How To Write a Term Paper

[randomness]

My friend nihilistic_kid is a published novelist who used to make something vaguely resembling a living as a term paper artist. In the above titled post, he gives some advice to undergrads:

Spring Break is over, at least in the US, and so now the shank of the semester has begun. Time for term papers! As a former term paper artist I've learned a few things about papering. Things you will not learn from other sources simply because almost nobody has the experience I have. Composition specialists, your professors, and writing center tutors have not written 5000+ model term papers in virtually every field and in every length and format.

So, if you hear different from what I am saying, remember that I am right and they are wrong.

Note: this is "How To Write a Term Paper" not "How To Learn Something." Learning is your problem!

The remainder of the post outlines the process in eight steps.

I also recommend his piece about writing for a term paper mill, "The Term Paper Artist" published in The Smart Set, at Drexel University.

I think if I'd read his post when I was an undergrad, I would have handed in more of my papers on time.

Comments

[infinitehotel.livejournal.com]

I don't see it as a flame. I do see it as making very thin gruel based on very little text.

"It is disingenuous, dishonest, and, frankly, unfair, to say that because profs could be doing even more to prevent cheating that the cheating that gets through is not the cheaters' fault."

It may well be disingenuous, dishonest, and frankly unfair to say that. On the other hand, I didn't, did I? At what point did I place the blame on professors? Or express any opinion about the relative ease or difficulty of their profession? (I don't remember Nick doing so either, but it's been a while since I've read the article) Nor did I condone students using the service. I described doing such work as ethically complicated. What that means is I put some thought into it rather than jerking my knee.

I stand by the statement that if someone can finish four years of college in this manner, perhaps the problem isn't entirely with the student. And I do have my own opinions about students who would use such a service and if I discovered them doing so in my classes, I wouldn't have much sympathy. (I'm in the midst of an MFA and looking at possible programs in composition theory now.) However, righteous indignation doesn't erase the fact it's a complicated issue and all the hyperbole in the world doesn't change that your conclusion bore very little resemblance to what I actually wrote.