Goodbye to English 368!

The papers (e-versions) are now in the Angel Dropbox, and final grades have been submitted to the Registrar's Office.  If you turned in a paper version of your paper, you can stop by my office to pick it up beginning January 10.  I will be away from email until January 7.

Happy holidays, and have a good break!

Study guide for Exam 2

The Study Guide for Exam 2 is now available: http://www.wsu.edu/~campbelld/engl368/study2.htm.

Updates to Angel

The grades on Angel have been updated, including the total score for blogs. Scores cannot total more that “30″ since 30/30 is 100%.

The blog assignment is now completed, so no additional posts are necessary or will be counted. 

Presentation schedule

The presentation schedule is available at http://www.wsu.edu/~campbelld/engl368/presentation.htm .

Northwest Undergraduate Conference

From the organizers.  This is additional information in case you're interested; it's not a class requirement.

Northwest Undergraduate Conference on Literature (NUCL) 2013
 
Dear Students:
 
Do you have a paper, personal essay, or set of poems you are proud of and would like to share with others?  Please consider doing so through the University of Portland’s Northwest Undergraduate Conference on Literature (NUCL), to be held this year on Saturday, April 13th, 2013. 
 
NUCL brings together college and advance high-school students from around the northwest region for a day-long event featuring themed panels with student presenters and respondents, an awards lunch, and a keynote address by a prominent scholar of literature.  This year’s keynote speaker is Professor Cindy Weinstein, Professor at the California Institute of Technology.
 
For more information on what to submit, how to submit it, and much more, visit our website, and/or email us at nucl@up.edu.  To keep up on NUCL-related news, follow us on Facebook and Twitter!
 
Most importantly: submissions will be accepted between December 1, 2012 and January 21, 2013.  Please consider submitting before you leave for winter break!
 
-the NUCL 2013 organizing team

Popular/Classic

Here's the list of popular/classic literature that we generated in class.  Thanks to Laurel Gordon for collecting these for us.

 Popular-Classic in the Future
Harry Potter
Stephen King- Carrie
The Alchemist
The Hunger Games
Dystopian/Post-apocalyptic novels
Chronicles of Narnia
Lord of the Rings

Not Popular-Will be Classic
Piers Anthony
Ayn Rand
Eragon
Pillars of the Earth
Life of Pi
The Kite Runner/A Thousand Splendid Suns
Ann Brashares

Popular-Not Classic
Twilight
Game of Thrones
Fifty Shades of Gray
Stephen King

Classic-Classic
The Great Gatsby
Jane Austen
The Bronte sisters
1984
Children's
Ferdinand the Bull
Sherlock Holmes
Roald Dahl
Charlie & the Chocolate Factory
It was also suggested that The Chronicles of Narnia and Lord of the Rings are also already classics and belong on this list instead of the first one.

Movie night

The movie night I mentioned in class will be November 8, 6-8 p.m., CUE 318 : The Man Who Would be King (1975; 130 minutes; Sean Connery and Michael Caine). Although it's not directly related to our novels, it is based on a story by Rudyard Kipling and shows one side of 19th-century life. If you come to the movie night, you'll receive a 10/10 quiz grade to substitute for any one quiz.

Search workshop page

The web page for our search workshop is available at http://www.wsu.edu/~campbelld/findmla.htm

Paper 4 assignment and Precis assignment available

The assignment pages for Paper 4 and the Precis assignment are available on our assignments page at http://public.wsu.edu/~campbelld/engl368/papers.htm.  I'll be handing out paper versions in class.

Midterm grades

Midterm grades will be calculated using the average of Exam 1 and Paper 1 only (not quizzes or blogs because they are still ongoing). Midterm grades are NOT BINDING--that is, they are only an estimate.

MASC visit tomorrow

This is just a reminder: we meet at the MASC on Tuesday, 10/2, instead of in our regular classroom. The MASC is on the lower level of Holland/Terrell library. When you enter through the main entrance (not through the CUB), you will see the MASC if you go down the stairs into the circular area; there’s a sign that says Manuscripts, Archives, and Special Collections.

Study Guide for Exam 1

The study guide for Exam 1 is available on our site: http://public.wsu.edu/~campbelld/engl368/study1.htm

Paper 2 Assignment

As we discussed in class, you can find the Paper 2 assignment on our course page: http://www.wsu.edu/~campbelld/engl368/paper2.htm  I will not be handing out a hard copy (paper) version of this assignment, so please be sure to check the page for possible topics.

Schedule for critical readings

Here's the signup page you all completed today for critical readings on Moby-Dick.

http://public.wsu.edu/~campbelld/engl368/mobydickreadings.htm

Moby-Dick in the news

Moby-Dick in the news

http://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/09/18/new-audio-project-offers-four-months-of-moby-dick/?src=recgNew Audio Project Offers Four Months of ‘Moby-Dick’
By JOHN WILLIAMS‘Moby-Dick,’ ink on watercolor paper, by Matt Kish.

The actress Tilda Swinton and 134 other readers are lending their voices to the “Moby-Dick Big Read,” an online audio version of Herman Melville’s epic novel.

The chapters will be available as free downloads, a new one appearing on the Web site each day until mid-January alongside a related image by a contemporary artist.

Blog post grades and quiz grades in Angel

The gradebook in Angel has been updated to reflect your blog posts and first quiz. 

Your post for last week (2 points) and your comments posted to others’ blogs this week (1 point) = 3 points.

Each blog post counts as follows:

3 points = 2 points for the initial post + 1 point for a comment

2 points = 2 points for the initial post but no comment was posted

1 point = 1 point for a comment but no initial post

0 points = post and comment missing, or you are not participating in the blog assignment. Remember, you’re not required to participate, and your report grade and final exam grade will be sufficient. 

Comments on blog posts

Although I will be reading all the posts and comments and you will receive credit for them, I will only be commenting on half the class's blogs each week. Don't worry if you don't see a comment from me; you'll still receive credit.

Here are the guidelines for posting comments that I mentioned in class. I've added them to our weblogs page at http://www.wsu.edu/~campbelld/engl368/weblog.htm

Respond to at least one post by another group by Thursday at 9 p.m.
Each week, you will respond to another person's blog by 9 p.m. Since new blog posts won't be available until 9 p.m., you'll be reading and responding to posts from the previous week. You don't have to wait until Thursday to post a comment, though. For example, last week's blog posts (8/30) will receive comments by 9 p.m. this Thursday (9/6).

• The requirement is one comment on one other person's blog, although you're welcome to post other comments if you wish.
• Comments should be substantial: 100-200 words that discuss the content of the post. Try asking questions, adding your own observations, or mentioning another blog post that seems to respond to this one.

In the office

I'm in my office (357 Avery) now and will be until about 2:45, if you'd like to stop by and talk about your paper. 

For blogging workshop tomorrow: get a Gmail account

If you don't already have a Gmail account, please sign up for one before tomorrow's class.  Blogger, one of the blogging platforms we'll be working with, now requires a Gmail account for access. If you don't want to get a Gmail account, you can work with Wordpress instead, since it doesn't require one.

Visit to the MASC is set

Good news!  Our class visit to the MASC is confirmed for October 2.  I will talk about the details in class.

Reports

The report sign-ups have been posted to the web at http://www.wsu.edu/~campbelld/engl368/reports.htm. Please check to see that your choice is listed correctly.


. When you present your report to the class, keep in mind that it should be short: 5-7 minutes maximum. You can also team up with another class member, if you choose to do so. If you do, you may combine the number of allotted minutes (e.g., 2 people could have up to 10-14 minutes), although you do not have to do so. 

2. You can use PowerPoint or other presentation tools, but they are not required. If you use PowerPoint, you need to upload it to a presentation site such as Slideshare, email the presentation to me no later than 9 p.m. on the day before the report, or bring your own computer. 

3. If you choose the report option, you'll also prepare a one-page "fact sheet" to hand out to the class. This should include the following:

Information (bibliography) on your sources.

An outline, timeline, or summaries of information about articles you've read. You should include at least one critical article or book in preparing your report.



Your presentation may focus on something you wish to work on for your paper. You may also want to work on one of the following: 

Additional information about the social, intellectual, artistic, scientific, philosophical, or historical contexts for the works and authors assigned in class.

Interpretations of works or aspects of a work not read in class.

Introductions to authors not specifically covered in the course.

Discussion of one or more critical works relating to the era. Using information from Wikipedia or other general sources is not sufficient.

Background about the social and intellectual connections among certain groups of authors.

Note: These are suggested topics, but you're welcome to choose your own in consultation with me.

Office hours

My office hours will change slightly after September 12.

Current office hours: T, Th 9-10, 2:50-3:30

After September 12: T, Th 9-10, 12-1

Remember, you can always reach me via email to set up a "virtual office hour" in which to chat via Skype or Google chat.

"Transcendental Wild Oats"

You can find Alcott's "Transcendental Wild Oats" in a printable version on the Readings page at http://www.wsu.edu/~campbelld/engl368/readings.htm, or click here for a direct link: http://public.wsu.edu/~campbelld/engl368/transoats.pdf.

For those of you who follow Twitter, I'll be tweeting as @campbellcourse. You can contribute to the discussion by using the hashtag #engl368.

Although I won't routinely send email to you all as a class, I'll be sending this message via email just to be sure that the address you have in zzusis is working.