In his The Smart Set from Drexel University article, The Term Paper Artist, Nick Mamatas explains what he does for a living. Nick Mamatas isn't just a normal writer, he writes term papers for the public. "In the Village Voice, I saw just such an ad. Writers wanted, to write short pieces on business, economics, and literature. It was from a term paper mill." One might ask is writing term papers legal? The answer is yes its legal. "Writing model term papers is above-board and perfectly legal. Thanks to the First Amendment."
According to the author, Nick, there are three types of clients. Dumb clients, one-timer clients, and well-educated professionals who simply lack English language skills. While reading this article, a question popped into my head. How is the pay? The article answers this towards the end. "Term paper writing was never good money, but it was certainly fast money." It is also said in the article that it takes time to get the hang of writing these term papers. "Term paper work is also extremely easy, once you get the hang of it. It's like an old dance routine buried in one's muscle memory. Getting the hang of it is tricky, though." To be a term paper writer it seems like you have to be an intelligent and good writer. I couldn't imagine writing up to six term papers a day. You must really have to like reading and writing to pursue this career.
I give Nick Mamatas a lot of credit for being able to write paper after paper everyday. This idea of somone writing term papers for an individual has its pros and cons. This service is good for a last minute assignmeent, or for someone who is very busy and doesn't have time to complete the paper. There are also some bad things about this. If someone is doing your work for you, how will anyone ever learn? The author complains in the article that some people shouldn't even be in college. "They should not be in college. They must buy model papers simply because they do not understand what a term paper is, much less anything going on in their assignments." If a writer is being paid to write an essay or paper, then how will that person learn how to write on there own? If someone is doing their work for them, then they will never learn. Sometimes Americans are just too lazy. We need to do our own work and not rely on others to complete it.
I had the same question as you with, "How is they pay?". He must REALLY love writing to do 6 papers a day. I also agree with asking "how will anyone ever learn?". That's also true. I really liked how you summarized everything really quickly too, then got right to your opinion. I learned from your explication how I should fix some parts of my explications for the future.
ReplyDeleteIn response to what Gina said, you wouldnt do six papers a day for $600? Because I sure would. I really dont like writing, but if Mamatas was being paid that kind of money for something that he was really good at, and something that was easy for him, he is a smart business man. Also, I like how Gab broke down the pro's and cons. In every situation there is good and bad, and though this may seem like a bad idea from the outside, it really is a good idea.
ReplyDelete