I know that we're all swamped right now, and that none of you are checking this on a regular basis lately (at least, I'm not), and so this question probably won't get an answer today, but I've got a weird student essay that needs some quick advice.
The assignment was a simple proposal essay on, well, anything (and I've been getting everything from campus parking to, surprise surprise, legalizing marijuana), and this particular essay is on overpopulation in India (the proposal itself is very weak, something about more awareness programs to promote condoms?).
There's nothing wrong with writing about India, but I question the student's motives, and, therefore, his actual authorship. I mean: why on earth does this student care AT ALL about overpopulation in India? I'm not saying he shouldn't, but 99% of my kids write about things that directly affect their lives. This student has no connection (that I can see) to India: he's a white Texan, kinda the punk/grunge/slacker type. If I had to predict what he might write about, it'd be something about girls, guitars, maybe immigration or something campus-related. But overpopulation in India?
The paper isn't terrible, but it's not great either. The language seems like a student's language, so I don't think he plagiarized off a website; but the information is also rather bland and impersonal, as if anyone could have written it. So what I'm picking up on is a big disconnect between the writer and the material, which is, logically, setting off some alarms in my head.
I can't prove he didn't write it, but can anyone offer some advice on what to say in my comments? I guess I need a nice-ish way to question his motives, his choice of topic, his connections. I need of way of saying, "Why, in heaven's name, did you want to write about this? You're not worldly enough to give a flying fuck about India, so you couldn't have written this paper." Well, SOMETHING like that. I'm not really that concerned about catching where he plagiarized--I just don't know what to say at all.
Suggestions?
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