Citation Exercise (105-119)
Start with the end:
In your groups, come up with a list of what constitutes plagiarism and what would
be considered a violation of UNC’s Honor Code (using the Tar Heel Writing Guide).
Then, suggest how to avoid plagiarism and being brought in to the Honor Court.
In order not to get busted for plagiarism, you need to work on your summary, your
paraphrase, and your quotations. In other words, you need to figure out how to
better integrate others research in order to bolster your own, original ideas.
So, let’s look at excerpt 2 on p. 107. How do you see them using quotes, citation,
paraphrase or summary. When is common knowledge in effect?
Now that you can spot that, let’s look at this handout from TSIS. This is a handy
resource for academic writing templates. Less applicable for UNIT 1, but will come
in handy for U2:
https://myweb.dmacc.edu/personal/ajneuendorf/instructor/LIT%20185%20Cont
emporary%20Lit/Academic%20Conversation%20Templates%20Worksheet.pdf
Finally, can you spot the plagiarized paragraph? Here are two paragraphs. How do
you know it is plagiarized? The assignment was to write an essay on Arthur Conan
Doyle and Sherlock Holmes.
Sample 1:
Forensic science lays at the center of any interesting work of detective
fiction, for no mystery would be worth reading if it were apparent in the opening of
the narrative who-dun-it; similarly in science, one is always seeking answers,
particularly, how-done it. It is clear that there was careful consideration of science
throughout history in Arthur Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes stories. Doyle was able
to skillfully combine his knowledge of science with current technologies to make his
writings more interesting to his audience at the time. The science in Sherlock
Holmes stories is still relevant today as we can see how far technology has
progressed as society’s knowledge of chemistry and forensics has expanded since
the 1800’s. Not to mention, the introduction of actual chemicals and science in the
stories created a whole other layer to the characterization of both Watson and
especially Holmes. In most every Holmes story there are scenes of Sherlock Holmes
in the lab, obsessing over his next discovery. In A Study in Scarlet Watson makes the
note that Holmes’s “knowledge of poison—profound” (Doyle) and at Watson and
Holmes’s first meeting, the caretaker who brings Watson up to Holmes says,
“Holmes is a little too scientific for my taste—it approaches to cold
bloodedness. I could imagine him giving a friend a little pinch of the latest
vegetable alkaloid, not out of malevolence, you understand, simply out of
inquiry” (Doyle).
This quote embodies Holmes’s spirit and scientific mind. A mind which are fixed on
solving the crime in each story rather than unnecessary emotional connections.
Perhaps it is this quality in Holmes that makes him so interesting. He, like Doyle, is
more focused on the cutting edge which keeps the audience on the edge of its seat,
as it will never know what Holmes will do next for science.
Sample 2:
The fictional Holmes revelled in tiny details, and caught everyone by surprise
by defining a subject with details relating to height, weight, gait, carrying a load,
occupation and other surprising summaries simply by observing a wet foot print in
a garden. He also explained how the evidence led to his accurate conclusion. And
when the perpetrator was finally discovered and captured, the physical description
was uncanny.
In addition, his ability to ‘reason backwards’ (looking at the criminal act and
working his way backwards to lead him to evidence) helped guide him to a
conclusion, a motive and a culprit.
Holmes identified and used fingerprints initially in The Sign of Four,
published in 1890. Scotland Yard did not adapt fingerprint recovery, comparison
and identification process until almost 11 years after The Sign of Four was
published. He did not use fingerprints as the defining evidence, however —
generally, the case was irrefutably solved by a variety of clues leading to the correct
solution.
In The Adventure of the Norwood Builder, Inspector Lestrade thought he had
his murderer when he was able to match a bloody print to John Hector McFarlane,
an obvious suspect. Holmes was able to prove that MacFarlane was innocent.
Today, fingerprints have become a significant method of identification for human
individuals. Now stored in computer databases, analyzed and compared within
seconds, fingerprints still require corroborating evidence to tell the whole story.
Which one is plagiarized? How do you know?
Useful plagiarism quiz
• http://plagiarism.arts.cornell.edu/tutorial/exercises.cfm