Legacy of Success

Thanks to all who made this seminar such a success in Fall 2023. I’m leaving this page active for students interested in taking it in the future. Dates and assignments will vary next time, but you can get a sense of what the general expectations will be.

THE MOST UP TO DATE TIMELINE

Monday, August 21: Introduction

Wednesday, August 23: Discussion of the Syllabus and Dr. Obenauf’s Guide to Writing and Reasoning Like a Scholar (in coursepack, available for a nominal fee at the UNM Copy Center on the first floor of Dane Smith Hall)
AND install Microsoft Word through your UNM webmail tab (see instructions below in the section on “Written Work”)
AND download my MLA template to use for all of your written work in Legacy of Success
[Dr. Obenauf will circulate the reflection questions for Vonnegut today]

Monday, August 28: Vonnegut, “The Foster Portfolio” (short story in coursepack) [Dr. Obenauf will circulate the reflection questions for Horace today] (first reaction paper is due today–you will need to write on any 10 of our 14 texts and turn in your two-page essay at the start of class on the first day a reading is due–I recommend writing several early in the semester so that you can get my feedback and get into the swing of things right away)

Wednesday, August 30: Vonnegut, “The Foster Portfolio” (continued); Horace, Satires (all selections in coursepack: 1.1, 1.2, 1.6, 2.2, 2.6, and 2.8) [2 hours to read carefully] (note: it’s OK with me if you cite page numbers rather than line numbers for poetry in your reaction papers on Horace)

Monday, September 4: LABOR DAY: NO CLASS

Wednesday, September 6: Horace, selected Satires (continued) [Dr. Obenauf will circulate the reflection questions for Juvenal today]

Monday, September 11: Horace, selected Satires (continued); Juvenal, Satires (selections in coursepack: 1, 3, 5, 8, and 10) [2 hours to read carefully] (note: it’s OK with me if you cite page numbers rather than line numbers for poetry in your reaction papers on Juvenal, due today)

Wednesday, September 13: Juvenal, Satires (continued) [Dr. Obenauf will circulate the reflection questions for Petronius today]

Monday, September 18: Petronius, “Dinner with Trimalchio” from The Satyricon [2 hours to read carefully] [Dr. Obenauf will circulate the reflection questions for “Lanval” and will announce the instructions for the First Analytical Paper today]

Wednesday, September 20: Petronius, “Dinner with Trimalchio” (continued); GROUP PRESENTATION ON ANCIENT ROME [Dr. Obenauf will circulate the reflection questions for “Sir Orfeo” today]

Monday, September 25: Marie de France, “Lanval” (in coursepack) [2 hours to read carefully] (note: I’ve taken the trouble of counting out line numbers in “Lanval,” even though MLA says not to count out unnumbered things, because I want you to practice citing line numbers instead of page numbers in your parenthetical references for poetry, and you should retain the bibliographic entry for the PDF in the coursepack that I provide in my sample MLA template) [Dr. Obenauf will circulate the reflection questions for Mankind today]

Wednesday, September 27: Marie de France, “Lanval” (continued); Trans. Tolkien, “Sir Orfeo” (in coursepack) [1 hour to read carefully]; (note: use the line numbers rather than page numbers for your in-text citations on “Sir Orfeo”)

Monday, October 2: “Sir Orfeo” (continued); Mankind (in coursepack) is due today [2 hours to read carefully]

Wednesday, October 4: Mankind (continued); please reread my Guide to Writing for today; GROUP PRESENTATION ON THE MIDDLE AGES IS NOW TODAY

Monday, October 9: Mankind (continued)

Wednesday, October 11: Continued discussion of the medieval materials; SHORTER ANALYTICAL PAPER IS NOW DUE TODAY!! [Dr. Obenauf will circulate the reflection questions for Dr. Faustus and spend a little too much time explaining the rich history of Renaissance texts and how modern editions are made, to prepare you to use the flawed Dover Thrift Edition]

Monday, October 16: Marlowe, Doctor Faustus using my handout to make the most of our “Faustian Bargain” [3 hours to read carefully] note: you should cite page numbers instead of line numbers for Dr. Faustus, but you still need to show the line breaks in the poetry — so, basically, treat this as you did Horace, Juvenal, and Mankind); GROUP PRESENTATION ON THE RENAISSANCE IS TODAY

Wednesday, October 18: Marlowe, Doctor Faustus (continued); The analytical paper is due in final form today, using My Revision Triage Checklist to revise your paper and make it shine [Dr. Obenauf will circulate the reflection questions for Rasselas today]

Monday, October 23: Johnson, Rasselas [4 hours to read carefully]

Wednesday, October 25: Johnson, Rasselas (continued) [Dr. Obenauf will circulate the reflection questions for Benjamin Franklin today]

Monday, October 30: Johnson, Rasselas (continued)

Wednesday, November 1: Franklin, Autobiography [3 hours to read carefully] [Dr. Obenauf will announce reflection questions for Don Giovanni today]

Monday, November 6: Franklin, Autobiography (continued); GROUP PRESENTATION ON THE ENLIGHTENMENT IS NOW TODAY

Wednesday, November 8: Franklin, Autobiography (continued) [Dr. Obenauf will circulate the reflection questions for the Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass today]

Monday, November 13: Franklin, Autobiography (continued); Frederick Douglass, Narrative of the Life [3 hours to read carefully]; [Dr. Obenauf will circulate the instructions for the final project today]

Wednesday, November 15: Frederick Douglass, Narrative of the Life (continued) [Note: I will accept reaction papers on Douglass on 11/15/23 since we didn’t begin our discussion on Monday] [Dr. Obenauf will circulate the reflection questions for Gentlemen Prefer Blondes today]

Monday, November 20: Anita Loos, Gentlemen Prefer Blondes [4 hours to read carefully] [Dr. Obenauf will circulate the reflection questions for The Great Gatsby today]

Wednesday, November 22: NO CLASS SINCE FOLKS TEND TO TRAVEL WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON BEFORE THANKSGIVING

Monday, November 27: Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby [4 hours to read carefully, even if you’ve read it before]; GROUP PRESENTATION ON THE ROARING TWENTIES IS TODAY

Wednesday, November 29: Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby (continued)

Monday, December 4: Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby (continued); OPTIONAL: Mozart and da Ponte, Don Giovanni [you may now write a reaction paper on Don Giovanni and submit it anytime before the end of the semester, and we’ll reduce the number of reaction papers from 10 to 9]

Wednesday, December 6: Course summary; ALL OUTSTANDING LECTURE SUMMARIES ARE DUE BY TODAY. THE FINAL PROJECT IS DUE TODAY IN HARD COPY IN CLASS AND BY EMAIL BY MIDNIGHT—BE PREPARED TO SPEND BETWEEN 60 AND 90 SECONDS DESCRIBING YOUR FINAL PROJECT AND THE MAIN FINDING OF YOUR RESEARCH TO THE CLASS—AND TO ANSWER QUESTIONS FROM YOUR CLASSMATES ABOUT YOUR FINDINGS. CONGRATULATIONS!! YOU MADE IT!!

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ASSIGNMENTS AND IMPORTANT COURSE DOCUMENTS

• Legacy of Success Syllabus, Fall 2023.  This is the same document I circulated by email and discussed the first week of class.  Most of the information is reproduced below on this website.  The timeline, above, will always be up-to-date.
• Sample MLA Document (template) for you to download and use as the basis for all your written work in this class. I last updated this on 3/3/23 and consider it a work in progress. If you use this document, your margins, typeface, line spacing, etc. are likely to be correct.  It is crucial that you follow the conventions of style and formatting, and this document will put you in a strong position to make sure your paper is 12pt Times New Roman, double spaced, 24 lines per page, with margins that print at 1″.  You should not change the settings unless you know what you are doing and have good reason to do so.  You can get a copy of Microsoft Word through your UNM Webmail (Google Documents, Apple Pages, etc. will not produce a proper MLA-formatted document).
• Dr. Obenauf’s Guide to Writing and Reasoning Like a Scholar.  I consider this essential to your success in this course.  This is the same version as in your coursepack.  I will likely refer you to specific sections of it in my comments on your papers.  Read it carefully and ask if you have any questions about the advice in it.
• Instructions for the First Analytical Paper. I circulated and discussed the expectations for this essay in class on 9/18/23. Please ask if you have any questions about what you are supposed to do. It is important that you follow the instructions here so that you can learn the things you are supposed to learn in this class. Also, have fun!
  
• Instructions for the Final Project, due the last day of class. I circulated and discussed the expectations on 113/13/23. Please ask about any questions you have as you work on your masterpiece.
• My famous Revision Triage Checklist, which you should seriously consider using to hold yourself accountable in all of your college writing.
• Richard Obenauf’s Translation of the late medieval morality play Mankind so that you can cite the precise URL of the PDF that’s included in your coursepack.
• To watch Mozart and da Ponte, Don Giovanni you may be able to obtain a video at the Fine Arts Library or purchase one for your collection. However, the easiest thing is to stream it through Zimmerman (http://elibrary.unm.edu/ then search “Don Giovanni.” Under “Format” select “See All” and scroll down to “eVideo” under “Video.” You can then stream the movie to your computer. If you are off campus you will need to login through the library’s proxy server.

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LINKS AND RECOMMENDED READING
(I WILL UPDATE THIS LIST FREQUENTLY THROUGHOUT THE SEMESTER)

• The Oxford English Dictionary off-campus proxy server login through UNM Libraries (on campus: http://www.oed.com)
• The Shadow Syllabus by Sonya Huber, which I wish I’d written for my students.  It’s an imaginary syllabus of good advice that you can use to get the most out of this class, and probably most of your classes, to supplement the actual binding syllabus to go with any course.
• “Writing in College: Some Crucial Differences Between High School and College Writing” by Joseph M. Williams and Lawrence McEnerney, professors at the University of Chicago. Not all of their tips will apply to our class, but this page provides some helpful clues as you transition into more advanced writers and thinkers as students in the Honors College at UNM.
• What Your Professor’s Remarks on Your College English Paper Really Mean, a hilarious (at least to me) satire from the website McSweeney’s, which has a lot of satire about teaching writing at the college level. I hope you find this funny and perhaps even insightful.
• “You’ll Never Be Famous–And That’s OK” by Emily Esfahani Smith in an “On Campus” opinion essay for the New York Times, from September 2017. I recently came across this piece and thought it was delightfully relevant to the themes of our class, even during the pandemic when folks seem to be lowering some of their aspirations a bit.
• The Pleasures and Perils of the Passive by Constance Hale, an old essay she wrote for the New York Times in 2012 that you may enjoy reading, especially if you are prone to using the passive voice in your writing.
• The New York Times Magazine’s 1619 Project, also available here as a PDF through the Pulitzer Center for people who don’t subscribe to the Times. At the 400th anniversary of slavery in America, in August 2019 the Times published an immense issue of its Sunday Magazine in collaboration with scholars and teachers intended to reexamine the history of the “peculiar institution.” I encourage you to read the essays and view the photographs, poems, and other contributions. Though published in a newspaper rather than in a scholarly journal, and though its tone approaches a manifesto in places, the 1619 Project would be an acceptable source for a creative final project set in America before the Civil War.
• “American Gentry” by Patrick Wyman in The Atlantic, in which he notes that ancient Roman elites owned rural estates like we see described in Horace, Juvenal, and Petronius but were based out of the city. He contrasts that model with slaveholders in the antebellum American South, who “loved to read the classics and explicitly modeled itself after the aristocracies of Greco-Roman antiquity” but who were “fundamentally rural.” His historical analysis matches the kinds of conclusions we will be drawing from the primary materials in our class, and I think you’ll appreciate being able follow his argument as a result of the readings in our course.
• George Lakoff’s essay “Metaphor, Morality, and Politics,” which I inevitably mention in all of my classes, may help you see some long legacies from the medieval world that run through to the present. He doesn’t use the phrase “the Great Chain of Being,” but he makes a case for its continued impact in the “strict father morality” he associates with a conservative worldview in American politics. Lakoff is a cognitive linguist. If these ideas interest you, I’d encourage you to take my other classes, where we will draw on his thinking specifically.

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HOW TO GET THE MOST OUT OF THIS COURSE

First and foremost, I urge you to read instructions and feedback carefully.  I know you are busy.  There are reasons for everything I will ask you to do this semester.  I will do my best to explain the rationale behind each assignment.  I will provide you with clear advice in this syllabus, in my Guide to Writing and Reasoning Like a Scholar, in the comments on your papers, and in other ways.  If you are ever in doubt about what to do, you should ask for clarification in class, in office hours, or by email.

To master the skills this course can teach you, you will need to slow down and approach everything with your full attention.  For instance, you will be staring at a lot of screens this fall, and so it is my sincere hope that you use Legacy of Success as an analog oasis.  I hope you will make a point of writing in your journal in longhand before each reading and that you will savor our readings in their printed versions.  Now more than ever, you have an opportunity not only to practice focusing on a single task for extended periods of time—but to use this unplugged time as an escape from some of the other pressures of the present.  If you don’t already own a decent dictionary, you should consider buying one.  A print dictionary will allow you to look up unfamiliar words without getting sucked into your phone.

As you make the transition from high school to college, you will find that the standards and deadlines in Honors are a bit more stringent than what you may be used to.  I believe you are up for the challenge, but it will take some adjustment and a conscious commitment to dotting every i and crossing every t.

There are no shortcuts in genuine learning.  This is why—even under the best of circumstances—the Legacy seminar is a rite of passage for Honors students.  You need more practice in giving the level of attention to detail needed for success at the college level.  Indeed, past students have reported that Legacy of Success is one of the most challenging courses they take at UNM—but that the effort is worth it in the long run.  For example, compared with English classes you may have taken in high school, this course will ask you to work much more closely with textual evidence to build nuanced, precise arguments without any fluff or filler, and so this class will demand the same attention you would devote to other classes where the skills, concepts, and materials are entirely new.

I am committed to helping you get up to speed in our brief time together.  The assignments in this class are intended to push you to grow and to think in new ways, and are graded more carefully than you have likely experienced in the past—meaning that you will need to cultivate some new skills in order to get the most out of Legacy of Success.  I will show you how to meet the high standards in Honors with examples in seminar, with many handouts and guides, and with highly individualized feedback.  I have developed these materials for your benefit, and I believe you will find that taking the time to understand my advice will help you succeed in this class—and in your future classes in Honors and in other disciplines, as well as in your life after graduation.

In our effort to avoid spewing BS, we will practice thinking like historians and anthropologists—in discussion as in your papers in this class, you should avoid writing about how a fictional character made you “feel” or what alternative explanation for an author’s literary choices you might come up with—your primary task is to follow the evidence to see where it leads and express your interpretation as precisely and coherently as possible.  I am interested in seeing your original interpretations of historical works this fall.  Your arguments don’t have to be unique, but you will need to put in the time to make sure that they are entirely yours.

Although the literature on our syllabus is sublime, some of it is quite difficult to understand at first.  Rather than relying on summaries and other peoples’ interpretations—which may be inaccurate or may cloud your analysis of the course readings—you should read slowly and with a dictionary, taking notes and coming to class with questions you were unable to answer on your own.  There are no shortcuts.  It is normal to be a little confused at times.  That is part of the process.  It is worth investing your time in this class so that your future classes will be easier.

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YOUR GRADE

There are many ways to assess student learning.  In this class, the main form of assessment will be the feedback on your work.  The comments you get on your papers are for your benefit.  You should read my notes and ask questions so that you can follow up on each piece of advice as you work on each subsequent essay.

In addition to the handwritten and typed notes, I will assign letter grades to your formal writing (i.e., the Analytical Paper and your Final Project) and grade the shorter work on a pass/fail basis.  These grades are a necessary evil:  the grade you earn on each assignment is far less important than the feedback you receive and the progress you make over the course of the semester.  You should not fixate on the grades.  Just keep doing your best and strive to do even better next time.

30% Participation, including group presentation
70% Written work
20% Ungraded work (response papers and lecture summaries)
20% Shorter Analytical Paper
30% Final Project

Your semester grade will follow the Honors College’s unique grading system according to these criteria:

• A semester grade of A+, A, or A– will be recorded on your university transcript as an A.  An “A” signifies exemplary work that fully meets Honors expectations and will compute into your academic GPA.
• A semester grade of B+ through C+ will be recorded on your university transcript as “CR.”  A grade of Credit in this course signals that you participated meaningfully in class discussion and that you made an earnest attempt to meet the basic norms of scholarly writing even if your work did not consistently meet Honors-level expectations for writing and rigor.  You will receive credit towards graduation for your satisfactory work in this class, but your grade will not factor into your academic GPA.
• A semester grade of C or below will be recorded on your university transcript as “NC.”  A grade of No Credit signals a failure to meet basic conventions of scholarly work, such as respect for deadlines, formatting, grammar, accuracy in citations and bibliographies, and/or significant problems in attendance and participation.  Even if your points add up to a passing grade, it is not possible to pass this course if your final project is incoherent or lacks appropriate citations or an accurate bibliography.  Thus, a grade of NC indicates unacceptable work and is not computed into your GPA or counted towards graduation.

I believe that every student enrolled in this seminar is capable of earning an A for the semester in Legacy of Success.  Since I do not grade on a curve, nothing would delight me more than to turn in all As in December.

CLASS PARTICIPATION

Attendance:  We all benefit from hearing your perspectives in class discussion.  Officially, I may lower your participation grade for each unexcused absence.  Your consistent attendance and contribution to class discussion are crucial to the success of this small seminar.  And although I expect you to be ready to begin on time, it’s better to be late than not to come at all.  Consistent tardiness will affect your participation grade in proportion to the consistency of your disruption.  Please keep in touch with me if you must miss class.  If you are experiencing physical or academic barriers, or concerns related to mental health, physical health and/or COVID-19, please consult with me after class, via email, or during office hours.  I want to help you succeed in this class, and I will do everything within my power to shepherd you through to December.  We will work together on a case-by-case basis as issues arise.

Book policy:  Bring the book we’re reading to every class session.  We will need to cite evidence for every claim we make.  To practice quoting the text extensively during class discussion in preparation for your papers, we will all (literally) need to be on the same page.  I have prepared a photocopied coursepack of shorter readings and ordered the most inexpensive editions I could find of longer books to make sure that you can afford the materials for this class, and you are expected to use these physical printed materials, in the exact editions I have requested.  Our classroom is both a NO-B.S. ZONE and a safe space to try out new ideas; the best ideas are anchored in concrete evidence; without your book, you cannot cite evidence for your claims, and therefore you cannot participate meaningfully in discussion.  Since you may be dismissed from class and marked “absent” for the day if you do not have your book with you, if you realize you’ve forgotten your book, you should tell your instructor immediately and ask permission to share with a classmate or to use an electronic version for that day only.

Participation and preparation:  Honors seminars are neither lectures nor bull sessions; active attendance is a part of participation, and so your presence alone does not guarantee participation points.  You are encouraged to contribute when you have something thoughtful to say…which means coming to class thoroughly prepared to discuss the day’s readings with an open mind.  The best way to prepare is to read the course materials attentively, looking up unfamiliar words and concepts, and generally considering the major issues of the works before we begin our discussions.

Electronics use:  The emphasis in a seminar is on conversation.  In order to be fully engaged in our discussions, you should put away your electronic devices when you are in class so that you can devote your total attention to what your classmates are saying and to what you can contribute.  I again ask that you use PRINT editions of the texts we will be discussing so that you can leave your phones, computers, tablets, e-readers, and other distractions in your bags.  Pen and paper should do fine for your note taking in Honors.  If you must use electronics during class, you will need to resist the temptation to check social media or work on other projects.

Reading journal:  In addition to your normal class notes, you will need a separate notebook—a reading journal—to use for reflection throughout the semester.  For each reading, I will announce some reflection questions for you to consider in your private reading journal.  I recommend tackling the questions before attacking the reading so that you can see how your ideas compare with those of the text.  This will take approximately one to two hours per text and it is a significant part of this course.  You will draw on your personal responses in your short reflection papers, and your observations about the readings will help you prepare for class discussion.  This reading journal is strictly confidential—you will never, ever be required to share its contents with me or with any of your classmates.  You are expected to keep up with it.

Following up by email:  Although Honors expects all students to contribute to our daily seminar discussion, you may not be able to express every idea that you would like to explore in our limited time.  I encourage you to email me with your observations, questions, or even links to relevant articles.  Past students have found it helpful to articulate an idea by explaining it in an email to me, and this is one way for introverted students to show that they are truly engaged in the course.

Group presentation:  At the beginning of the semester you will be divided into five groups of three or four students each.  Each group will be responsible for preparing a presentation of approximately 15 minutes and no more than 20 minutes in length on life in Ancient Rome, the Middle Ages, the Renaissance, the Enlightenment, or the Roaring Twenties.  You are also responsible as a group for creating two handouts for your classmates’ reference:  1) a timeline of the major events of your period, and 2) an annotated bibliography of the five best resources on your period (print and electronic).  You should highlight the major historical, literary, artistic, philosophical, social, and political developments, chosen with an eye towards our theme of success in that society.  Feel free to include examples of music, art, and architecture to help bring your period to life.  The best presentations will have been rehearsed at least three times before class.  Please refrain from using PowerPoint EXCEPT as a vehicle for a slideshow of pictures of art, architecture, maps, etc.  Your slideshow must contain no text other than captions for your images.  Thank you.

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WRITTEN WORK

You are capable of meeting the expectations for writing in this class.  My goal is to help you develop habits that become automatic so that you can apply the skills you learn in Legacy of Success in all your classes and in your life beyond graduation.

Legacy of Success has a heavy writing component because it is meant to prepare you for the demands of reasoning and communicating at a very high level.  I will offer you plenty of advice as you prepare to write and revise your papers, and, after you turn them in, I will provide ample feedback on your papers, including marginal annotations and typed comments so that you can continue to improve your writing, no matter how well you write at the start of the term.  You should review these notes carefully.

I take it as a given that you will use the MLA template I have provided on the course website so that you can focus your energy on your writing and argumentation and I can focus my energy on responding to your writing and argumentation.  I have also provided a Guide to Writing and Reasoning Like a Scholar in the coursepack for this class to help you produce the sort of writing we are looking for in Honors, regardless of what writing classes you may (or may not) have had in high school or college.

For this class you will need to install Microsoft Word to your computer (and NOT just use the online version, or Google Docs, or Pages, etc.).  You can get it for free as a UNM student through your webmail page.  Look for the matrix of nine dots in the upper left corner (technically known as the “waffle iron”), and click it to reveal a list of various webapps.  You don’t want those webapps, but above that list is a link with an arrow that says “Office.”  Click that and you’ll go to office.com but logged in with your UNM credentials.  At the top right of that page there’s a big button that says “Install Office.”  Click the button and follow the instructions.  Once you have Word on your computer, you’ll be ready to download my MLA template from the course website that will enable you to produce properly formatted MLA documents.

There will be numerous other handouts and tools provided to you this semester to help you succeed in this class.  All of these tools are there for your benefit.  You should use them to hold yourself accountable and to help yourself develop writing and critical thinking skills that will serve you for the rest of your life.

Since you will not be permitted to rewrite any of your papers in this class, I urge you to do a good job the first time and request guidance and extensions if necessary.  That said, you have the tools to get full credit for all of your work.  I would much rather spend my time commenting on your ideas and argumentation than on your formatting and grammar.  You don’t need me to tell you things you already know—if you rush through your drafts and skip the revision process, my feedback will be less helpful to you than if I am able to respond to your strongest effort.  To help nudge you towards using the course materials sooner rather than later, this semester there will be a penalty of one letter grade for each significant formatting or proofreading issue.  I look forward to seeing what you come up with!

I have provided you with a thorough guide to writing and reasoning like a scholar in your coursepack, which will help you teach yourself how to meet the expectations of the formal analytical essays in this class, including the analytical portions of your term paper.  You must proofread your work carefully before you turn it in.  Please ask for help if you are struggling to meet these expectations, as there is no extra credit in Legacy of Success.

Assignments are due at the start of class in hard copy.  If we must pivot to remote instruction, you will need to submit your essays by email before the time the scheduled Zoom meeting begins, crafting a brief but professional message describing the contents of the attached MS-Word document.  I will return your documents as quickly as I am able.  I thank you for your patience.

You are expected to follow the latest MLA style guide and to document your sources meticulously.  For example, all work should be exactly double-spaced in a 12-pt. Times New Roman typeface, rendered with 1” margins, and therefore 24 lines of text per page; the page number and your name must appear in the upper right corner of each and every page.  Please print all documents single sided.  You must neatly staple or paperclip your pages together:  loose or crimped pages will not be accepted.  I will not grade any paper that fails to meet the minimum expectations for length, formatting, proofreading, or rigor of citations and bibliographies.  A template is available on my websites, http://success.obenauf.net and http://www.richardobenauf.com.  For additional examples, consult your MLA Handbook and see http://style.mla.org.

As you write, you should consult references like The Elements of Style, a good dictionary, your MLA Handbook, and Dr. Obenauf’s Guide to Writing and Reasoning Like a Scholar.  I expect your very best.  As a rule of thumb,

• A papers open with an introduction that gives sufficient context without overwhelming the reader with irrelevant information and offer a concrete thesis statement at the end of the introduction.  The body of an A paper is meticulously organized and well polished, taking a serious tone as it persuasively guides the reader through rigorously cited evidence and careful original analysis.  Its conclusion takes the analysis a step further and considers the broader implications of the project’s analysis, avoiding recapping or simply summarizing what has already been said.  The bibliography is accurate.  In short, an A paper follows the conventions of style and formatting described in the MLA Handbook and in Dr. Obenauf’s Guide to Writing and Reasoning Like a Scholar.
• B papers make an earnest attempt at all of the traits of an A paper, but do not fully meet these expectations.
• C papers struggle to meet these basic expectations but show a sincere attempt at intellectual honesty and rigor.
• D papers make reasonable use of evidence but are too incoherent to build a persuasive argument.
• F papers are intellectually dishonest or otherwise fail to meet the most basic expectations of college writing as described in Dr. Obenauf’s Guide to Writing and Reasoning Like a Scholar.  Coherent papers may be returned with an F if they do not conform to the norms of formatting, if they do not present sufficient evidence to build a persuasive argument, or if they do not respond to the paper prompt as assigned.  Papers below the minimum length requirement cannot answer the assignment as described and so they will be returned with an F.

All work must be submitted by the beginning of class on the day it is due.  I am reasonable about extensions, but you must talk to me—or e-mail me—ahead of time if you think you will need an exception.  Otherwise, late work will be penalized one letter grade for each day it is late.

There are four kinds of papers you will submit in Legacy of Success:

• Your ten short response papers are an exercise in being both deep and brief.
  
  They are meant to help you practice summarizing course content into your own words while making connections from the past to the present.  They will be no less than one full page but no more than two full pages of text, double spaced, plus an accurate Work (or Works) Cited page.
  
  These short reflection essays should expand on topics you first explored in your private reading journal, but there is no assigned topic beyond finding a connection to the assigned reading.  You should use these to show a personal link to the course materials as well as a targeted if preliminary scholarly analysis of the work, which you should do without consulting any outside sources, summaries, or commentaries, or using AI tools such as ChatGPT.
  
  They are due on the first day we discuss a text; you must write on 10 out of the 14 works on our syllabus in order to get credit for this requirement.  I will aim to announce the questions for reflection in your private journal ahead of time so that you have more than one day to answer the questions on your own, read the text carefully, and still have time to write and revise your brief response before we discuss the text in class.  I recommend that you write as many early in the semester as possible so that you aren’t scrambling to meet the minimum later on when your other classes also become more demanding.
  
  For each assigned text, you should 1) respond to my reflection questions in your private journal, 2) read the work carefully and analytically, and then 3) bring these two aspects together by writing your two-page reflection paper that concisely yet elegantly marries your personal experience to our course reading.
  
  Although these essays should be personal and reflective in nature, you must argue them with concrete evidence.  Part of the challenge is to strike a balance of personal and analytical commentary, writing neither an entirely personal essay nor an entirely analytical paper.  A personal anecdote drawn from your life would make a suitable opening; you should then comment on how the reading deals with a similar issue, using rigorously-cited quotations from the text; to conclude, you could return to your opening comments or even quote or paraphrase your initial response in your reading journal that provoked you to write on the particular topic.
  
  Besides obliging you to read the text in full before class, these papers serve three main functions.  First, your opening and closing frame gives you a chance to explore and demonstrate your response to the text from a personal perspective so that we can focus on its historical perspective during class time.  Second, the paragraph or two of analysis at the heart of the essay will give you an opportunity to build a brief argument using the techniques I describe in the third step of writing in my Guide to Writing and Reasoning Like a Scholar (pp. 13-15).  Third, you will become much more comfortable using MLA formatting and producing correct bibliographical references.  The skills you cultivate through the second and third of these functions will help you write your formal analytical papers in this class.
  
  In order to avoid the pitfalls of arguing too broadly (such as by attempting to make sweeping suggestions about “society” or “human nature”), you should argue with concrete examples, which can include personal anecdotes and quotes from your journal.  Anecdotes from your own experience can make a useful point of comparison for understanding how other people in other times and places dealt with similar situations.
  
  I will comment on these lightly and grade them on a pass/fail basis.  Essays that are incoherent or that have clearly not been proofread will not receive credit.  A pattern of especially good or especially sloppy work will affect your grade.  You must submit all ten of them in order to receive credit for this part of your grade, and you will not be permitted to make up essays later in the semester.  I will not generally accept late response papers.  If you know you will be absent on the day one is due, you must submit it the class before or arrange ahead of time to submit it by email.
• Honors considers it important that students enrich their knowledge overall as well as gain experience attending academic lectures and exhibits.  You will need to attend at least two scholarly lectures hosted by Honors or held elsewhere on campus this fall and write up your reaction to what you learned for someone who was not present for the event and who is unfamiliar with its topic.  These two lecture summaries will be similar in length to the short response papers (no less than one full page and no more than two full pages), and will likewise be graded on a pass/fail basis.  Your lecture summary should include 1) Identify who gave the lecture, as well as when and where the lecture took place; 2) Explain the information provided in the lecture; and 3) Evaluate the lecture in terms of its impact on you.
  
  These should be well-polished little reviews.  No bibliography is required.
  
  As an educated member of our society, now is the perfect time to start attending events on campus and in the community.  Announcements will be posted on the Honors College listserv, on flyers around the Honors Center, and by email from your instructor, or, with my approval, any other scholarly lecture on campus or in the community.  There will likely be remote options, as well.  You are especially encouraged to attend the Honors College Discovery Series throughout the fall.  After the lectures you attend, write a 1-2 page summary of what you heard and turn it in.  Again, your brief essay must provide such context as who gave the lecture and when and where it took place; it must) explain the information provided in the lecture; and it should evaluate the lecture in terms of its impact on you.  You are expected to submit your summary in hard copy within one week of attending the lecture.

• Your Shorter Analytical Paper will be 4-6 full pages of double-spaced text.  This is not a research paper and it involves no outside research:  you are expected to read the texts closely and write about them rigorously.  It is a substantial part of your grade, and so you should expect to spend a great deal of time planning for this assignment, writing your essay, and then thoroughly revising it.  In turn, I will respond to each one in detail.  Topics will be announced in class ahead of time, and the assignment will be very specific.  Be sure to answer the question precisely.  I have provided a guide to writing and reasoning like a scholar in the coursepack.  You should read it before and during the writing process of this paper.  Following the advice in it is critical to your success.
• For your 8-12-page final paper, you will have a choice between a creative research project with rigorous analysis or a longer personal essay that unites analysis of the literature while drawing on your reading journal and reflections from throughout the semester.  Topics will be announced ahead of time.

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A NOTE ON CITING SOURCES ACCURATELY

Through these assignments, you will get lots of practice citing your sources.  Your Works Cited page is perhaps the most important element of college writing because it shows your reader how to check the citations in your paper.  You should plan ahead to create the bibliographic entries based on the sources you cite, and then painstakingly double- and triple-check them for accuracy.  For reasons I explain in greater detail in my Guide to Writing and Reasoning Like a Scholar in your coursepack, it is very important that your Works Cited pages be accurate.

Bibliographies allow your reader to confirm that what you have said is true; inaccurate entries cast doubt on the entirety of your argument, and so they are anything but busy-work.  You must devote as much attention to detail at the end of your project as at the beginning.  A meticulous bibliography is part of a gestalt of rigor and intellectual honesty expected in Honors that signals your devotion to truthfulness and openness in your work.

Any student who lists an edition other than the exact version cited in the paper at hand will not receive credit for the assignment, whether it is a short reaction paper, a shorter analytical paper, or a final project.  You will not be permitted to revise or resubmit your essay, and so a brazenly misleading bibliography can prevent you from earning an A for the semester, and it may well prevent you from passing the course.  Fortunately, accurate bibliographies are not difficult to produce.  You should resist the temptation to use an online citation generator or any other shortcut. It is not worth the risk! Instead, you should refer to your MLA Handbook and other reputable guides and produce the entries yourself.  If you have any doubts, you should ask your professor for guidance.

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WHAT SORT OF HELP IS OK?

You may seek help with all stages of the writing process, but you must be the sole author of all work you submit in this course.  Submitting material as your own work that has been generated on a website, in a publication, by an artificial intelligence algorithm, by another person, or by breaking the rules of an assignment constitutes academic dishonesty.  It is a student code of conduct violation that can lead to a disciplinary procedure.  It should go without saying that learning the course material depends on completing and submitting your own work.

The Center for Academic Program Support (CAPS), located both on campus and at http://caps.unm.edu, offers resources to help you improve your writing, including one-on-one tutoring, walk-in writing labs, and on-line writing assistance.  You are encouraged to visit CAPS for help with all stages of the writing process.

Off-campus paper writing services, problem-checkers and services, websites, and AIs can produce incorrect or misleading results.  Indeed, consulting outside sources is likely to derail your thought process, as is the use of AI tools such as ChatGPT.  Instead, I urge you to enlist your friends and family to help you proofread your papers—and to read your own prose out loud.

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HOW WE WILL HANDLE PROVOCATIVE AND OFFENSIVE MATERIAL

This semester we will be examining cultural and historical legacies that span hundreds of years—some of them quite wonderful and others utterly horrifying—to better understand our own society and our place within it.  For example, we will trace the roots of modern racism, sexism, xenophobia, and other forms of coercion from their ancient and medieval roots as they manifest in forces and ideas such as the Great Chain of Being.  I sincerely hope you use this information to build a more just world.

The syllabus for this course is packed with works chosen for their literary, philosophical, political, historical, and aesthetic significance.  No historical artifact or document can capture the entire essence of the lived experience of a particular time or place; we will read these works for what they reveal about the broad expectations of their first audiences.  But rather than judging the past by our standards, our time is best spent uncovering what old books suggest by thinking as historians, literary scholars, and anthropologists.  For example, we will trace the roots of various kinds of bigotry—as well as pushback against injustice—from the classical world through the present.  While I hope you find something of personal interest in our reading list, when you disagree with a perspective I encourage you to grapple with the seeming contradictions and internal inconsistencies within works and among various texts as a way to discover the forces that motivated people who held view different from your own.  Indeed, we will be reading, discussing, and writing about ideas that will make you uncomfortable.

Considering concepts in their historical contexts should not be construed as endorsement of those memes.  Our aim is not to litigate the truth or morality of the texts on our syllabus; our goal is to understand these works on their own terms for what they suggest about how other people lived and what they thought.  To that end, as a general rule we will not be censoring our works.  We acknowledge that when we analyze primary literary works within their historical contexts, the words and concepts belong to the author rather than to the scholar who is quoting part of a text that is germane to the topic at hand.  In your papers, you should reproduce quotations precisely, though you may paraphrase words and passages in your subsequent discussion to avoid using epithets in your own prose.  In our seminar sessions, at times your instructor may take the reins and read certain passages out loud so that no student is forced to read them in class, though, again, we recognize that the words and ideas belong to the author and not to the person reciting them.

Per Section 2220 of UNM’s Student Handbook, The Pathfinder, “As an institution that exists for the express purposes of education, research, and public service, the University is dependent upon the unfettered flow of ideas, not only in the classroom and the laboratory, but also in all University activities. As such, protecting freedom of expression is of central importance to the University. The exchange of diverse viewpoints may expose people to ideas some find offensive, even abhorrent. The way that ideas are expressed may cause discomfort to those who disagree with them. The appropriate response to such speech is speech expressing opposing ideas and continued dialogue, not curtailment of speech. The University also recognizes that the exercise of free expression must be balanced with the rights of others to learn, work, and conduct business. Speech activity that unduly interferes with the rights of others or the ability of the University to carry out its mission is not protected by the First Amendment and violates this policy.”

While I would never pressure any student to say something simply because it’s what you think I would want to hear, I encourage you to speak up when you have something relevant to say.  Respectful debate and free inquiry are cornerstones of Honors seminars, so long as our discourse is germane to the seminar and the topic at hand.  You do not have the right to derail class discussion.

Finally, at times this semester we may be discussing passages that could be disturbing, even traumatizing, to some students.  If you ever feel the need to step out during one of these discussions, either for a short time or for the rest of the class session, you may always do so without penalty.  You will, however, be responsible for any material you miss and should make arrangements to review notes with one or your classmates or to see me during office hours.

SOME MORE FINE PRINT

Legacy Student Learning Outcomes:  I expect we’ll have so much fun this semester that you won’t even realize how much you’re learning and how much you’re sharpening your skills.  Nevertheless, I am required to tell you that once students successfully complete this course, they will be able to analyze, critically interpret, and evaluate primary works within the humanities; evaluate how some key works in the humanities reflect either a historical period or national, cultural, ethnic, or gender issues; compare how these key works invoke shared human experiences that may relate to readers and the world today; and construct persuasive arguments and increase writing proficiency through analytical essays characterized by original and insightful theses, supported by logically integrated and sound subordinate ideas, appropriate and pertinent evidence, and good sentence structure, diction, grammar, punctuation, and spelling.  To reach these ends, you will receive a great deal of personalized feedback on your work.

Assessment of Learning Outcomes:  For the 2023-24 academic year, the Honors College will be assessing learning outcomes relating to Critical Thinking and Research, and the university will be assessing Critical Thinking within the state’s General Education requirement.  Independently of the grade on your papers, I may rate a random sampling of essays according to rubrics used in all Legacy courses and in comparable humanities courses at UNM.  In such assessment, I will submit only anonymous, random, or aggregate data on you and your class’s performance, but I may ask you to provide an additional copy of your project which may be reviewed and/or archived anonymously.  This assessment is not related to your grade except that I may penalize you for not submitting an electronic copy of your essay in a timely manner.  Thank you.

Academic Integrity:  Each student is expected to maintain the highest standards of honesty and integrity in academic and professional matters.  UNM reserves the right to take disciplinary action, up to and including dismissal, against any student who is found guilty of academic dishonesty or otherwise fails to meet the standards.  Per UNM policy, any student judged to have engaged in academic dishonesty in course work may receive a reduced or failing grade for the work in question and/or for the course.  Academic dishonesty includes, but is not limited to, dishonesty in quizzes, tests, or assignments; claiming credit for work not done or done by others, including the use of AI such as ChatGPT; hindering the academic work of other students; misrepresenting academic or professional qualifications within or without UNM; and nondisclosure or misrepresentation in filling out applications or other records. Plagiarism is a grave offense that will result in a grade of “F” for the assignment and that could lead to dismissal from the Honors College or expulsion from the university.  Any student who submits a paper substantially written by someone else—including by ChatGPT or other generative AI models—will receive a grade of “Incomplete” which will convert to an “F” when the offender is unable to complete the requirements of the course.  Unintentional plagiarism (forgetting to put exact language into quotation marks or forgetting to cite a source in a paper that is otherwise original, for example) will result in a grade no higher than a D for the paper.  For additional information on plagiarism and other university policies, please consult UNM’s Student Handbook, The Pathfinder, at http://pathfinder.unm.edu/.

Accommodations:  UNM is committed to providing equitable access to learning opportunities for students with documented disabilities.  As your instructor, it is my objective to facilitate an inclusive classroom setting, in which students have full access and opportunity to participate.  To engage in a confidential conversation about the process for requesting reasonable accommodations for this class and/or program, please contact Accessibility Resource Center at arcsrvs@unm.edu or by phone at 505-277-3506.  It is imperative that you take the initiative to bring such needs to the instructor’s attention, as I am not legally permitted to inquire.  Students who may require assistance in emergency evacuations should contact the instructor as to the most appropriate procedures to follow.  If you are experiencing physical or academic barriers, or concerns related to mental health, physical health and/or COVID-19, please consult with me after class, via email/phone or during office hours.

Credit Hour Statement:  This is a three credit-hour course.  Class meets for two 75-minute sessions of direct instruction for fifteen weeks during the Fall 2023 semester.  According to federal guidelines, students are expected to complete a minimum of six hours of out-of-class work (including homework, study, assignment completion, and class preparation) each week.  Honors courses generally demand more than six hours per week outside of class.  You should budget at least ten hours a week for your reading and writing in this course.

Electronic Backups:  You are required to keep electronic backups of all work you produce for this class that you can immediately provide upon my request.  Additionally, I may retain scanned copies of the work you submit in this class to help me tailor my feedback to you and for other educational purposes.

Land Acknowledgment: Founded in 1889, the University of New Mexico sits on the traditional homelands of the Pueblo of Sandia.  The original peoples of New Mexico Pueblo, Navajo, and Apache since time immemorial, have deep connections to the land and have made significant contributions to the broader community statewide.  We honor the land itself and those who remain stewards of this land throughout the generations and also acknowledge our committed relationship to Indigenous peoples.  We gratefully recognize our history.

Sanctuary Campus:  All students are welcome in this class regardless of citizenship, residency, or immigration status.  I will respect your privacy if you choose to disclose your status.  I support your right to an education free from fear of deportation.  I pledge that I will not disclose the immigration status of any student who shares this information with me unless required by a judicial warrant, and I will work with students who require immigration-related accommodations.  As for all students in the class, family emergency-related absences are normally excused with reasonable notice to the professor, as noted in the attendance guidelines above.  UNM as an institution has made a core commitment to the success of all our students, including members of our undocumented community.  The Administration’s welcome is found on the website:  http://undocumented.unm.edu/.

Support in Receiving Help: Students who ask for help are successful students.  UNM has many resources and centers to help you thrive, including opportunities to get involved, mental health resources, academic support including tutoring, resource centers for people like you, free food at Lobo Food Pantry, and jobs on campus. Your advisor, staff at the resource centers and Dean of Students, and I can help you find the right opportunities for you.

Title IX Statement: Title IX prohibitions on sex discrimination include various forms of sexual misconduct, such as sexual assault, rape, sexual harassment, domestic and dating violence, and stalking.  Current UNM policy designates instructors as required reporters, which means that if instructors are notified (outside of classroom activities) about any Title IX violations, they must report this information to the Title IX coordinator.  However, the American Association of University Professors’ (AAUP) “Statement on Professional Ethics” requires that Professors protect students’ academic freedom and “respect[s] the confidential nature of the relationship between professor and student.”  Therefore, as a Professor I have pledged to honor student confidentiality and will strive to respect your wishes regarding reporting; I will only report with your consent.  If you or someone you know has been harassed or assaulted and would like to receive support and academic advocacy, there are numerous confidential routes available to you.  For example, you can contact the Women’s Resource Center, the LGBTQ Resource Center, Student Health and Counseling (SHAC), or LoboRESPECT. LoboRESPECT can be contacted on their 24-hour crisis line, (505) 277-2911 and online at loborespect@unm.edu. You can receive non-confidential support and learn more about Title IX through the Title IX Coordinator at (505) 277-5251 and http://oeo.unm.edu/title-ix/.  Reports to law enforcement can be made to UNM Police Department at (505) 277-2241.

UNM Email Confidentiality Notice:  Students often use email to inquire about protected and sensitive matters, including grades and class progress, and faculty often use email to individually report such protected and sensitive matters.  Unless students opt out, in writing, to the Honors College, the Honors College and Honors Faculty will assume that all email sent individually to students via their official UNM email addresses (generally their @unm.edu address) is private and confidential and that the student assumes all risk of inappropriate interception of email transmissions.  If students opt out of this policy, they are agreeing to receive such information only in person (and they may be required to show identification before information is shared with them) or through regular mail to the student’s official address on file with UNM.

COVID-19 Health and Awareness: UNM is a mask friendly, but not a mask required, community.  If you are experiencing COVID-19 symptoms, please do not come to class.  If you do need to stay home, please communicate with me at obenauf@unm.edu; I can work with you to provide alternatives for course participation and completion.  Let me, an advisor, or another UNM staff member know that you need support so that we can connect you to the right resources.  Please be aware that UNM will publish information on websites and email about any changes to our public health status and community response.  If you are having active respiratory symptoms (e.g., fever, cough, sore throat, etc.) AND need testing for COVID-19, OR if you recently tested positive and may need oral treatment, call Student Health and Counseling (SHAC) at (505) 277-3136.

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READING LIST

I have prepared a coursepack of readings, available for a nominal fee at the UNM Copy Center in Dane Smith Hall.

You will also need to purchase the following books in the specific editions on file at the UNM Bookstore:

• Frederick Douglass, Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass (Dover)
• F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby (Scribner)
• Benjamin Franklin, Autobiography (Dover)
• Samuel Johnson, Rasselas (Dover)
• Anita Loos, Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (Penguin)
• Christopher Marlowe, Doctor Faustus (Dover)
• The MLA Handbook (9^th edition, 2021)
• Mozart and da Ponte, Don Giovanni (Dover)
• Petronius, The Satyricon, trans. J.P. Sullivan (Penguin)
• Plus a good dictionary so that you can look up words without getting sucked into your phone

Other course materials may be distributed throughout the semester, either by email or on this class website.  Students are responsible for obtaining these texts and bringing them to class:  again, you should come to class prepared to discuss the readings in their entirety on the day they appear on the timeline at the top of this page. You are required to submit a short reflection paper (described above) for ten of the fourteen selections of your choosing, due at the beginning of class on the first day of scheduled discussion for each work.

Out of respect to you and your other responsibilities, I have tried to limit the number of long or difficult readings.  In turn, I expect you to approach the entire reading list in earnest.  To help you budget your time and get the most from this class, I have indicated the approximate time required for you to prepare adequately for class discussion.

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This syllabus is subject to change, as I may announce changes in readings and adjust deadlines, ahead of time, in class, by email, or on the course website.

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GOOD LUCK AND HAVE FUN!!