Finale for Usher & Teaching in Virtual Worlds?

Location: Virtual House of Usher

Is it to be "that's all, folks," in the immortal words of Porky Pig?  In twenty minutes, I start what may be my last-ever work with students inside a virtual world.

We'll see what the future brings, but for now, I'm betting on the Pig. Here's the final scoreboard from the students. Three students not only found eggs but solved the quest therein. Nicely done, Gunters!  Divij in particular came on strong with his work to lift the curse from his "bad egg."

What Happens When You Listen to Students' Requests About SL

Location: Dead

They wanted a combat system and "consequences" at the House of Usher.

And they got me killed. For THEIR final exams!

The dog did it. The students' avatars toast my demise with Absinthe.

Usher Egg-Hunt Finale

Location: Very Close to Egg #5

No one found that clue, but otherwise, we have winners and a new scoreboard.  I am mystified that none of the quests in the five eggs that were located have been done.

As for the online egg-hunt. The Haikus came in with ferocity, and all of them followed the 5-7-5 rhythm for the poems. All of them were very creative and made me laugh, so all our haiku writers got an extra point.

For the cheesiest line in Ready Player One, Beaumont wins for this one:

"Some time later, she leaned over and kissed me. It felt just like all those songs and poems promised it would." (Cline 372) 

I suppose Cline was being ironic, and Wade is a horny teenaged boy who has really fallen hard for Art3mis. But that cheese-factor here earns five wedges of Gorgonzola. 

Both Leah and Rayna submitted interesting analyses of Poe's descriptive language, in comments both interesting and economical. I do like the sense of decline and decay that Leah sniffs out:

The mood of the house of the fall of usher is definitely a mood of suspenseful caveat. From the beginning of the stories description of the house being decrepit, just barely holding itself together, the story is being set up for the house to crumble. Also the fact that the story begins with Roderick in a similar state as the house (mentally and physically) from the start, the reader knows that Roderick is unstable, and that he’s going to go over the edge at some point in time during the story, we just don’t know exactly when. Also the story of the dragon at the end is a definite give-away of the suspenseful nature of this story. As he reads the book, all of the actions and sounds from the story play out, but slowly. First he hears a sound, but he’s unsure if he made it up or not, then the situation escalates to Roderick speaking to himself and the door being banged down, and then Madelyn finally coming in. these are all very suspenseful parts of a very suspenseful tail, and the warning in the story is unclear, but I feel that it is definitely foreboding of something.

Good job, Gunters. Now on to my swan-song teaching with Second Life's simulation of Usher, for the foreseeable future. Traditional papers are a lot less work, but not nearly as fun.

Online Easter-Eggs for Usher Finals

Location: Place where brains get wracked

Score updates are shown. If you have gotten an egg, it's time to e-mail me the solutions to the riddles they contain. I'll bestow a key icon (like those in Ready Player One) beside your scores above once you have reached that point. Divij, this can be your Art3mis moment--get me that Pet-Peeve violation and you'll vault upward and bask in the glory of a key beside your name.

Now on to NEW clues!

I am having a devil of a time coming up with more riddles, tasks, and such for the Virtual House of Usher Final Exams.  But three ideas struck me as interesting, given the tales we have read and and simulation itself. So here we go. You students must reply in the comments section with your answer.

My judgement will be subjective and as capricious as the contents of Roderick Usher's addled mind. Each of these could earn you one extra point.  Here we go: you tasks, Gunters! Be sure you are logged in with your Google account to reply, or at least put your name into the answer.

1. Poe was a master of descriptive language. I want you to re-read "The Fall of the House of Usher" and in a comment of NO MORE THAN 300 words (no easy task!) make the best argument you can for the mood of the story, using the adjectives--and no other parts of speech--that Poe employs. +1 point to winner (not your team). If you win, I'll give you a hint about Usher.
2. Our classmate Carly (now basking in one extra point) called Ready Player One  "cheesy." That is, itself, a fine adjective of its own. So let's have fun with Cline's book. He's a geek like me and can take the abuse. We will have a contest to find the cheesiest sentence in his entire novel. Post your nominations in the comments. Keep in mind that it must be a serious and not ironic sentence. You must do research, but as Wade reminds us (in a sentence that is not at all cheesy) research is easy if  you have no life. +1 point to finder (not your team). If you win, I'll give you a hint about Usher.
3. There have been speculations since the time of Poe's death about his abuse of the opiate Laudanum. We have some clues about it in the House of Usher, in fact.  I don't know that Poe ever drank Absinthe, but we put a tray of the drink in the House, too. Your task: write a haiku (using formal haiku form) in honor of either drink. +1 point to finder (not your team). If you win, I'll give you a hint about Usher. If you manage to Google and steal someone else's haiku, AND I find out, you'll lose your point...and one more!

Note well: all Gunters who want credit for any of these three tasks must  turn in their comment to this blog by MIDNIGHT Sunday. Cue the fiendish laughter.