Blog mix-up: You may have seen my Latin blog here earlier;
my apologies for any confusion that created! :-)
Today is Sunday of Week 14. The blog commenting assignment, along with the Project commenting and the Project assignment, are due today. So, if you have not finished those up already, now is the time! And if you missed them, here's a link to yesterday's announcements.
Class Procedures and Reminders
Week 14 ends today. Today, Sunday, is the end of Week 14, so any remaining Week 14 assignments are due today, with the usual grace period on Monday, April 27. If you are turning in a Week 14 Storybook you MUST do that today or during the grace period on Monday; there are no late Storybook assignments for Week 14 because of the special Week 15 schedule (see next announcement). To check to see that I received your Storybook assignment here is a link to the Project stack.
Week 15 schedule. The schedule for Week 15 is compressed because of finals. Instead of lasting over the weekend, Week 15 will end at NOON on FRIDAY, May 1. So, please make sure you get your assignments all turned in by that time. All the Week 15 assignments are available at this time, so there is no need to wait!
Finishing the class. For those of you who are not done with the class yet, you should have a specific plan in place for the assignments that you will complete in order to get the points you need, and I hope you will not put off those assignments until the last minute. When 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.
The following items are for fun and exploration:
Movies and States. I was born in the state of For a Few Dollars More, and I now work for the "University of True Grit."
Mythology Words in English: Today's mythology word in English is CHIMERA from the Greek chimaera (khimaira), a fire-breathing mythical beast that had the head of a lion, the body of a goat and the tail of a serpent. For details, see this blog post.
Featured Storybook: Tales from the Bayou. Meet Mama Nora, who is full of stories from the backwoods and bayous, and she also has some gumbo and other good Creole cooking to share with you as well. So, be warned: don't read this Storybook on an empty stomach!
FREE eBook: Spanish and Portuguese Folklore by Charles Sellers. This blog post provides additional information about the stories in this book and links where you can find the free book online.
Words of Wisdom: Today's proverb poster is If a string has one end, then it has another end (a Chinese proverb). Details at the Proverb Lab. This is literally true, and it has some wonderful metaphorical applications too!
Mahabharata Image: Today's Mahabharata image is Ganesha and Saraswati. Saraswati, the goddess of wisdom, is riding her animal vahana (vehicle), the peacock.
Sunday Event on Campus: There will be a Sunday matinee performance at 3PM of Tennessee Williams's Summer and Smoke in the Weitzenhoffer Theater (details). 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.
Note: You can page back through older blog posts to see any announcements you might have missed, and you can check out the Twitter stream for information and fun stuff during the day.
