A not-so-hypothetical question:

[aruan]

Say a friend asked you to write a relatively easy paper for him, with plenty of advance, on a book you're already more than halfway through anyway, for a class of over 200 people for which the chances of the professor being the one to read all the four-page papers himself being, just an a generous ballpark figure, slim to none.

The only caveat being that you wrote said professor a brief paper last semester (for a different class of about as many people).

Oh, and you stand to make a pretty sweet profit.

Thoughts?

Comments

[gjstruthseeker.livejournal.com]

See, and the only reason I even gave the offer the time of day was the very limited chances of being caught, the fact that I'm already reading and have things to say about the book, that he's a writer going to an out-of-town conference this weekend who already has a ten-page paper to write by Thursday. The opportunistic altruist within me exerts an influence, but not strong enough to overpower my guilt complex. And you're absolutely right, as small as the chances are of being caught, they're still too much bigger than my not doing it at all.

Thanks for your perspective.

[halimede.livejournal.com]

I wouldn't be too happy about the 'do it for me' thing either, but with the rest of the circumstances, if this is otherwise a friend or generally okay person-just-overwhelmed-by-too-much-stuff, is there a way to help him out in an above board way? Review his attempt, or give him a bullet-pointed list of things he might want to keep in mind when writing? The sort of thing you don't get thrown out for, but which might fairly be remunerated with free pizza or something...

[gjstruthseeker.livejournal.com]

He wouldn't have any chance to get started, as he needs to have read the book to do so and has, as mentioned, other large obligations already looming this week. It's not like he asked me for the answers to a test I could've helped him study for, you know? Otherwise, totally would've offered to do that. Cheating and copying is not my style, and I won't say I've never ever done either, but a couple of answers on a ninth-grade history test or the last five problems of my algebra homework isn't a paper that can stand to ruin my aspirations as a journalist.

[halimede.livejournal.com]

Gotcha.