Elizabeth Song | Editing services skirt the real problem: Bad writing skills

Last Friday, something landed in my inbox that was more disturbing than the usual array of discount Viagra ads, life insurance scams and phony stock options. The message's title read "Special Discount Coupon $7.50 off." Intrigued by the lack of blatant sexual innuendoes or get-rich-quick gimmicks, I opened it.

No solicitations of financial information. No black market offers of Microsoft Windows XP. Instead, I was being given the chance to use EssayEdge.com's "critically acclaimed" essay-editing service at a special discount rate.

As it turns out, EssayEdge is one of many online editing services available to undergraduates who want an extra manicured edge to their prose. The company promises to "remake your essay into an awesome, memorable masterpiece" by offering a range of editing services for personal statements, scholarship applications and even letters of recommendation. Clients can opt for Premium Harvard-Educated Editing, starting at $104.95, or the more elaborate Grand Service for $174.95 and up. Under the site's testimonial section, you'll see statements by students who used EssayEdge to gain admission to leading colleges.

Penn students themselves aren't above capitalizing on the growing popularity of these services. A few weeks ago, The Daily Pennsylvanian ran an article on Penn & Paper, an online editing service founded by Graduate School of Education alumna China Okasi. Okasi's service banks on the Penn name to attract local clients who need help with academic writing and personal essays. Penn & Paper's editors will make physical changes in the body of the paper by correcting a writer's organization and even occasionally inserting a full sentence - all this at what Okasi labels "unbeatable prices." A five-page paper in the social sciences will run you around $45. Some services even charge clients up to $250 for looking at a personal statement, according to Okasi, who is proud of the relative affordability of her service.

Yet both of these services are toeing a fine line between editing and cheating. An e-mail promotion states that "PennandPaper.com is the fastest, most reputable way to more A grades on your papers - guaranteed!" EssayEdge even offers a service that helps students "brainstorm" ideas. If that's true, then students can simply resort to buying better grades and taking shortcuts.

According to professor Hilary Smith, who teaches a freshman writing seminar, "Buying a revision is just as unethical as buying a paper." The University Honor Council concurs. Editing services threaten to violate the Code of Academic Integrity on three counts: cheating, plagiarism and unfair advantage.

Editing services simply present a quick (and expensive) fix for a deeper problem. When top-notch writing skills are required to excel in academia and business, editing services can ultimately become a crutch. Students who make use of them may never learn how to think - or write - successfully on their own. In fact, if students haven't managed to get their act together while in school, Penn & Paper can even follow them to work by offering a service that prepares presentations, creates graphs and writes professional contracts.

As students with weaker writing skills slip through the cracks of college admissions, thanks in part to services like EssayEdge or Penn & Paper, they are ill-prepared to embrace the new academic climate. "Some come really less well-prepared in writing than I would have expected," said Nancy Hoffman, who also teaches a freshman writing course.

In particular, most of us came to Penn straight from AP English classes where the standard five-paragraph essay reigned supreme and your grade depended on the number of multisyllabic words you used.

Real college classes, however, expect students to both think and write fluently. And, as Okasi said, "Many students learn this lesson the hard way" - on their transcripts. That's when services like Penn & Paper step in and help otherwise poor writers write acceptable papers. But after students find themselves $45 in the hole, the problem remains: They're still poor writers. Hoffman doubts that these online editing services can really help students with assignments. Students who use them are inclined to treat writing as an evaluative process rather than a learning process.

"Teachers want students to rely on themselves and connect with professors to sort through writing problems," Hoffman said.

As colleges put a premium on good writing, they've created a culture where writing is appreciated as little more than an end product. Students see it as a means to an end, whether it be admissions to a selective school, a better grade or a job promotion. Thanks to services like EssayEdge and Penn & Paper, anyone who forks over enough cash can now get an instant injection of style and imagination into their writing. But much like a shot of heroin, that buzz won't last for long.

Elizabeth Song is a College sophomore from Clemmons, N.C. Her e-mail address is song@dailypennsylvanian.com . Striking a Chord appears on Thursdays.

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