Plagiarizing Work?

Question

If the definition of plagiarizing is "to take and use ideas, passages, etc. from (another's work) by plagiarism", then just HOW am I suppose to answer my professor's question to "discuss the western landscape" in Death Comes for the Archbishop? All the ideas on how and why the landscape is used have been used time and time again by many students, critical reviers, and more! *sigh* I'm so stuck here. I can re-hash their ideas in "my own words" but the "ideas" are the same!

Answer 1

YOU GIVE YOUR OWN THOUGHTS AND OWN WORDS...
NOT CUT AND PASTE JOB.

GOOD LORD--EVERY SERMON GIVEN COVERS WHAT HAS BEEN SAID AND REPEATED MILLIONS OF TIMES.
BUT ONE CAN PUT SCRIPTURE INTO ONES OWN MESSAGE.

THERE IS NOTHING NEW UNDER THE SUN

Answer 2

That's the problem, you have to be original, and if the subject has been done time and time again then that is going to be very hard to do. Being original is one of the hardest things that a person can do. Look at eBay, it is a great idea and you could make something similar, but just thinking up that idea took a lot of work: to do something that has never been done before.

The best thing to do is to compare the work to something that is new like the Internet, or Cell Phones. That will be hard to do. Or you can work on what the book meant to you, even if it is a boring work. How relevant is that book today? If your professor uses this book a lot then he will probably have read every review and commentary on it, though his student’s papers. To be original will be like the proverbial “Breath of fresh air.” Since that book was written in 1927 and is on Time Magazines top 100 novels list of all time then the reviews will have been done to death.

Or you can imagine a travelogue or a travel site using the book as your source. If I were making a travelogue using the information in this book then this is how I would lay it out…

You can take a review and contrast it to your opinion. It will seem like you are commenting more on the review than the work, but you are trying to be fresh and original. Bring in your ideas and tell where you think differently than the reviewer. Quote the book and tear the review apart. If you speak favorable of the review then you are going to just be rehashing it. Take the “devil’s advocate” point of view, and make that clear that this is what you are doing.

How different would the landscape be if the religion was taken out of it?

Or try to put the western landscape into modern context. The author describes this, and in his time it was relevant for that reason, but today…

If you put the work into a very modern context then you will have to be original, since few source works will be written from that point of view. Include in your paper a phrase like, “I can rehash and reword the comments and reviews from other sources, but I am trying to be original.” He will have to at least give you some credit for that.

Answer 3

As long as the ideas are yours, they will have your personal spin and point of view on them. While you may share a similar opinion about the landscape in "Death Comes for the Archbishop," your reasoning and use of quotes and passages from Cather's book will be different. What I have learned to do while writing essays that don't require research is to NOT read anything by anyone else about the subject. That way, everything I say will be purely mine. My ideas may run parallel with someone else's, but it still remains an original thought to me. If you think you might be rehashing something you read elsewhere, don't use that point. If you read something (an article, essay, etc.) that helped you understand some of the symbolism or artifacts of the landscape, then you can use that as a reference point. Just make sure you acknowledge it somewhere in your essay. The essential thing to remember about plagiarism is the second part of half of the definition, "to take and use ideas, passages, etc"...and present them AS YOUR OWN. That's where people get in trouble. Not just for using someone else's thought...but for not giving credit to the original thought thinker. (please don't tell my Lit prof that I said 'thought thinker,' I'll get kicked out of school.)

By the way, I just finished reading Death for my novels class and enjoyed it greatly. There are several places in the book that have great quotes about the landscape as artifact. If ya need those passages, just e-mail me at my user name over there @yahoo.com.

Good luck!

Answer 4

Plagiarism is less about general ideas and notions and more about specific theories and concepts, down to specific wordings of ideas and theories. So just tackle the question in a general sense. There are some concepts that are just a given. You don't need to cite a source when you say the sky is blue. It's not an original thought. Just the same, you can make general observations. If you stray into territory that was specifically pioneered by someone, just give them credit.

Answer 5

Hey Silver I don't think anyone would want to copy my answers cause I'm pretty sure I sound like a 5 year old that just happens to know something about music in my answers and questions =P But seriously that is really dumb. I mean anyone who would just plagiarize on Y!A is pretty dumb in the first place but it looks like they didn't even try to cover it up or were too lazy to at least. Although it is weird shes too lazy too cover up the blatant but not too lazy too look for an old question to copy from haha BQ: Nah, I like some of the bands on that list and I've talked about them before like The Birthday Massacre and the Yeah Yeah Yeahs but I didn't answer that question and everything so I don't think it's copied from me. BQ2: I'm going to go with the really obvious one and say "Under Pressure".

Answer 6

Plagiarism usually is considered to be copying a certain number of words exactly from another's work. Accepting and idea and putting it in your own words is acceptable, particularly if you credit the source. You can say "I agree with XXX that____".
Or you can say that you agree in part but also see merit in another point of view.

Believe me, professors are quite used to a lack of original thought, but expect to see some thought applied, not a cop-out.

Answer 7

it's not plagiarizing unless you copy and paste it from somewhere. as long as the words are coming out of your mind, it's fine. also, if you do need to use someone else's idea, just put in quotes, and make sure you give them the credit by either saying, Professor Smith believes "...", or you can write the quote in and credit them in a footnote.

Answer 8

Document your sources for ideas, dialogue, and plot points. For example, if you quote from a page in the book, put the title and page number at the end: "Blah, blah, blah, blah..."(Death Comes, 58). If you use someone else's ideas, you can say, "As Dinky Dinkum says in his review of this book, (idea here)." Try the Little, Brown Handbook or Strunk and White's Elements of Style for more research writing tips.

Answer 9

If you present someone else's ideas or work as your own, then you are plagiarizing. But if you cite your references, then you are not.

Answer 10

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Answer 11

as long as you site quotes, and spacific knowlodge then you are o.k. ..... general knowledge is not plagerized, so if all the people you researched, said "a" then it is general and does not need to be sited..... the point is to get you to think and add your own opinion to it...... he wants to know what you think of it, not what others think..... goood luck have been there done that...