Monday, November 7

Today is Monday. Week 11 is now over... and Week 12 has begun. That means there are just four more weeks of class (Weeks 12-13-14-15). The new week's topic in the Myth-Folklore class is British and Celtic stories again, and in Indian Epics people are pursuing their own reading (or watching!) plans. You can find the week's assignments at the Class Calendar.

Update: The Week 12 Project Feedback assignment is now available.

Class Procedures and Reminders

Finishing the class. (repeat announcement) As soon as you have the points you need for the grade you want in the class, you are done, and there are several students already done with the class! So, make a plan based on what grade you want to go for, and you can then mix-and-match, choosing the assignments you want to do and deciding when you want to finish. If you have any questions about that, let me know. You can check the widget in the right-hand sidebar to see if you are on track to finish before Dead Week. There's more information here: Points Chart.

Project Stack. When I get to work on Monday, I'll update the stack with all the projects people turned in on Sunday, and you will be able to check the stack to make sure I received your assignment.

The following items are for fun and exploration:

Reading. I am a big believer in the power of reading: Reading can seriously damage your ignorance.

Writing. Some good writing advice from M.F.K. Fisher: Write one good clean sentence and put a period at the end of it. Then write another one.

Spelling. Once again, the spellchecker will not save you; with these two words, you have to see the difference on your own: DEFIANTLY v. DEFINITELY.

Featured Storybook. This project is from the Myth-Folklore class: Prison Stories of the Wicked Stepmothers. A new prisoner has arrived, and her cellmates share their stories, each of them being curious to find out just what kinds of crimes have landed them all in prison.

Free Book Online: Indian Fairy Tale by Maive Stokes. See the Freebookapalooza blog for links and the table of contents. This book contains one of my favorite fairy tales, Princess Labam, as shown here in an illustration by John Batten:

Words of Wisdom: Today's saying is Little by little grow the bananas (a Congolese proverb). Find out more at the Proverb Lab. With bananas, as with other things, patience is required.

Today's Video: How to build a fictional world. I thought you might enjoy this TED video by Kate Messner

Growth Mindset: Today's growth mindset cat is ready to take risks in order to learn: I can accept failure; I can't accept NOT trying. Find out more at the Growth Mindset blog.

Event on Campus: Sir Roger Scruton will be giving a lecture on "Brexit - and the Future of the European Idea" at 7PM in the Sam Noble Museum's Kerr Auditorium (details). Find out more about this and other events at the Campus Calendar online.

November 7: Jan Matulka. Today is the birthday in 1890 of Jan Matulka, the great Czech-American painter; you can read about his life and career at Wikipedia. He also did book illustrations, including Parker Fillmore's Czech fairy tale books that you can find in the Freebookapalooza blog:

 

Check out the Twitter stream for information and fun stuff during the day.