WEEKEND WRITE IN PROMPTS

Part 8: IDENTICAL, Jan 7

                                                                                IDENTICAL

                                                                                     Jan 7

Bob looked at his term paper in disbelief. He knew full well that it more than adequately covered the topic. The sources used to write it and the references used were accurately identified at the bottom of the pages. Nice typing, good font. There is no way this paper should have received a grade of "F". But there it was, boldly looking back at him in a bright red.

He decided to plead his case with Mrs. Arnold, his English teacher. She was, in his mind, getting on in years and probably had not given his term paper sufficient consideration. There had to be an error of some sort surely.

After getting an appointment with Mrs. Arnold and presenting her with his best efforts in pleading his case, Bob sat back and put on his best "poor, poor, pitiful, picked on, me" face.

"You presented your rationale very well Bob." Said Mrs. Arnold. "Unfortunately you have two overwhelming problems. One, even though I am getting a few years under my belt, my memory is as good as it ever was. And two, it is my habit to keep all term papers done in my classes in files at home. Your term paper rang bells. Searching through term papers at home, imagine my surprise to discover your term paper happened to be identical to a paper turned in three years ago."

The color had drained out of Bob's face as she continued, "both papers even had the same misspelled word. It is hard to correctly remember the 'i' before 'e' rule."

Bob knew his goose was cooked. In a last-ditch effort, he asked, "can I have an opportunity to do another term paper?" He asked sheepishly.

"Of course." Mrs. Arnold replied. "You can do another term paper when you retake this class next year." It was a hard lesson, but one that drove home the importance of doing your own work.