12/17/13

Today, all late work has been graded. If there is something WRONG with your grade in Gradespeed, write me a post-it note. If you turn something in late, don’t worry – I’ll get a note in BB when you turned it in. If you turn in a LOT of things late, make sure you are keeping track of your grades so that mistakes aren’t made.

On Thursday and Friday, I will be playing What Dreams May Come and you will have the opportunity to do some extra credit. If you have turned assignments in late, this would be a good chance for you to earn back those points you lost because it was late.

Some helpful links:

  • A link that has been really helpful for me is TV Tropes. This is a webpage that takes devices, conventions, themes, or ideas that are used in pop culture.

First, go to the webpage and enter your search term in the top left hand corner. You will need to use BROAD terms, not specific.

tropes search

Then, you’ll get a few search result. Look at them and find the most general and broad one that fits your topic.

tropes results

When you get to the webpage, the examples will be further down the list. You’ll have options to choose from: television shows, real life, musicals, movies, comic books, manga/anime. MAKE SURE YOU DON’T PLAGIARIZE FROM THIS RESOURCE.

  • If you need to look up a character’s name (from a movie or tv show), look up the show in Wikipedia since you are blocked from IMDB.
  • Some search terms that might help you:
    • example of…
    • modern day…
    • cartoon character who are…
    • list of…
    • celebrities who are…
    • Choosing good search terms is essential when researching online. If you choose something that is too specific or too broad, you won’t find what you are looking for. If you are stuck, try changing your search terms. For example, you won’t find examples of “virtuous pagan” (It’ll just send you to summaries of Limbo), but if you good “good pre-Christian”, list of pre-Christians”, or even “cartoon characters who are cavement.”
  • 2013 Films, 2012 Films, 2011 Films, 2010 films, 2009 films, (you can search for any year by replacing the year you WANT in the link), list of Disney movies, or a list of cartoons.

I am going to repeat these helpful hints each day for the rest of this week. I hope that at least one person finds them useful.

12/12/13

Today, we finished reading about Dante’s Inferno. We did Level 8 and 9 today: Fraud and Treachery!

If you missed, get the notes from someone else in class, but make sure that you UNDERSTAND the material – it won’t help you on the project otherwise.

We did not have time to work on Minos today, but we still have ALL of next week to finish it. I’m taking bets on who gets it done first.

minos

12/12/13

Because of the field trip today, we just spent today working on the Minos Project.

A link that has been really helpful for me is TV Tropes. This is a webpage that takes devices, conventions, themes, or ideas that are used in pop culture.

First, go to the webpage and enter your search term in the top left hand corner. You will need to use BROAD terms, not specific.

tropes search

Then, you’ll get a few search result. Look at them and find the most general and broad one that fits your topic.

tropes results When you get to the webpage, the examples will be further down the list. You’ll have options to choose from: television shows, real life, musicals, movies, comic books, manga/anime. MAKE SURE YOU DON’T PLAGIARIZE FROM THIS RESOURCE.

 

12/11/13

Today we read levels 5,6, and 7! If you missed today, please, please, PLEASE make sure that you talk with me about the details of the reading. If you don’t, you’ll end up misinterpreting the story.

We moved from incontinence to violence today, and so the sins and the punishments are getting worse.

Here are the links that we used today in class:

  • Heretic
  • Blasphemy
  • Piss Christ
  • Western Sky Commercial:
  • The infamous Western Sky commercial that plays during the day on various television channels. If you receive a $5000 loan, you pay 84 monthly payments of $486.58, the total amounting to $40,872 (116.73% APR). If you receive a $10,000 loan, you’ll be paying 84 monthly payments of $743.49, and $62,453 in total (89.68% APR).
  • Western Sky Webpage

I’ve had to change my plans this week because of the field trip tomorrow, so instead of reading level 8, we will work on the Minos Project and read about 8 and 9 on Friday. We will still have all of next week to work on Minos, so please don’t freak out thinking that it’s due THIS Friday.

12/10/13

Today, we studied Level 2, 3, and 4 in Dante’s Inferno.

We talked about about that just because a soul might be in Hell with a friend or lover, that doesn’t mean they get any comfort from it. I told you about the time when my husband and I were both food poisoned, and we didn’t think about the other person at all while we were feeling so horrible.

We also read about Minos, the monster whom the Minos Project is named after: the judge of Hell.

After we read (and did the questions), we worked on The Minos Project.

12/9/2013

Today, we started Dante’s Inferno. This will take us the next two weeks and we will be doing a major grade called the Minos Project along with it. We are using The Virtual Tour of Hell, so we aren’t reading the poem directly.

As we read, we are answering the reading guide questions. Please do this, because this will help keep you from plagiarizing from the website when you do the Minos Project.

We talked about how Dante’s was an “old-school” Catholic, and that this story is his own design. It’s an allegory,  so this story is meant to be symbolic – a scared straight story to get people to act how Dante thinks they should act.

If you missed today, make sure you read the Dark Wood of Error and Limbo and get those questions. If you still don’t understand what is going on, talk to me after class and I’ll get you straightened out. 🙂

We also talked about the project today. Make sure that you use the template that I provided for you in Blackboard. It’s there for a reason.

Make sure you don’t plagiarize. You won’t be able to pass if you copy from the webpage. Look at the student examples for assistance.

Remember – if you need help finding a person for a certain level, don’t be afraid to ask me for a person. If I give you a person, and you USE that person, it will only deduct (two) points off of your final grade of 150 points. Even if I were to give you every single person to use, you could still pass the assignment!

Try to think of creative examples that no one else is using!

4/24/2013

Argh. I’m done with testing. Really. Someone get me outta here.

Oh well, at least tomorrow is a short one – SS doesn’t take that long usually.

Supposedly, I’m going to see Block 1 and 2 today, and we are going to… you guessed it – work on the Minos Project! Remember – if you aren’t in my class today, I still expect you to be working on this. Seniors had an entire day to work on it yesterday!

4/18/2013

Welcome to Hell! Well, not really, But we are working with Dante’s Inferno this week and next week.

Today, we we introduced to the topic and we talked about Dante the author and Dante the character. While we read, we answered study guide questions. The reason we are doing these questions is so when we work on our project, we won’t be tempted to plagiarize (accidentally or intentionally).

Today, we got through The Dark Wood, Limbo, Lustful, and the Gluttonous.

 

 

Probablly the coolest thing that happened today was when I was explaining the Harrowing of Hell, Ms. Dunlap came to get Tanner for an early release. Perfect timing! Ms. Dunlap had no idea why we were taking a picture of her, but she was really happy to oblige.

We also talked about the project today. Make sure that you use the template that I provided for you in LMS. It’s there for a reason.

Make sure you don’t plagiarize. You won’t be able to pass if you copy from the webpage. Look at the student examples for assistance.

Remember – if you need help finding a person for a certain level, don’t be afraid to ask me for a person. If I give you a person, and you USE that person, it will only deduct (two) points off of your final grade of 150 points. Even if I were to give you every single person to use, you could still pass the assignment!

Try to think of creative examples that no one else is using!