English 150: A Survey of Literature
Instructor: Genesea M. Carter
Office: Humanities 351
Office Hours: TR 2-3:15
Email: genesea@unm.edu
This course is an introduction to the study and appreciation of literature for non-English majors. The
theme of this course is "The Rhetoric of Fear: How Change Shaped and Influenced Culture, Politics,
and Society." Within this theme, we will read texts situated within the topics of empire, gender,
science, religion, and the working-classes and class issues. Particularly important to grasping the
rhetoric of fear (either furthered by the author or by societal changes) is our examination of the
anxieties embedded within these themes to analyze how they offer us insight into British, Irish, and
American consciousness, values, morals, concerns, and identity constructions. Since this is a survey
course, we will focus solely on the nineteenth century to keep the focus narrow. Readings will include
Bram Stoker's Dracula, Mark Twain’s “Letters from the Earth,” Elizabeth Barrett Browning's "A
Curse for a Nation," Rebecca Harding Davis' Life in the Iron Mills, and J. M. Barrie’s Peter Pan; Or,
the Boy Who Wouldn’t Grow Up.” Our course objective is to move beyond the stories to analyze and
evaluate how cultural changes and advancements influenced and furthered fear-based rhetoric.
Course Outcomes: These course outcomes are designed to build upon your analytical skills (writing,
thinking, researching) with the intention of offering practical tools that will benefit you throughout
your personal, professional, and academic lives:
1. You will learn to recognize 19th c. American, British, and Irish anxieties throughout various
texts and analyze those anxieties within cultural and historical concerns of the period and
nation.
2. You will position your analysis within a larger framework of primary
and secondary texts.
3. You will identify and analyze the nineteenth century texts through cultural,
historical, and rhetorical lenses.
My Teaching Philosophy
You should know that I will serve as consultant and guide in this class, not as the all-knowing dictator.
The goal here is to teach you to make wise decisions for yourself about your own writing and to
complete the class feeling the skills you learned will serve you well in your career, not to force you to
conform to a particular prescribed way of writing. When you write within academic communities or
other contexts, it’s important to consider how to tailor your language to suit the context, as not every
writing context will require you to use the same strategies. So, I teach students to analyze the writing
situations to which they will be asked to respond. Additionally, good writers engage in a writing
process and get feedback from peers about their writing. So, my classes stress planning—considering
and analyzing the relationship between the audience, the author’s purpose, and the genre conventions.
If you’re ever wondering why we’re doing something in this class, don’t hesitate to ask.
Required Primary Texts
Dracula by Bram Stoker (Norton Edition; ISBN 10: 0393970124)
Course Pack from Dane Smith Hall Copy Center, $14.50 (non-refundable)
Close Reading: An Introduction to Literature by Elisabeth A. Howe (ISBN 10: 0132436566)
Computer Requirements
WebCT
All course materials will be on WebCT (can be accessed at vista.unm.edu and you’ll need your banner
ID and password to access the site), where I will post the syllabus, writing assignments, grading
standards, additional readings, quizzes, and discussion questions. All your writing assignments will be
submitted through WebCT.
Microsoft Word
All assignments must be completed in Microsoft Word. You may not submit assignments in any other
word processor format (such as Microsoft Works or WordPerfect) because assignments will be graded
using features found in Microsoft Word.
You must save your assignment as a .doc file or .docx file. If I cannot open the file because it is not in
the format requested, I reserve the right to not accept your assignment and grade it as a zero (0).
Required Work and Grading Scale:
Participation (10%): You will be expected to participate in class discussion, small group work, and
WebCT homework.
Quizzes (14%): There will be about 14 quizzes taken on WebCT. There is no tricking here, but I want
to make sure you read and that you “get it.”
Periodical Research Essays (15%): You will write three (two page, double-spaced) research papers on
primary research you have been conducting over the semester. I encourage you to use these papers to
garner insight into 19th c. American, British, and Irish anxieties, fears, concerns, etc. On the day these
papers are due, please come prepared to spend 5 minutes sharing your research. There will be a prompt
and rubric for this assignment. MLA formatting.
Reading Response Essays (21%): You will write three (three page, double-spaced) papers on the texts
we have been reading this semester. I encourage you to use these papers to tease out ideas, to challenge
your own thinking and assumptions, and to make links between texts, ideas, cultures, etc. There will be
a prompt and rubric for this assignment. MLA formatting.
Midterm (20%): This will include short passage identification responses and short essay responses. A
long essay response may be included.
Final Exam (20%): This final exam will include a short essay response and a long essay response. You
will be given question choices.
Grading Scale:
A+
A
AB+
97-100%
93+
90-92%
87-89.9%
B
BC+
84-86.9%
80-83.9%
77-79.9%
C
CD+
74-76.9%
70-73.9%
67-69.9%
D
DF
64-66.9%
60-63.9%
-59.9%
Submitting Papers
All assignments will be submitted through WebCT’s “Assignment” tab. You should upload a Word
document (either DOC, or DOCX files) where I will then add comments and submit back to you. If
you’re having problems with WebCT, it’s your responsibility to email the assignment to me (as an
attachment and pasted into the email) before the due date/time. If you can’t do this, it’s your
responsibility to print out the assignment and bring it to class. All papers should be written in MLA
format. See Purdue OWL for guidelines.
Late Work
I do not accept late work unless we make an arrangement beforehand. If you have an extenuating
circumstance, you must contact me 24 hours in advance.
Attendance
Our class will be a blend of lecture and discussion. I expect you to attend every class, so that you can
participate to the fullest. If you are absent, you are still responsible for the material that day. Office
hours and email are not to be used to “catch-up” on missed classes. Note: I begin class promptly on
time. Arriving late, leaving class early or sleeping in class is disruptive and disrespectful to your
classmates and me. See UNM’s attendance policy.
You have four absences before I am authorized to drop you from the course.
Collaborative Work
Writing in academic and professional discourse communities is collaboratively minded. Whether you
are video conferencing or completing group projects, learning how to successfully work with a variety
of personalities becomes very important. Therefore, in this class I will ask you to complete some
assignments in groups and to critique one another’s writing. Each group member is responsible for
completing the task outlined for him/her in the assignments. I will provide specific instructions for
each group activity or assignment. Failing to contribute to group work will negatively affect your
rapport with classmates and your grade. Collaboration work (and sharing each other’s writing) will
include
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In group or one-on-one peer review;
As anonymous excerpts with the entire class;
In online group discussions.
Email
I will be sending you emails through WebCT, so you will need to log into WebCT to retrieve them.
Please check your email before class as I will often email you throughout the week. I will be checking
my email on a daily basis; however, if you email me right before class, I may not have read it.
Classroom Conduct Caveat
UNM students and instructors are bound by the terms of the Student Code of Conduct.
Please be aware of your “presence” in class—I expect you to have a positive and respectful attitude; if
you disagree with someone, I expect you to handle the disagreement in a mature manner. Be aware that
heterosexist, homophobic, racially charged language create a hostile and uncomfortable learning
environment.
I expect every member of the class, as I expect myself, to treat each classmate with sincere respect,
thoughtfulness and compassion. We have a wonderful opportunity to develop as academics in this
class, but only if we act with concern for our classmates’ growth, as well as our own, and with sincere
respect for each other’s feelings.
When class is in session, you should be focused on the work and discussion at hand. As well, all
electronics need to be put away and silenced during class. If you need to take an important call, go out
in the hallway. I do not have any qualms asking you to leave the classroom if you are disruptive,
unprepared, or disrespectful. Repeated disruptive and disrespectful actions may lead to dismissal from
the course.
English Department Plagiarism Policies and Procedures
“Plagiarism” is a type of academic dishonesty. It occurs when writers deliberately use another person’s
language, ideas, or materials and present them as their own without acknowledging the source. Every
first-year writing class covers plagiarism in great detail, so there is little excuse for failing to
understand what constitutes plagiarism or the consequences that will result.
Types of Plagiarism
Plagiarism can include any of the following:
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Failing to quote material taken from another source.
Failing to cite material taken from another source.
Submitting writing that was written by another person or for another class.
Submitting writing that was substantially edited by another person.
Procedures for Handling Plagiarism Cases
If I think a student may have plagiarized, I will follow these steps:
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Meet privately with the student and the Core Writing director or other instructor to
discuss the assignment in question and the evidence of plagiarism;
Identify the appropriate consequence;
File a report with the Dean of Students;
If you are an athlete, I will contact Henry Villegas, Director of the Lobo Center for
Student Athlete Success.
Possible Consequences
I decide the academic consequence to be imposed, depending on the seriousness of the
violation. Sanctions include the following:
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Adequately redo or revise the assignment in question;
Fail the assignment in question;
Be dropped from the class with a WF, a W, or a WP; or
Fail the class.
Be subject to more severe sanctions imposed by the Dean of Students.
All students suspected of plagiarism will be reported to the Dean of Students, who maintains a file of
past plagiarism cases. The UNM Student Code of Conduct also addresses Academic Dishonesty at
http://pathfinder.unm.edu/policies.htm. See UNM’s policies on plagiarism.
Sexual Harassment and Respectful Campus Policies
The English Department and the Core Writing program are committed to providing a safe, productive,
and harassment-free workplace for instructors and students. Therefore, the English Department affirms
its commitment to the joint responsibility of instructors and students to foster and maintain a positive
learning environment. For information and assistance, consult the UNM Office of Equal Opportunity.
Equal Access
If you have a qualified disability that requires some form of an accommodation to ensure your equal
access to learning in this class, please see me as soon as possible so that we can work together to
address your needs. You may contact Accessibility Services in Mesa Vista Hall 2021 @ 277-3506.
Need Writing Assistance?
You can get additional help from trained tutors at CAPS (third floor of Zimmerman library) and either
face to face or online.
Drop Policy
Dropping or being dropped from a course can affect your GPA, enrollment status and financial
aid/award status. Always talk to me before it’s too late about the possible consequences of a drop and
opportunities for avoiding it.
A few things to consider:
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A drop before the end of the third week in a sixteen-week semester will not appear on your
transcript, and you will not earn credit hours or a grade in the course.
Your instructor can drop you from the course at any point in the semester before finals for
violating attendance policy.
If you, me, or the Dean of Students initiates a drop after the end of the third week in a sixteenweek semester, you will receive either a WP of WF based on whether or not you are passing
the course at the time of the drop; although neither a WP nor WF earns you credit hours for the
course, both appear on your transcript, and a WF also affects your GPA as would an F.
If no drop is initiated by the end of the semester by any party, then based on your performance
and attendance I will use my discretion to decide whether to assign you a grade from A+ to F or
a W, which is equivalent to the WP above.