Say No! To Plagiarism

1. Say No! To Plagiarism

2. What is Plagiarism? • Plagiarism:Plagiarism is the practice of taking someone else’s work or ideas and passing them off as your own • Intellectual ‘theft’ – both intentional & unintentional • North America takes plagiarism VERY seriously. • And its very easy to get caught!

3. Example: Original passage • This book has been written against a background of both reckless optimism and reckless despair. It holds that Progress and Doom are two sides of the same medal; that both are articles of superstition, not of faith. It was written out of the conviction that it should be possible to discover the hidden mechanics by which all traditional elements of our political and spiritual world were dissolved into a conglomeration where everything seems to have lost specific value, and has become unrecognizable for human comprehension, unusable for human purpose. • Hannah Arendt, The Origins of Totalitarianism (New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, Inc., 1973 ed.), p.vii, Preface to the First Edition.

4. Example: The Word-for-word • In order to grasp the genius of War & Peace, it is important to understand that this book has been written against a background of both reckless optimism and reckless despair. It holds that Progress and Doom are two sides of the same medal; that both are articles of superstition, not of faith. Interestingly enough though, many people avoid much of the debate that is found in some of the less philosophical literature about totalitarianism in Tolstoy’s work. • This is a direct quotation that is not properly formatted and which does not give credit to the author.

5. Example: Citation w/o “” • This book has been written against a background of both reckless optimism and reckless despair. It holds that Progress and Doom are two sides of the same medal; that both are articles of superstition, not of faith(Ardant). Interestingly enough, Arendt avoids much of the debates found in some of the less philosophical literature about totalitarianism. • When material is quoted word-for-word, a citation alone is insufficient. The material that represents a direct quotation must either be put within quotation marks or indented.

6. Example: Bad Paraphrase • Hannah Arendt’s book, The Origins of Totalitarianism, was written in the light of both excessive hope and excessive pessimism. Her thesis is that both Advancement and Ruin are merely different sides of the same coin. Her book was produced out of a belief that one can understand the method in which the more conventional aspects of politics and philosophy were mixed together so that they lose their distinctiveness and become worthless for human uses.Even if the author’s exact language is not used, a citation is required for material that is paraphrased.

7. Example: “Short Phrases” • Following the Second World War, scholars from a variety of disciplines began to explore the nature of “totalitarianism.” One of the most pressing issues for these writers was understanding the “essence” of totalitarianism. How, for example, is a totalitarian regime different from an authoritarian regime? Although authors disagree on the precise answer to this question, a common thread running throughout most of the classic works on totalitarianism deals with the relationship between State and Society. In a totalitarian state, the traditional boundaries between State and society are dissolved into a conglomeration so that the two become indistinguishable. • This passage is almost entirely original, but the phrase “dissolved into a conglomeration” is taken directly from Arendt. Even though this is a short phrase, it must be cited. Only phrases that have truly become part of general usage can be used without citation.

8. So – how do we avoid it? • Use your “quotation marks” and (in-text citation) marks correctly. • Summarize & Paraphrase correctly. • But, Miss Novak, how do I do that?

9. How to Summarize: • Clearly identify the background information needed: The type of work, title, author, and main points. • Present the material in a neutral fashion. Your opinions, ideas and interpretations should be left in your brain. Be conscious of choosing your words. Be concise – it should be shorter than the original. • Conclude with a final statement that expresses what the author wanted to get across to the reader.

10. How to Paraphrase • Read and reread the text until you have a good understanding of the main idea and the details. • Put the text away and write down what you remember without looking at the text • Compare the original with the paraphrase: Does it have the same meaning? Did you leave out any essential details? Do you use too many exact words? • Circle all of the words that are repeated in the original and your paraphrase. Are there any you could change? • If words are general and unnecessary to switch (for example: wall, or sit) then don’t worry about switching them. • If there is a phrase that is either too difficult to translate or just really well-written as is, use quotation marks within your paraphrase. However, these should be used sparingly. • Names do not have to be changed.

11. Practice Paraphrasing • Paraphrase this sentence: The elephant is the only animal that cannot jump with all of its legs off the ground. • “Most animals can leap in the air except for the elephant.”

12. Try again • Original text: “Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall. Humpty Dumpty had a great fall. All the king’s horses and all the king’s men, couldn’t put Humpty back together again.” • Original text: “Georgie-Porgie, pudding pie. Kissed the girls and made them cry. When the other boys came out to play, Georgie-Porgie ran away.”