Re: Target: plagiarized poem?

[Margaret Kleinpeter <MKptr@AOL.COM>]

Kathy wrote about a poem about moths submitted to a student writing contest
that may or may not have been plagiarized.
 
I faced the same situation several years ago when I was involved w/ a
creative writing contest.  The judges just knew that a seventh-grader could
not have written a piece.  However, his teachers and his mother felf that he
was very capable of doing so.  Despite their vehement objections, the judges
eliminated his entry.
 
Fortunately, not winning the story contest did not traumatize this student
for life.  He was confident enough to continue his writing.  He has now
almost completed a Ph.D. at a highly-regarded university.  However, if I ever
was in this situation again, I'd be very careful before a would assume that a
student's work had to be plagiarized.
 
Margaret Kleinpeter
New Iberia, La
mkptr@aol.com