Essay Writing

[funmom91]

Originally Posted by chaos

Exactly. The ethical argument is irrelevant for me. I've looked at essay writing in some detail and I've yet to see one that pays what my regular content writing gigs do. Bear in mind academic essays require much more research than simple content writing.

I do agree they require a ton of more work. However, since I am a student myself I guess it is something I am used to in general.

[AG1976]

Originally Posted by funmom91

The clients I have found off of craigslist pay 5 to 10 cents a word for this writing. I have only been writing for a couple of months so that is good pay to me.

For content writing, it's great. Academic essays are much harder.

[mini]

Originally Posted by funmom91

The clients I have found off of craigslist pay 5 to 10 cents a word for this writing. I have only been writing for a couple of months so that is good pay to me.

Yes. The work is definitely there. You will definitely not be on here complaining about lack of work. Finding private clients is the way to go. If things were to dry up for me, I'd write essays before I'd battle another brutal winter commute.

[djunamod]

Originally Posted by anng

Personally, I am against many of these jobs because they all involve selling essays and term papers to high school and college students. It infuriates me that there are students out there buying all of their papers and earning their diploma or degree without doing much of the work.

My neighbor is like that. She decided to enroll in an online college to get an associates degree in business management. She paid people in her office or her teenagers' friends to write her essays for her. So while she may have the degree, she didn't really earn it herself and the University of Phoenix didn't seem to notice or care.

Sorry to revitalize an old thread, but I couldn't let this comment pass. I've worked for online colleges like the University of Phoenix for 4 years and I can tell you that these online schools DO care about this kind of thing - they care a heck of a lot! I and other instructors are constantly using every tool at our disposal (not just plagiarism checkers, but also careful Google searches, searching known cheat sites like StudentofFortune, etc) to try and combat this issue and we file reports on even a relatively small assignment just so there will be a record of that student having cheated (since the more a student has on his/her record, the more likely serious action will be taken if the student continues to cheat). I know your post was from last year, but I've been with such online schools well before that and this has always been the case.

Someone like your neighbor, who paid people to write her papers, are difficult to catch, unless those people are stupid enough to cheat on their own work by copying from websites.

The only thing I can say is that people like that will find themselves in trouble when it comes down to having to prove that they earned the degree they have. I firmly believe that what goes around, comes around.

So please don't judge online colleges in this way without knowing what really goes on behind the scenes.

Djuna

[djunamod]

Originally Posted by mini

Although I don't write essays, I don't fault writers who do. I don't fault students for using these services in some cases. For instance, someone who is trying to get an engineering degree doesn't really need to waste time and energy writing a history essay. If you are in a computer related field, it can also be a waste. Anyone who went to college knows how we blew off subjects unrelated to our fields. I know many successful people in IT and engineering who did just that.

If a writer has to choose between feeding her kids and writing an essay, is there really a choice to be made?

Mini, granted, I'm prejudice because I'm a college writing teacher, but I do have to take a bit of issue with this comment .

You mention that someone who is getting a degree in engineering or IT is wasting their time writing history papers and the like. I beg to differ. While the topic itself might not be in their field, the actual writing that they do is doing them a lot - strengthening written communication skills, teaching them that using text-message and slang is not appropriate for professional communication, getting them to express their ideas with precision and clarity, since their words have to speak for themselves. It's a matter of making students understand that writing academic papers on topics like history or literature is not about the topic itself or even the essay format - it's about getting the tools to effectively communicate in writing and transferring those skills to the workplace and sharpening their critical thinking and reading skills, which they'll need later on.

My dad is a chemical engineer who worked in his field for 40 years. When he retired, he spent a year and a half at a Texas state university as an adjunct professor, teaching courses to juniors and seniors about quality assurance in his field. He would lament to me how these juniors and seniors (who were about to go out in the job market), didn't know how to write effectively and how he was having to get it through their heads that they DO need to know this in their field, to write reports and the like.

So we can't assume that non-humanities type fields don't need writing skills .

I'm not trying to attack you - just trying to make a point.

Djuna

[AG1976]

You make good points all around, Djuna.

[lilredwriting]

It's unethical, it's making our next generation stupid etc, etc. If you are writing to make a living the bottom line is the pay isn't worth the work involved.
Personally, I hold no ill regard to anyone who does choose this route. I know what it's like to be a single mom and have no family or help. I begrudge no one their right to make a living and don't feel comfortable judging other people.

[FairlyOddFrances]

Originally Posted by CJWrite

Although its not my place to judge, I generally think that the practice of buying an essay to turn in as an assignment is unethical.

Of course, I place more blame on the students who buy said essays than those that write them.

I agree with you 100%. I used to do this type of academic essay work when I was younger, back in my high school and college days. It was mostly for other students I knew from school. Now that I'm older and wiser I wouldn't do it. I worked damn hard to get the great grades I got in high school and university, so these kids should too, lol.

[anng]

Originally Posted by djunamod

The only thing I can say is that people like that will find themselves in trouble when it comes down to having to prove that they earned the degree they have. I firmly believe that what goes around, comes around.

So please don't judge online colleges in this way without knowing what really goes on behind the scenes.

Djuna

I admit, I don't know the other side, but I do know from years of living next door to her that the online system really doesn't seem to work against preventing cheating. From what she said, she turned in everything via email and talked to her professors and other students in forums. Many times, her "posts" were actually from her daughter's friends because they were the ones doing the work for spare cash. As far as I know, not once was a video conference required. Area schools here that offer online courses require a video connection so that the professors talk to the students at least once a week to quiz them orally. If that extra step was taken, it would have been clear that she wasn't doing the work.

As for what goes around, comes around... she got a promotion and a $5,000 a year raise after getting her degree. Her boss was one of the people who wrote an essay for her. I talked to him at a Christmas party about why he felt it was ethical to write her essay for her, and his response was that since she's good at her job but just lacked the degree that headquarters suddenly decided all employees needed, he'd rather help her out than lose one of his best data entry workers. I'd like to think karma will catch up with her, but it hasn't happened yet.