Writing Stack Exchange is a question and answer site for the craft of professional writing, including fiction, non-fiction, technical, scholarly, and commercial writing. It only takes a minute to sign up.
Sign up to join this community
I'm in 11th grade in a New Zealand high school, and for my end of year exam I'm planning on using a quote from the book I have chosen which contains the word "f*ckin". This is a quote which is important and relevant to my argument. How should I go about using this quote? Should I censor the word?
Apologies if this is not the right place for this question, but I wasn't sure where to ask.
Thank you.
Since you're writing this for your exam, your teacher is the authority on how to handle this. I'd ask them. If they're not available, you'll need to make this decision on your own. In the absence of any guidance from your teacher I'd err on the side of caution and censor the word as you've done above, indicating that you've done so.
This depends on your teacher, your school and its rules and code of conduct, and the expectations of the class and assignment. For example, you'd be more likely to be OK with leaving it in plaintext if you were taking an honors course. If the book was assigned (though it sounds like it was not) then it would also be more likely to be OK with leaving it in plaintext.
Sadly, the two most important things are "How good of a student are you?" and "How good of a relationship do you have with the teacher?" When I was in school, I got away with a lot of shit like that by being a good student and keeping a good relationship with my teachers.
The question of censorship is usually very sensitive, and sometimes lack of censure can significantly change your appearance. I would rather you not use a clear form of the word "fuckin'". There are more polite versions that transport the same emotions.
