17 april 2025, @mariannewest's Freewrite Writing Prompt Day 2709: Poisoning The Well
This post was inspired by today's 5-minute writing prompt in the Freewriters Community - Don't Plagiarise
Enjoy !
Image by ErikaWittlieb from Pixabay
Professor Humbert strode across to his lectern, slapped the pile of marked exam papers down on it, and looked up at the students gathered in the auditorium.
His expression was not a happy one. His normal look was somewhere between boredom and irascibility. Now, his face was positively thunderous.
He didn't bother to switch on his microphone; a former career as a sergeant major meant that his ability to project his voice was legendary. Looking slowly around the auditorium, pausing for effect before speaking, he found it amusing to see the students one after another switch from smug satisfaction to worried concern.
"You miserable lot. I set a very straightforward exam on French Light Cavalry 1805 to 1815. I specifically instructed you to use primary sources, of which there are many. Marbot, Marulaz, they're all there for you. But how many of you did that ?"
The room was full of fidgeting students, as Humbert paused for effect.
"Let me tell you. Of fifty eight students, ten of you used original sources. The rest of you plagiarised Wikipaedia. Do you know how I know that ? Simple. I poisoned the well. Just before setting the exam I went into Wikipaedia and edited it to include quotes from the memoires of General Lasalle. Entirely fake."
He paused yet again, to let it sink in. He suspect it didn't, so he clarified.
"You lot of blithering idiots ! Did none of you stop to wonder how a general killed in battle at Wagram, at the height of his career, went on to retire and write his memoires ? Never trust Wikipaedia !"
Professor Humbert's 'poisoning the well' tactic is genius. I love how he caught the students off guard by editing Wikipedia with fake quotes. It's a great lesson in the importance of using primary sources and verifying information. Well-written story, and the twist at the end is fantastic
Thank you ! Plagiarism is a big problem for universities, although I'm not sure if any in the real world would go as far as deliberately sabotaging Wikipaedia to ferret out the lazy plagiarists....
!BBH
🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣 I love it!
Thank you ! It's worth looking up General Lasalle, he was a brilliant cavalry commander, and a total nutcase. He famously said that any hussar who wasn't dead by thirty was a blackguard and a rogue.
Marulaz wasn't much better, actually. During a very drunken dinner, a dragoon arrived with an order that needed his signature. He got the dragoon to hold the order up at the end of the room and shot it with a pistol, saying "Here's my signature". Apparently the dragoon was rewarded with a bottle of wine when he respectfully asked for the actual signature as a bullet hole wasn't enough. 😁 They made people differently back then.....
!BBH
Jeez. Nutty characters!
Inspiring though! Because those characters make the most interesting characters!