The Shadow Scholar

As I was writing my final paper for my english class, I kept thinking of one of the sources that I used for it, and how much I wanted to post something about it on my blog. The source was an article published by The Chronicle of Higher Education called 'The Shadow Scholar'.  It is about a man who works for an online company which writes all types of school papers and essays for students. It is written by Ed Dante ( a pseudonym for a the actual writer of the article) a writer for the company. In his article, Dante explains what he does, how much he gets paid (about $66,000 a year) for writing essays for students and how he gets the job done. I believe his audience are teachers as because uses phrases like "You would be amazed by the incompetence of your students' writing". I think he is somehow blaming teachers and grading pressures for why students buy papers online.

 I get the feeling that Dante believes that teachers don't motivate or understand their student's enough. He is right, but that doesn't mean that teachers have the fault of why students rely on cheating to do well on their classes. I agree that sometimes teachers are not understanding enough of students, so students think that their work won't be good enough for their teacher, so they cheat. That is not a valid excuse though for committing an act of academic dishonesty. I think that teachers vary from school to school, and class to class, but they shouldn't be a factor on why a student decides to cheat. You are never going to please every teacher. Some will like your work, others won't. Even though you know that you're work won't be as good as the one of your classmates, or as good as you teacher expects it to be, you tried your best, your work is honest. That is all that you should care about.


 I personally know how frustrating it can get to think that you're not at the same level as everyone else, but I wouldn't use that as an excuse to plagiarize. I wouldn't use that as an excuse to blame my teacher for my grades. I am content knowing that I did my best, and that if my grade wasn't as high as I wanted it to be, it was because I have some language restrictions, not because of lack of effort. 


Grades aren't always that important. We shouldn't be consumed by them. We shouldn't let them be the reason why we are academically dishonest. What is really important is to know that you did your best. After all, grades are only a number, but effort and dedication are a lifestyle that will pay off with time.