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A.I. Is Making It Easier Than Ever for Students to Cheat

Look out, educators. You’re about to confront a pernicious new challenge that is spreading, kudzu-like , into your student writing assignments: papers augmented with artificial intelligence.

The first online article generator debuted in 2005. Now, A.I.-generated text can now be found in novels , fake news articles and real news articles , marketing campaigns, and dozens of other written products. The tech is either free or cheap to use, which places it in the hands of anyone. And it’s probably already burrowing into America’s classrooms right now.

Using an A.I. program is not “plagiarism” in the traditional sense—there’s no previous work for the student to copy, and thus no original for teachers’ plagiarism detectors to catch. Instead, a student first feeds text from either a single or multiple sources into the program to begin the process. The program then generates content by using a set of parameters on a topic, which then can be personalized to the writer’s specifications. With a little bit of practice, a student can use AI to write his or her paper in a fraction of the time that it would normally take to write an essay.

I wanted to see what would happen if I fed an A.I. text generator like Sudowrite some sample texts for assignments. (Sudowrite is just one such program; I could name more, but I’d rather not make it even easier for students to cheat.) The results showed that teachers must be made aware of what is coming to their classrooms.

Say a student wanted to write an essay about U.S.-China policy and decided to use an A.I. program to speed along the process. I fed it the first few lines from a recent Pentagon report : “The PRC is increasingly clear in its ambitions and intentions. Beijing seeks to reshape the international order to better align with its authoritarian system and national interests, as a vital component of its strategy to achieve the ‘great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation.’ ” The A.I. text generator provided these following sentences:

It is increasingly willing to disregard—or to actively undermine—existing international rules and norms when it feels its vital interests are at stake. The U.S. and its allies face a rapidly modernizing military, whose capabilities are growing rapidly, especially in the air and at sea. China has also made great strides in its development of cyber capabilities, and it is focused on the ability to degrade or disrupt critical U.S. military technology, as well as on targeting civilian infrastructure. In addition to being a challenge to the U.S. military and its allies, China’s activities in cyberspace have the potential to degrade U.S. political and economic institutions, and the global information infrastructure is at risk. 

If a high school student turned that in verbatim, their teacher would probably suspect that there was something amiss. But if this were turned in at the undergraduate or graduate level, and especially if the student were to edit the text, it would be much harder to detect.

Or let’s say they need to write a paper about climate change. Here’s what came up when I fed Sudowrite the first few lines from an article on climate change impacts from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration website:

Though we often think about human-induced climate change as something that will happen in the future, it is an ongoing process. Ecosystems and communities in the United States and around the world are being impacted today. 

It’s not particularly insightful, but it provides the A.I. program some basic building blocks. The artificial intelligence continued along this slightly edited line of reasoning:

The consensus view emerging from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and other respected assessments is that the planet is warming because of the accumulation of heat-trapping gases in the atmosphere caused by human activity. The level of scientific consensus that human activities are primarily responsible for climate change is like the consensus finding on smoking causing lung cancer.

The program had likely already been trained to know the term “climate change” was connected to the IPCC; by making certain inferences it could generate text which seemed like a reasonable extension of the idea.

What about ninth-grade English? Channeling my 14-year-old self, I wrote these lines:

“Romeo and Juliet” is a play that explores many different topics such as romance, betrayal, and tragedy. It has interesting characters that make it such a good story, even 400 years later. 

The computer spat back this take (which I’ve edited slightly):

Romeo, the main character, is a very passionate and immature young man who is torn between his love for Rosaline and his love for Juliet. He is also very rash and desperate to get Juliet and will do almost anything to win her. His desperation for Juliet is an interesting trait and is one that the younger kids can relate to, as well as older adults with first crushes. Romeo is an interesting character and is very different from how kids would imagine him to be. But he is also a great inspiration, showing that love is worth fighting for.

Again, the A.I. program had been previously trained to know that Romeo and Juliet contained certain characters, themes, and plot elements. But what stood out to me was that the text was crafted at an appropriate writing level for a high schooler, who would be reading about these star-crossed lovers for the first time. The awkward phrasing and the syntax errors baked into the program make it seem convincing.

I’ve struggled to find the right analogy to describe this phenomenon. Is using A.I. to write graded papers like athletes taking performance-enhancing drugs? As a society and as a sporting culture, we’ve decided certain drugs are forbidden, as they provide the user unfair advantages. Further, the cocktail of drugs flowing through these competitors and malicious sports programs could cause real physical and psychological harm to the athletes themselves. Would individuals using AI in writing be likewise considered in the same boat—a cheat to the system providing undue advantages, which also creates harm in the long run by impeding writing skills?

Or might using A.I. be more like using performance-enhancing gear in sports, which is both acceptable and encouraged? To use another sports analogy, even beginner tennis players today use high-performance carbon composite rackets instead of 1960s-era wooden racket technology. Swimmers wear nylon and elastane suits and caps to reduce drag. Bikers have stronger, lighter bicycles than their counterparts used a generation ago. Baseball bats evolved from wood to aluminum and developed better grips; baseball mitts have become more specialized over the decades.

Numerous educators assert that A.I. is more like the former. They consider using these programs violate academic integrity. Georgetown University professor Lise Howard told me, “I do think it’s unethical and an academic violation to use AI to write paragraphs, because academic work is all about original writing.” Written assignments have two purposes, argues Ani Ross Grubb, part-time faculty member in the Carroll School of Management at Boston College: “First is to test the learning, understanding, and critical thinking skills of students. Second is to provide scaffolding to develop those skills. Having AI write your assignments would go against those goals.”

Certainly, one can argue that this topic has already been covered in university academic integrity codes. Using A.I. might open students to serious charges. For instance, American University indicates, “All papers and materials submitted for a course must be the student’s original work unless the sources are cited” while the University of Maryland similarly notes that it is prohibited to use dishonesty to “gain an unfair advantage, and/or using or attempting to use unauthorized materials, information, or study aids in any academic course or exercise.”

But some study aids are generally considered acceptable. When writing papers, it is perfectly fine to use grammar- and syntax-checking products standard on Microsoft Word and other document creating programs. Other A.I. programs like Grammarly help write better sentences and fix errors. Google Docs finishes sentences in drafts and emails.

So the border between using those kinds of assistive computer programs and full-on cheating remains fuzzy. Indeed, as Jade Wexler, associate professor of special education at the University of Maryland, noted, A.I. could be a valuable tool to help level the playing field for some students. “It goes back to teachers’ objectives and students’ needs,” she said. “There’s a fine balance making sure both of those are met.”

Thus there are two intertwined questions at work. First: Should institutions permit A.I.-enhanced writing? If the answer is no, then the second question is: How can professors detect it? After all, it’s unclear whether there’s a technical solution to keeping A.I. from worming into student papers. An educator’s up-to-date knowledge on relevant sources will be of limited utility since the verbiage has not been swiped from pre-existing texts.

Still, there may be ways to minimize these artificial enhancements. One is to codify at the institutional level what is acceptable and what is not; in July the Council of Europe took a few small steps, publishing new guidelines which begin to grapple with these new technologies creating fraud in education. Another would be to keep classes small and give individual attention to students. As Jessica Chiccehitto Hindman, associate professor of English at Northern Kentucky University, noted, “When a writing instructor is in a classroom situation where they are unable to provide individualized attention, the chance for students to phone it in—whether this is plagiarism, A.I., or just writing in a boring, uninvested way—goes up.” More in-class writing assignments—no screens allowed—could also help. Virginia Lee Strain, associate professor of English and director of the honors program at Loyola University Chicago, further argued, “AI is not a problem in the classroom when a student sits down with paper and pencil.”

But in many settings, more one-on-one time simply isn’t a realistic solution, especially at high schools or colleges with large classes. Educators juggle multiple classes and courses, and for them to get to know every student every semester isn’t going to happen.

A more aggressive stance would be for high schools and universities to explicitly declare using A.I. will be considered an academic violation—or at least update their honor codes to reflect what they believe is the right side of the line concerning academic integrity. That said, absent a mechanism to police students, it might paradoxically introduce students to a new way to generate papers faster.

Educators realize some large percentage of students will cheat or try to game the system to their advantage. But perhaps, as Hindman says, “if a professor is concerned that students are using plagiarism or AI to complete assignments, the assignments themselves are the problem, not the students or the AI.” If an educator is convinced that students are using these forbidden tools, he or she might consider using alternate means to generate grades such as assigning oral exams, group projects, and class presentations. Of course, as Hindman notes, “these types of high-impact learning practices are only feasible if you have a manageable number of students.”

AI is here to stay whether we like it or not. Provide unscrupulous students the ability to use these shortcuts without much capacity for the educator to detect them, combined with other crutches like outright plagiarism, and companies that sell papers, homework, and test answers, and it’s a recipe for—well, not disaster, but the further degradation of a type of assignment that has been around for centuries.

Future Tense is a partnership of Slate , New America , and Arizona State University that examines emerging technologies, public policy, and society.

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Buying College Essays Is Now Easier Than Ever. But Buyer Beware

Tovia Smith

Concern is growing about a burgeoning online market for essays that students can buy and turn in as their own work. And schools are trying new tools to catch it. Angela Hsieh/NPR hide caption

Concern is growing about a burgeoning online market for essays that students can buy and turn in as their own work. And schools are trying new tools to catch it.

As the recent college admissions scandal is shedding light on how parents are cheating and bribing their children's way into college, schools are also focusing on how some students may be cheating their way through college. Concern is growing about a burgeoning online market that makes it easier than ever for students to buy essays written by others to turn in as their own work. And schools are trying new tools to catch it.

It's not hard to understand the temptation for students. The pressure is enormous, the stakes are high and, for some, writing at a college level is a huge leap.

"We didn't really have a format to follow, so I was kind of lost on what to do," says one college freshman, who struggled recently with an English assignment. One night, when she was feeling particularly overwhelmed, she tweeted her frustration.

"It was like, 'Someone, please help me write my essay!' " she recalls. She ended her tweet with a crying emoji. Within a few minutes, she had a half-dozen offers of help.

"I can write it for you," they tweeted back. "Send us the prompt!"

The student, who asked that her name not be used for fear of repercussions at school, chose one that asked for $10 per page, and she breathed a sigh of relief.

"For me, it was just that the work was piling up," she explains. "As soon as I finish some big assignment, I get assigned more things, more homework for math, more homework for English. Some papers have to be six or 10 pages long. ... And even though I do my best to manage, the deadlines come closer and closer, and it's just ... the pressure."

In the cat-and-mouse game of academic cheating, students these days know that if they plagiarize, they're likely to get caught by computer programs that automatically compare essays against a massive database of other writings. So now, buying an original essay can seem like a good workaround.

"Technically, I don't think it's cheating," the student says. "Because you're paying someone to write an essay, which they don't plagiarize, and they write everything on their own."

Her logic, of course, ignores the question of whether she's plagiarizing. When pressed, she begins to stammer.

"That's just a difficult question to answer," she says. "I don't know how to feel about that. It's kind of like a gray area. It's maybe on the edge, kind of?"

Besides she adds, she probably won't use all of it.

Other students justify essay buying as the only way to keep up. They figure that everyone is doing it one way or another — whether they're purchasing help online or getting it from family or friends.

"Oh yeah, collaboration at its finest," cracks Boston University freshman Grace Saathoff. While she says she would never do it herself, she's not really fazed by others doing it. She agrees with her friends that it has pretty much become socially acceptable.

"I have a friend who writes essays and sells them," says Danielle Delafuente, another Boston University freshman. "And my other friend buys them. He's just like, 'I can't handle it. I have five papers at once. I need her to do two of them, and I'll do the other three.' It's a time management thing."

The war on contract cheating

"It breaks my heart that this is where we're at," sighs Ashley Finley, senior adviser to the president for the Association of American Colleges and Universities. She says campuses are abuzz about how to curb the rise in what they call contract cheating. Obviously, students buying essays is not new, but Finley says that what used to be mostly limited to small-scale side hustles has mushroomed on the internet to become a global industry of so-called essay mills. Hard numbers are difficult to come by, but research suggests that up to 16 percent of students have paid someone to do their work and that the number is rising.

"Definitely, this is really getting more and more serious," Finley says. "It's part of the brave new world for sure."

The essay mills market aggressively online, with slickly produced videos inviting students to "Get instant help with your assignment" and imploring them: "Don't lag behind," "Join the majority" and "Don't worry, be happy."

"They're very crafty," says Tricia Bertram Gallant, director of the Academic Integrity Office at the University of California in San Diego and a board member of the International Center for Academic Integrity.

The companies are equally brazen offline — leafleting on campuses, posting flyers in toilet stalls and flying banners over Florida beaches during spring break. Companies have also been known to bait students with emails that look like they're from official college help centers. And they pay social media influencers to sing the praises of their services, and they post testimonials from people they say are happy customers.

"I hired a service to write my paper and I got a 90 on it!" gloats one. "Save your time, and have extra time to party!" advises another.

"It's very much a seduction," says Bertram Gallant. "So you can maybe see why students could get drawn into the contract cheating world."

YouTube has been cracking down on essay mills; it says it has pulled thousands of videos that violate its policies against promoting dishonest behavior.

But new videos constantly pop up, and their hard sell flies in the face of their small-print warnings that their essays should be used only as a guide, not a final product.

Several essay mills declined or didn't respond to requests to be interviewed by NPR. But one answered questions by email and offered up one of its writers to explain her role in the company, called EduBirdie.

"Yes, just like the little birdie that's there to help you in your education," explains April Short, a former grade school teacher from Australia who's now based in Philadelphia. She has been writing for a year and a half for the company, which bills itself as a "professional essay writing service for students who can't even."

Some students just want some "foundational research" to get started or a little "polish" to finish up, Short says. But the idea that many others may be taking a paper written completely by her and turning it in as their own doesn't keep her up at night.

"These kids are so time poor," she says, and they're "missing out on opportunities of travel and internships because they're studying and writing papers." Relieving students of some of that burden, she figures, allows them to become more "well-rounded."

"I don't necessarily think that being able to create an essay is going to be a defining factor in a very long career, so it's not something that bothers me," says Short. Indeed, she thinks students who hire writers are demonstrating resourcefulness and creativity. "I actually applaud students that look for options to get the job done and get it done well," she says.

"This just shows you the extent of our ability to rationalize all kinds of bad things we do," sighs Dan Ariely, professor of psychology and behavioral economics at Duke University. The rise in contract cheating is especially worrisome, he says, because when it comes to dishonest behavior, more begets more. As he puts it, it's not just about "a few bad apples."

Felicity Huffman And 12 Other Parents To Plead Guilty In College Cheating Scandal

"Instead, what we have is a lot ... of blemished apples, and we take our cues for our behavior from the social world around us," he says. "We know officially what is right and what's wrong. But really what's driving our behavior is what we see others around us doing" or, Ariely adds, what we perceive them to be doing. So even the proliferation of advertising for essays mills can have a pernicious effect, he says, by fueling the perception that "everyone's doing it."

A few nations have recently proposed or passed laws outlawing essay mills, and more than a dozen U.S. states have laws on the books against them. But prosecuting essay mills, which are often based overseas in Pakistan, Kenya and Ukraine, for example, is complicated. And most educators are loath to criminalize students' behavior.

"Yes, they're serious mistakes. They're egregious mistakes," says Cath Ellis, an associate dean and integrity officer at the University of New South Wales, where students were among the hundreds alleged to have bought essays in a massive scandal in Australia in 2014.

"But we're educational institutions," she adds. "We've got to give students the opportunity to learn from these mistakes. That's our responsibility. And that's better in our hands than in the hands of the police and the courts."

Staying one step ahead

In the war on contract cheating, some schools see new technology as their best weapon and their best shot to stay one step ahead of unscrupulous students. The company that makes the Turnitin plagiarism detection software has just upped its game with a new program called Authorship Investigate.

The software first inspects a document's metadata, like when it was created, by whom it was created and how many times it was reopened and re-edited. Turnitin's vice president for product management, Bill Loller, says sometimes it's as simple as looking at the document's name. Essay mills typically name their documents something like "Order Number 123," and students have been known to actually submit it that way. "You would be amazed at how frequently that happens," says Loller.

Using cutting-edge linguistic forensics, the software also evaluates the level of writing and its style.

"Think of it as a writing fingerprint," Loller says. The software looks at hundreds of telltale characteristics of an essay, like whether the author double spaces after a period or writes with Oxford commas or semicolons. It all gets instantly compared against a student's other work, and, Loller says, suspicions can be confirmed — or alleviated — in minutes.

"At the end of the day, you get to a really good determination on whether the student wrote what they submitted or not," he says, "and you get it really quickly."

Coventry University in the U.K. has been testing out a beta version of the software, and Irene Glendinning, the school's academic manager for student experience, agrees that the software has the potential to give schools a leg up on cheating students. After the software is officially adopted, "we'll see a spike in the number of cases we find, and we'll have a very hard few years," she says. "But then the message will get through to students that we've got the tools now to find these things out." Then, Glendinning hopes, students might consider contract cheating to be as risky as plagiarizing.

In the meantime, schools are trying to spread the word that buying essays is risky in other ways as well.

Professor Ariely says that when he posed as a student and ordered papers from several companies, much of it was "gibberish" and about a third of it was actually plagiarized.

Even worse, when he complained to the company and demanded his money back, they resorted to blackmail. Still believing him to be a student, the company threatened to tell his school he was cheating. Others say companies have also attempted to shake down students for more money, threatening to rat them out if they didn't pay up.

The lesson, Ariely says, is "buyer beware."

But ultimately, experts say, many desperate students may not be deterred by the risks — whether from shady businesses or from new technology.

Bertram Gallant, of UC San Diego, says the right way to dissuade students from buying essays is to remind them why it's wrong.

"If we engage in a technological arms race with the students, we won't win," she says. "What are we going to do when Google glasses start to look like regular glasses and a student wears them into an exam? Are we going to tell them they can't wear their glasses because we're afraid they might be sending the exam out to someone else who is sending them back the answers?"

The solution, Bertram Gallant says, has to be about "creating a culture where integrity and ethics matter" and where education is valued more than grades. Only then will students believe that cheating on essays is only cheating themselves.

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9 Proven Essay Hacks: Cheat Sheet and Tips to cheat on essays

In this comprehensive guide, we show you proven essay hacks to use as an essay cheat sheet and tips on how to cheat on essays. Earn the grades legally. If you effectively apply these 9 tips and tricks, you will significantly save your time in writing essays, and the efforts you put on your homework and earn high grades easily.

In many essays and assignments, students get stranded due to the lack of knowledge on how to navigate from one step to another in the writing process. Sometimes, there are easy ways to write essays, but they only work when you know the tips. Let us now discuss each in detail.

Easy navigation table

Proven Essay Hacks to legally Cheat on Essays

1. hire a professional essay writer.

This is one of the most convenient and easiest ways through which a student can cheat on essays, homework, and other assignments. The student hires a professional essay writer.

Professional essay writers can be accessed through professional writing websites. Grade Bees essay writing is one of the best ones. Several writing websites have experienced and competent writers who can handle different types of essays or any other assignment 24/7.

When you hire a professional essay writer, you can be assured that your paper will be of high quality and it will be delivered on time as your work.

However, there are some things you should consider before hiring a professional essay writer online. You should conduct a thorough research concerning the credibility of your selected writing services provider.

Make your Order

Give Instructions

Your writer completes the task

Download your File

The credibility can be gauged based on how long the website has provided witting services to students, the consistency of the website regarding the delivery of quality essays to students, and most importantly the support system within the site.

Once you are satisfied with the website offering professional writing services, you will be assigned a verified essay writer to complete your assignment.

The assigned professional write will deliver your essay, homework, or any other assignment according to the instructions you provided and the deadline you gave.

Of course, those services are not free. You will have to pay. The price may differ from one service provider to another.

2. Plagiarize wisely without getting caught

This is also an ingenious method of cheating on your essays, homework, and more.

While plagiarizing is academic dishonesty that is punishable by law, plagiarizing wisely without getting caught can help you cheat on essays if you believe it is morally right.

The first method of plagiarizing wisely is to add adverbs and adjectives into original sentences to make them sound and appear different or unique.

Also, you should note that plagiarism detecting tools look for overlapping text between your essay and other works from other writers.

If you add adverbs and adjectives, the similarity or overlapping text will disappear and you will be good.

You can also change the order of text within the original sentences. This is an easy method of plagiarizing because plagiarism detecting tools such as SafeAssign and Turnitin will be incapable of detecting any overlaps between your essay and the original work.

Changing the word order can also be achieved by Article Rewriting tools. Those tools are several on Google.

What they do is to take the original text and jumble it in such a way that it maintains meaning and coherence while becoming different from the original work.

Finally, you can utilize several quotes within your essay. However, this will depend on whether your instructor accepts them or not.

If you use quotes, be sure to quote (“…”) the original text and add an in-text citation at the end of the quote to avoid detection.

Check our our guide how to plagiarize wisely without getting caught especially when dealing with Turnitin or SafeAssign.

 3. Paraphrase your essay well

Paraphrasing is when a student takes the original text and mixes the words in such a way that they look original while retaining the same meaning with the original text.

You should note that even though you have paraphrased, you should correctly cite the source in the right format.

Below are some of the tips that can be used to help you paraphrase your work well:

• Use a Dissimilar first sentence
• Use relevant synonyms
• Change sentence structure
• Break long sentences

We can explain these points in detail below;

1. Use a Dissimilar first sentence

First, you should begin your essay, or the first sentence of your essay, at a dissimilar point from that of the original.

This means that you will not follow the structure of the source. You will have to find the structure through which you will rewrite the source’s text.

2. Use relevant synonyms

Secondly, you should use synonyms. This is a clever way of paraphrasing because you will exchange the original words with their synonyms.

This can easily fool plagiarism detecting tools. The Saurus Tool can help you if you are stuck.

3. Change sentence structure

Thirdly, you can change the sentence structure. If the original sentence has been written in the active form, you can change it into a passive form.

4. Break long sentences

Finally, you can break long sentences or information into smaller and separate sentences. This will make your essay original while maintaining the original or intended information.

Read our guide on the Dos and Don’ts of paraphrasing – and learn how to paraphrase well.

4. Submit late assignments wisely

It is a requirement that all assignments should be submitted before the deadline.

Any late submissions are not accepted by most instructors because the students have not followed the instructions and they may have used that opportunity to cheat on their essays.

Depending on the institution you are studying in, your instructors have different preferences when it comes to submitting assignments.

Most will require you to submit the assignments via plagiarism detecting tools such as Turnitin or SafeAssign while others may require you to physically hand in your work.

Either way, late submissions are unacceptable. This is because they can be used as a loophole to cheat.

Read our guide on how to submit late assignments and escape with it.

To ensure that you turn in your late assignments, be sure to upload a corrupted file before the deadline. The instructor will struggle to open the file without success.

During that time, take the opportunity to complete the assignment. You can also seek help from your smart classmates because they will assume that you have also uploaded the file and their help will not have any impact on your paper.

By the time your instructor requests you to re-upload your assignment, you will have completed your paper. Voila!

5. Work with homework help tutor

This method cannot be considered as an unethical approach to cheating on essays. This is because a homework help tutor is just like your teacher or instructor who wants to make you better understand the course and the homework.

Again, parents who think that their children are not at par with their peers at school will most likely hire extra help from such tutors. Those tutors can also help you while completing your homework.

Well, homework help tutors can be actual physical people who you interact with or someone/something that you interact within a virtual space (online).

In either case, both can provide valuable information that can help you complete your homework.

Their experience as tutors and the academic information they possess guarantees that you will complete your homework and expect the best results. 

For example, if you have been given Chemistry homework and you feel that it is difficult to complete because you do not understand the concepts, you can seek homework help tutor

Maybe the grade you will get from the assignment will impact your final grade. Though you will have cheated, seeking help will save your grade.

Look out for our homework help services and see if you can get someone to walk your academic journey with you

This is one of the most effective and successful methods of cheating on essays, homework, and more without getting caught. You have legally or morally done nothing wrong.

6. Re-use previous papers from you or others

This method of cheating on essays, homework, and more can be very risky if not done wisely. As we have noted, some tools are used by institutions to check for plagiarism.

Tools such as SafeAssign and Turnitin can detect any overlaps between your submitted papers and other papers, essays, or works that are available within their databases.

If they detect any overlaps, then your paper has a degree of plagiarism that is dictated by the similarity index.

If the previous papers from you or others to be reused have been previously submitted through either of plagiarism checking tools, then your paper will be detected and rejected because of a high similarity index.

However, it should be noted that the two plagiarism checking tools use different databases and they do not check the other’s databases.

Therefore, it may be possible to reuse a paper that has been previously submitted using Turnitin by submitting it through SafeAssign and vice versa.

Turnitin stores all the papers that have been submitted through it to its database. In the case of SafeAssign, students and instructors can choose to donate those papers as resources.

The key thing to note is that most of the tools used to check for plagiarism have a mechanism of detecting papers that have been previously submitted through them.

Read our guide how to re-use previous papers without self-plagiarism and apply this crazy hack.

However, if your paper or another person’s paper has not been submitted through such tools, you can confidently reuse them.

 7. Smartly cheat your online tests

Some smart methods can be used by students to cheat during their online tests. One of the most commonly used methods is screen mirroring or sharing.

Since online tests are given to students from remote locations, you have the freedom to use more than one monitor.

Those monitors are used to simultaneously mirror the test questions to your smart friends who can provide answers.

The second method you can use to cheat during online tests is by using devices to cheat. Some Bluetooth devices are very tiny and undetectable.

You can place them strategically into your ear and use them to receive voiced answers from your smart friends or any other person you have hired to help you during the online test.

Another device you can use to cheat during online tests is your smartphone. They can store valuable information and answers. They are connected to the internet and you can search your answers on cheating websites like Sparknotes or more.

Another method that can be used to cheat during online tests is impersonation. Here, the candidate hires or uses another person to do the test on their behalf.

You can read our full guide how to cheat online tests and get some easy hacks that may help you escape being caught.

Administering online tests remotely allows the candidates to use impersonators who are more knowledgeable and are likely to attain good grades for the candidates. However, we give a disclaimer that such cheating in school is wrong , and you should try it at your own peril.

Though this is the case, most institutions are now administering online exams though proctored programs like web browsers and tools to avoid cheating incidences. 

8. Use free model essays to write your essays

Copying or using model essays/papers to write your essays/papers is also an effective method of cheating on essays, homework, and more. Model essays have been created by individuals who are well versed in the course content and its requirements.

Most likely, those individuals create those model essays/papers to guide or provide an actual example of how students should do their papers or essays. In most cases, the model essays or papers have been written or approved by the instructor. Therefore, they can be valuable assets when writing your paper or essay.

What you should note is that not all model essays or papers will completely match the assignment requirements given by your instructor.

Read our post on how to use completely free sample essays as models for your paper.

You should carefully check the contents and the context of the model essay or papers before copying or using them to write your essays or papers.

If by chance the model paper is similar to your assignment, you can proceed to copy the points in your paper or essay. However, do not copy-paste. Read our guide on paraphrasing hack 3 above.

If you decide to completely copy the model paper or essay, be sure to check for similarity through plagiarism checking tools such as Turnitin Self-Check, Grammarly, or any other tool. This will ensure that the paper does not exist within the databases of those tools. If they do exist, you can plagiarize or paraphrase wisely to avoid getting caught. If they do not exist, then you can copy and upload the paper as your own.

9. Have someone take your class online

As aforementioned, online classes and courses are administered remotely. Therefore, students and tutors do not physically interact. This gives students a lot of freedom to cheat. One of the methods is to have someone take your online class from the start to end. Due to proctoring tools and online authentication through biometrics and student IDs that are taken

during the start of the online course, having someone take the online class from the start will ensure that they will have assumed your identity. They will also do online proctored tests and exams without any problem.

Essay Cheat Sheet and Tips to improve your writing

1. use proofreading tools to polish your work.

Proofreading tools like Grammarly and writecheck can be very helpful when completing your essays.

They are easy to use and they make your work to be significantly easier.

At the same time, they will take lesser time and save you on the deadline.

When you are done writing your essay or research paper and you need to proofread your work to correct any grammatical errors, punctuation, and so on, you can just copy-paste or upload the file directly to the tool.

Some of the proofreading tools are free while others require a subscription fee.

Read our hacks on how to use Grammarly Premium version for free and see how it works.

Once uploaded, the tool will automatically detect any errors or issues within your paper. You can correct them as required.

2. Format your paper well – cite referencing, etc.

Formatting your paper well will guarantee more points. After you are done writing your paper, it is important to format it following the academic guidelines provided by your instructor.

The format will dictate the arrangement of your paper in terms of paragraphs, the in-text citations, presence or absence of endnotes or footnotes, and the placement of the bibliography/works cited/reference page.

Read our guide how to format papers in APA or MLA and get a quick lesson or essay hack on the same.

The common and acceptable formats include APA, MLA, Chicago, and Harvard. Be sure to follow the format dictated by your instructor to be graded.

Some instructors will not grade papers that do not follow the correct format that is well done.

You can hire one of our cheap essay writers from our website to proofread your work professionally.

3. Self-check your papers for plagiarism

This is also a very important step to do before submitting your paper. As we have noted earlier, most instructors will require you to submit your papers and essays through plagiarism checking tools such as SafeAssign and Turnitin.

However, some submissions can only be done once because they are taken as final copies rather than drafts. It is therefore important to perform a self-check through tools.

Read our guide on Turnitin Self-check alternatives and learn more.

Some of the tools discussed in that article include Turnitin’s Feedback Studio, Grammarly, PlagScan, DupliChecker, and so on before submitting your drafts as final copies.

4. Keep your plagiarism score within the acceptable range

Different institutions and instructors have different standards when it comes to plagiarism scores.

Some will be strict while others will be lenient depending on the course discipline and the writing prowess of the students.

Check out our post on the acceptable plagiarism score on Turnitin and know how not to surpass that level.

As a student, you should take note of the accepted range and try as much as possible to keep your plagiarism score within the acceptable range.

You will not be penalized due to plagiarized content if you keep your score within the acceptable range.

5. Follow online guides on how to write essays and papers

If you google or search the web for topics on how to write different types of papers, you will find several results.

Read our comprehensive guides how to write an essay and how to write research papers for detailed lessons.

Some many websites and blogs provide free guides on how to write different papers. You should however check the credibility of the online sources because some of them may misguide you.

Different papers will take different forms. The most credible sites will give you guidelines in terms of structure, outline, format, tone, and how to effectively cite sources.

6. Know the allowed plagiarism – easy essay cheat sheet

Different institutions and instructors have different standards when it comes to how much plagiarism is allowed. Some institutions or instructors will not allow students’ papers with a plagiarism score of more than 5%. Watch the video below to learn how to reduce your plagiarism.

Others can allow a score of below 25% while others can allow as much as 30% depending on the course’s discipline and the writing proficiency of the students.

If your instructor or institution allows or tolerates a plagiarism score of 30%, then you can plagiarize to that extent.

However, if they do not tolerate that (5% and below), then avoid plagiarism by using the aforementioned methods.

• Tips for Reading an Assignment Prompt
• Asking Analytical Questions
• Introductions
• What Do Introductions Across the Disciplines Have in Common?
• Anatomy of a Body Paragraph
• Transitions
• Tips for Organizing Your Essay
• Counterargument
• Conclusions
• Strategies for Essay Writing: Downloadable PDFs
• Brief Guides to Writing in the Disciplines

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How to Cheat On a Test

Last Updated: May 18, 2024 References

wikiHow is a “wiki,” similar to Wikipedia, which means that many of our articles are co-written by multiple authors. To create this article, 439 people, some anonymous, worked to edit and improve it over time. This article has been viewed 3,392,215 times. Learn more...

Whether you are simply unprepared, lazy, or otherwise unable to successfully pass an exam, you may feel compelled to use cheating as a strategy to get through a test. Here are some steps and tips to help you accomplish your goal and most likely get that A+ you've always wanted.

• Don't look suspicious. It's important to strike a balance between effectively getting your answers and not making it obvious. To do this, don't overly fidget. If you must look around, never hold your gaze in one place for longer than five to ten seconds. Switch it up by randomly staring in other directions — this way, your test supervisors won't get too suspicious and find out where your accomplice (or cheat sheet) is.
• Don't aim too high. It's not impossible to cheat your way into a perfect score if you really put in the effort, but if everyone else is getting an unremarkable grade on the exam, you will draw attention to yourself. This is fine if you normally get decent marks, but if you're known among teachers as one of the slower students, then there's a chance that they'll find out. Deliberately miss a few questions, though, and you'll be good to go. Try getting a B on a test and continually but slowly raising your average score until it's an A. You can even shoot for ups and downs in your scores, to make it appear more natural.
• Dispose of the evidence. As soon as the test is over, ask to go to the bathroom (if you haven't already gone) to wash off or throw away any evidence of cheating. The longer you hold on to something, then the better your chance of getting caught because one person or another will notice.

Using Cheat-Sheet Methods

• Try the "Body Part Cheat-Sheet" method. Instead of printing out the cheat sheet, try writing it on a part of your body. Good places include your forearm if you are a man or your upper thigh if you are a woman. These are both great because you can wear a dress or long sleeve shirt to cover up your cheat sheet when you aren't using it. It's important to not make it obvious that there is writing on your body. Put the words in a place that faces you only.
• Try the "Water Bottle Cheat-Sheet" method. Print out the cheat sheet on a colored piece of paper that matches that label of your water bottle. Paste it on the label and turn it so that it only faces you. Ideally, you want to mimic the writing on the label to avoid suspicion. [1] X Research source
• Try the "Binder Cheat-Sheet" method. If you have a binder that has a clear slot in the front, slide your cheat sheet into there. Move your binder from under your desk to the side of your desk to peek at your cheat sheet. Try to minimize the number of slides, especially if you don't have carpet in your classroom.
• Try the "Calculator Cheat-Sheet" method. This is common for people who are taking math tests because that's the only reasonable time to have a calculator without being suspicious. Slide formulas or information terms between the back of the calculator and the calculator's cover.
• Another Calculator Method to try: If you have a graphing calculator, save the math formulas into your calculator. Then, put the information into an archive, so you will still be able to get to it if your teacher makes you clear the RAM. Unarchive the information during the test. Clear the memory after the test. This also works if it's the school's calculator because no teacher or student is going to look in the archive. If you don't know how to archive things on a calculator, look it up. [2] X Research source
• Try the "Stashed Cheat-Sheet" method. Hide a cheat-sheet in a separate place altogether to avoid it getting connected back to you. This includes on a bulletin board in the classroom, in a bathroom stall, or on someone's chair.
• Wear a long-sleeved shirt and hide your cheat sheets under the sleeves. It is a very good method because your teacher won't look under your sleeves. And when your teacher isn't looking, you can easily take out a cheat sheet, and it's easy to put it back.

Implementing Partner-Cheating Methods

• Establish hand or foot tapping signals for A, B, C, D, E, and "wrong answer." By creating a signal for "wrong answer" you are going to improve the likelihood of you both doing well on the test by helping each other eliminate wrong answers. Also create a vocal noise for getting their attention that isn't suspicious (like a cough, or foot tap).
• Start by coughing to get their attention.
• Use your fingers to give the number of the question (flash 3 than a 2 to with your hand signal question "32").
• Wait for them to signal their answer (pulling their ear for "B").
• If you need help deciding between 2 answers: cough, give the question number, and signal for the answer you suspect it might be.
• They can nod their head if it's correct. if it's the wrong answer they can send the "wrong answer" signal (put up your hair in a ponytail).

Using Hard-to-Prove Methods

• Claim to be sick, go to the bathroom towards the end of the exam until it's over. Or pace yourself slowly. Be sure that your professor will let you come back before using this method as you could actually do worse if they don’t let you finish.

• Keep in mind that some classrooms have cameras. Avoid this if the one you are in does have a camera because if that is the case, it’s much riskier.

• If your exam paper is a question/answer type then remember to add one important point as the question and the other as the answer. You also have to include the page number and marks per question (if included).
• The next thing to do is a staple this piece of paper with the original question paper during the test without anyone noticing.

Implementing Studying Methods

• For essays , try to remember keywords and points. Usually, professors or teachers look for keywords or important points; the essay's formal "fluff" is less important. If you know the topic or possible topics of an essay question, cram four to five terms or important points you know your professor will be looking for instead of studying everything, thereby reducing the effort required. The same is true for short answers that require one or two sentences with keywords and points.
• For true-or-false exams, try studying the facts enough to pinpoint the details. Typically, there are more true statements on a test than false statements. If you find a statement where you have to change part of it to make it true, it's false.
• For multiple-choice exams , try "chunking" information you know will be on the test. Instead of memorizing a list of words, try breaking it into easier to remember smaller lists. [4] X Research source For example, if studying for a history test , instead of remembering "Jefferson, Hamilton, Franklin, Washington, Grant, Lincoln, and Lee" break it up into the "4 of the founding fathers: Franklin, Washington, Jefferson and Hamilton" and the "3 civil war leaders: Lee, Lincoln, Grant." By memorizing the number of men to a specific topic, it'll be easier to narrow down who you are missing.
• For math exams , try to memorize formulas. Knowing a formula can be more powerful than spending hours doing practice problems. If you can write down a formula enough to memorize it, then you can spend the test trying to apply those to the problems.

Community Q&A

Tips from our Readers

• Try getting to class early and then write everything from the cheat sheet directly onto the desk with a pencil. At the end of the test, you can use your hand to wipe away the evidence.
• You can also try writing your answer on your arm and wearing a long sleeve shirt. Whenever you need to look, pull your sleeve down quickly and you have your answer!
• If you're someone who tends to sit cross-legged in class, you can slip a small page of notes in your shoe or boot.
• In some countries, certain methods of cheating on certain important tests is illegal and could entail jail time. [5] X Research source Thanks Helpful 12 Not Helpful 1
• Other students may suspect you cheating and inform your teacher. Thanks Helpful 15 Not Helpful 1
• If this is a shared computer, you might consider deleting the browser history so you won't get caught by your parents. Thanks Helpful 11 Not Helpful 1
• There is always a possibility of getting caught. If you are found to be cheating, you could receive heavy penalties, such as getting an automatic zero on the test, suspension, or even expulsion. Many schools will even mark on your transcript indicating you violated the honor code. Instead of searching for how to cheat on a test, try finding tips on studying for exams. Thanks Helpful 12 Not Helpful 2
• In some countries e.g., those mentioned above, you must not possess any unauthorized material, or electronic equipment e.g., mobile phones in an exam room if you are taking an external exam, such as those detailed above, as this is a serious disciplinary offense. This applies even if you do not intend to use it.
• In many professions, you will need the knowledge you gain by studying instead of cheating. Remember, there is no cheating in the operating room when you're the surgeon operating on the patient or when you're in space as an astronaut flying far from Earth. Thanks Helpful 5 Not Helpful 1
• Don't brag about it. This may seem obvious, but it is something people do. You don't know who could tell the teacher. Thanks Helpful 5 Not Helpful 2
• Always be aware of where the teacher is looking; no method of cheating is successful if the teacher is looking right at you while you hold the notes in your hand and are frantically copying them onto the test. Thanks Helpful 3 Not Helpful 1
• If you are copying off the person next to you lean over and rest on your arm while tilting your head to the side to make sure it isn't obvious. Thanks Helpful 3 Not Helpful 1
• If you had to cheat because you had no time, remember that it is still worth learning the content after the test. You may have cumulative tests afterward and some of these things could really help you in the future. Thanks Helpful 3 Not Helpful 1
• Partnering is always better than cheat sheets and the hard-to-prove methods are even better. Overall, the less evidence there is - the better it is for you. Thanks Helpful 3 Not Helpful 1
• If you are allowed to chew gum, write the answers in a gum wrapper, then get out a piece of gum. Thanks Helpful 3 Not Helpful 1
• It is never a good idea to do this, because you may feel guilty afterward and get the urge to confess what you did, which most likely will land you in trouble. Thanks Helpful 3 Not Helpful 3
• Even if you do manage to cheat without getting caught while suffering the stress of doing so, it is very unlikely that the few extra marks you gain will make much difference to the score. And you risk disqualification, expulsion, or being banned. Thanks Helpful 3 Not Helpful 1

You Might Also Like

• ↑ https://edusson.com/blog/how-to-cheat-in-college
• ↑ https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/05/11/10-crazy-and-inventive-ways-students-have-cheated-in-exams/
• ↑ http://www.creativeteachingsite.com/how-to-cheat-on-a-test.html
• ↑ http://thepeakperformancecenter.com/educational-learning/thinking/chunking/chunking-as-a-learning-strategy/
• ↑ http://time.com/4360968/china-gaokao-examination-university-entrance-cheating-jail-prison/

About This Article

To cheat on a test, try sitting diagonally behind someone who will do well on the topic, which will let you look over their shoulder and see their answers. If you know someone who’s willing to help you, use signs to communicate the right answers during the test, such as signing the shape of a letter for a multiple choice test. You could also try buying the instructor’s edition of your textbook online, since it contains example questions that may be used in the test. If you know that your professor will let you come back later to finish the test, make up an excuse, such as that you’re feeling unwell. Then, memorize the topics in the test so you can check the answers before you come back to finish the test. For tips on how to create a cheat sheet, keep reading! Did this summary help you? Yes No

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How to Write an Essay

Use the links below to jump directly to any section of this guide:

Essay Writing Fundamentals

How to prepare to write an essay, how to edit an essay, how to share and publish your essays, how to get essay writing help, how to find essay writing inspiration, resources for teaching essay writing.

Essays, short prose compositions on a particular theme or topic, are the bread and butter of academic life. You write them in class, for homework, and on standardized tests to show what you know. Unlike other kinds of academic writing (like the research paper) and creative writing (like short stories and poems), essays allow you to develop your original thoughts on a prompt or question. Essays come in many varieties: they can be expository (fleshing out an idea or claim), descriptive, (explaining a person, place, or thing), narrative (relating a personal experience), or persuasive (attempting to win over a reader). This guide is a collection of dozens of links about academic essay writing that we have researched, categorized, and annotated in order to help you improve your essay writing. 

Essays are different from other forms of writing; in turn, there are different kinds of essays. This section contains general resources for getting to know the essay and its variants. These resources introduce and define the essay as a genre, and will teach you what to expect from essay-based assessments.

Purdue OWL Online Writing Lab

One of the most trusted academic writing sites, Purdue OWL provides a concise introduction to the four most common types of academic essays.

"The Essay: History and Definition" (ThoughtCo)

This snappy article from ThoughtCo talks about the origins of the essay and different kinds of essays you might be asked to write. 

"What Is An Essay?" Video Lecture (Coursera)

The University of California at Irvine's free video lecture, available on Coursera, tells  you everything you need to know about the essay.

Wikipedia Article on the "Essay"

Wikipedia's article on the essay is comprehensive, providing both English-language and global perspectives on the essay form. Learn about the essay's history, forms, and styles.

"Understanding College and Academic Writing" (Aims Online Writing Lab)

This list of common academic writing assignments (including types of essay prompts) will help you know what to expect from essay-based assessments.

Before you start writing your essay, you need to figure out who you're writing for (audience), what you're writing about (topic/theme), and what you're going to say (argument and thesis). This section contains links to handouts, chapters, videos and more to help you prepare to write an essay.

How to Identify Your Audience

"Audience" (Univ. of North Carolina Writing Center)

This handout provides questions you can ask yourself to determine the audience for an academic writing assignment. It also suggests strategies for fitting your paper to your intended audience.

"Purpose, Audience, Tone, and Content" (Univ. of Minnesota Libraries)

This extensive book chapter from Writing for Success , available online through Minnesota Libraries Publishing, is followed by exercises to try out your new pre-writing skills.

"Determining Audience" (Aims Online Writing Lab)

This guide from a community college's writing center shows you how to know your audience, and how to incorporate that knowledge in your thesis statement.

"Know Your Audience" ( Paper Rater Blog)

This short blog post uses examples to show how implied audiences for essays differ. It reminds you to think of your instructor as an observer, who will know only the information you pass along.

How to Choose a Theme or Topic

"Research Tutorial: Developing Your Topic" (YouTube)

Take a look at this short video tutorial from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill to understand the basics of developing a writing topic.

"How to Choose a Paper Topic" (WikiHow)

This simple, step-by-step guide (with pictures!) walks you through choosing a paper topic. It starts with a detailed description of brainstorming and ends with strategies to refine your broad topic.

"How to Read an Assignment: Moving From Assignment to Topic" (Harvard College Writing Center)

Did your teacher give you a prompt or other instructions? This guide helps you understand the relationship between an essay assignment and your essay's topic.

"Guidelines for Choosing a Topic" (CliffsNotes)

This study guide from CliffsNotes both discusses how to choose a topic and makes a useful distinction between "topic" and "thesis."

How to Come Up with an Argument

"Argument" (Univ. of North Carolina Writing Center)

Not sure what "argument" means in the context of academic writing? This page from the University of North Carolina is a good place to start.

"The Essay Guide: Finding an Argument" (Study Hub)

This handout explains why it's important to have an argument when beginning your essay, and provides tools to help you choose a viable argument.

"Writing a Thesis and Making an Argument" (University of Iowa)

This page from the University of Iowa's Writing Center contains exercises through which you can develop and refine your argument and thesis statement.

"Developing a Thesis" (Harvard College Writing Center)

This page from Harvard's Writing Center collates some helpful dos and don'ts of argumentative writing, from steps in constructing a thesis to avoiding vague and confrontational thesis statements.

"Suggestions for Developing Argumentative Essays" (Berkeley Student Learning Center)

This page offers concrete suggestions for each stage of the essay writing process, from topic selection to drafting and editing. 

How to Outline your Essay

"Outlines" (Univ. of North Carolina at Chapel Hill via YouTube)

This short video tutorial from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill shows how to group your ideas into paragraphs or sections to begin the outlining process.

"Essay Outline" (Univ. of Washington Tacoma)

This two-page handout by a university professor simply defines the parts of an essay and then organizes them into an example outline.

"Types of Outlines and Samples" (Purdue OWL Online Writing Lab)

Purdue OWL gives examples of diverse outline strategies on this page, including the alphanumeric, full sentence, and decimal styles. 

"Outlining" (Harvard College Writing Center)

Once you have an argument, according to this handout, there are only three steps in the outline process: generalizing, ordering, and putting it all together. Then you're ready to write!

"Writing Essays" (Plymouth Univ.)

This packet, part of Plymouth University's Learning Development series, contains descriptions and diagrams relating to the outlining process.

"How to Write A Good Argumentative Essay: Logical Structure" (Criticalthinkingtutorials.com via YouTube)

This longer video tutorial gives an overview of how to structure your essay in order to support your argument or thesis. It is part of a longer course on academic writing hosted on Udemy.

Now that you've chosen and refined your topic and created an outline, use these resources to complete the writing process. Most essays contain introductions (which articulate your thesis statement), body paragraphs, and conclusions. Transitions facilitate the flow from one paragraph to the next so that support for your thesis builds throughout the essay. Sources and citations show where you got the evidence to support your thesis, which ensures that you avoid plagiarism. 

How to Write an Introduction

"Introductions" (Univ. of North Carolina Writing Center)

This page identifies the role of the introduction in any successful paper, suggests strategies for writing introductions, and warns against less effective introductions.

"How to Write A Good Introduction" (Michigan State Writing Center)

Beginning with the most common missteps in writing introductions, this guide condenses the essentials of introduction composition into seven points.

"The Introductory Paragraph" (ThoughtCo)

This blog post from academic advisor and college enrollment counselor Grace Fleming focuses on ways to grab your reader's attention at the beginning of your essay.

"Introductions and Conclusions" (Univ. of Toronto)

This guide from the University of Toronto gives advice that applies to writing both introductions and conclusions, including dos and don'ts.

"How to Write Better Essays: No One Does Introductions Properly" ( The Guardian )

This news article interviews UK professors on student essay writing; they point to introductions as the area that needs the most improvement.

How to Write a Thesis Statement

"Writing an Effective Thesis Statement" (YouTube)

This short, simple video tutorial from a college composition instructor at Tulsa Community College explains what a thesis statement is and what it does. 

"Thesis Statement: Four Steps to a Great Essay" (YouTube)

This fantastic tutorial walks you through drafting a thesis, using an essay prompt on Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter as an example.

"How to Write a Thesis Statement" (WikiHow)

This step-by-step guide (with pictures!) walks you through coming up with, writing, and editing a thesis statement. It invites you think of your statement as a "working thesis" that can change.

"How to Write a Thesis Statement" (Univ. of Indiana Bloomington)

Ask yourself the questions on this page, part of Indiana Bloomington's Writing Tutorial Services, when you're writing and refining your thesis statement.

"Writing Tips: Thesis Statements" (Univ. of Illinois Center for Writing Studies)

This page gives plentiful examples of good to great thesis statements, and offers questions to ask yourself when formulating a thesis statement.

How to Write Body Paragraphs

"Body Paragraph" (Brightstorm)

This module of a free online course introduces you to the components of a body paragraph. These include the topic sentence, information, evidence, and analysis.

"Strong Body Paragraphs" (Washington Univ.)

This handout from Washington's Writing and Research Center offers in-depth descriptions of the parts of a successful body paragraph.

"Guide to Paragraph Structure" (Deakin Univ.)

This handout is notable for color-coding example body paragraphs to help you identify the functions various sentences perform.

"Writing Body Paragraphs" (Univ. of Minnesota Libraries)

The exercises in this section of Writing for Success  will help you practice writing good body paragraphs. It includes guidance on selecting primary support for your thesis.

"The Writing Process—Body Paragraphs" (Aims Online Writing Lab)

The information and exercises on this page will familiarize you with outlining and writing body paragraphs, and includes links to more information on topic sentences and transitions.

"The Five-Paragraph Essay" (ThoughtCo)

This blog post discusses body paragraphs in the context of one of the most common academic essay types in secondary schools.

How to Use Transitions

"Transitions" (Univ. of North Carolina Writing Center)

This page from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill explains what a transition is, and how to know if you need to improve your transitions.

"Using Transitions Effectively" (Washington Univ.)

This handout defines transitions, offers tips for using them, and contains a useful list of common transitional words and phrases grouped by function.

"Transitions" (Aims Online Writing Lab)

This page compares paragraphs without transitions to paragraphs with transitions, and in doing so shows how important these connective words and phrases are.

"Transitions in Academic Essays" (Scribbr)

This page lists four techniques that will help you make sure your reader follows your train of thought, including grouping similar information and using transition words.

"Transitions" (El Paso Community College)

This handout shows example transitions within paragraphs for context, and explains how transitions improve your essay's flow and voice.

"Make Your Paragraphs Flow to Improve Writing" (ThoughtCo)

This blog post, another from academic advisor and college enrollment counselor Grace Fleming, talks about transitions and other strategies to improve your essay's overall flow.

"Transition Words" (smartwords.org)

This handy word bank will help you find transition words when you're feeling stuck. It's grouped by the transition's function, whether that is to show agreement, opposition, condition, or consequence.

How to Write a Conclusion

"Parts of An Essay: Conclusions" (Brightstorm)

This module of a free online course explains how to conclude an academic essay. It suggests thinking about the "3Rs": return to hook, restate your thesis, and relate to the reader.

"Essay Conclusions" (Univ. of Maryland University College)

This overview of the academic essay conclusion contains helpful examples and links to further resources for writing good conclusions.

"How to End An Essay" (WikiHow)

This step-by-step guide (with pictures!) by an English Ph.D. walks you through writing a conclusion, from brainstorming to ending with a flourish.

"Ending the Essay: Conclusions" (Harvard College Writing Center)

This page collates useful strategies for writing an effective conclusion, and reminds you to "close the discussion without closing it off" to further conversation.

How to Include Sources and Citations

"Research and Citation Resources" (Purdue OWL Online Writing Lab)

Purdue OWL streamlines information about the three most common referencing styles (MLA, Chicago, and APA) and provides examples of how to cite different resources in each system.

EasyBib: Free Bibliography Generator

This online tool allows you to input information about your source and automatically generate citations in any style. Be sure to select your resource type before clicking the "cite it" button.

CitationMachine

Like EasyBib, this online tool allows you to input information about your source and automatically generate citations in any style. 

Modern Language Association Handbook (MLA)

Here, you'll find the definitive and up-to-date record of MLA referencing rules. Order through the link above, or check to see if your library has a copy.

Chicago Manual of Style

Here, you'll find the definitive and up-to-date record of Chicago referencing rules. You can take a look at the table of contents, then choose to subscribe or start a free trial.

How to Avoid Plagiarism

"What is Plagiarism?" (plagiarism.org)

This nonprofit website contains numerous resources for identifying and avoiding plagiarism, and reminds you that even common activities like copying images from another website to your own site may constitute plagiarism.

"Plagiarism" (University of Oxford)

This interactive page from the University of Oxford helps you check for plagiarism in your work, making it clear how to avoid citing another person's work without full acknowledgement.

"Avoiding Plagiarism" (MIT Comparative Media Studies)

This quick guide explains what plagiarism is, what its consequences are, and how to avoid it. It starts by defining three words—quotation, paraphrase, and summary—that all constitute citation.

"Harvard Guide to Using Sources" (Harvard Extension School)

This comprehensive website from Harvard brings together articles, videos, and handouts about referencing, citation, and plagiarism. 

Grammarly contains tons of helpful grammar and writing resources, including a free tool to automatically scan your essay to check for close affinities to published work. 

Noplag is another popular online tool that automatically scans your essay to check for signs of plagiarism. Simply copy and paste your essay into the box and click "start checking."

Once you've written your essay, you'll want to edit (improve content), proofread (check for spelling and grammar mistakes), and finalize your work until you're ready to hand it in. This section brings together tips and resources for navigating the editing process. 

"Writing a First Draft" (Academic Help)

This is an introduction to the drafting process from the site Academic Help, with tips for getting your ideas on paper before editing begins.

"Editing and Proofreading" (Univ. of North Carolina Writing Center)

This page provides general strategies for revising your writing. They've intentionally left seven errors in the handout, to give you practice in spotting them.

"How to Proofread Effectively" (ThoughtCo)

This article from ThoughtCo, along with those linked at the bottom, help describe common mistakes to check for when proofreading.

"7 Simple Edits That Make Your Writing 100% More Powerful" (SmartBlogger)

This blog post emphasizes the importance of powerful, concise language, and reminds you that even your personal writing heroes create clunky first drafts.

"Editing Tips for Effective Writing" (Univ. of Pennsylvania)

On this page from Penn's International Relations department, you'll find tips for effective prose, errors to watch out for, and reminders about formatting.

"Editing the Essay" (Harvard College Writing Center)

This article, the first of two parts, gives you applicable strategies for the editing process. It suggests reading your essay aloud, removing any jargon, and being unafraid to remove even "dazzling" sentences that don't belong.

"Guide to Editing and Proofreading" (Oxford Learning Institute)

This handout from Oxford covers the basics of editing and proofreading, and reminds you that neither task should be rushed. 

In addition to plagiarism-checkers, Grammarly has a plug-in for your web browser that checks your writing for common mistakes.

After you've prepared, written, and edited your essay, you might want to share it outside the classroom. This section alerts you to print and web opportunities to share your essays with the wider world, from online writing communities and blogs to published journals geared toward young writers.

Sharing Your Essays Online

Go Teen Writers

Go Teen Writers is an online community for writers aged 13 - 19. It was founded by Stephanie Morrill, an author of contemporary young adult novels. 

Tumblr is a blogging website where you can share your writing and interact with other writers online. It's easy to add photos, links, audio, and video components.

Writersky provides an online platform for publishing and reading other youth writers' work. Its current content is mostly devoted to fiction.

Publishing Your Essays Online

This teen literary journal publishes in print, on the web, and (more frequently), on a blog. It is committed to ensuring that "teens see their authentic experience reflected on its pages."

The Matador Review

This youth writing platform celebrates "alternative," unconventional writing. The link above will take you directly to the site's "submissions" page.

Teen Ink has a website, monthly newsprint magazine, and quarterly poetry magazine promoting the work of young writers.

The largest online reading platform, Wattpad enables you to publish your work and read others' work. Its inline commenting feature allows you to share thoughts as you read along.

Publishing Your Essays in Print

Canvas Teen Literary Journal

This quarterly literary magazine is published for young writers by young writers. They accept many kinds of writing, including essays.

The Claremont Review

This biannual international magazine, first published in 1992, publishes poetry, essays, and short stories from writers aged 13 - 19.

Skipping Stones

This young writers magazine, founded in 1988, celebrates themes relating to ecological and cultural diversity. It publishes poems, photos, articles, and stories.

The Telling Room

This nonprofit writing center based in Maine publishes children's work on their website and in book form. The link above directs you to the site's submissions page.

Essay Contests

Scholastic Arts and Writing Awards

This prestigious international writing contest for students in grades 7 - 12 has been committed to "supporting the future of creativity since 1923."

Society of Professional Journalists High School Essay Contest

An annual essay contest on the theme of journalism and media, the Society of Professional Journalists High School Essay Contest awards scholarships up to $1,000.

National YoungArts Foundation

Here, you'll find information on a government-sponsored writing competition for writers aged 15 - 18. The foundation welcomes submissions of creative nonfiction, novels, scripts, poetry, short story and spoken word.

Signet Classics Student Scholarship Essay Contest

With prompts on a different literary work each year, this competition from Signet Classics awards college scholarships up to $1,000.

"The Ultimate Guide to High School Essay Contests" (CollegeVine)

See this handy guide from CollegeVine for a list of more competitions you can enter with your academic essay, from the National Council of Teachers of English Achievement Awards to the National High School Essay Contest by the U.S. Institute of Peace.

Whether you're struggling to write academic essays or you think you're a pro, there are workshops and online tools that can help you become an even better writer. Even the most seasoned writers encounter writer's block, so be proactive and look through our curated list of resources to combat this common frustration.

Online Essay-writing Classes and Workshops

"Getting Started with Essay Writing" (Coursera)

Coursera offers lots of free, high-quality online classes taught by college professors. Here's one example, taught by instructors from the University of California Irvine.

"Writing and English" (Brightstorm)

Brightstorm's free video lectures are easy to navigate by topic. This unit on the parts of an essay features content on the essay hook, thesis, supporting evidence, and more.

"How to Write an Essay" (EdX)

EdX is another open online university course website with several two- to five-week courses on the essay. This one is geared toward English language learners.

Writer's Digest University

This renowned writers' website offers online workshops and interactive tutorials. The courses offered cover everything from how to get started through how to get published.

Writing.com

Signing up for this online writer's community gives you access to helpful resources as well as an international community of writers.

How to Overcome Writer's Block

"Symptoms and Cures for Writer's Block" (Purdue OWL)

Purdue OWL offers a list of signs you might have writer's block, along with ways to overcome it. Consider trying out some "invention strategies" or ways to curb writing anxiety.

"Overcoming Writer's Block: Three Tips" ( The Guardian )

These tips, geared toward academic writing specifically, are practical and effective. The authors advocate setting realistic goals, creating dedicated writing time, and participating in social writing.

"Writing Tips: Strategies for Overcoming Writer's Block" (Univ. of Illinois)

This page from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign's Center for Writing Studies acquaints you with strategies that do and do not work to overcome writer's block.

"Writer's Block" (Univ. of Toronto)

Ask yourself the questions on this page; if the answer is "yes," try out some of the article's strategies. Each question is accompanied by at least two possible solutions.

If you have essays to write but are short on ideas, this section's links to prompts, example student essays, and celebrated essays by professional writers might help. You'll find writing prompts from a variety of sources, student essays to inspire you, and a number of essay writing collections.

Essay Writing Prompts

"50 Argumentative Essay Topics" (ThoughtCo)

Take a look at this list and the others ThoughtCo has curated for different kinds of essays. As the author notes, "a number of these topics are controversial and that's the point."

"401 Prompts for Argumentative Writing" ( New York Times )

This list (and the linked lists to persuasive and narrative writing prompts), besides being impressive in length, is put together by actual high school English teachers.

"SAT Sample Essay Prompts" (College Board)

If you're a student in the U.S., your classroom essay prompts are likely modeled on the prompts in U.S. college entrance exams. Take a look at these official examples from the SAT.

"Popular College Application Essay Topics" (Princeton Review)

This page from the Princeton Review dissects recent Common Application essay topics and discusses strategies for answering them.

Example Student Essays

"501 Writing Prompts" (DePaul Univ.)

This nearly 200-page packet, compiled by the LearningExpress Skill Builder in Focus Writing Team, is stuffed with writing prompts, example essays, and commentary.

"Topics in English" (Kibin)

Kibin is a for-pay essay help website, but its example essays (organized by topic) are available for free. You'll find essays on everything from  A Christmas Carol  to perseverance.

"Student Writing Models" (Thoughtful Learning)

Thoughtful Learning, a website that offers a variety of teaching materials, provides sample student essays on various topics and organizes them by grade level.

"Five-Paragraph Essay" (ThoughtCo)

In this blog post by a former professor of English and rhetoric, ThoughtCo brings together examples of five-paragraph essays and commentary on the form.

The Best Essay Writing Collections

The Best American Essays of the Century by Joyce Carol Oates (Amazon)

This collection of American essays spanning the twentieth century was compiled by award winning author and Princeton professor Joyce Carol Oates.

The Best American Essays 2017 by Leslie Jamison (Amazon)

Leslie Jamison, the celebrated author of essay collection  The Empathy Exams , collects recent, high-profile essays into a single volume.

The Art of the Personal Essay by Phillip Lopate (Amazon)

Documentary writer Phillip Lopate curates this historical overview of the personal essay's development, from the classical era to the present.

The White Album by Joan Didion (Amazon)

This seminal essay collection was authored by one of the most acclaimed personal essayists of all time, American journalist Joan Didion.

Consider the Lobster by David Foster Wallace (Amazon)

Read this famous essay collection by David Foster Wallace, who is known for his experimentation with the essay form. He pushed the boundaries of personal essay, reportage, and political polemic.

"50 Successful Harvard Application Essays" (Staff of the The Harvard Crimson )

If you're looking for examples of exceptional college application essays, this volume from Harvard's daily student newspaper is one of the best collections on the market.

Are you an instructor looking for the best resources for teaching essay writing? This section contains resources for developing in-class activities and student homework assignments. You'll find content from both well-known university writing centers and online writing labs.

Essay Writing Classroom Activities for Students

"In-class Writing Exercises" (Univ. of North Carolina Writing Center)

This page lists exercises related to brainstorming, organizing, drafting, and revising. It also contains suggestions for how to implement the suggested exercises.

"Teaching with Writing" (Univ. of Minnesota Center for Writing)

Instructions and encouragement for using "freewriting," one-minute papers, logbooks, and other write-to-learn activities in the classroom can be found here.

"Writing Worksheets" (Berkeley Student Learning Center)

Berkeley offers this bank of writing worksheets to use in class. They are nested under headings for "Prewriting," "Revision," "Research Papers" and more.

"Using Sources and Avoiding Plagiarism" (DePaul University)

Use these activities and worksheets from DePaul's Teaching Commons when instructing students on proper academic citation practices.

Essay Writing Homework Activities for Students

"Grammar and Punctuation Exercises" (Aims Online Writing Lab)

These five interactive online activities allow students to practice editing and proofreading. They'll hone their skills in correcting comma splices and run-ons, identifying fragments, using correct pronoun agreement, and comma usage.

"Student Interactives" (Read Write Think)

Read Write Think hosts interactive tools, games, and videos for developing writing skills. They can practice organizing and summarizing, writing poetry, and developing lines of inquiry and analysis.

This free website offers writing and grammar activities for all grade levels. The lessons are designed to be used both for large classes and smaller groups.

"Writing Activities and Lessons for Every Grade" (Education World)

Education World's page on writing activities and lessons links you to more free, online resources for learning how to "W.R.I.T.E.": write, revise, inform, think, and edit.

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How to cheat on your final paper: Assigning AI for student writing

• Published: 10 March 2022
• Volume 38 , pages 1395–1405, ( 2023 )

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• Paul Fyfe   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0001-9481-0730 1  

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This paper shares results from a pedagogical experiment that assigns undergraduates to “cheat” on a final class essay by requiring their use of text-generating AI software. For this assignment, students harvested content from an installation of GPT-2, then wove that content into their final essay. At the end, students offered a “revealed” version of the essay as well as their own reflections on the experiment. In this assignment, students were specifically asked to confront the oncoming availability of AI as a writing tool. What are the ethics of using AI this way? What counts as plagiarism? What are the conditions, if any, we should place on AI assistance for student writing? And how might working with AI change the way we think about writing, authenticity, and creativity? While students (and sometimes GPT-2) offered thoughtful reflections on these initial questions, actually composing with GPT-2 opened their perspectives more broadly on the ethics and practice of writing with AI. In this paper, I share how students experienced those issues, connect their insights to broader conversations in the humanities about writing and communication, and explain their relevance for the ethical use and evaluation of language models.

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ChatGPT-3.5 as writing assistance in students’ essays

A large-scale comparison of human-written versus ChatGPT-generated essays

Trust, but Verify: Students’ Reflections on Using Artificial Intelligence in Written Assignments

Availability of data and material.

The course syllabus and module assignments are available open access in the MLA CORE repository: https://doi.org/10.17613/0h18-5p41 .

Code availability

Not applicable.

Plagiarism appears as its own section of “Academic Misconduct” (8.4) in NC State’s student conduct policy (“POL 11.35.01 – Code of Student Conduct” 2020 ).

See Elkins and Chun for a report on an assignment oriented more toward literary writing ( 2020 ). See also the reflections by Lang et al. ( 2021 ).

As defined by Long and Magerko, AI literacy includes “a set of competencies that enables individuals to critically evaluate AI technologies; communicate and collaborate effectively with AI; and use AI as a tool online, at home, and in the workplace” ( 2020 , 2). See also Ng et al. for a review of recent approaches to defining AI literacy ( 2021 ).

Long and Magerko recommend that “Researchers seeking to foster AI literacy may want to avoid misleading tactics like Turing deceptions and black-box algorithms” ( 2020 , 8)—and I could not disagree more. Inviting students into this experience instead resembles how Meredith Broussard works with AI “to commit acts of investigative journalism” into its consequences ( 2018 , 6).

Such cross-disciplinary approaches might especially be warranted given the landscape of ethics training in CS programs (Raji et al. 2021 ).

The course syllabus and module assignments are available open access in the MLA CORE repository: http://dx.doi.org/10.17613/0h18-5p41 .

For an extensive introduction to this class of machine learning software as well as its emerging uses and risks, see Bommasani et al. ( 2021 ).

Scott has since moved to a position at the software company Sourcegraph.

A quick demo of GPT-2 can be done online with the site “Write With Transformer” created by the company Hugging Face: https://transformer.huggingface.co/doc/distil-gpt2 In a subsequent version of this assignment, students used the open-source language model GPT-J which also makes a web-based demo available in a browser: https://6b.eleuther.ai/ .

Similar discussions can be found in the use of AI or automated systems to grade student writing (Anson 2006 ; Anson and Perelman 2017 ).

We considered training the model on student’s own writing for better results, but realized that would require a prohibitive and potentially invasive amount of training data from students: 50 + MB their writing in plain text. We agreed a simpler approach would still achieve the assignment’s goals.

This may especially apply in context of ESL and language diversity, as students and/or instructors disqualify their expression against standard written English.

See also Reid on the “possibility space” of nonhuman rhetoric ( 2020 ).

Personal conversation with the author. Rieder’s own experiments in physical computing and new media composition are similarly interested in hybridity. He describes this as “everting” new media, or “infusing the real with aspects of the virtual.”

For an extensive introduction to assemblage in writing studies, as well as current examples in pedagogical practice, see Yancey and McElroy ( 2017 ).

For specific examples from those frameworks, see Long and Magerko ( 2020 ), Ng et al. ( 2021 ).

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Acknowledgements

My thanks to the students in the HON 202 seminar “Data and the Human” for their enthusiastic participation in this experiment. Many thanks also to NC State University colleagues including Scott Bailey, Zachary Beare, Chris Anson, Helen Burgess, and David Rieder for sharing their perspectives and recommendations. Thanks also to peer reviewers for constructive suggestions that improved this article.

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Fyfe, P. How to cheat on your final paper: Assigning AI for student writing. AI & Soc 38 , 1395–1405 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00146-022-01397-z

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14 Essay Hacks That Will Make Writing an Essay a Breeze

Essay hacks can make the process of writing a great essay just that little bit easier.

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This provides a really useful way of finding sources that have been used for similar research purposes to your own, which can be useful for two main reasons. First, it can help you find additional information sources. Second, it can give you confidence that a given source is relevant to your paper.

4) Use Google Scholar’s Cite Function

So, we’ve already established that Google Scholar is a great search engine for finding useful information sources for your paper. But did you know you can also use it to help you compile your bibliography?

Simply click on the cite button (currently denoted by double quotation marks) that appears below the listing you want to add to your bibliography, and a new window will open with a range of citation options.

Choose the style guide you wish to follow, and the correct citation format will be generated for you. You can then copy and paste this into your reference page.

5) Manage Your Time Using the Pomodoro Technique

Don’t attempt to write a full paper in one sitting. In addition to being incredibly mind-numbing, focusing on one task for a long time without taking a break will lead to poor output.

Set a timer for 25-minutes. Once that point is reached, take a five-minute break from your computer or reading to stretch your legs, get something to drink, use the bathroom, or fix yourself a snack.

After five minutes, get back to work for a further 25 minutes.

Rinse and repeat until your essay is finished.

6) Nail the Introduction

The introduction is quite possibly the most important paragraph in your entire essay.

If you get that right, you’ll be a long way toward your goal of writing a great essay.

For practical tips to help you master the fine art of the introduction, check out our guide to writing an introduction .

7) Remove Distractions

If you’re easily distracted by applications such as Facebook and Instagram, try using an app that will prevent you from accessing the sites you regularly waste time on so you can concentrate on your paper. ColdTurkey (for Windows) and SelfControl (for Mac) will block the websites you list so all distractions are automatically removed.

8) Nail the Thesis Statement

If you want to write an essay that impresses, make sure you write a succinct and compelling thesis statement. Check out our guide to writing a thesis statement for further information.

9) Work in the Cloud

There’s nothing worse than your computer breaking hours before a deadline or a power cut, meaning you suddenly lose all your work. Work in the cloud using applications such as Google Office Docs 365 or iCloud and you’ll never have to run the risk of suddenly losing all your work again. What’s more, using a mobile device, you can work from anywhere in the world at any time.

10) Make Zotero Your Best Friend

If you’re a student, Zotero could well be the best essay hack you’ll ever discover. You can use it as a Firefox plugin to find and store references or as a Word plugin that automatically interacts with all the information you have saved in Firefox to insert automatic citations in your paper at the click of button. Another click, and Zotero will even create your bibliography for you. Referencing and citations simply couldn’t get any easier.

11) Use Evernote to Keep Track of Things

If you’re writing a large essay or performing an extensive study for your dissertation or thesis, you can use Evernote to take ongoing notes, keep track of your diary, and store important articles that you may want to access at a later date. The app automatically updates on an ongoing basis, so everything you write will be stored in the cloud. What’s more, as Evernote automatically syncs the stored content across your devices, you can quickly and easily pick up where you left off, even if it’s on a different computer.

12) Avoid Meaningless Words

If you want to ensure your essay reads well and comes across as scholarly and succinct, make sure you avoid using meaningless words in your paper. Check out our guide to words you shouldn’t use in an essay .

13) Talk, Don’t Type

If your typing skills are not quite up to the mark, Dragon voice recognition software can help you to efficiently translate your thoughts into text. Simply dictate the words you want to use, and they will be translated into text-based language. Dragon can be particularly useful when you want to quickly and easily get your thoughts down in text form.

14) Ask Someone to Peer Edit Your Paper

When you have spent hours working on an essay, you may no longer be able to see the wood for the trees. That’s where peer editing can come in handy. Ask a friend or family member to peer edit your essay and he or she will be able to spot any errors you’ve missed, provide constructive feedback on how it can be improved, and even point out any areas you haven’t taken into consideration.

Got any useful essay hacks to share? Leave a comment and let us know.

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Essays About Cheating: Top 5 Examples and 9 Writing Prompts

Essays about cheating show the value of honesty, see our top picks for examples and prompts you can use in writing.

In the US, 95% of high school students admitted to participating in some form of academic cheating . This includes exams and plagiarism. However, cheating doesn’t only occur in schools. It’s also prevalent in couples. Psychologists say that 50% of divorce cases in the country are because of infidelity . Other forms of cheating exist, such as cheating on a diet, a business deal, etc.

Because cheating is an intriguing subject, many want to read about it. However, to write essays about cheating appropriately, you must first pick a subtopic you’re comfortable discussing. Therefore, we have selected five simple but exemplary pieces you can read to get inspiration for writing your paper.

See below our round-up of top example essays about cheating.

1. Long Essay On Cheating In School By Prasanna

2. the reality of cheating in college essay by writer kip, 3. why cheating is wrong by bernadette mcbride, 4. what counts as cheating in a relationship by anonymous on gradesfixer, 5. emotional cheating by anonymous on papersowl, 1. types of cheating, 2. i was cheated on, 3. is cheating a mistake or choice, 4. tax evasion and cheating , 5. when i cheated, 6. cheating in american schools and universities, 7. review a famous book or film about cheating, 8. a famous cheating quote, 9. cause and effects of cheating.

“Cheating is a false representation of the child’s ability which he may not be able to give without cheating. It is unfair to everyone involved as it deprives the true one of the chance to come on the top.”

Prasanna begins the essay by defining cheating in schools and then incorporates how this unethical behavior occurs in reality. She further delves into the argument that cheating is not learning but an addiction that can result in students losing self-confidence, sanity, and integrity. 

Apart from showing the common causes and harmful effects of cheating on students, Prasanna also adds parents’ and teachers’ critical roles in helping students in their studies to keep them from cheating.

“It’s human nature to want to win, and some of us will go against the rules to do so. It can be harmless, but in many cases, it is annoying, or even hurtful.”

Kip defines cheating as human nature and focuses his essay on individuals who are hell-bent on wanting to win in online games. Unfortunately, these players’ desire to be on top is all-consuming, and they’re willing to go against the rules and disregard their integrity.

He talks about his experiences of being cheated in a game called AoE. He also incorporates the effects of these instances on newbies. These cheaters will humiliate, dishearten, and traumatize beginners who only want to have fun.

Check out these essays about cooperation .

“A cheater is more than likely lying to themselves more than to the people around them. A person can only go so far before their lies catch up to them, begin to accumulate, and start to penalize you.”

Mcbride dedicates her essay to answering why cheating is wrong, no matter the circumstance. She points out that there will always be a definite punishment for cheaters, whether they get caught. Mcbride believes that students who cheat, copy, and have someone else do their work are lazy and irresponsible. These students will never gain knowledge.

However, she also acknowledges that some cheaters are desperate, while some don’t realize the repercussions of their behaviors. At the end of the essay, she admits to cheating but says she’s no longer part of that vicious cycle, promising she has already realized her mistakes and doesn’t want to cheat again.

“Keep in mind that relationships are not based on logic, but are influenced by our emotions.”

The author explains how it’s challenging to define cheating in a relationship. It’s because every person has varying views on the topic. What others consider an affair may be acceptable to some. This includes the partners’ interaction with others while also analyzing the individual’s personality, such as flirting, sleeping in the same bed, and spending time with folks.

The essay further explains experts’ opinions on why men and women cheat and how partners heal and rebuild their trust. Finally, examples of different forms of cheating are discussed in the piece to give the readers more information on the subject. 

“…emotional cheating can be described as a desire to engage in another relationship without physically leaving his or her primary relationship.”

There’s an ongoing debate about whether emotional cheating should be labeled as such. The essay digs into the causes of emotional cheating to answer this issue. These reasons include lack of attention to each other, shortage of affectionate gestures, and misunderstandings or absence of proper communication. 

All of these may lead to the partner comparing their relationship to others. Soon, they fall out of love and fail to maintain boundaries, leading to insensitivity and selfishness. When a person in a relationship feels any of these, it can be a reason to look for someone else who can value them and their feelings.

9 Helpful Prompts in Writing Essays About Cheating

Here are some cheating subtopics you can focus your essay on:

Some types of cheating include deception, fabrication, bribery, impersonation, sabotage, and professional misconduct. Explain their definitions and have examples to make it easier for readers to understand.

You can use this prompt even if you don’t have any personal experience of being cheated on. You can instead relay events from a close friend or relative. First, narrate what happened and why. Then add what the person did to move on from the situation and how it affected them. Finally, incorporate lessons they’ve learned.

While this topic is still discussed by many, for you, is cheating a redeemable mistake? Or is it a choice with consequences? Express your opinion on this matter. Gather reliable evidence to support your claims, such as studies and research findings, to increase your essay’s credibility.

Tax evasion is a crime with severe penalties. Explain what it is and its punishments through a famous tax evasion case your readers can immediately recognize. For example, you can use Al Capone and his 11-year imprisonment and $215,000 back taxes . Talk through why he was charged with such and add your opinion. Ensure you have adequate and reliable sources to back up your claims.

Start with a  5 paragraph essay  to better organize your points.

Some say everyone will cheat at some point in their life. Talk about the time you cheated – it can be at a school exam, during work, or while on a diet. Put the perspective that made you think cheating was reasonable. Did you feel guilt? What did you do after, and did you cheat again? Answer these questions in your essay for an engaging and thrilling piece of writing.

Since academic cheating is notorious in America, use this topic for your essay. Find out which areas have high rates of academic cheating. What are their penalties? Why is cheating widespread? Include any measures the academe put in place.

Cheating is a frequent cause of conflict on small and big screens. Watch a film or read a story and write a review. Briefly summarize the plot, critique the characters, and add your realizations after finishing the piece. 

Goodreads has a list of books related to cheating. Currently, Thoughtless by S.C. Stephens has the highest rating.

Use this as an opportunity to write a unique essay by explaining the quote based on your understanding. It can be quotes from famous personalities or something that resonates with you and your experiences.

Since cheating’s cause and effect is a standard prompt, center your essay on an area unrelated to academics or relationships. For instance, write about cheating on your diet or cheating yourself of the opportunities life presents you.

Create a top-notch essay with excellent grammar. See our list of the best grammar checkers.

Maria Caballero is a freelance writer who has been writing since high school. She believes that to be a writer doesn't only refer to excellent syntax and semantics but also knowing how to weave words together to communicate to any reader effectively.

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7 Best Ways to Shorten an Essay

• Smodin Editorial Team
• Published: May 14, 2024

Are you removing a lot of words and paragraphs from your essay but still not seeing the word count budge? Whether you’re meeting a strict word count or refining your message, reducing your essay’s length without sacrificing content quality can be challenging.

Luckily, besides just aiming for the minimum word count, there are some pretty simple solutions, like using artificial intelligence, conducting thorough research, and trimming unnecessary words. But there’s more.

In this guide, we’ll unpack some practical tips to help you make your essay concise and impactful. Time to make every word count!

7 Best Ways To Shorten an Essay

Here’s a detailed breakdown of the best ways you can shorten your essay:

1. Use Artificial intelligence

When we talk about academic writing, artificial intelligence (AI) can be a game changer, especially when it comes to reducing the length of your essays.

Tools like Smodin can help make your content more concise while enhancing overall quality. AI can help you shorten your essay through the following methods:

• Automated rewriting : AI rewriting tools can reformulate existing content to make it more straightforward while maintaining the original meaning.
• Sentence simplification : Algorithms can analyze your sentences and suggest simpler alternatives, helping eliminate redundant information and reduce word count.
• Research assistance : Certain platforms have AI-powered research tools that allow you to quickly gather the most relevant information. This ensures that every word in your essay contributes to your argument without unnecessary fillers.
• Plagiarism check : Ensuring your essay is plagiarism-free is crucial. For example, Smodin’s plagiarism detection tools help you identify and replace copied content with original, concise expressions.
• Instant feedback : Receive real-time suggestions on how to streamline your text, focusing on the essentials to effectively communicate your message.
• Reference generation : Automatically generate and insert citations in the correct format, which helps save you time while maintaining the academic integrity of your essay and keeping it short.

2. Identify Unnecessary Words and Remove Them

One of the simplest yet most effective ways to shorten your essay is by identifying and eliminating unnecessary words.

This approach helps decrease word count and sharpens your arguments, making your writing more compelling. You can identify and remove extra words by doing the following:

• Spot wordy phrases : Often, phrases can be condensed without losing meaning. For example, the phrase “due to the fact that” can be replaced with “because.” Be on the lookout for wordy phrases that increase word count needlessly.
• Remove unnecessary prepositional phrases : Prepositional phrases can be redundant or add unnecessary detail. Evaluate whether these phrases add value or just extra words. Cutting them can make sentences more direct.
• Avoid redundancies : Redundant pairs like “absolutely essential” or “future plans” can be reduced to one word without losing informational value.
• Trim excess adjectives and adverbs : Adjectives and adverbs can make writing better but can also lead to over-description. Use them sparingly, especially when they don’t contribute additional meaning to the nouns and verbs they modify.
• Fewer words; more impact : Aim for brevity by using fewer words to express the same idea. This will help to reduce the word count while making your writing more impactful and clear.

3. Tighten Sentence Structure

Tightening your sentence structure is crucial for making your essay more concise and readable. Use active voice to make your writing clearer and more dynamic. This is especially important in academic writing, where you have to get to the point quickly.

In academic essays, shifting from passive voice to active voice can shorten and strengthen your sentences. For example, instead of writing, “The experiment was conducted by the students,” you can say, “The students conducted the experiment.” This reduces the number of words and places the action directly with the subject, making your sentences more direct.

Combining two separate sentences into one can streamline your ideas and reduce redundancies. Look for opportunities where sentences can be merged without losing their significance. For example, “He wrote the book. It became a bestseller.” can be rephrased as “He wrote the book, which became a bestseller.”

Also, avoid unnecessary qualifiers and modifiers that don’t add substantial information. Sentences often become bogged down with these extras, making them cluttered and long.

4. Conduct Thorough Research

When writing essays, extensive research can make the final output a lot shorter. Effective research helps you gather precise information that’s relevant to your topic. This means you’ll write more directly and avoid needless elaboration. Here’s how you can conduct research effectively:

• Define the scope of your research : Determine what information is essential to the argument. This initial step will help you focus your research efforts and prevent irrelevant data.
• Identify key sources : Begin with scholarly databases and academic journals that offer peer-reviewed articles. These sources provide credible, authoritative information that can be crucial for academic writing.
• Use precise keywords : When searching for information, use specific keywords related to your essay topic. Precision here will help find the most relevant articles and studies, reducing time spent on unnecessary reading.
• Evaluate sources : Assess the relevance and reliability of each source. Check the publication date to ensure the information is current and relevant to your topic.
• Take notes efficiently : As you research, jot down important points, quotes, and references. Organize these notes according to the sections in your essay to make writing faster.
• Synthesize information : Combine information from multiple sources to build a strong argument. This will allow you to write comprehensively and with fewer words, as each sentence carries more weight.

5. Improve Your Paragraph Structure

Streamlining paragraphs can make your essay shorter and more digestible for the reader. With a well-structured paragraph, you can focus on a single idea supported by concise statements.

Begin each paragraph with a topic sentence that clearly states the main idea. This sentence sets the direction and tone, letting the reader know what to expect. It also helps ensure that every following sentence relates directly to the main idea.

Condense supporting information by merging ideas that logically coexist within a single sentence or phrase. After that, evaluate each sentence for its contribution to the paragraph’s main idea. Remove any information that is repeated or goes into too much detail.

Focus on providing evidence and explanations that directly support the main point. You should also end each paragraph with a sentence that reinforces the main idea and potentially links to the next paragraph. This creates smooth transitions and keeps the essay focused and cohesive.

6. Refine the Introduction and Conclusion

These sections frame your essay and influence how your arguments are perceived. Here are some ways to keep them concise yet effective.

Introduction

The introduction should be engaging and concise, clearly stating the purpose and scope of your essay. Begin with a hook that grabs the reader’s attention, followed by background information that sets the context. Incorporate your thesis statement early on, ideally at the end of the intro.

The conclusion needs to reinforce the thesis. Summarize key points in the essay and show how they support the thesis. Provide a final thought that leaves the reader with something to ponder.

Also, remember to keep it tight – the conclusion isn’t a place for introducing new ideas. It should wrap up the ones you presented and prompt the reader to pose their own questions.

7. Edit and Proofread

Keep your essay concise and error-free by allocating ample time for editing and proofreading. These processes scrutinize your work at different levels, from the overall structure to word choices and punctuation. Here’s how you can go about it:

Start by reading through your entire paper to get a feel for its flow and coherence. Check if all paragraphs support your thesis statement and if section transitions are smooth. This will help you spot areas where the argument might be weak, or wording could be clearer.

Focus next on paragraph structure. Ensure each paragraph sticks to one main idea and that all sentences directly support the idea. Remove any repetitive or irrelevant sentences that don’t add value.

Then, look for clarity and style. Replace complex words with simpler alternatives to maintain readability. Keep your tone consistent throughout the paper. Adjust the sentence length and structure to enhance the flow and make it more engaging.

Proofreading

Proofreading comes after editing. The focus here is catching typing errors, grammatical mistakes, and inconsistent formatting. It’s always best to proofread with fresh eyes, so consider taking a break before this step.

Use tools like spell checkers, but don’t rely solely on them. Read your essay aloud or have someone else review it. Hearing the words can help you catch errors you may have missed.

Lastly, check for punctuation errors and ensure all citations and references are formatted according to the required academic style. This and all of the above are areas in which AI can help get the job done with speed and precision.

Why You Might Need to Shorten Your Essay

Ever heard the expression “less is more”? When it comes to academic writing, it normally is. Keeping your essays concise offers several benefits:

• Enhances clarity : A shorter essay forces you to focus on the main points and critical arguments, reducing the risk of going off-topic. This clarity makes your writing more impactful and easier for the reader to follow.
• Meets word limits : Many academic assignments have a maximum word count. Learning to express your thoughts concisely helps you stay within these limits without sacrificing essential content.
• Saves time : For both the writer and the reader, shorter essays take less time to write, revise, and read. This efficiency is especially valuable in academic settings where time is usually limited.
• Increases engagement : Readers are more likely to stay engaged with a document that gets to the point quickly. Lengthy texts can deter readers, especially if the content has unnecessary words or redundant points.
• Improves writing skills : Shortening essays helps refine your writing skills. You become better at identifying and eliminating fluff, focusing instead on what really adds value to your paper.

Overall, adopting a more succinct writing style helps you meet academic requirements and polish your communication skills.

Why Use Smodin To Shorten an Essay

Using AI-powered platforms like Smodin to shorten your essay is both the simplest and the least time-consuming method available. Here’s why you should probably make Smodin your go-to essay shortener:

• Efficiency : Smodin eases the editing process, using advanced algorithms to quickly identify areas where content can be condensed without losing meaning.
• Accuracy : With its powerful AI, Smodin ensures that the essence of your essays stays intact while getting rid of unnecessary words, making your writing more precise.
• Ease of use : Smodin is user-friendly, making it accessible even to those who aren’t the most tech-savvy. Its easy-to-grasp interface allows for seamless navigation and operation.

Smodin’s offerings

• Rewriter : Available in over 50 languages, this tool helps rewrite text to be more concise.
• Article Writer : Assists in drafting articles that are crisp and to the point.
• Plagiarism and Auto Citation : Ensures your essay is original and correctly cited, which is crucial in academic writing.
• Language Detection : Identifies the language of the text, ensuring the right adjustments are made for clarity.

All these tools and more are what make Smodin an excellent choice for academics looking to reduce the length of their essays.

Final Thoughts

Word counts can be a real headache, especially when you need to say a lot with a little. Thankfully, by identifying unnecessary words, tightening your sentences, and using tools like Smodin, you can make your essay concise without losing its meaning. Remember, a shorter essay doesn’t just meet word limits; and it’s clear, more compelling, and more likely to keep your reader engaged.

Keep it short, keep it sweet, and make every word count! Get started for free right now with Smodin.

Can ChatGPT pass college assignments? We tested it out, with help from Wisconsin professors

In the era of artificial intelligence, cheating is only getting easier for students.

Some instructors say they can easily tell when students turn in AI-generated work. Others find it far trickier and will turn to online AI detectors for confirmation when their suspicions are raised. Educators everywhere are trying to create AI-proof assignments.

"The more conventional prompt and writing you ask students to do, the more likely they can bring in a machine to do that work," said Chuck Lewis, a Beloit College English instructor and director of the writing program.

The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel tested how well AI can complete college-level work — and whether instructors can detect it.

Where did idea come from?

A Harvard student last year asked seven professors and teaching assistants to grade essays written in response to a class assignment. To minimize response bias, the student told instructors the essays might have been written by herself or by AI, but in reality, all of the work was done by GPT-4, a version of the chatbot from OpenAI.

The AI-generated assignments received mostly A’s and B’s, along with one Pass.

"Not only can GPT-4 pass a typical social science and humanities-focused freshman year at Harvard, but it can get pretty good grades," the student wrote in an essay published by the Chronicle of Higher Education .

How did Journal Sentinel's ChatGPT experiment work?

I followed the same methodology as the Harvard student.

Professors emailed me a smaller assignment they would give their students, not an end-of-the-semester research paper. I told them some of the work would be done honestly and other assignments handled by ChatGPT. In fact, AI did all of the work.

I formulated prompts for ChatGPT from the assignments provided. In most cases, I wrote more tailored prompts to ChatGPT based on what it produced on the first try. Often, the additional requests asked the chatbot to provide more specific examples, expand on its ideas or use a less formal tone.

The experiment was far from scientific. Several professors said they approached grading more skeptically than they would have had it been a student's submission, given the circumstances.

ChatGPT earned 1 A, 2 B's and 2 incompletes.

English assignment at UW-Whitewater

Course: Critical Writing in the Field of English

Assignment: Write a three- to five-page paper examining how a poem among a selection provided draws on a specific concept discussed in class. Include analysis of specific passages in the poem and explore the use of at least five literary terms.

Was this hard for ChatGPT: At first, the chatbot analyzed a completely different poem than the title provided. I submitted the full lines of the correct poem, prompting the chatbot to apologize for the "oversight." Additional prompts providing specific literary terms for the chatbot to incorporate into the essay helped refine the work.

Comments: The instructor said the paper "fulfills the assignment admirably, and brings an admirable depth of understanding" of the poet's use of the concept. The thesis statement could have been more specific, resulting in a slight deduction.

Political science assignment at Marquette

Course: Introduction to American Politics

Assignment: Write a short paper describing the three faces of power and explaining how each constrains you in your own life.

Was this hard for ChatGPT: No. The chatbot easily put together an essay. A second prompt asking to connect the faces of power concept to my life as a reporter provided more specificity.

Grade: Incomplete

Comments: "Without question, the submission deserves an A," the instructor said. But ChatGPT made one small mistake, which immediately sparked skepticism. While the essay correctly cited the creator of the theory, the reading associated with the assignment was from a different person.

The instructor ran it through two AI detectors, both of which suggested the work was AI-generated. He said he would confront a student who submitted this work.

Library and information studies assignment at UW-Madison

Course: Information Divides and Differences in a Multicultural Society

Assignment: Daily log of media consumption with analysis of tone, evidence, expertise of each source, roughly 350 words

Was this hard for ChatGPT: No. I submitted a second prompt asking for a less formal tone. While the chatbot cited legitimate news outlets, such as the Wisconsin State Journal and New York Times, in the log, the summaries described general topics, not actual news stories.

Comments: The instructor said there were no "egregious red flags" but one sentence stood as sounding like ChatGPT. Overall, he found the discussion of each media source "thoughtful." The log as a whole was "clear and concise." In general, he tends to give students the benefit of the doubt and wouldn't have suspected this log was AI-generated had it been turned in among a stack of others.

Education assignment at Marquette

Course: Child and Adolescent Development and Learning

Assignment: Find five sources for a research paper on an education topic of your choice, cite the sources in APA formatting and summarize each source in four to six sentences. (This is one part of a longer-term research paper.)

Was this hard for ChatGPT: No. It took just one prompt to produce what was submitted.

Grade: 88 (B+)

Comments: The instructor suspected at least some of the summaries were AI-generated because many were written in general terms. However, some of the sources cited appeared to be names of researchers he recognized, making him less suspicious overall.

"It raises an interesting question to me of if students use AI at a broad level (say putting directly in the prompt) or doing a more targeted approach," the instructor said. "I think if students searched for articles and then asked AI for summaries, I might be less likely to have an alarm bell go off in my head."

English assignment at Beloit College

Course: Introductory Literary Studies

Assignment: Write a 1,000-word essay about a selected novel with your own original analysis that engages with a New Yorker review of the novel. Choose from one of three selected topics as a starting point. Include at least three direct quotations from the novel. Give your paper a thoughtful title and underline your thesis statement.

Was this hard for ChatGPT: This was the most challenging of the assignments received and required several prompts to produce. The first essay was only 600 words and included just two direct quotations from the book. It cited a line from a book review that did not actually appear anywhere in the book review.  Attempts to expand the essay's length were unsuccessful. An instruction to underline the thesis statement was not completed.

Grade: Incomplete.

Comments: "I didn't need to read more than the first sentence to know this was going to be an AI ride," the instructor said. The writing was "bland," filled with "eager-to-please and generic book blurb-speak." It reminded him of what he tells students: Don't write a thesis nobody can disagree with — there's no argument to be made. The paper also made at least one error in describing part of the book.

The instructor said he would ask the student about their process, share his suspicion, have a discussion and decide on next steps. For now, no grade was assigned.

Contact Kelly Meyerhofer at  [email protected] or 414-223-5168. Follow her on X (Twitter) at  @KellyMeyerhofer .

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May 14, 2024

This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies . Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility:

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Why students cheat in online exams

by University of Cologne

Media psychologists at the University of Cologne have studied how students' individual needs, conceptions and reasons relate to cheating behavior in online exams.

Online exams have become a more common type of exam at universities, especially since the COVID-19 pandemic. They are advantageous because they save time and offer flexibility. However, cheating attempts present a big challenge for lecturers. This is why universities have been working on ways to thwart cheating in online exams by putting organizational and technical measures into place.

According to the psychologists Dr. Marco Rüth and Professor Dr. Dr. Kai Kaspar from the Faculty of Human Sciences at the University of Cologne, cheating attempts can also signal that psychological aspects and deeper-seated problems which affect students' learning behavior and well-being are not given enough attention. This is where their current study comes into play.

The study is titled " Cheating behavior in online exams: On the role of needs, conceptions, and reasons of university students " and has been published in the Journal of Computer Assisted Learning.

The results of the study are based on an anonymous online survey in which 339 students from different universities in Germany took part. The extensive study consisted of three parts.

The first part of the study revealed that it is less likely for students to cheat when lecturers demonstrate why the exam content is necessary in their future professional practice instead of solely pointing out the value of good grades for their future careers. Cheating behavior is also less likely to take place when the exam tasks are presented as authentically as possible and are linked to future job requirements.

Questions testing knowledge that check if course content has been learned by heart, however, encourage cheating attempts. In addition, cheating attempts become less likely when the lecturers offer the students detailed feedback on the exam results instead of only announcing grades.

In the second part of the study the research team examined how students' perceptions of online exams are related to their previous cheating attempts and their intentions to cheat in future online exams. The results have shown that three considerations are of particular importance.

The more negative students' perception of online exams was, e.g. that online exams impair learning, the more intense was their reported cheating behavior in past online exams.

Furthermore, students' cheating behavior and cheating intention was higher the stronger the impression of the students was that online exams stimulate collaboration and mutual support among students. Conversely, students' cheating behavior and cheating intention was lower the stronger the opinion of the students was that online exams can contribute to the improvement of teaching.

The third part of the study examined students' main personal reasons for and against cheating in online exams. The three main reasons cited for cheating behavior were the significance of grades, the perception that exams were unfair and the belief that there is a marginal risk of being caught.

Among the most common reasons against cheating were moral norms and values such as honesty as well as the fear of being caught and the subsequent consequences like being expelled.

Overall, the results of the study show that psychological factors —such as individual needs, conceptions and reasons—play an important role in the cheating behavior in online exams.

"A stronger consideration of these factors when designing courses and exam formats can reduce cheating behavior and, in the long term, positively influence students' learning behavior and their well-being," said Dr. Marco Rüth, corresponding author of the study. "This could eventually strengthen the acceptance of online exams as a format at universities."

Provided by University of Cologne

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Guest Essay

‘They Have Established the Backbone of the Case’: Three Lawyers Dissect the Trump Trial

By David French ,  Rebecca Roiphe and Ken White

Mr. French is a Times columnist. Ms. Roiphe is a former assistant district attorney in the Manhattan district attorney’s office. Mr. White is a former federal prosecutor.

David French, a Times columnist, hosted a written online conversation with Rebecca Roiphe, a former assistant district attorney in the Manhattan district attorney’s office, and Ken White, a former federal prosecutor, to discuss Donald Trump’s Manhattan trial and Michael Cohen’s testimony.

David French: Let’s start with a big-picture question. I have less trial experience than either of you, but this deep into a trial, I always had a sense of the momentum of the case, of who is winning and who is losing. Who is more pleased with the course of the trial so far — the prosecution or the defense?

Rebecca Roiphe: In my view, the prosecution is happier about how things are going than the defense. They have established the backbone of the case, which is the false records, and they have provided a great deal of circumstantial evidence tying Donald Trump to those records and establishing his intent.

Ken White: When you ask who is more pleased with the course of the trial, remember that Trump is usually pursuing a public relations and political strategy at the expense of good courtroom strategy. In that sense, I suspect Team Trump is happy that he’s getting lots of airtime to push his narrative that he’s a victim of the elites and that the trial doesn’t seem to have had much of an impact on his polling numbers.

If you ask me as a trial lawyer, I agree with Rebecca that the D.A. is doing a solid job proving the elements of its case and telling the story in a way likely to grab the jury. So far, they are hitting all the necessary points.

French: Stormy Daniels’s testimony was far more riveting and disturbing than I anticipated. She described a sexual encounter that was fundamentally exploitive and potentially even predatory. In the aftermath, Trump’s lawyer moved for a mistrial, claiming that the details of that testimony could prejudice the jury. What was your assessment of her testimony? Did the prosecution make a mistake in asking her to describe the details of the encounter?

White: This is all on Trump. He’s the one who decided, for ego reasons, to make repeated claims that the sexual encounter never happened. He could have rendered the details irrelevant by keeping his mouth shut, but he had to call her a liar. That makes it relevant. Yes, her description was skin-crawling. She wasn’t a great witness — she was argumentative and had trouble answering questions directly — but she did what the prosecution needed her to do.

Roiphe: The prosecution was in a difficult position. It needed to establish that this story would have been disturbing, so much so that Trump would find it necessary to suppress it. But the judge had admonished them not to bring out too many details. The media got caught up in the sex scene at the expense of the real point of the testimony, and it’s possible that the jury did as well. But I don’t think it will ultimately undermine the case.

French: Is the judge’s decision to deny the motion for mistrial a reversible error?

Roiphe: I don’t think this will cause a huge legal problem for the prosecution on appeal. Defense lawyers call for mistrials all the time, and judges have a great deal of latitude in dealing with moments like these when testimony slips out that should not have.

French: Let’s talk about Michael Cohen for a moment. His testimony is obviously crucial for the prosecution, but as is often the case, the prosecution is using the testimony of a criminal to try to convict the defendant. How vulnerable are criminal informants to impeachment, and how do juries tend to process their testimony?

White: It’s a rookie mistake for a prosecutor to try to argue, “Actually, our cooperator isn’t that bad.” Cohen is that bad. Redemption tour and podcast or not, he’s a convicted liar. Fortunately the D.A. isn’t making him out to be an angel.

Roiphe: The prosecution has done a great job in setting up Cohen’s testimony. They have used other witnesses to paint him as a misfit, a liar, a bully. You don’t have to like Cohen to believe him. There are so many dots that have already been connected that Cohen is simply going over ground that has already been paved.

White: And prosecutors seem to be using the classic move of using Cohen’s dishonesty against Trump, by showing to the jury that Trump chose Cohen precisely because he’s a crook. Watch for them to lean into that theme in closing: Cohen is a dishonest person who does dishonest things, and that’s why Trump needed him.

Roiphe: There are a few key pieces of his testimony beyond what has already been established that the prosecution hopes the jury will believe. Namely, that Trump led this scheme and was directly involved in the cover-up.

French: I want to share my chief concern about the case. Readers may recall that to secure a conviction for a felony, the prosecution doesn’t just have to prove that Trump falsified business records but that he did so in furtherance of another crime. In your judgment, is the prosecution doing enough to establish that crucial element of the case? And is that element of the case legally robust enough to survive an appeal?

Roiphe: I am not as concerned about the vulnerability of this case as others have been. There has been a lot of testimony about Trump’s concern about these women’s stories and how they would affect the election. This testimony has come from pretty uncontroversial witnesses like Hope Hicks. In a way, it’s just common sense: Why were all these people involved in such a coordinated and intricate effort to make these payments and then lie about them? There are very few plausible reasons other than the one the prosecution has set forth.

White: The jury will be less worried about the nuances of the “furtherance of another crime” element than we commenters are. Juries tend to absorb things on a big-picture story level. The D.A. has done a very solid job connecting Trump’s deceit and hush-money payments to campaign concerns, not to family embarrassment.

French: It would be a dreadful outcome for the country if Trump is convicted before the election, only to have that conviction reversed afterward. It would provide rocket fuel for the argument that the prosecution was little more than partisan election interference.

Roiphe: For the D.A.’s office, in terms of the legal question, this just doesn’t look all that different from other cases that it regularly prosecutes. Sure, the means are different. But I think the New York courts will see this as consistent with the very broad interpretation they have given to this statute.

French: Has the defense scored any obvious points? My perception, much like yours, is that the prosecution has done a solid job of building its case. But are there any surprising weak points? What’s the defense’s best moment so far?

Roiphe: I thought the defense scored some points with Stormy Daniels, even though overall her testimony was solid. Trump’s lawyer Susan Necheles argued that Daniels had a vendetta, that she hates Trump and that she has been inconsistent in telling this story. But the jury doesn’t really have to think her motives are innocent, as long as they believe the basic story. And I don’t think the defense managed to blow up her testimony in any important way.

White: The defense’s attempts to shame Stormy Daniels for being an adult film performer fell flat, as they should. I think the defense’s best opportunity to really shine will come during the cross-examination of Michael Cohen.

French: Justice Juan Merchan has one of the most challenging jobs in trial judge history. He’s presiding over the prosecution of a former president, and Trump is an extraordinarily defiant defendant. How’s he doing?

Roiphe: One of the hardest things for the judge is whether and to what extent to take into account the identity of the defendant in making decisions. For the most part, the judge has treated this like any other trial and in that way has done a solid job and appeared impartial.

White: Justice Merchan has a thankless job. The defense is treating him extremely disrespectfully, and the prosecution is being impatient. When he is cautious and methodical, as he has been in taking the gag order and contempt issues slowly and carefully, half the country is frustrated that he hasn’t thrown Trump in jail, and half is furious that he’s persecuting Trump.

Roiphe: The gag order has really been a test. It would be such a spectacle to throw a former president in jail for contempt. It would have played right into Trump’s victim narrative.

White: Overall, he seems to be doing a thoughtful, patient job.

French: My understanding is that the defense wasn’t necessarily planning on calling a large number of witnesses, and I certainly don’t expect Trump to testify. When their turn comes to make their case, what do you expect? How much will the defense tell its own story, as opposed to resting mainly on cross-examination of prosecution witnesses?

Roiphe: Some of that might depend on how well Cohen holds up on cross-examination. If the prosecution looks as strong as it does now at the time the government rests its case, I think the defense will feel a lot of pressure to put on some sort of case.

It’s hard to know what sort of defense they would put on, given that they never really settled on one theory. They went in with the sweeping argument that Trump did nothing at all wrong. They would have a hard time establishing that his conduct was perfect. But they may be able to buttress some of the smaller arguments they have raised if they can call witnesses who could undermine the prosecution’s argument about his intent.

White: The Trump team will make the decision based largely on political strategy, not courtroom strategy. They may offer some witnesses who will advance the campaign narrative of Trump the victim.

French: In normal circumstances, applying a political strategy to a criminal prosecution would be foolish. You could make yourself popular but still go to jail.

Roiphe: The defense essentially shifted the burden to themselves to prove their client is perfect, when all they had to do was show that the prosecution failed to prove its case. But from a political perspective, that’s so Trump, and it has worked for him.

French: In this circumstance, how much could a political victory help Trump legally? This would be a state conviction, not federal, so his control over the Department of Justice doesn’t matter, and he would not have the power to pardon himself. But would a political victory make a conviction fundamentally irrelevant?

Roiphe: Practically, the appeals process will inevitably take time, and I doubt if Trump wins the election, he would be sent to state prison. So maybe in the long run, it’s not a terrible miscalculation.

White: Since the Mueller investigation, Trump has consistently done things that are foolish legally but promote his narrative — his brand. We saw that recently in the E. Jean Carroll trials, we saw it throughout the investigations leading up to the four criminal cases against him, and we’re seeing it in court now. The smart play here, for instance, would have been to say it doesn’t matter whether or not he had a relationship with Stormy Daniels, because that renders big chunks of the case irrelevant. But character is destiny, and Trump’s character is egotistical and combative.

French: Let’s end with some lightning round questions. First, since the trial has started, in your view has the chance of conviction gone up or down?

Roiphe: Up.

White: Up significantly.

French: Trump is supremely irritated by the judge’s gag order, and while gag orders are infrequent, they’re not all that unusual. Is the gag order in this case justified?

Roiphe: Yes, although I think there should be an exception when witnesses like Michael Cohen have been so public and vocal.

White: We should thank Trump for making law on gag orders. We have a very detailed D.C. Circuit opinion now that will be extremely helpful in a First Amendment area that was previously not well charted. By being so willing to antagonize the judge and by being able to afford lawyers to brief and appeal the gag order, Trump’s helping clarify the law.

French: One last question: J.D. Vance has been mentioned as a potential Trump vice-presidential pick, and he showed up at court on Monday to support Trump. Who is the next V.P. hopeful to make an appearance?

Roiphe: The ghost of Kristi Noem’s dog?

White: It’s going to be Alex Jones or any cop who has pepper-sprayed at least five student protesters.

The Times is committed to publishing a diversity of letters to the editor. We’d like to hear what you think about this or any of our articles. Here are some tips . And here’s our email: [email protected] .

Follow the New York Times Opinion section on Facebook , Instagram , TikTok , WhatsApp , X and Threads .

Rebecca Roiphe, a former assistant district attorney in the Manhattan district attorney’s office, is a law professor at New York Law School. Ken White, a former federal prosecutor, is a partner at Brown White & Osborn in Los Angeles.

Source photographs by Charly Triballeau, MediaNews Group/Reading Eagle, Michael M. Santiago, and The Washington Post via Getty Images.

David French is an Opinion columnist, writing about law, culture, religion and armed conflict. He is a veteran of Operation Iraqi Freedom and a former constitutional litigator. His most recent book is “Divided We Fall: America’s Secession Threat and How to Restore Our Nation .” You can follow him on Threads ( @davidfrenchjag ).

What would Lisa Simpson do? NYU student protesters asked to ponder ethical issues

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Would Lisa Simpson set up a tent at New York University to protest the war in Gaza? How would Principal Skinner respond if she did?

Hard to say, but some NYU students facing discipline for their actions during this spring’s pro-Palestinian protests have been assigned a 49-page workbook that includes a “Simpsons”-based module on ethical decision-making. Some have been asked to write an apologetic “reflection paper” and submit it “in 12-point Times New Roman or similar font.”

Like colleges across the U.S., NYU was the scene of protests over Israel’s response to the Oct. 7 Hamas attack during the last weeks of the spring semester.

More than 100 NYU students were arrested when police cleared an encampment at the university’s Manhattan campus on April 22, and about a dozen more were arrested at a smaller encampment on May 3.

NYU’s school year has ended, but the university is requiring some student protesters to go through a disciplinary process that includes answering questions like “What are your values? Did the decision you made align with your personal values?” in a double-spaced reflection paper.

Others must complete a 49-page “Ethos Integrity Series” that asks students to rank their values from 1 to 42 and complete assignments like “write about how your values affect your daily life and the decisions you make.”

One section is based on an episode of “The Simpsons” in which Lisa uncharacteristically cheats on a test and is wracked by guilt. Principal Skinner, meanwhile, wants to keep the cheating under wraps so the school can get a grant. Questions in the ethics workbook include “What, if anything, could Lisa have done or thought about to make better decisions?” and “What are the potential and actual consequences of Principal Skinner’s decisions?”

An NYU group called Faculty & Staff for Justice in Palestine criticized the assignments in a news release.

Sara Pursley, an associate professor of Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies, noted that students completing the reflection paper are told they must not try to justify their actions or “challenge a conduct regulation.”

“Since they can’t write anything justifying their action, students seem to be banned from writing about personal values that might be relevant here, such as a belief in freedom of expression, the responsibility to oppose genocide, or the duty of nonviolent civil disobedience under certain circumstances,” Pursley said. “This seems rather ironic in an essay on integrity.”

NYU spokesperson John Beckman said the disciplinary process is meant to be educational.

“The point of these essays is to reflect upon how a student’s way of expressing their values might be having an impact on other members of the NYU community,” Beckman said. “We think that’s a worthwhile goal.”

He added, “Which is not to say that the specific assignments couldn’t be improved.”

Faculty members and staff from NYU’s Office of Student Conduct will meet in the fall, Beckman said, to consider “what might be done to improve the quality of the prompts for the reflection papers as well as the other educational assignments.”

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