Lincoln
Ms. Diana
May 24, 2012
AP Lit

Cheating Yourself

Whether to cheat or not is one of the biggest decisions students face everyday. Academic cheating causes many problems and unnecessary hassles that affect everyone including teachers who struggle with the moral dilemma whether or not to say anything or not when they see cheating occur. When you cheat you may be helping your grade but you are only hurting yourself and everyone else.

Cheating has become this acceptable practice by kids who believe it will give them an advantage the same way steroids give baseball players an advantage. In the end cheating kills adolescents and their academic careers the same way steroids end professional athletes careers. Cheating has become so common that teachers are being forced to create multiple versions of test and quizzes to prevent cheating. Surprisingly some student still continue to cheat using technology such as cell phones to look up answers. As teachers become more and more advanced in their prevention, kids continue to find new ways to cheat the system and the test. This doesn’t sound like a big deal, but this should not be accepted by society as normal for kids to skip out on work and use the hard work of others as their own.

There is a fine line between collaboration and plagiarism that adolescents are misunderstanding. The problem stems from the lack of discipline. In high school students caught cheating might receive a zero or a new desk assignment and that is it. In college, students are kicked out with no refund no second chance and no questions asked. If high school teachers reported cheating and created harsher punishments for repeat offenders, the practice would cease. Teachers and parents need to play a bigger role in stopping this terrible phenomenon that adults seem to be clueless about. Schools should have more assemblies and a bigger crack down to prevent this epidemic from spreading.

Children have lost the ideals of earlier generations, where hard work pays off, and instead have replaced it with how can I do as little work possible and recieve a good grade. The fact that no one is condemning this practice concerns me as it should concerns the general population. The question you should ask yourself is, “did this doctor get his degree the legit way or did he cheat his way through school?” After this you will realise the importance of this problem.    

One Giant Leap for Mankind

Lincoln
Ms. Diana
May 20, 2012
AP Lit.

One Giant Leap For Mankind

The earliest memories I have of learning to read are when I was about five when my parents 


would read to me before bed. I remember the tales of pirates and knights that I so enjoyed, but it was 


my favorite book from the “Magic Tree House” series by Mary Pope Osborne that have had a lasting 


impact on my life. I learned a lot from the books themselves about history but I learned a lot more 


about my family and myself from the experiences surrounding the books.

I remember having to wait for many weeks for the next book of Osborn’s exciting series to come 


out. When a new book would come out my parents and I would go to the bookstore the same day in 


order to pick up a copy of it. When we got home I would rush to get ready for bed and wait for my 


parents to read to me. They would always take turns switching back and forth reading to me. Usually 


about half way through no matter how interested I was in the book I would fall asleep leaving the 


conclusion for the next night. When the book was concluded I remember being sad having to wait so 


long for the next book, but I loved spending time with my parents getting the book and reading it. It 


started to be a family tradition until I grew out of it.


The reason “Magic Tree House” books stand out in my mind was those are the first books I 


remember both my parents reading to me and I remember reading. I would always picture myself in 


the main characters shoes battling monsters and saving towns from destruction. It was a good 


escape from the harsh realities of school. The other importance of the books was they really helped 


me become a better reader and a person who likes to read. Finding a book or a series that one likes 


to read is not always easy, and having one at such a young age was definitely very beneficial to my 


literacy development.


The books were also very informational, which taught me a lot about history. I learned simple 


facts about historical events, places, and people. I think the series of books is the reason I prefer 


historical books to any other type of book. They are also the reason I like books in series as opposed 


to books without sequels or prequels. The books have definitely had a big impact on my reading 


choice today.


Without reading those books I would be in a very different position then I am now. I would 


probably not be as intelligent, or as interested in history as I am now without the books. They had a 


significant impact on my literary life in a very positive way.