Passage Summary: The author argues that a writer is mediocre by claiming that any good work he produces must have been stolen, simply because he is mediocre.

Conclusion: Cotrell is a writer of only average ability at best.

Reasoning: Any superior articles Cotrell submitted must have been plagiarized because Cotrell is incapable of writing anything above average.

Analysis: This is a textbook example of circular reasoning, where the author assumes the truth of the conclusion in order to support the conclusion. By dismissing the 'superior' articles as plagiarism based solely on the assumption that Cotrell is a mediocre writer, the author ignores the very evidence that could disprove their claim. You should look for an answer that describes this 'begging the question' flaw. It’s a bit like a coach saying a player is bad, and when the player scores a goal, the coach says it was just a fluke because the player is bad.