I always thought that plagiarism was a pretty cut and dry concept; copying someone else's words or ideas without giving them credit. However, Lynn's sections on plagiarism and imitation have muddied the waters a bit. For example, when he talks about how people have ideas about a topic when writing, but the ideas are based upon what Aristotle would call a "common topic," what we would refer to as common knowledge. The person's writing may be based upon what is commonly known, but that doesn't make it his original idea. So whether one is writing on a topic which requires research, and therefore citations ("special topic"), or about a common topic, many of the ideas are already out there to use.
I recently read a piece where the author offered that it may be useful for writers to find an author they find interesting or whose style they like, and use it as a model. (It was either Elbow's Writing Without Teachers or Goldberg's Writing Down the Bones - my husband make me "organize" my mess, and now I can't find anything! I'll dig it out by the next class so I can get more specific...) So is it plagiarizing to copy someone's style?
Earlier today, I heard a mother telling a story where her son failed a paper because his writing style had changed since the beginning of the school year. She had a teaching background, and was furious that the teacher had questioned her son, "Are these your words or your mothers?" The mother and father wrote a letter to the teacher explaining how they had worked with him to improve his phrasing, encouraged him to use a thesaurus to expand the paper's vocabulary, etc., to which the teacher responded to the son, "I still don't believe you..." So whether parents have a teaching background or not, is it plagiarizing to have them help with a writing assignment's content or wording? Is the student "stealing" ideas from his parents? Stories like this make me stop and think what our goal is as teachers (and parents). Obviously, we don't want parents completing students' writing assignments for them. But don't we want parents to work with their children and encourage academic progress, whether it be in writing or another subject? Again, muddy water...
Still working on the Miller readings... sorry I'll miss this week's class discussion, but hopefully I can pick up on your thoughts when I read your blogs... Have a great week!
Lora - your story about the young man who's writing style had - (I would use the word "improved" vs. "changed" as the teacher involved said) - improved & was accused of getting too much help from his parents, hit home with me. One of my sons is high functioning autistic - he is in a regular classroom, with support - including a ton from home, as you can imagine. Some days I do feel as if I'm "doing" 7th grade all over again. His fine motor skills have never been strong - his handwriting is atrocious; in lieu of other areas we needed to work on when he was much younger, I think we pulled him from occupational therapy way too soon. I'm trying to convince him to type more, but that too is painfully slow. So he dictates to me often, as I type. It is painfully, incredibly, difficult to type exactly what he says to me, without jumping in and editing for him. I've trained myself to do this, but there are times I will encourage a rewording, or say "you've used the word a lot, a lot Aaron - - can you think of a different, stronger word?" Is that helping him too much? If I give him too many suggestions, is that plagiarism? It is a slippery slope.
ReplyDeleteI, too, am intrigued by the parents help with work. I have a student in my honors class who scored a 63% on his first formal writing assignment for the year. The students worked on this assignment in class, and I conferenced with them on word choice and format. We worked together on the process for approximately six weeks.
ReplyDeleteA month later, he turned in his critical analysis paper. This was to be done on a classic novel and completely at home. The work was nothing short of pure perfection for any high school student. It really reminded me of a graduate student paper. I asked the AP English teacher what he thought, and he believed the paper could not have been done by the average high school sophomore. Especially based on previous writing performance (the first paper, journal entries, essays).
When I emailed his mom to send me a copy of his pre-edited work, she replied saying she was too busy to do so, and if I were accusing her child of plagiarism, I was breaking the law since he is under 18. Ultimately, after a meeting with the principal, I was told to grade the paper as is, even though the student could not explain nine of the phrases within the paper. The boy received a 95% on the paper, but what was his true lesson?
I think this is an extreme case of receiving help. I think a few word choice suggestions is one thing, but a complete paper revision is another. The sad part for me is the fact that I grade based on improvement for each student. It doesn't have to be perfect, it just has to be his own!
I don't think helping a student with word choice and revision is plagiarism. Isn't that the whole point of teaching writing? Helping students improve and giving them tools to do so? Sure, if you tell a student "Use this word instead" you are changing his words, but if you guide them to the thesaurus or ask them to think of another I don't think it's plagiarism.
ReplyDeleteI didn't really like the section in Lynn on plagiarism . . . not because it ruined my plans to plagiarize or anything, but because I think he was almost too broad creating this huge umbrella of plagiarism under which so many things can fall. Made it a bit too confusing.
The example you gave of your student is a good example of plagiarism. The fact that he cannot explain the wording he used in the paper is a pretty good clue that they are not his words. I'm sorry to read about the lack of support from your administration. What a sad message they have sent to both him and his mother--and quite insulting to the students who did toil away and wrote the paper themselves.
When I did my undergrad work, I had a professor who told us to pick a writer and basically copy their poems, length and style while inserting our own words and subject. I really did not like doing it--it didn't feel comfortable to me. It did force me to figure out ways to create images that fit into a preconceived form, so maybe it had some value, but that stands out as one of my most disliked writing assignments ever.