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Leslie Eaddy
Dr. Spear
TTH 9:55-11:10
January 29, 2015
The Dreadful Assignment

We all have to grow in our own way. No two people learn or do the same thing the same
way. We all dread writing assignments because it is the one thing that none of us are good at
during high school. While we all have high hopes to get a good grade we all have that voice
inside of our head telling us all the things we are probably doing wrong. In tenth grade, I was
assigned to write a research paper on gun control. As I carefully wrote the paper, I attempted to
complete the assignment as the teacher wished. I turned in my paper and anxiously waited on the
teacher to return it. This became my worst writing experience and something that I will never
forget. Even though this was a terrible experience, I learned from this experience.
One Monday morning returning back to school from a long three day weekend, my
teacher welcomed everyone back. We all were discussing the party that took place Friday night
and the fight that happened because some of the classmates were not able to make it. Mrs. Young
was a tall slender lady whose smile brightened the room. Mrs. Young walked in and said with her
soft spoken voice Goodmorning everyone, lets get started. She said this every morning like it
was part of her routine. This is how we all knew it was time to begin class and to be quite. All of
the students, including myself, turned to the front of the classroom and began opening our
notebooks. Mrs. Young then began to read an online approach about gun control. She then asked
the class to raise our hands if we thought gun control was a main issue in society today. As she
asked, all except one of the students in our class raised their hands in agreement. This students
name was Doug, he never agreed with the class and always had a smart comment about every

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assignment we were given. He whined, Why is everyone so concerned with guns? So what if
the government takes them away from us? Mrs. Young then gave the assignment for the
students to write a research paper on gun control and exclaimed, Doug we can all learn from
this assignment even though you may not think it is relevant. I thought this topic was interesting
because I had been around guns most of my life. I thought I would do well since I knew so much
about guns.
As I was trying to complete the assignment of a research paper about gun control, I began
to create an outline. I created an outline so my thoughts would be correctly organized. I gathered
research from the library and online sources. The online research was the toughest. I remember
literally pulling some of my hair out. You had to make sure they were reliable and had an author
and a date of when it was published. This whole list to go through before you could even read
what the source was saying. All I could hear in my head was Mrs. Young saying, This list will
help you cite your sources and please make sure all of your sources are cited correctly. She had
also given us a list of the MLA format to use for various sources. I forgot to write down the MLA
format for an online source, I screamed to the top of my lungs, You have got to be kidding me
Leslie the one thing you needed and you did not write it down! Of course the first thing to come
to my mind was to text my friends surely one of them wrote it down. I tried texting my friends in
that class but of course they did not write it down either. So I read other research papers about
gun control also to help make up for my failure in online research. I wrote a rough draft and went
back to look for my mistakes, so I could correct them. As any other high school student I only
looked at my grammar. I did not understand the whole idea of revising I just thought correcting
my grammar was enough. In returning to class the next Monday, I could not stop biting my nails.
Okay class, come turn in your papers, Mrs. Young said as she entered the class. It took all I had

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to lift myself out of my chair and walk up to the front of the class. I just felt like I had left
something out of my paper. I hope I did this correctly, said many students as they turned in the
paper. You could feel the agony in the room because none of us was prepared to turn our paper
in. Grades will be posted sometime next week, Mrs. Young said after we turned in our papers.
We all sighed because in the back of our mind we knew we had all done bad but we tried to have
hope. Mrs. Young could tell we were all down and said, Come on guys it is not that bad just
wait until next week until you see your grade.
The week felt like it lasted forever, as we waited for our papers to be returned to us. I was
hoping for the best and wishing for a good grade. Monday finally arrived and I went to class
anxiously awaiting our graded papers. Mrs. Young stated that she had our papers ready. All of the
students began to sigh. Leslie Eaddy, Mrs. Young called out. I shook as I walked to the front of
the class to get my paper. I returned to my seat and then looked at my grade. There was a big, red
D on my paper. My heart fell to my feet in disbelieve. I couldnt believe after all the work I put
into this paper, that I would receive this grade. I just laid my head on my desk and prepared of
the tears to come. This was my first D I had received since I had been in high school. I was
always an A and B student. I had really let myself down and I could only imagine the look on my
parents faces when I told them. I was distraught and very disappointed in myself. I went to Mrs.
Young after class and asked her about my grade. She said that I had quoted an online research
paper on the subject of gun control but forgot to cite it. I got the grade of a D because I
accidentally plagiarized. Of course that was the thing I left out of my paper, the work cited of the
one online resource I did use because it was on the prompt paper. I left the classroom in tears that
day. I thought to myself how you could forget something so small.

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After receiving a terrible grade on my research paper, I am now more careful as I prepare
to write. I make sure that my online resources are reliable and can be cited correctly using MLA
format. I also do my work cited as I write my paper instead of after to make sure I do not
plagiarize again. Before turning in my final copy, I make an appointment with my teacher or the
writing center to see if I am completing the assignment correctly. I learned that if I prepare for
my paper it turns out a better grade. I also learned that most teachers are there to help you and if
you forgot to write something down just ask and they will tell you again. Even though the
research paper on gun control was a horrific experience for me, I definitely learned from it. I am
a better writer today because I learned from my difficult time.