Teachers thank Melania

BBC News reports teachers on both sides of The Pond are thanking Melania Trump for last night's speech.  They're delighted that she's made one of the most difficult tasks any English Lit teacher faces considerable easier. Instead of relying on a stodgy old textbook, they can now flip on YouTube for a terrific example of the age-old adage that five consecutive identical words, without citing the original source, is plagiarism.

Consider Brad Francis, who teaches English in Wyoming, who tweeted that he was "jazzed" that he can now tap into a "perfect video to teach my 8th graders  about plagiarism".   As he later told the BBC, "Melania's speech is probably the most blatant example that I have ever seen. Eighth grade students need very literal examples, and her speech is basically verbatim to Michelle Obama's. It will help them learn absolutely what not to do in their writing.  I have students who try to copy and paste material from the internet all the time to pass it off as their own. That speech was Michelle Obama's intellectual property."


Campaign manager Paul Manafort can deny there was any plagiarism afoot, but the BBC notes that on its side of The Pond, Dr Declan Kavanagh (Director of Centre for Gender, Sexuality & Writing at the University of Kent) also thanks Mrs. Trump for so clearly illustrated the perils of plagiarism:- "It completely undercut everything else she was saying and it means people don't trust or believe her words."

There's more.  Dr Alex Goodall, University College London (History), is reported as saying that Mrs. Trump did a "service for all people out there who have to teach students about the dangers of plagiarism.

"This is a fantastic 'teachable moment'. Students at university normally get caught up in academic misconduct procedures because they don't properly understand what plagiarism is.

"Melania's speech offers us a graphic example of plagiarism in action, from the highest levels of American politics.

"In today's cut-and-paste digital culture, students often struggle to distinguish between citing other peoples words when they agree with them, and passing those words off as their own. This case offers an intuitive demonstration of the difference.

"Plagiarism is typically the result of stupid decisions made under intense time pressures. Writing a speech for the Republican National Convention puts a standard undergraduate 'essay crisis' somewhat into the shade, but I wouldn't be surprised if the choices taken by Melania's speechwriters were not all that dissimilar to those of a panic-stricken undergrad."

Okay, you are Donald Trump.  Snotty academics over in England are very publically thanking your wife for cheating on the speech of her life. 

One or a team of speech writers made you wife look like an idiot, at least to anyone who ever took & comprehended a high school English course. 

How are YOU going to feel about him/her/them? 

Imagine how Melania feels, especially taking such pride in having written most of it herself, except...  not. 

What sort of retribution do YOU think they're cooking up for the person(s) responsible for this debacle?

This story is not going away any time soon.  Too rich & juicy, especially as Republicans work overtime to try to hit review & delete on succulent footage that plays Donald Trump's wife for a fool.  Sorry, but it does.  To brazenly quote the words of the woman Republicans vilify, lifting entire sentences?  In the age of YouTube?  Laziness to the nth degree.

As a former teacher who had the fun of developing an AP English Lit & Writing summer school course for several years, I join the countless educators offering up thanks for the Trump campaign making it so much easier, even fun, to teach the perils & pitfalls of plagiarism!  Good show, old girl!!