COM114 Plagiarism Workbook
Name _____________________________
Section number _____________________
Date completed _____________________
Definitions of plagiarism (from your textbook, Chapter 1)
Misrepresentation: When you take something someone else has written and
claim it as your own. This includes buying or finding a speech on the
Internet, using your roommate’s or friend’s speech from a previous
semester, or taking a speech from a file. This also includes taking a speech
from a previous semester, updating a few sources, and then turning it in as
your own.
Cut and paste plagiarism: Takes information from various sources and
patches it together in one outline or speech. The information used is not
credited to the original sources, nor is it rewritten into your own words. This
can occur in any part of the speech, from AG to clincher, from transitions to
to subpoints.
Incremental plagiarism: While the information used is credited to its
original source, you failed to rewrite the material and put it in your own
words, or put quotations around exact passages from the source. Again, this
can occur in any part of the speech.
Excessive collaboration: When you do research or write an assignment
with a friend, the work can no longer be claimed as solely your own. Even if
you wrote somewhat different speeches, having the same sources qualifies as
excessive collaboration.
Self plagiarism: When you pass of an assignment from a previous semester
or another class as being new.
As your textbook states, misrepresentation is what most people think of
when they hear the words “plagiarism.” However, the other three types can
be just as common, and just as detrimental, to not only grades, but careers
and reputations. So let’s examine various scenarios for each of these types of
plagiarism.
Use the screen shot below as you examine the following example scenarios:
Cut and paste plagiarism:
Stan is doing his informative speech on how best to avoid getting the flu. Stan finds the
previous page from the Centers for Disease Control and includes this main point in his
speech:
Transition: First I’m going to tell you how the flu spreads.
I.
Flu viruses spread mainly from person to person through coughing or
sneezing of people with the flu.
a. Sometimes people may become infected by touching something with
flu viruses on it and then touching their nose or mouth.
b. Most healthy adults may be able to infect others beginning one day
before symptoms develop and up to 5 days after becoming sick.
Stan is guilty of “cut and paste” plagiarism. He simply cut the sentences from the CDC
Web site and pasted them into his speech without giving credit for the source of his
information or the exact words.
Incremental plagiarism:
Stan is doing his informative speech on how best to avoid getting the flu. Stan finds the
previous page from the Centers for Disease Control and includes this main point in his
speech:
Transition: First I’m going to tell you how the flu spreads.
II.
According to the Centers for Disease Control, flu viruses spread mainly
from person to person through coughing or sneezing of people with the
flu.
a. Sometimes people may become infected by touching something with
flu viruses on it and then touching their nose or mouth.
b. Most healthy adults may be able to infect others beginning one day
before symptoms develop and up to 5 days after becoming sick.
Stan is guilty of “incremental” plagiarism. While he did credit the source of his
information, he failed to put the information he found into his own words and interpret
them in the context of his speech. In effect, Stan was claiming the CDC’s words as his
own.
In order to avoid both “cut and paste” plagiarism and “incremental plagiarism” Stan will
need to credit the source of his information and either put the exact words of the CDC
into quotation marks or put the information into his own words within the context of his
speech.
Transition: First I’m going to tell you how the flu spreads.
III.
According to the Centers for Disease Control, flu viruses are airborne
viruses.
a. Infected people pass on the flu when they cough or sneeze and the flu
virus is released into the air and breathed in by people nearby. You
can also catch the flu if you touch something a sick person has
touched and then bring your hands or the item to your nose or mouth,
like drinking out of the same glass or even scratching your nose.
b. You can be a carrier of the flu and not even know it yet. According to
the CDC, “Most healthy adults may be able to infect others beginning
one day before symptoms develop and up to 5 days after becoming
sick.”
Stan is no longer guilty of either “cut and paste” plagiarism or “incremental” plagiarism.
He credited the source of his information (the CDC); he rewrote the information and put
it into his own words and into the context of his speech (including examples such as
drinking after the person); and when he did use the exact words of his source, he put
those into quotation marks, indicating that those were the words of the CDC, not Stan.
Excessive collaboration:
Stan and Paul both decided to do their informative speeches on how best to avoid getting
the flu. They did their research together and shared sources.
Stan decided on this main point I:
I.
The flu is a highly contagious and dangerous illness.
a. According to the Centers for Disease Control, anywhere from 5
percent to 30 percent of the population will get the flu in a given year.
b. The flu can be dangerous. The CDC says that 200,000 people a year
are hospitalized because of the flu and 36,000 die from it.
Paul decided on this main point II:
II.
The flu is a highly dangerous and contagious illness.
a. The Centers for Disease Control says that 200,000 people a year are
hospitalized because of the flu and 36,000 die from it.
b. That’s just the seriously ill. The CDC says anywhere from 5 percent
to 30 percent of the population will get the flu in a given year.
Stan and Paul are guilty of excessive collaboration. First, they did their research together
and shared sources. Each assignment in COM114 is to be conducted individually.
Second, even though they made minor changes in order and wording, the two main points
above are basically the same. They in effect copied each other’s work and claimed it as
their own.
The following worksheet must be completed with a perfect score before
you can turn in an outline and speak in COM114.
Use the following screenshot to answer question 1.
1. Evaluate the following parts of an outline that included the above article as
one source. First, did plagiarism occur? Second, if yes, what type of
plagiarism occurred? Third, correct to eliminate any plagiarism.
I. Attention Getter: The United States could soon be the first country to allow products
from cloned livestock to be sold in grocery stores.
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IV. Thesis statement: The FDA’s conclusion that milk and meat from some cloned farm
animals are safe to eat is looking out for a few cloning companies and not for consumers
or the dairy industry.
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II. Clincher or Closing Statement: Even if the agency’s assessment is formally
approved next year, don’t count on the shelves of Wal-mart or Payless being filled with
meat and milk from cloned animals, according to a December 2006 article in the New
York Times. That’s because the technology currently used to clone animals is too
expensive for the average farmer to be able to afford.
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2. Jake and Anna, both agriculture economics students, decided to do their
persuasive speeches on the safety of cloned meat and milk, a topic that had
just been discussed in one of their ag econ classes. After conducting hours of
research together, Anna decided that she wanted to argue that cloned meat
and milk were safe for consumers. Jake, however, said their research
convinced him that cloned meat and milk was not safe. Each wrote a
persuasive speech taking an opposite view of the other. Did Anna and Jake
commit plagiarism? Why or why not?
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3. Jake’s sister, Marie, had taken COM114 two years earlier. She had an old
outline from a speech she had given on cloned meat. Jake followed the
general outline of his sister’s speech but updated some of the statistics and
support. Did Jake commit plagiarism? Why or why not?
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Use the following screen shot to answer questions 4 and 5.
4. Rewrite the following main points and/or subpoints to eliminate plagiarism
issues.
Transition: First, let me give you some background on the cloning issue.
I.
While animal cloning has always been legal, since 2001 there has been a
voluntary moratorium on the sales of milk or meat from such animals.
a. This was to give the F.D.A. time to study the matter.
b. Some experts say that some products from clones or their offsprings have
probably made their way into the food supply, according to a December
2006 article in the New York Times.
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5. Rewrite the following subpoint and sub-subpoints to eliminate any issues
with plagiarism.
a. The F.D.A’s finding were praised by not only closing companies but also
by farmers and breeders.
i. Many farmers who have cloned prized livestock have had to pour
milk down the drain and keep meat off the market.
ii. Bob Schauf, a breeder in Wisconsin, told the New York Times that
he, his family, and his employees have been drinking cloned milk
so it wouldn’t be wasted.
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I have thoroughly read the COM114 Plagiarism Workbook and completed the
COM114 Plagiarism Worksheet. I fully understand all forms of plagiarism. I
further understand that any incident of plagiarism on a COM114 outline will result
in an automatic zero on the first offense. I understand I will have to redo the outline,
for no points, to remove all instances of plagiarism if I wish to give my speech. On
the second offense, I will receive a zero on the outline, not be allowed to give my
speech, and be reported to the Dean of Students’ office.
Signature of student __________________________________________________
Section number ______________________________________________________
Date signed_________________________________________________________