Orientation Week: Original Writing and Plagiarism
Every week in this class, you will be retelling stories in your own words. That means you will work with a written story to begin with, but you will be rewriting that story and changing it in order to create a new version of the story. It is very important that you understand the difference between copying a story (plagiarism) and retelling the story in your own words.
PLAGIARIZING BY MISTAKE... IS STILL PLAGIARIZING
In my experience, students usually don't decide, consciously, to cheat on an assignment, but they may end up cheating because they run out of time, or they get confused about the assignment, or maybe they copy-and-paste and then turn in the copied work by accident. Every time that I have seen plagiarism in an assignment, the plagiarism happened "by accident." That does not change the fact of the matter: plagiarism, even when it happens by accident, is still plagiarism, and the consequences are serious. It's like when you are caught speeding or running a red light: it doesn't matter if you ran the red light because you were not paying attention or if you did not know you were speeding - you are going to get a ticket just the same.
So, you need to be absolutely clear about this: plagiarizing by mistake is still plagiarism, and the penalties are very serious. Please make sure you pay attention to these dangerous pitfalls that might lead you to plagiarize by accident:
- Running out of time. If you do not give yourself enough time to complete an assignment, you will be tempted to cheat simply because you have run out of time. The solution to this is an easy one: you MUST budget enough time for the required work. Time management is the key to doing well in this class and having a good time with it.
- Confusion. If you are confused or frustrated by the assignment, you will be tempted to cheat just to get it over with. Please resist that temptation, and contact me instead to get help. Most importantly, to avoid confusion and frustration, I would urge you to work with texts that you find easy to read - if you start with a text that is long and/or difficult for you to read, it will be very frustrating to try to put that text into your own words. So, let me know if you are having trouble understanding your source material, and I will help you find a better source to use for your retelling!
- Do NOT copy and paste. Sometimes people copy something, and then try to change it afterwards. That will not work; you should NEVER - I repeat: never never never NEVER NEVER NEVER!!!!! - copy and paste in your writing for this class. Every semester, people somehow think it is acceptable to copy and paste something, and then go through changing the words, sentence by sentence. This is NOT acceptable. To avoid this temptation: DO NOT EVEN LOOK at your source at the same time as you are writing. Instead, take notes - write them out by hand - as you read the original source, and then consult your notes as you are writing. Do not consult the source while you are writing.
Meanwhle, the very best advice I can give you is this:
THE MAIN WAY TO AVOID PLAGIARISM IS TO UNLEASH YOUR OWN CREATIVITY!
The more creative you can be in your storytelling, the less likely it is that you will plagiarize by mistake. By being creative, you will be changing the story - and you will probably be having a good time, too, which will make it easier to spend the time you need to on the assignment. If you're looking for storytelling ideas, just glance through these 50+ Ideas for Storytelling. Every story can be retold in hundreds of different ways... and the more creative you can be with that, the more you will enjoy the assignment, and the more your readers will enjoy the story you write, too!
EXAMPLES: AESOP'S FABLES. Here is an example of an Aesop's fable told in three different ways. One retelling is a form of plagiarism, but the other two retellings are truly new versions of the story, although they are based on the same original.
| A comfortably plump dog happened to run into a wolf. The wolf asked the dog where he had been finding enough food to get so big and fat. 'It is a man,' said the dog, 'who gives me all this food to eat.' The wolf then asked him, 'And what about that bare spot there on your neck?' The dog replied, 'My skin has been rubbed bare by the iron collar which my master forged and placed upon my neck.' The wolf then jeered at the dog and said, 'Keep your luxury to yourself then! I don't want anything to do with it, if my neck will have to chafe against a chain of iron!' |
Original version: "The Wolf, the Dog, and the Collar," Aesop's Fables, trans. by Laura Gibbs (2002). Online at aesopica.net. |
| A rather fat dog happened to encounter a wolf. The wolf asked the dog where he had been finding enough food in order to get so fat. 'There's a man,' said the dog, 'who gives me all this food to eat.' The wolf said, 'And what about that spot that's rubbed bare there on your neck?' The dog answered, 'The iron collar rubbed my skin bare. My master made it and placed it upon my neck.' The wolf then laughed at the dog and said, 'Keep your luxury! I don't want anything to do with that stuff, if my neck will have to chafe against an iron chain!" |
Plagiarism: BAD! This version was clearly copied and pasted, and then edited. It follows the original sentence by sentence (italics) and sometimes word for word (bold). THIS IS PLAGIARISM, even though it is not an exact copy. |
| Once upon a time, a fat, dumb and happy dog ran into a wolf. The wolf was curious because the dog looked very well-fed while the wolf was all mangy and skinny. So the wolf said to the dog, "Listen, brother, how do you find so much food to eat?" The dog burped (he had just eaten a big Alpo sandwich) and explained, "I've got a master - and he always gives me plenty to eat." Then the wolf noticed that there was a bare spot on the dog's neck. "How did you get that bare spot on your neck?" the wolf asked. "That's from my collar," said the dog. "It's something my master makes me wear around my neck. It's not all that bad, really. You can get used to it. Although now that I'm getting kind of fat, uh, the collar is a little tight." The wolf just laughed at the dog and said, "Well, you can keep your food for yourself, slave! My freedom is worth more to me than eating well." |
Good retelling! It is similar to the original story, but it is not a copy. Even the moral of the story is stated differently than in the original version, and some nice new details have been added. |
| Mr. Wolf came home empty-pawed one day, and Mrs. Wolf growled at him. "Okay," Mr. Wolf admitted, "I didn't bring anything home for us to eat. But listen to this - I met this dog, oh he was big and fat, and I thought for sure he could help me find some food. He told me that there was a man, a human being, who gave him lots of food, and I was getting pretty excited - it sounded like a great deal. But then I saw this bare spot on his neck, all rubbed away and kind of sore, and I asked him how that happened. And he told me it was from the iron chain that he wore around his neck." Mrs. Wolf barked, "A chain? Around his neck? You've got to be kidding!" "No kidding," said Mr. Wolf. "The man put that iron chain around his neck and that dog just went along with it. So I told him: no way. I'd rather be hungry and free than wear some man's chain around my neck." Mrs. Wolf howled in approval, and then the two of them ran off into the woods in search of something ... anything ... for supper. As he ran along in the darkness, the wolf thought to himself, "I wonder what dog meat tastes like?" |
Best of all: This is a really CREATIVE retelling. This version of the story has a new narrator: Mr. Wolf is telling the story himself in answer to Mrs. Wolf's questions. Mr. Wolf tells the story, along with some back-and-forth dialogue with Mrs. Wolf. It's the same basic plot, but has a completely new feeling to it, because of the new storytelling style. |
QUIZ: Can Your Recognize Plagiarism?
After you have read the examples provided above, you should be ready to take the Plagiarism Quiz which you will find in Desire2Learn. You will be presented with five sample stories and story re-tellings. In each case, your task is to determine whether the story retelling is plagiarism or not.
You can take the quiz at Desire2Learn up to 5 times, and your average score will be recorded. Please make sure you score at least 80% on one of your quiz attempts. It is not important that you get a perfect score, but you should get at least a score of 80% to be sure you do understand just what it means to retell a story in your own words.
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