Week 3 Discussion Guide: Tuesday
- We will
return briefly to last Tuesday's "Using Sources" discussion to talk about how
plagiarism typically happens, and how NOT to plagiarize (i.e., assume
false authority). Before class, be sure to take
the Plagiarism-by-Paraphrase Risk Quiz, answering all examples in at least
one of the disciplines (e.g., Natural Sciences or Humanities, etc.), and be
prepared to discuss the experience. Faculty and students typically
distinguish quite clearly between "criminal" plagiarism and incompetent
plagiarism. The former is stealing or falsely representing another's
words as one's own, acts with clear criminal components. The latter
mistakes the
rules for borrowing ideas and language from sources cited elsewhere in the
document, or mistakes for common knowledge an idea or fact that remains
someone's intellectual property. The most common cause of faulty borrowing
is incorrect paraphrase of sources' language, followed closely by incorrect
source citation. The quiz will help you determine whether your paraphrase
skills and knowledge of format are sufficiently strong to keep you out of
trouble. If the quiz tells you to ask for help, please do so!
First-year students are given extraordinary chances to allow them to learn,
which includes accepting certain kinds of mistakes along the day, but the time
is coming soon when "mistakes" will be considered "criminal negligence," a level
of carelessness likely to harm the culture in which they are working.
- In addition to
helping my students understand this difficult intellectual property issue, I
also am willing to consult with you on behalf of other students who are
concerned that they may have plagiarized without intending to do so, or even
students who realize that they have plagiarized and want to make it right.
If you do not mention names, I can give advice without violating my side of the
Academic Honor Code. For a quick review of the rules defining plagiarism,
click
here, and for the rules governing reporting academic dishonesty (including
self-reporting, which usually greatly reduces the penalties), click
here.
- After
discussing intellectual property and the problem of determining what
constitutes fair use of it, we will discuss
how to properly cite online
information.
- In the
second half of the class, you will pair-off in
a peer editing session with
your rough drafts. Our first goal is to improve the authors' pictures of
their best readers' needs--how will they use the product and what parts of the
product matter most to that? Our second goal will be to help structure
the paper's presentation of the evidence so that it leads logically from the
readers' needs through a set of possible products' features and toward a "best
choice" recommendation.
- At the end
of class, we will briefly look forward to Thursday's class in which we will
begin the second paper assignment, a Humanities paper based on short stories
by Nathaniel Hawthorne, beginning with
"My Kinsman, Major Molineaux"
(1832 / 1852).
Read Ahead!
To
prepare for Thursday's class, look at the hyperlinked sites in this paragraph
for the the Hawthorne Paper project. If you have
time to read ahead, get started on three stories by Nathaniel Hawthorne:
"My Kinsman,
Major Molineaux,"
"Young Goodman
Brown," and
"Rappaccini's
Daughter." They are available in many anthologies, and in the
hyperlinks above that connect to an
acceptable edition from the University of Virginia's E-Text Library.
If you have time, click here to read
two responses to student questions about the upcoming literary analysis paper
which may help you read with a clearer purpose.
Click here for a glossary of
literary terms and an explanation of how they might be used to explain an insight about
literature.
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