Wednesday, January 24

Today is Wednesday of Week 2. Reading B is due today: your first reading of stories for the semester! As you read through all the stories, focus on the story (or stories) in the Anthology you think you would most like to retell in your own way. Here is a link to this week's assignments.

Class Procedures and Reminders

Success Tips: Bookmark! I hope as you are reading you will click on links to explore and learn, Google things, use the power of the Internet... and as you find cool, useful stuff online, remember to bookmark those pages so you can find them later. There's even a Tech Tip you can do to learn more about bookmarking in your browser.

Introductions. I've left comments on all the Myth-Folklore Introductions (I think), and now I am working through the Indian Epics class. This is the first time there have been two sections of Indian Epics, so it is a big group this semester; I am really excited about that!

Project Stack. So far, I've been keeping up with people turning in their Week 2 project assignments. As those come in, I add them to the "stack," and you can check the stack to make sure I received your email.

The following items are for fun and exploration:

Blog Stream. There are some wonderful stories showing up in the blog stream already for Week 2. For example, here is a Dungeons-and-Dragons-style story from John-Paul: The Dread Isle of Goblins. Check out his author's note to see the changes he made to turn the traditional Indian jataka story that he used to inspire his story:

India Item. I know there are people in both classes interested in games and game design, so I thought you might enjoy this article: Ancient India: The Birthplace of Modern Game Design.

India Video: Those of you in Myth class will be reading the story of Pygmalion this week, so I thought you might like this marvelous Maati Baani video that has a Pygmalion dimension: Naina Bawre. Find out more about Pygmalion at Wikipedia.

Myth Book Online: Today's free book is The Talking Beasts: A Book of Fable Wisdom by Kate Douglas Wiggin and Nora Archibald Smith. See the Freebookapalooza blog for links and the table of contents.

Proverb of the Day: And here's some animal wisdom in proverb form: When you want to be with the wolves, you must howl like they do. Find out more at the Proverb Laboratory. The Latin version rhymes: Consonus esto lupis, cum quibus esse cupis.

Writing: There are ancient texts... and then there are: ancient texts.

HEART: Attention. Here's something to keep in mind as you are taking notes on the reading: you should read all the stories, but take your notes only on the stories you like best, the stories you might make into your own story. Why? Because when everything is highlighted, nothing is highlighted.

Growth Mindset: Today's growth mindset cat loves the Internet because it is a big open space: I need space to question and to explore. You can find out more at the Growth Mindset blog.

Video: I know a lot of you are planning medical careers, so I wanted to share this beautiful video with you on the subject of empathy: The Human Connection to Patient Care.

Event on Campus: In the Union Lobby from 10:30AM-noon, there will be free pancakes ... plus a 3D pancake printer! (details). I couldn't find a poster for this event, so I made a cat.

January 24: E.T.A. Hoffmann. Today marks the birthday in the year 1776 of the genius fantasy author E.T.A. Hoffmann; you can read all about his life and career at Wikipedia. Among his many famous stories is The Nutcracker and the Mouse King, which inspired Tchaikovsky's ballet. Here is a dance from the ballet as shown in the Disney film Fantasia:

Check out the Twitter stream for information and fun stuff during the day, or click here for past announcements.