Archive for November, 2010

The Shadow Scholar

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One of my coworkers emailed me this fascinating article titled “The Shadow Scholar” by “Ed Dante”–the pseudonym of a man who makes $66,000 a year writing papers for students of all levels.

I find it amusing that Dante claims that American colleges are “failing” students because they emphasize evaluation instead of education.  Don’t the two go hand in hand?  What’s more, enabling students by doing the work for them for cash seems more like failing the students than anything the colleges are doing.  “I am not the reason your students cheat,” he says.  No, the fault lies in educators who do not expel students, do not deny them their right to education; the fault lies in educators for not being able to detect that an essay is written by someone skilled in the art of literary hoaxes.

Shadow Scholar?  More like Shady Scholar.


Inconvenient

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I was recently re-introduced to the fabulous Margie Gelbwasser, who I first met about five years ago at a tea party and is now a novelist.  Her first book, Inconvenient, hits stores this week.  A book about a young Russian-Jewish girl coping with growing difficulties in her friendships and family, it’s gotten great reviews from Booklist and authors like Beth Kephart and Sarah Darer Littman.  If you’re looking for a good read from a new author, check it out!  Or, if you’re just looking for a fun, quick diversion, check out her blog for insights on writing and life.