Who is Plagiarism?
While reading these articles I have to say that I was a little confused at the beginning, but as I went on through the other readings things started to get clearer. The first article for me was a bit of a challenge to get though and I did not understand completely what was going on. The second and third article surprised me a lot. They both have me realizing that it is easy for everyone, not just students, to slip up and do exactly what has been drilled into our brains not to do. The fourth reading has opened my eyes a bit to see exactly what plagiarism has been defined as.
Going back to the second and third readings all I can really say is wow. I am at a loss for words. How on earth are these people getting away with something we can get kicked out of school for? Honestly, that makes me a bit sick. These are supposed to be people that we are able to rely on and we are supposed to trust them. These articles are causing me to second guess everything that I have ever read. And that goes back to the first article where everything that we know today comes from something else, that also comes from something else, that came from something else. What are we supposed to believe?
The fourth article was something that I was happy to read. It is something that I will be able to use with my own writing and it will be something that I refer back to. I can see how the lines can be blurred around not citing correctly and blatantly copying something that is not yours for your own work. I completely agree that it is smart on the faculties part to create assignments that would cause the student to stray away from plagiarizing and to accutlay investigate the sources and compare them back to each other. This means assignments that allow the student to be more open with their own creativity would be smart. Encouraging students to use their own imagination or thought however can be a bit intimidating. There needs to be that medium ground that the student and teacher are able to meet on.
I have to say that these articles have been helpful in my own writing and I will take this away from this class and use them in the future and now with other classes. We all need to be cautious of our what we are writing. As I now know it is way to easy for everyone to take someone else's work as their own and I would like to try to not fall victim.
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I had trouble with the first article, too. I got the same general idea of it as you did. I have to agree with you on the second and third article, though. Aren't these people supposed to be upstanding members of society? They are role models, and to find out that they plagiarize is sad and incredibly frustrating, especially since one of them is the president of a university.
ReplyDeleteI had trouble as well, and have the same feelings towards it as you do. I also agree that why can people get away with something we can get kicked out of school for, kina like “do as I say not as I do” thing, its dumb. Also I do agree that everyone should try not to fall victim of plagiarism.
ReplyDeleteI agree that the final article was the most helpful in evaluating plagiarism. It defines a clear definition followed by helpful advice on how to recognize it, and useful strategies on how to avoid it. Am I alone in remembering my grade school teachers showing me how to plagiarize by simply rewording the source? I wonder if this practice continues.
ReplyDeleteWeren't they confusing! After the first article, I didn't know what to think, either. Also, I agree that the final article was the most useful, and that it is important that we determine specific guidelines as to what plagiarism is. Obviously, this is a topic that is debated, and therefore, we need some type of guidance so we don't make the mistake of accidentally plagiarizing, and so that those who do plagiarize will suffer some serious consequences.
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