to you.
The following items are for fun and exploration:
Writing Humor: Shakespeare Tragedies Infographic. Here's a wonderful poster about the grim world of Shakespeare's tragedies:
Indian Words in English: Today's Indian word in English is SITAR. For details, see this blog post.
Featured Storybook: The Afterlife: A Dog's Tale. In Erica's Storybook for this semester, it's Dante's Divine Comedy... with dogs!
Words of Wisdom: Today's proverb poster is Those who can read and write have four eyes (an Albanian proverb). Details at the Proverb Lab. What an ingenious metaphor for the power of literacy!
Mahabharata Image: Today's Mahabharata image is Vyasa and Ganesha. Together, they are composing the Mahabharata!
Monday Event on Campus: It's International Awareness Week; for Education Abroad Night tonight you can try Turkish cuisine at the Couch Cafeteria dinner buffet, 6PM-8PM (details). Find out more about this and other events at the Campus Calendar online.
March 31 2011: Ugadi. This is the New Year's Festival, also known as Yugadi, which is observed in the southern Indian states of of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Maharashtra, and Goa. It is a holiday calculated by the lunar calendar and it usually falls in March, but sometimes in April. There are many special foods associated with this holiday, including dishes that combine six tastes - bitterness, sweetness, hotness, saltiness, sourness, and tanginess - whose range represents the equilibrium you hope to experience in the coming year. You can read more at Wikipedia; here is an Ugadi greeting card:
Note: You can page back through older blog posts to see any announcements you might have missed.
