"The Displaced and the American" and "The Dwellers Behind, On, and Beyond the Threshold"
Even just looking at the synopsis of the first:
"This essay presents a brief consolidation of the argument of my class Race and the New Republic – that the American culture, notably of the antebellum period, rests on the trauma of displacement and that Americans have coped with it in a divisive, self-destructive way. My essay explores the use of this concept in Huckleberry Finn and Moby Dick, classic American novels that attempt to symbolically depict, if not reconcile, this division of the American social landscape."
I think that is a little harsh. It is coherent -- not particularly well written, but coherent.
(It is clear that the author has internalized the currently fashionable pomo academic style and is trying to reproduce it. This is, sadly, the only writing skill taught at many colleges. You won't learn to avoid self-reference in an essay, write engaging introductions, and edit sentences for clarity in a class titled Race and the New Republic. Sadly for the student, that is probably a fairly typical class in their English department.)
>I think that is a little harsh. It is coherent -- not particularly well written, but coherent.
When you strip out all the fluff, this is what you're left with:
"American culture rests on the trauma of displacement and Americans have coped with it in a divisive, self-destructive way."
This is sloppy thinking, plain and simple. America may have a divisive culture as a result of the 'trauma of displacement' its founders experienced.
However, American culture certainly does not "rest on a trauma of displacement," whatever that means.
What's worse, if you actually read the full essay, it doesn't even support this claim at all.
Anyway, to be as direct as possible to the original submitter, based on the essays you've chosen as featured writing I think it's going to be really hard for you to be successful at this project. The graphic design of the site is great, but making the actual project work is going to require a certain aesthetic taste in writing that I just don't see here.
1) I read a couple of the featured essays and they were both pretty bad.
2) I don't think the emphasis on cheating is necessary. It just comes off as weird to be honest. Better to focus on finding really high quality stuff.