Week 10 (11th week of class)

Dear Class,

I was reading Alma 33-36 today, and loving how Alma and Amulek slowly reminded the Zoramites that there was a Savior, and that we desperately need His atonement. I know I feel that today! In the past two weeks, my husband stopped being a lawyer, I had a baby, we packed up our whole house, signed closing papers, moved, and then moved some things into my parents' house and the rest to a storage unit. My parents' basement is partially flooded so I've met with two plumbers as the go-between, my baby looks like he has pink eye, I'm surrounded by boxes, my other kids keep forgetting little things like putting shoes on when they get in the car to go somewhere, and I'm patting myself on the back for getting everyone bathed today. Things need to calm down, but really, I need Christ's enabling, healing power to endure all of this as well as I can. We all do. I'd also like to feel the love Mary Magdelene felt when she implored "the gardener" to tell her where Christ's body had been moved, and He simply said her name; that was all she needed to recognize Her Savior and His love. I know the Savior loves us so much.

Reflecting on Week 9:

As many of you mentioned in your posts and assignments last week, As I Lay Dying was a thought-provoking piece! Did you feel like asking Faulkner how he felt his text was uplifting after reading his Pulitzer acceptance speech? You did such a beautiful job psychoanalyzing the characters in the book and examining the literature together. A few of you submitted revisions of Essay #1, and I believe I scored them all. Let me know if you haven't received feedback from me on a revision.

Looking forward to Week 10 and Beyond:

Having read through the upcoming lessons, I'd say the big time investments for the rest of our class time will be as follows:

1. Reading A Farewell to Arms (Week 10), 
2. Reading Travels with Charlie (Week 11),
3.  Reading Fahrenheit 451 (Week 12),
4. crafting your second major essay (due Week 12) and
5. submitting your final (due Conclusion Week). The final will have seven questions (not five, like the mid-term). You will have less than a week to prepare outlines for essay responses to each of the questions, and then when you click to take the final exam, you will have one question to answer within a two-hour window of time.

Each of these assignments take significant time, but preparing now will help you plan your time well.  

I will grade your Week 9 work by Thursday evening. I'd like to meet together at 8 pm, MT, that night to talk about prepping for the next test and getting your second major essays as strong as possible; we'll discuss the reading as well.

During Week 10:

• You will not need to submit your draft at the end of this week! Instead, the draft will be due on Wednesday, July 6th, in the Peer Review Discussion Board #2. You will need to complete peer review for your assigned partner by Saturday, July 9th. This will ensure that everyone gets a full week to make adjustments to drafts before submitting final essays on Saturday, July 16th. Email me if you need clarification about these deadlines. I extended the draft deadline to give you a little more time to work on drafts.

I have loved working with you, and I look forward to talking with you about A Farewell to Arms.

Sincerely,

Sister Bowen