Free Online Paper Mills

Michelle Vu's "Free Online Paper Mills" describes and compares two essay writing websites that offers students for a fee, the convenience of a paper without the time and effort of composing. Vu explains in detail how each site is structured, from eCheat’s minimalistic approach “graphics are not flashy or particularly eye-catching” (136), to Custom Writing’s enticing design “website has a clean, sleek layout” (137). She further describes the tactic each site uses to convince wary writers that there is a limited risk via their claims of being plagiarism exempt. These include declarations ranging from customer quotes of satisfaction to the emphasis that it is not cheating, but a form of “collaboration” (137). However, these same sites stress to potential clients that they should be used as references or cited works thereby creating a conflict to their website name, as well as to their purpose. Vu’s conclusion not only displays disdain for these types of sites, she vehemently cautions students by exposing their faults and inconsistencies.

Being guilty of falling within the 90% writing procrastination population, I can understand the enticement of having a paper written for you. All too many times I have found myself asking a fellow classmate if they would like the joy of writing my paper. The stress, time, research, and energy it takes to write a composed paper can be overwhelming for some. Not to mention the pressure to present an “A” worthy essay can lead some to take drastic measures to ensure their GPA stays intact or excels. However, one must weigh the pros and the enormity of the cons in venturing down this road. Plagiarism is not tolerated and expulsion is an all too real possibility for anyone who is caught. One must consider, is the fee for a free ride really worth the price of losing an education?

Robotic Surgery

In "Robotic Surgery," Jacqueline Owen contrasts the advantages and disadvantages of robotic surgery. Owen explains how robots can make smaller incisions which can lead to lessened recovery times. On the down side, the disadvantages include the million dollar price tag these robots come with. They cost $100,000 dollars to maintain and there are no promises of a glitch-free robot. Owen finishes her editorial by stating that the robots give physicians "...precision and control," and that she would choose robotic surgery over traditional surgery "...hands down," (Owen 44).
This piece was very informative. I found that Owen reached the audience by building common ground explaining the disadvantages of robotic surgery. Her purpose was to persuade others that the advantages of robotic surgery outweigh the disadvantages. It was also clever of her to include more advantages than disadvantages to suit her purpose. I would agree with Owen that robotic surgery would be the better choice because of the accuracy and reduced trauma.

Free Essay Websites: A Convenient Way to Plagiarize

In “Free Essay Websites: A Convenient Way to Plagiarize” Katie Hindman discusses the convenience and ease used by online websites to convince students to pay for pre-written essays. Throughout this essay Hindman describes two popular websites and the different tactics they use to make purchasing an “A+” essay a no-brainer. These websites claim to have associates with Masters of Art of PhD’s write your paper for as low as an unbelievable $11 per page. They also have everything from free unlimited revisions to online reviews of previous satisfied customers who received 100% customer satisfaction. To top it all off, these web sites are supposedly plagiarism free.
When reading this I felt that the paper was too focused on the description of the characteristics of the websites. I don’t think these websites are successful because people actually believe it is plagiarism free. The people who probably contribute to these websites have no intention of actually doing the work and do it out of pure desperation that there is a slight chance it might work. I find it highly unlikely that people with such prestigious education will spend that much time researching your topic as well as put serious effort into preparing an A+ paper for $11 a page. This goes back to the saying that when something sounds too good to be true, it probably is.

The Definiton of Arguments

An argument can be used to voice your ideals, in order to sway opinion for or against a topic . Every argument has it's individual audience which can either be academic or consumer in nature. To be effective you need to distinguish between the two. The academic audience relys on logic, while the consumer tends to deal with human emotion.