Response to Plagiarism Discussion

Today in class we discussed the topic of "plagiarism" and how we can help assist students in avoiding plagiarism in their writing. The sheet that we graded for homework consisted of a variety of paragraphs that confronted the problem of plagiarism. Our job was to detect what was wrong with each paragraph and then rate the severity of plagiarism on a -4 to +4 scale. I found that grading these paragraphs was difficult because the paragraphs were not shown in a full paper. Instead, we had to interpret the grade we gave each paragraph based on a small snippet of what the paper as a whole may have been about . The fact that there was no completely wrong or right answer is what made this exercise hard, because at times it seemed as though their could be multiple gradings for each text. Despite its subjectivity, I found this exercise helpful in differentiating between how to use quotations and references correctly and how to use them incorrectly. Sometimes when we have already mastered how to executive a skill, we forget how to explain how we mastered this skill. Although we can think that we know how to use quotations and sources correctly, we don't really understand how to use them until we can explain to someone who does not know how to use sources, how to do so. By seeing and correcting examples of incorrect writing, I learned how to truly understand what plagiarism is and all the different forms it can take. Previously, I had thought that plagiarism would be something to easily identify and that once I saw it, I would know immediately that what was being said was plagiarized. However, this exercise taught me that sometimes fallible citing is difficult to detect and judge. So I leave this post asking the question, how can we prepare students for all of these different forms of plagiarism that at times seem subjective and controversial? And what should the consequences be for "accidental" plagiarism?

Response to “What If Drugs Were Legal”

In response to Gabrielle’s post, I agree with her in that we should take a more sensitive approach to critiquing other people’s work. However, I think that the reason why our class was so critical and blunt about this paper was because the writer of the paper was not present. If the writer had been in the classroom, I feel strongly that our class would have taken a lighter approach in discussing this paper. Our class’s reaction is an example however, of how we can let out emotions and initial reactions get in the way of getting down to what really matters in analyzing an essay. Instead of focusing on the degree of “goodness” or “badness” in a paper, we should focus more so on why a paper is good or bad. In doing this, we will be better able to help the reader understand why they need to adjust their paper. If they can understand their mistakes in a broader sense, the writer will be able to apply what the critic taught them to their future writing.

The writer in “What if Drugs Were Legal” clearly needed some assistance in the structure and content in his/her paper, however like Gabrielle noted, I don’t think that the writer was too far off from creating an acceptable piece of writing. One of the reasons why I feel this way was because when I was reading the piece I was almost convinced that this was a notable piece of work, since we were not told previously that this paper was flawed and unscholarly. If it had been completely awful, I would have immediately thought that this was an example of “bad writing” and most likely would have gone through correctly it, grammatically and structurally. Since the piece did bring up valid points (however lacking support), I only responded to the piece with my opinions on the subject of legalizing drugs. If it were not for the obvious grammatical errors, I would have not been as skeptical of this piece. Maybe I am alone in my assumptions when first reading this piece, but I think that my initial submission to believing that this fallible work contained legitimacy, is an example of how easily people can be manipulated by what they are told is “correct.” Or in this situation, by what we weren’t told was “correct” or “incorrect.”

WAC article response

From our previous readings, I found the WAC article particularly interesting, because it touched on the many contradictions and frustrations that are felt by college students. Throughout this article, the author reiterates how professors are constantly asking their students to think of and write about “fresh” and “new” ideas. However, coming up with these fresh ideas often compels students to use their own voice and thoughts in their papers, which is not an acceptable writing technique to every teacher. The ambiguity about whether or not a student is permitted to use first person in their writing, is an example of the vast opinions on what constitutes “good writing.” Because of the teacher diversity at every school, many students struggle about how to please each one individually. For this reason, like Sarah said, if you are a “serious” student you will attend the writing center in order to help you figure out the best possible way to decode the goals of your professors. However, in my opinion it is not the writing center that will be able to get that student the “A” grade that Sarah also mentioned. Only the professor will know exactly what he/she wants, which is why I think that students must first go to their professors for help and then go to the writing center. This is the only way the student will be able to understand what their professor wants, which is something that a writing fellow cannot teach. Although Wingate expresses that the writing center has helped raise the grades of students above those who do not attend, I think that in many more cases, it is the student who better understands what his/her professor wants that will earn the better grade. Unless we can get every teacher at each school to be on the same page, we will not be successful in teaching just one standard of writing. Is it possible for us to have one standard? Or is the variety of writing techniques a valuable asset to a students’ college career?