Paper/project 2 received

I've now responded to all of you who sent me an e-version of Paper 2 or a link to your wiki. If you didn't get a response, I didn't receive your paper.

Final Exam Day and Time

The final exam for English 368 will be held on Thursday, May 6, from 1:00 to 3:00 p.m. in our usual classroom. Please make a note of this date and bring your own paper to the exam.

Lecture notes

Information from today's lecture is here.

End of blog posts

Posting to the blogs for this semester is now closed, and the points have been recorded.  I'm looking forward to reading your papers and to listening to class presentations next week.

Final (optional) blog post due tonight; bring in some artifact of "conspicuous consumption"

At the end of class on Tuesday, I asked you to bring in a reference (maybe a news article or a picture) to something from current culture that represents the concept of "conspicuous consumption" addressed in class--that is, something that is designed primarily to show off the owner's wealth rather than to have any function. (One example: the "I am rich" app for iPhones that cost $1,000 and did absolutely nothing.) You don't have to hand anything in, but today in class we'll discuss what you found.

In addition to Paper 2, the final (optional) blog post and comments are due tonight.  For this post, you don't have to confine yourself to the texts we've read but can speculate about other things:

•  If Edith Wharton were writing today, what would her work look like? What would she be writing about? Do we have an Edith Wharton writing now--someone who addresses the same issues?
• A lot of "chick lit" authors such as Candace Bushnell have cited Edith Wharton as an inspiration.  Is Wharton the precursor of "chick lit"? 
• What 19th-century American novel would you like to have read in this course that we didn't get a chance to read?
• If you could adapt one of the books we've read into a movie, how would you do it? Whom would you cast as the leads, and who would you choose to direct it?  What changes would you have to make?

Paper 2 and presentation dates

Your second paper for this class is due on Thursday, 4/22, even if you are not presenting on it until next week. If you are handing in a paper version, which is optional, the paper is due in class; all electronic versions are due to me via email (campbelld@wsu.edu)  by 9 p.m. If you're doing a wiki or web project, you need to send me the link and the rationale by the due date (Thursday at 9 p.m.)

If you have not yet used your automatic extension option and wish to do so on this paper, please contact me. You can find information about citing sources here: http://www.dianahacker.com/resdoc/p04_c08_s2.html.

Presentation Schedule for Final Projects

The presentation schedule for the final projects is here:http://www.wsu.edu/~campbelld/engl368/present.htm .


If you have not signed up yet, you need to do so right away. The only available slots are for this Tuesday, April 20.

You do not need to supply a fact sheet for these final presentations, and we will not be filling out comment sheets on them. As before, if you want to use PowerPoint, you either need to bring your own laptop or email me the presentation no later than the night before your presentation (which for most of you will be next week).  If you're doing a wiki, I can bring it up on the screen on my laptop for you.

Please let me know if you have any questions.  I will be on campus Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday this week, so let me know if you'd like to meet with me.

No class April 15; presentation schedule for final projects

Just a reminder: There is no class on April 15.

The presentation schedule for your final projects is here:
http://www.wsu.edu/~campbelld/engl368/present.htm .

Each time slot represents 5 minutes. If you are doing a web project with someone else and signed both names in the same slot, that means that you anticipate using just 5 minutes for your presentation.  If you anticipate needing more time, or if you have not yet signed up for a presentation time, there are still several slots open on Thursday, April 22.

Here is the schedule of readings for April 20 for which you signed up in class today.

Extra blog posts

Last night was the last "official" blog post, although one additional "extra" blog post is on your syllabus.  I've decided that instead of one extra blog post (and set of comments) for credit, you'll be able to write two:

4/15
4/22

If you'd rather, you can also write on something other than The House of Mirth for these last two  posts: a book that you  think would fit well into this class that we didn't get to read, for example, or some other aspect of the material that you'd like to discuss.

As mentioned earlier, each post counts 2 points and a week's comments (must be done within that week) counts 1, for a perfect score of 30 by the end of the semester (10 posts x 2 + 10 comments x 1 = 30).

Those of you who have already kept up with blog posts by writing each week can opt not to do these extra posts, since they won't give you any extra points if you're already at 30.

How to get to the MLA Bibliography

Go to http://www.wsulibs.wsu.edu/Griffin/indexes.htm and click on Databases A to Z.  When the search box comes up, type in MLA.

Precis assignment

If you have any questions about the precis assignment due tomorrow, please email me or talk with me on Google chat (drcampbell6676).

Mark Twain: An Interview with Shelly Fisher Fishkin

Bookserf has an interview with Shelly Fisher Fishkin, Twain scholar, about her new Twain anthology. She talks a bit about Twain and racism and also about Pudd'nhead Wilson. http://thebookserf.blogspot.com/2010/03/mark-twain-anthology.html