Unit 2: Plagiarism

Here is a response to the Purdue OWL "Safe Practices"

1. Last summer, my family and I traveled to Chicago, which was quite different from the rural area I grew up in. We saw the dinosaur Sue at the Field Museum, and ate pizza at Gino's East.
 - No need to cite any sources, just a person writing what they did and saw.  No information from other writers were used in this, reads like an opinion.

2. Americans want to create a more perfect union; they also want to establish justice, ensure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty for everybody.
- This statement would require citation of the Bill of Rights.  Although most people know this statement this writer writes it not exactly but close.  Not only a citation at the end of the statement (BOR), but also on the works cited page.   

3. I find it ridiculous that 57% of high school students think their teachers assign too much homework.

- I would cite where the 57% stat came from and make sure that it came from a notable source.  Maybe even try to find that percentage from another author just to confirm the accuracy of the statement.

Numbers 4, 5, and 6 all refer to the following passage from Martin Luther King's "Letter from the Birmingham Jail":

You deplore the demonstrations taking place in Birmingham. But your statement, I am sorry to say, fails to express a similar concern for the conditions that brought about the demonstrations. I am sure that none of you would want to rest content with the superficial kind of social analysis that deals merely with effects and does not grapple with underlying causes. It is unfortunate that demonstrations are taking place in Birmingham, but it is even more unfortunate that the city's white power structure left the Negro community with no alternative.

4. Martin Luther King was certain that nobody would want to be contented with a surfacy type of social analysis that concerns itself only with effects and doesn't deal with root causes.
-This is an opinion of the writer based on their reading, I don't think that it needs to be cited.  

5. Martin Luther King wrote that the city of Birmingham's "white power structure" left African-Americans there "no alternative" but to demonstrate ("Letter from the Birmingham Jail" para. 5).
- Due to the quotes this statement must be cited.  I would probably not give so much information in the (Author last name & page # or paragraph #) at the end of the sentence, maybe (King LB speech P5). instead, as long as the reader can find the cited source on the works cited page that is all the matters, and that the works cited page contains all the correct information.  

6. In "Letter from the Birmingham Jail," King writes to fellow clergy saying that although they "deplore the demonstrations taking place in Birmingham, your statement fails to express a similar concern for the conditions that brought about the demonstrations."
-This statement needs direction at the end of the sentence of where the writer obtained this information in (Author last name & page # or paragraph #) to reference the reader to the works cited page to see the full citation.  

7. My friend Kara told me that she loves living so close to the ocean.
-No need to cite.

8. Americans are guaranteed the right to freely gather for peaceful meetings.
-This is information most people are aware of but I would cite it because it falls in the maybe category of citing material. 

I know how important it is to cite sources when writing papers.  Since beginning college and writing  papers every quarter it has become like second nature to have a works cited page as well as reference my works cited information within my text.  I have enjoyed reading papers over the quarter of other students and knowing where their information was obtained to write that paper.  One area that I was unaware of until now was citing graphics.  I use graphics from websites a lot when making power points for my Biology assignments.  Now I will make sure to cite the photographic source on the page where the photo is displayed, as well as on the works cited page.  All aspects of plagiarism are important!  Know one likes to be stolen from, and that is basically what you are doing if your reference material is not cited accurately.  I liked the COP on Iris for knowing how to cite sources, and it is a great tool just to check how each source is cited, because everything is cited a little different. 

Thanks,
Megan Fletcher