Intro (First Week of Class)

 

Dear Class,

 

Welcome to Camelot. Here's a brief video to help you see me and a few interesting things about our course (here's a quick update though: course changes have all been made. Wahoo!):

 

 

A lot of the world would NOT be excited about taking a class centered on reading American literature and writing about it, but this is Camelot for us! I am excited to work with you. Each week, I will post helpful notes here, reflecting on tasks from the previous week and helping you see what you need to do during the current week.

 

In addition, I will always post a spiritual thread in the discussion board below Notes from Sister Bowen. Here, I invite you to read my post at the start of the week and respond. You're more than welcome to keep conversing here throughout the week. I provide the spiritual thread for a few important reasons:

#1) because my number one duty as your teacher is to build faith in Christ and

#2) I believe as we learn about Him and feel the spirit, we can grow toward God and develop our capacities and

#3) We can lift each other as we share things that really matter! I've been influenced for good as a result of the incredible things students have posted in our spiritual threads in the past. 

You may also post any lesson-related questions in your own thread here, and I (or one of your classmates) will answer your questions within a day during the work week.

 

Reflecting on Last Week. . .

 

Last week, I emailed you to welcome you to class, give you a little bit of information about the class, and ask you a few questions. If you have not yet emailed me back, please do so now.  

 

 Looking Toward our Introductory Week:

 

This week, you  need to do the following things:

• First, consider whether this is the right time for you to take this class. I want to reiterate the sentence in the syllabus that says taking English 251 before you take this class is very important. A few semesters ago, two of my students took this class before taking Eng 251 and they really struggled to succeed. Both of them ended up doing well in the class, but they put significantly more hours into the class than most other students. I'd strongly suggest taking Eng 251 before you take this class.  
• Read and watch everything in the Introductory lesson folder.
  
• Participate in the Class Introductions discussion board in Lesson 1.
  
• Read Chapters 1-11 of A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court.
• Read the three articles about American Realism, taking notes.
  
• Write one paragraph (no more than a paragraph) demonstrating one particular principle of American Realism, as reflected in three quotes from the reading.
  
• Take a quiz on the reading.
• Sign up for a week to be a Student Moderator. (You can see the Student Moderator List under the Course>Resources tab and also at the bottom of the Introduction folder.) Please record the week you are moderating in your planner so you don't forget that important responsibility. There will be two or three moderators per week.
  

 

I know there is a LOT to do in this class, but I also know you are here because you want to enjoy and learn from great literature. We will! I am praying for your happiness and success.

 

Sincerely,

Sister Bowen