Coming in January: “To Kill a Mockingbird”

We’ll be reading “To Kill a Mockingbird” by Harper Lee in Module 5, so I suggest that you start looking for a copy. There are plenty of copies available at libraries and bookstores.

Thanks to all of you who attended yesterday’s Elluminate session, which was somewhat different than normal because I was at the Online School office. (The Internet was not working at my house.) Thank you for your patience.

Here are a few more reminders, going into the holidays.
1) Assignments M4-3 and M4-4 are due this Sunday, Dec. 20.

2) Assignment M4-5 is due Sunday, Jan. 10.

3) Here’s the one that you really need to remember: Assignment M4-6 is due Wednesday, Jan. 13. That’s the final assignment on “Antigone,” and Jan. 13 is the final day to turn in ALL assignments for Modules 1,2,3, and 4. It’s the end of the semester, and we will be doing semester grades. After that, everyone will start from “zero” for the second semester.

4) If needed, please use your two-week vacation to go back and do missing assignments, or work ahead on Assignments M4-5 and M4-6. I will check my e-mail frequently to see if you have any questions.

5) All of our newer students need to read the information under “Class Syllabus and General Information” on the Moodle page.

Word of the Day: epanorthosis

Pronunciation: (ep-uh-nor-THO-sis)

noun: The immediate rephrasing of something said in order to correct it or to make it stronger. Usually indicated by: no, nay, rather, I mean, etc.

Example: I’ve warned you a thousand, no, a million times.

Etymology: From Greek epanorthosis (correction, revision), from epi- (upon) + ana- (again) + orthosis (making straight), from ortho (straight).

Joke of the Day

A man goes on a 2-month business trip to Europe and leaves his cat with his brother. Three days before his return, he calls his brother.
Brother 1: So how is my cat doing?
Brother 2: He’s dead
Brother 1: He’s dead! What do you mean He’s dead! I loved that cat. Couldn’t you think of a nicer way to tell me! I’m leaving in 3 days. You could have broken me to the news easier. You could have told me today that she got out of the house or something. Then when I called before I left, you could have told me, “Well, we found her, but she is up on the roof and we’re having trouble getting her down.” Then when I called you from the airport, you could have told me, “The Fire Department was there and scared her off the roof and the cat died when it hit the ground.”
Brother 2: I’m sorry…you’re right…that was insensitive I won’t let it happen again.
Brother 1: Alright, alright, forget about it. Anyway, how is Mom doing?
Brother 2: She’s up on the roof and we’re having trouble getting her down.

Elluminate Final Test

Our final Elluminate session of 2009 will be at 10 a.m. Thursday. I’m treating it as the semester’s final exam on Elluminate, so please be there. Here’s the link: https://sas.elluminate.com/m.jnlp?password=M.3FE7128B8CAF47D720720F5CB987B6

Word of the Day: rhopalic

Pronunciation: (ro-PAL-ik)

adjective: Having each successive word longer by a letter or syllable.

Here is an example. Notice how every word in the sentence is one letter longer than the word before it: “I do not know where family doctors acquired illegibly perplexing handwriting; nevertheless, extraordinary pharmaceutical intellectuality, counterbalancing indecipherability, transcendentalises intercommunications’ incomprehensibleness.”

Joke of the Day

Teacher to Student: Now, you mustn’t say, “I ain’t goin’.” You should say, “I am not going, he is not going; we are not going; they are not going.”

Student: Wow! Ain’t nobody goin’ then?

Please Work Ahead

We have two assignments due this week on “Antigone.” The final two assignments will be due soon after vacation, and nothing may be turned in late (it will be the end of the semester). I suggest that you work ahead this week or during vacation so that you don’t cut it too close.

Elluminate will be back at our regular time on Thursday this week.

Word of the Day: chef-d’oeuvre

Pronunciation: (shay-DOO-vruh)

noun: A masterpiece

Etymology: From French chef-d’oeuvre (masterpiece), from chef (chief) + oeuvre (work).

Joke of the Day

Patty met Eric and said, That’s a nice suit you are wearing.”

Eric: “Oh, do you like it?”

Patty: “Yes, who went for the fitting?”

Yes! Eluminate on Friday!

Yes, we will have Elluminate at 10 a.m. Friday. Here is the link: https://sas.elluminate.com/m.jnlp?password=M.3FE7128B8CAF47D720720F5CB987B6

Sorry for the delay.

I’ll be out of town on Friday afternoon and most of Saturday, but I will respond to your e-mails on Saturday night or Sunday.

Word of the Day: monepic

Pronunciation: (mun-NEP-ik)

adjective: Composed of a single word or single-word sentences.

Etymology: From Greek mono- (one) + epos (speech, word)

Joke of the Day

Q. Why do bakers work so hard?
A. Because they need the dough.

No Elluminate on Thursday

We won’t have an Elluminate session on Thursday. I’ll send an e-mail later to let you know if we will switch it to 10 a.m. Friday or just cancel.

Thanks to all of you who completed the survey about Online School.

Word of the Day: esprit de corps

Pronunciation: (eh-SPREE duh COR)

noun: A spirit of solidarity; a sense of pride, devotion, and honor among the members of a group.

Etymology: From French esprit (spirit), de (of), corps (body, group).

Joke of the Day

Little Sue was standing in front of her mirror with her eyes closed.

“Why are you standing there with your eyes closed?” asked her sister.

“So I can see what I look like when I’m asleep,” she replied.

Look at Shmoop

This link is already in the Moodle, and it can really help you understand “Antigone.” It’s called Shmoop.com. Please spend some time exploring it.

Word of the Day: amour-propre

Pronunciation: (ah-moor PRO-pruh)

noun: Self-esteem; self-respect.

Etymology: From French amour-propre (self-esteem), from amour (love) + propre (own).

Joke of the Day

The mailperson rings the doorbell and as says: ” I have a parcel here, but the name on it is obliterated.”

Smiths says: “Can’t be for me, then. My name is Smiths.”

This Week

This week, you need to read “Antigone” (book or online). Assignment 4-2 is simply to e-mail me a paragraph in which you tell what you thought of “Antigone” and how well you understood it. Feel free to work ahead on other assignments, or go back to older assignments that you haven’t done.

Remember to do the SAT Question of the Day every day. We’ll have our regular Elluminate session at 10 a.m. Thursday.  The absolute deadline for all first-semester work is Jan. 13.

Word of the Day: apropos

Pronunciation: (ap-ruh-PO)

adverb: 1. In reference to. 2. Appropriately; relevantly.

adjective: Appropriate.

Etymology:  From French à propos (to the purpose), from Latin propositium (purpose), from ponere (to put). Ultimately from the Indo-European root apo- (off or away) that is also the source of pose, apposite, after, off, awkward, post, and puny.

Joke of the Day

A man walks into a restaurant and is shown to his seat by the hostess.

The waiter approaches and asks, “Would you like to try our house special?”

The man replies, “No, just bring me a steak, and make it lean.”

The waiter, somewhat puzzled, looks at him and replies, “Which way?”

The Greek Gods

I sent everybody an e-mail today, attaching the Powerpoint that we watched at today’s Elluminate session. It’s a very good introduction to Greek theater and “Antigone.”

At the end of the Powerpoint (after it says “The End”), you will find a section on the Greek gods. The ancient Greeks believed in many gods, and the 12 most important ones were called the Olympians because they supposedly lived on Mount Olympus. Here, I’m listing the names of these Greek gods, followed by the Roman name for each one. The Roman names may be more familiar to you, as many of our planets were named for them.

Zeus (Greek) – Jupiter (Roman)

Poseiden – Neptune

Hades – Pluto

Ares – Mars

Hephastus – Vulcan

Apollo – Apollo

Hermes – Mercury

Hera – Juno

Demeter – Ceres

Hestia – Vesta

Athena – Minvera

Aphrodite – Venus

Artemis – Diana

Word of the Day: doggo

Pronunciation: (DOW-goh, DOG-oh)

adverb: Still and quiet (used in the form: to lie doggo).

Etymology: Probably from dog

Joke of the Day

This young man was elated when he turned 18 in a state where curfew is 11:00 p.m. for any one under 18 years of age.

He told his Dad how happy he was that now he could stay out until 3:00 a.m. if he wanted.

“Yes you can stay out as late as you want, but the car is under seventeen and it has to be in the garage by eleven,” his father said.

Come to Elluminate

Please join our Elluminate session at 10 a.m. Thursday. It will be a helpful introduction to “Antigone” and Module Four. The link is at the top of the Moodle page.

I’m repeating myself here, but I recommend that you get the book from the library (there are many copies available). The 1973 edition, translated by Richard Emil Braun, is short and easy to read.

Word of the Day: nettle

Pronunciation: (NET-l)

verb

1. To irritate.
2. To sting.

Etymology:The verb senses of the word are derived from the name of the plant, any of the various plants of the genus Urtica whose leaves are covered with stinging hairs. The word is ultimately from the Indo-European root ned- (to bind) that is also the source of node, noose, annex, and connect. There’s a British and Australian idiom, grasp the nettle, meaning to tackle an unpleasant or difficult task.

Joke of the Day

There was a little old lady who was nearly blind. She had three sons, and they wanted to prove which one was the best son to her.

So son #1 bought her a 15-room mansion, thinking this would surely be the best any of them could offer her.

Son #2 bought her a beautiful Mercedes with a chauffeur included, thinking he would surely win her approval.

Son #3 had to do something even better than these, so he bought her a trained parrot. This parrot had been trained for 15 years to memorize the entire Bible. You could mention any verse in the Bible and the parrot could quote it word for word. How useful his nearly blind mother would find that!

Well, the old lady went to the first son and said, “Son, the house is just gorgeous, but it’s really much too big for me. I only live in one room, and it’s much too large for me to clean and take care of. I really don’t need the house, but thank you anyway.”

Then she explained to her second son, “Son, the car is beautiful, it has everything you could ever want on it, but I don’t drive and I really don’t like that driver, so please return the car.”

Next, she went to son number three and said, “Son, I just want to thank you for that thoughtful gift. The chicken was small, but delicious.”

Antigone Again

I read “Antigone” yesterday, and the version that I read was quite short and easy. There are many copies of this version at different branches of the Fresno County Library, and you can also request it online. It’s a 1973 version, translated by Richard Emil Braun. I recommend that you look for this one. (I have not tried reading all of the online version.)

This week’s Elluminate session at 10 a.m. Thursday will be very important as an introduction to “Antigone.” Please be there. The link is at the top of the Moodle page.

When you do assignment 4-1 on Classroom Discussion on the Moodle, you can either do a new post, or you can reply to my post.

Word of the Day: convoke

Pronunciation: (kuhn-VOHK)

verb To call together for a meeting.

Etymology: From Latin convocare (call together), from con- (together) + vocare (to call), from vox (voice).

Joke of the Day

A salesman telephone a household, and a four-year-old answered.

Salesman: May I speak to your mother?

Child: She is not here.

Salesman: Well, is anyone else there?

Child: My sister

Salesman: O.K., fine. May I speak to her?

Child: I guess so.

There was a long silence on the other phone. Then:

Child: Hello?

Salesman: It’s you. I thought you were going to call your sister.

Child: I did. The trouble is: I can’t get her out of the playpen.