You’re going to love this one:

Someone posted for a freelance writer to write a “literary report written based on a poem. It has to be 3-4 pages long and completed by tomorrow 21 June 09 6:00pm. Only apply if you know you can handle the work. If you do well with this, it may lead to continued work.”

Hopefully, the author of this post won’t be too upset with me for posting this. After all, I did use quotation marks, which is more than I can say for what he/she is doing.

AND they added an attachment of the actual assignment which includes a note from the instructor. The note says:

“Note: You are not expected to use other sources other than the poem. Should you choose to use extra sources, be sure to fully cite all quotations, summaries, and paraphrases from those sources. Do not use any material or words from another source without giving proper credit for the material that you use. Otherwise, it will be regarded as plagiarism and will result in a “0” on your paper and possibly course failure. All essays are submitted by professors for electronic verification of veracity.”

This type of thing really makes me sick to my stomach. TEN writers have bid on the project. That makes me even sicker.

As a college English professor, I know this sort of thing happens. I take all the precautions that I can, but I can only do so much.

Let me just plea here with all my fellow freelance writers – PLEASE DO NOT TAKE ON THESE TYPES OF PROJECTS! It is wrong on so many levels. Most importantly, it means that YOU take part in plagiarizing.

And I will safely bet that YOU would be really really pissed if someone stole YOUR work.

Okay, I’m finished ranting. For now.