Transcript Plagiarism - Pope John Paul II Catholic High School

Plagiarism
Facts Worth Remembering
Plagiarism
is an academic crime.
Plagiarism is …
Taking another person’s phrasing or ideas
and using them in your own work
without giving that person
the credit he deserves.
Often, culpable students will react,
“But I didn’t know!”
Plagiarism is plagiarism
regardless of your intent.
Plagiarism is avoidable …
By recognizing what is not common
knowledge.
By knowing how to cite your sources
properly.
By knowing how to use direct and indirect
quotations properly.
By knowing how to paraphrase and
summarize properly.
What happens when someone
plagiarizes?
Depending on the
teacher or school,
he or she might …
 fail the paper.
 fail the course.
 be suspended
 be expelled.
With certainty,
someone who plagiarizes …
Denies himself a chance
to learn.
Misrepresents himself
to peers and teachers.
Takes ownership of ideas
not rightfully his.
Cheats author out of
due respect and credit.
The consequences at CHS
The student will …
 Rewrite the assignment for no credit;
 Have parent conference;
 Serve one day of in-house
suspension;
 Face more serious consequences at
the discretion of the administration for
any subsequent offense.
Why Does Plagiarism Happen?
1. Students don’t know what plagiarism is.
2. Students don’t know what “common
knowledge” is.
3. Students don’t know how to cite sources.
There are more->
More Reasons
4. Students don’t know how to use direct
quotes.
5. Students don’t know how to paraphrase.
6. Students don’t know how to summarize.
There are still more ->
Still More Reasons
7. Students don’t understand the researched
material well enough to quote, paraphrase,
or summarize effectively.
8. Students don’t want to take the time to
quote, paraphrase, or summarize
effectively.
And the final reasons->
Final Reasons
9. Students feel that the more sophisticated
the wording, the better the grade.
10. Students feel there is only one good
way to say something: the author’s way.
Let’s go back ->
1. Students don’t know
what plagiarism is.
Again, …
Plagiarism is taking what another person
has thought, researched, or crafted
and using it in your own work
without giving that person the credit
he or she deserves.
2. Students don’t know what “common
knowledge” is.
Common Knowledge
is any information
that is readily
available to and
accepted as fact
by everyone.
***It need not be cited.
Historical facts
Familiar proverbs
Famous quotations
Simple definitions
Uncommon Knowledge
needs to be cited.
Unfamiliar facts
Expert testimony
Original research
Opinions
Statistics
Direct or indirect
quotations
To determine common knowledge, ask
yourself these questions:
1. Did I already know this information
before I read about it in this source?
2. Does this information appear as un-cited
in multiple sources?
3. Did this information originate with me?
***If you answered yes to any question, you
probably do not have to cite your source.
Example of Common Knowledge vs.
Uncommon Knowledge
Common Knowledge
Mary Flannery O’Connor
was a Catholic novelist
who died at the age of
thirty-nine.
***No citations needed.
Uncommon Knowledge
According to George Weigel
in his book Letters to a
Young Catholic, Flannery
O’Connor chose to write
while looking at a
whitewashed wall to
minimize distractions and
maximize her own
imagination (11).
***Note the citations.
Test Yourself
on Common Knowledge
1. The American flag currently has fifty stars.
2. Harriet Beecher Stowe wrote Uncle Tom’s
Cabin.
3. Of students in grades 6-12, almost 37 percent
believe copying from the Internet is okay.
4. Americans hate to wait more than they hate to
spend money.
5. Humans breathe in oxygen and breathe out
carbon dioxide.
Test Yourself
on Common Knowledge
1. The American flag currently has fifty stars.
2. Harriet Beecher Stowe wrote Uncle Tom’s
Cabin.
3. Of students in grades 6-12, almost 37 percent
believe copying from the Internet is okay.
4. Americans hate to wait more than they hate to
spend money.
5. Humans breathe in oxygen and breathe out
carbon dioxide.
3. Students don’t know how to cite their
sources.
FAQ’s
Whom do you cite?
 Anyone who “owns” the information you’re
using.
When do you cite?
 Anytime you use information or graphics,
whether in a paper or project, that belong to
someone else.
More FAQ’s
How do you cite?
 According to the MLA guidelines
Where do you cite?
 In parenthetical documentation
 On a works cited page
 In the text itself
Why do you cite?
 To give credit where credit is due
4. Students don’t know how to use
direct quotations.
Sometimes students …
• write papers which do nothing more than link
quotations together.
• insert quotations without any transitions or
explanation of their significance.
• use one quotation that consumes most of a
paragraph.
• Add quotations without reference to source.
Quotations should be used …
Sparingly
To support a point with expert testimony
To add humor
With correct punctuation
With correct citation (author and source)
Example of Plagiarism …
Using Exact Words without Citing
Original
Edible, adj. means good to
eat, and wholesome to
digest, as a worm to a
toad, a toad to a snake, a
snake to a pig, a pig to a
man, and a man to a
worm.
– taken from The Devil’s
Dictionary by Ambrose
Bierce
Student’s Work
The word “edible” is an
adjective which
means good to eat,
and wholesome to
digest, as a worm to a
toad, a toad to a
snake, a snake to a
pig, a pig to a man,
and a man to a worm.
Another Example of Plagiarism…
Changing and/or Rearranging Words
Original
Edible, adj. means good to
eat, and wholesome to
digest, as a worm to a
toad, a toad to a snake, a
snake to a pig, a pig to a
man, and a man to a
worm.
– taken from The Devil’s
Dictionary by Ambrose
Bierce
Student’s Work
The word “edible” is an
adjective which
means healthy to
digest and okay to
eat, just like a worm is
to a toad, or a toad is
to a snake, or a snake
is to a pig, or a pig is
to a man, and or a
man is to a worm.
Effective Use of Quotation
Original
Edible, adj. means good to
eat, and wholesome to
digest, as a worm to a
toad, a toad to a snake, a
snake to a pig, a pig to a
man, and a man to a
worm.
– taken from The Devil’s
Dictionary by Ambrose
Bierce
Student’s Work
In his popular anthology of
terms defined with a
satirical twist, The Devil’s
Dictionary, Ambrose
Bierce once wrote that
edible “means good to
eat, and wholesome to
digest, as a worm to a
toad, a toad to a snake, a
snake to a pig, a pig to a
man, and a man to a
worm” (30).
5. Students don’t know how to
paraphrase.
Paraphrasing is putting written information
into your own words.
The best way to paraphrase is to …
1. Read the information carefully.
2. Understand the material clearly.
3. Rewrite without looking.
4. Check back for accuracy.
Example of Plagiarism …
Changing Phrasing a Little Bit
Original
Since the fourteenth century
[the Swiss Guards] are
the official Vatican police
officers and the pope’s
body guards. Their red,
yellow, and blue uniforms
were designed by
Michelangelo. They
number 110 …
--taken from Catholic
Source Book
Student’s Work
Since the 1300s, the Swiss
Guards have been the
official police for the
Vatican as well as the
pope’s body guards.
Their uniforms of red,
yellow, and blue were
designed by
Michelangelo. There are
110 of them …
Example of Correct Paraphrasing
Original
Since the fourteenth century
[the Swiss Guards] are
the official Vatican police
officers and the pope’s
body guards. Their red,
yellow, and blue uniforms
were designed by
Michelangelo. They
number 110 …
--taken from Catholic
Source Book
Student’s Work
According to the Catholic Source
Book, The Swiss Guard –
traditionally 110 in number -have policed the Vatican and
guarded the pope for the last
seven hundred years. Legend
gives credit for the design of
their uniforms to Michelangelo,
but there is no documented
proof of this. During the
Renaissance, their uniforms
became brighter and more
colorful, incorporating red with
yellow and blue.
***Notice the synthesis of the original
information with other common
knowledge information.
Another Example of
Correct Paraphrasing/Citing
Original
[O’Connor’s] writing habits were
as austere as her prose: her
desk faced a whitewashed
wall, and she wrote her fiction
looking at the blank space.
What she wanted to convey in
her stories and novels came
out of her head and her
reading and her reflection and
her prayer … -- taken from
Letters to a Young Christian by
George Weigel
Student’s Work
In Letters to a Young Christian,
George Weigel describes the
way in which Flannery
O’Connor typically wrote her
books. According to Weigel,
she would sit at her desk,
facing the nothingness of a
white wall; and thus limiting the
stimuli around her, O’Connor
would tap into the ideas that
would percolate from her own
mind and memory (11).
6. Students don’t know how to
summarize.
Summarizing is reducing
the amount of written information
to convey the most general or
most important ideas.
Example of Summarizing
Original
“You think, I dare say, that our
[philologists’] chief job is
inventing new words. But not a
bit! We’re destroying words –
scores of them, hundreds of
them, every day … by the year
2050 … not a single human
being will be alive who can
understand such a
conversation as we are having
now.” – two pages taken from
1984 by George Orwell
Summary
According to Syme, a
character in George
Orwell’s 1984, those
responsible for revising
the dictionary in 1984
endeavor to remove
words from the collection
rather than add words in
the hope that limited word
choice will ultimately limit
depth and range of
thought. – one sentence
7. Students don’t understand the
researched material well enough to
paraphrase, summarize, or quote
effectively.
Avoid books, articles, and
web sites that are too
technical or lofty.
Ask your teacher/librarian
to help you find sources
that are more ageappropriate.
8. Students don’t want to take the time
to paraphrase, summarize, or quote
effectively.
You really don’t have a choice.
Accept the fact that research…
requires all of the above.
is a time-consuming task.
will be a requirement
throughout high school
and college.
is a valuable life skill.
9. Students feel that
the more sophisticated the wording,
the better the grade.
The truth is …
Teachers expect and prefer ageappropriate discussion in high school
papers.
Teachers’ main concern is that students
understand what they’re writing about and
communicate that understanding through
their writing.
10. Students feel there is only one
good way to say something:
the author’s way.
There are multiple good ways!
Besides, …
Teachers know when the writing sounds like a
college professor wrote it.
Teachers recognize individual writing styles and
sense when the writing doesn’t sound like a
particular student.
Plagiarism is stealing
and leads to serious consequences,
but can be happily avoided
by learning how
to research and to cite properly.
The End