EXTRA CREDIT ENDS THURSDAY, JUNE 4TH, 9:00 P.M.
Extra Credit Opportunities currently available: #10, #12, #16, #17


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EC #21: Caption Contest

Available from Sudday, May 17, through Thursday, May 21, 8:00 P.M. Five points extra credit + more if your response places amongst the favorites when we vote in class. The extra credit? Write a caption for the following cartoon. What's the lion on the phone saying? Responses will be printed out anonymously and your peers will vote for their favorites.
  • All responses will be kept anonymous during the vote.
  • Responses only accepted via email (don't forget to sign your email with your name; either click on the email link or copy/paste the address):murdockm001@hawaii.rr.com
  • Must be received by Thursday, May 21, 8:00 P.M.
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EC #20: Caption Contest Available from Saturday, May 2, through Thursday, May 7, 8:00 P.M. Five points extra credit + more if your response places amongst the favorites when we vote in class. The extra credit? Write a caption for the following cartoon. What is the man entering the door saying to the hosts? Responses will be printed out anonymously and your peers will vote for their favorites.
  • All responses will be kept anonymous during the vote.
  • Responses only accepted via email (don't forget to sign your email with your name; either click on the email link or copy/paste the address):murdockm001@hawaii.rr.com
  • Must be received by Thursday, May 7, 8:00 P.M.
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EC #19: Caption Contest

Available from Monday, April 27, through Thursday, April 30, 8:00 P.M. Five points extra credit + more if your response places amongst the favorites when we vote in class. The extra credit? Write a caption for the following cartoon. What is the doctor saying to his "patient?" Responses will be printed out anonymously and your peers will vote for their favorites.
  • All responses will be kept anonymous during the vote.
  • Responses only accepted via email (don't forget to sign your email with your name; either click on the email link or copy/paste the address):murdockm001@hawaii.rr.com
  • Must be received by Thursday, April 30, 8:00 P.M.
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EC #18: Caption Contest

Available from Saturday, April 18, through Thursday, April 23, 8:00 P.M. Five points extra credit + more if your response places amongst the favorites when we vote in class. The extra credit? Write a caption for the following cartoon. What is the man saying to the fish? Responses will be printed out anonymously and your peers will vote for their favorites.
  • All responses will be kept anonymous during the vote.
  • Responses only accepted via email (don't forget to sign your email with your name; either click on the email link or copy/paste the address):murdockm001@hawaii.rr.com
  • Must be received by Thursday, April 23, 8:00 P.M.
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EC#17: Predictions (AVAILABLE NOW!)

media_predictions_2007.jpgTen to twenty points extra credit: all responses will be posted anonymously on twenty-six

Very simple. Make a prediction. You may predict anything that will occur from 2014 to 2714. Your predictions must not be personal (ex. "I predict I will be married in the year 2021) and must be in the form of a 75-150-word paragraph devoid of both grammar and spelling errors. You may predict just about anything, as long as your predictions are somewhat plausible, classroom appropriate -- I'm really not interested when pot will be legalized or when the drinking age will be lowered -- and, to a degree, matter -- do we really care that you think that the Los Angeles Dodgers will win the World Series in 2043?

Example:
I believe that within the next 35 to 55 years (2044-2064), several states will attempt to secede from the United States. The first "break-away" state will be California. Fed up with federal and corporate taxes and what they view as lax enforcement of the US/Mexican border, California voters will vote to leave the United States. The movement, which would like to take Oregon and Washington with them, is put down only after the President of the US declares martial law in California and installs a new governor and staff for the state. California's insurrectionist movement inspires like-minded movements in Texas, Alaska, and the quartet of Montana, Wyoming, North Dakota, and South Dakota. After all the movements are forced to concede and their leaders jailed, the President and the congress convene a constitutional convention at which most of the Bill of Rights is repealed or, at least, heavily curtailed. -- Marc M.

Absolute requirements:
  • 75-150 words
  • Correct English!
  • Responses only accepted via email (don't forget to sign your email with your name; either click on the email link or copy/paste the address): murdockm001@hawaii.rr.com




EC #16: I Love(d) Reading (available now)

Available from Thursday, March 19, until further notice.
Ten points extra credit: all responses will be posted anonymously on twenty-six
BookShelf.jpg I remember reading before I couldn't even read. I have a vivid memory of laying in bed, on my little-boy tummy, and reading Go, Dog, Go. I knew that I couldn't read yet, but I remember flipping the pages and following the plot. Skip ahead to 7th-grade. In elementary school I wasn't much of a reader; besides the usual elementary-school reading, I don't remember caring about books at all. That is, until I picked up Frederick Forsyth's real-life spy-novel, The Day of the Jackal. I have no idea how the book came into my hands, but I remember reading the book during a several-hour winter car trip my family took during Christmas break. I was, literally, not able to put the book down; I probably carried it into the bathroom with me! After
Jackal, a Bond-like tale of an assassination attempt on the president of France, I read Forsyth's The Odessa File, another book that successfully mixes history and fiction, this time telling of a suicide in the 1960's, which leads to some files left behind, which leads to hunting down a Nazi cammandant.
Since the day I started
Jackal thirty-eight years ago, I can honestly say that the day has been rare when I haven't been engaged in a book.

The EC? Write about the first reading experience that moved you. Yes, you may love reading; you may hate reading; doesn't matter. Most everyone has had a book turn them on once in his/her life!
Absolute requirements:

  • 70-100 words
  • Correct English!
  • Must Include title and author of the book(s).
  • Responses only accepted via email (don't forget to sign your email with your name; either click on the email link or copy/paste the address):murdockm001@hawaii.rr.com


EC #15: Caption Contest

Available from Saturday, March 14, through Wednesday, March 18, 8:00 P.M.Five points extra credit + more if your response places amongst the favorites when we vote in class. The extra credit? Write a caption for the following cartoon. What is the woman saying to her "friend"? Responses will be printed out anonymously and your peers will vote for their favorites.
  • All responses will be kept anonymous during the vote.
  • Responses only accepted via email (don't forget to sign your email with your name; either click on the email link or copy/paste the address):murdockm001@hawaii.rr.com
  • Must be received by Wednesday, March 18, 8:00 P.M.

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EC #14: Caption Contest

Available from Saturday, March 8, through Thursday, March 12, 8:00 P.M.
Five points extra credit + more if your response places amongst the favorites when we vote in class.
The extra credit? Write a caption for the following cartoon. What is the man saying to the bird? Responses will be printed out anonymously and your peers will vote for their favorites.

  • All responses will be kept anonymous during the vote.
  • Responses only accepted via email (don't forget to sign your email with your name; either click on the email link or copy/paste the address):murdockm001@hawaii.rr.com
  • Must be received by Thursday, March 12, 8:00 P.M.
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EC#13: Famous, yet Unknown

Available from Thursday, February 26 through Sunday, March 1, 9:00 P.M.
Five points extra credit + more if your response places amongst the favorites when we vote in class.
The extra credit? Who do you believe is the most famous yet least recognized American currently alive. For example, George Bush or Jay Leno would not be good examples, both are famous, and both have pretty well-known faces. Bill Gates? I bet many people could recognize Ol' Bill's picture. Perhaps Joe Montana? Perhaps Bernie Madoff?
  • All responses will be kept anonymous during the vote.
  • Responses only accepted via email (don't forget to sign your email with your name; either click on the email link or copy/paste the address):murdockm001@hawaii.rr.com
  • Must be received by Sunday, March 1, 9:00 P.M.


EC #12: A Song or Album that Changed Your Life (AVAILABLE NOW!)

ambeauty.jpgAvailable from Monday, February 16 until further notice.
Ten points extra credit: all responses will be posted anonymously on twenty-six. Me? It was, as I shall post at some time in the near future, when I aggregate what I'm collecting here for anonymous, general posting, my first listen of the Grateful Dead's "Box of Rain," from their 1970 album,American Beauty.
Don't think that you have to write about your favorite song or album, just reminisce about a tune that influenced you in some profound way.

Absolute requirements:
  • 75-100 words
  • Sound grammar and correct spelling!
  • Responses only accepted via email (don't forget to sign your email with your name; either click on the email link or copy/paste the address):murdockm001@hawaii.rr.com


EC #11: Superbowl Special!

Available from Wednesday, January 28, through Sunday, February 1, 1:00 PM HST.
Ten points extra credit: all responses will be posted anonymously on twenty-six.
How many points will the scored in this weekend's Superbowl, total? Send in your pick by the deadline and you will receive three extra-credit points. The ten closest entries will receive another four points and, if anybody predicts the exact number of points the Steelers and the Cardinals will combine for, that person will win another five points.

  • Responses only accepted via email (don't forget to sign your email with your name; either click on the email link or copy/paste the address): murdockm001@hawaii.rr.com
  • Must be received by Sunday, February 1, 1:00 noon.


EC #10: Eternal Object (AVAILABLE NOW!)

Available from Monday, January 20 until further notice
Ten points extra credit: all responses will be posted anonymously on twenty-six.
We know that humans won't last forever; one day, all that we have done on and to this earth will whither away. Let's assume that, long after humans disappear, aliens happen to land on the planet. What man-made artifact do you want the aliens to stumble across? What thing, made by humans, do you want to last forever? Scale doesn't matter here, you can write about anything from a titanium screw or a contact lens to the Brooklyn Bridge or a Boeing 747, but the object must be man-made and be interesting for its own sake; thus, while a Beatles CD or a
Wizard of Oz DVD would be interesting, aliens would not, we assume, be able to play CD's and DVD's.
  • Responses must be between 75 and 100 words long (extra credit may not be granted if spelling and/or punctuation errors appear in your post).
  • All responses will be kept anonymous.
  • Responses only accepted via email (don't forget to sign your email with your name; either click on the email link or copy/paste the address): murdockm001@hawaii.rr.com
Example:
I want the Golden Gate Bridge to last forever. Whether viewed from the perspective of a pedestrian strolling across the windy span or from miles away, sitting across the San Francisco bay while having a sunset dinner of bread, cheese, and wine in the Berkeley Rose Garden, the Golden Gate Bridge never fails to awe one with its sheer beauty. Moreover, the Golden Gate Bridge impresses upon its viewers a sort of double symbol. Like those visual puzzles -- is it a woman's face or a vase? -- the bridge both symbolizes the amazing audacity, productiveness, and beauty of the United States of America and the genocidal nature of the country that wrestled a continent from all previous inhabitants, from the Atlantic to the Pacific. (Murdock)


EC #9: Final Song

Available from Saturday, December 13, through Thursday, December 18, 10:00 P.M.
Twelve points extra credit: all responses will be posted anonymously on twenty-six.
Finals, huh? One thing to realize is that we all reach our own finals; yes, we all die. For this extra credit -- and there will be no voting -- I'm asking you to participate in the morbid task of picturing your own funeral. Your funeral is about to end, the eulogies have been spoken, all the flowers placed, and the gathered group is beginning to file out. What song is playing over the speakers? Which song do you want to accompany the final memories people have of you. Why?
The task: you are to pick one song (only one song can be the "final" song) and name the performer of the song. You also must write between 50 and 100 words (no more and no less) explaining your choice.
Be aware: extra credit will not be granted if spelling and/or punctuation errors appear in your post. Keep in mind that songs are enclosed in quotation marks and periods and commas appear to THE LEFT of end quotes, as in: as I'm typing this post I'm listening to Blind Faith's "Can't Find My Way Home."


  • All responses will be kept anonymous.
  • Responses only accepted via email (don't forget to sign your email with your name; either click on the email link or copy/paste the address): murdockm001@hawaii.rr.com
  • Must be received by Thursday, December 18, 10:00 P.M.


EC #8: Caption Contest

Available from Thursday, November 27, through Monday, December 1, 8:00 P.M.
Five points extra credit + more if your response places amongst the favorites when we vote in class.
The extra credit? Write a caption for the following cartoon. What is the man saying to the man in the suit? Responses will be printed out anonymously and your peers will vote for their favorites.

  • All responses will be kept anonymous during the vote.
  • Responses only accepted via email (don't forget to sign your email with your name; either click on the email link or copy/paste the address): murdockm001@hawaii.rr.com
  • Must be received by Monday, December 1, 8:00 P.M.
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EC #7: Caption Contest

Available from Sunday, November 16, through Thursday, November 20, 8:00 P.M.
Five points extra credit + more if your response places amongst the favorites when we vote in class.
The extra credit? Write a caption for the following cartoon. What's the man behind the desk saying? Responses will be printed out anonymously and your peers will vote for their favorites.

  • All responses will be kept anonymous during the vote.
  • Responses only accepted via email (don't forget to sign your email with your name; either click on the email link or copy/paste the address): murdockm001@hawaii.rr.com
  • Must be received by Thursday, November 20, 8:00 P.M.
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EC #6: Caption Contest

Available from Saturday, November 8, through Thursday, November 13, 8:00 P.M.
Five points extra credit + more if your response places amongst the favorites when we vote in class.
The extra credit? Write a caption for the following cartoon Dude! What's the business man saying to his secretary? Responses will be printed out anonymously and your peers will vote for their favorites.

  • All responses will be kept anonymous during the vote.
  • Responses only accepted via email (don't forget to sign your email with your name; either click on the email link or copy/paste the address): murdockm001@hawaii.rr.com
  • Must be received by Thursday, November 13, 8:00 P.M.
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EC #5: Caption Contest

Available from Sunday, October 26 through Friday, October 31, 9:00 P.M.
Five points extra credit + more if your response places amongst the favorites when we vote in class this.
The extra credit? Write a caption for the following cartoon What's the man by the pool saying to the woman? Responses will be printed out anonymously and, next week, your peers will vote for their favorites.

  • All responses will be kept anonymous during the vote.
  • Responses only accepted via email (don't forget to sign your email with your name; either click on the email link or copy/paste the address): murdockm001@hawaii.rr.com>
  • Must be received by Wednesday, October 29, 9:00 P.M.
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EC #4: The Plums

Available from Saturday, September 27 through Wednesday, October 1, 9:00 P.M.
Eleven points extra credit + more if your response places when we vote in class on Friday.
Believe it or not, what follows is one of the more famous poems of the late twentieth century:
This Is Just To Say
by William Carlos Williams

I have eaten
the plums
that were in
the icebox

and which
you were probably
saving
for breakfast

Forgive me
they were delicious
so sweet
and so cold

The poem has been widely parodied. A couple examples, reduced to three lines to make the form of the poem a bit easier to decipher:

I chopped down the house that you had been saving to live in next summer.
I am sorry, but it was morning, and I had nothing to do
and its wooden beams were so inviting.

Last evening we went dancing and I broke your leg.
Forgive me. I was clumsy and
I wanted you here in the wards, where I am the doctor!
(...especially funny since, as we all know, Williams was a practicing physician!)

The extra credit? Construct a (classroom appropriate) parody of William Carlos Williams' "This is just to say."
  • All responses will be kept anonymous.
  • Responses only accepted via email: murdockm001@hawaii.rr.com.
  • Poems must be received by Wednesday, October 1, 9:00 P.M.



EC #3: Caption Contest

Available from Thursday, September 18 through Sunday, September 21, 7:00 P.M.
Five points extra credit + more if your response places amongst the favorites when we vote in class next week.
The extra credit? Write a caption for the following cartoon What's the man in the building saying to the tightrope walker? Responses will be printed out anonymously and, next week, your peers will vote for their favorites.
  • All responses will be kept anonymous during the vote.
  • Responses only accepted via email (don't forget to sign your email with your name!): murdockm001@hawaii.rr.com>
  • Must be received by Sunday, September 21, 7:00 P.M.
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EC #2: Caption Contest

Available from Tuesday, September 9 through Saturday, September 13, 7:00 P.M.
Five points extra credit + more if your response places amongst the favorites when we vote in class next week.
The extra credit? Write a caption for the following cartoon What's the monster saying to his/her friend? Responses will be printed out anonymously and, next week, your peers will vote for their favorites.

  • All responses will be kept anonymous during the vote.
  • Responses only accepted via email (don't forget to sign your email with your name!): murdockm001@hawaii.rr.com>
  • Must be received by Saturday, September 13, 7:00 P.M.
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EC #1: Caption Contest

Available from Monday, September 1 through Sunday, September 7, 7:00 P.M.
Five points extra credit + more if your response places amongst the favorites when we vote in class next week.
The extra credit?** Write a caption for the following cartoon What is the man behind the desk saying? Responses will be printed out anonymously and, next week, your peers will vote for their favorites.

  • All responses will be kept anonymous during the vote.
  • Responses only// accepted via email: murdockm001@hawaii.rr.com
  • Must be received by Saturday, September 7, 10:00 P.M.
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