I was on a Web site the other day that claimed the papers they sold "are not plagiarized because each one is created according to the needs of the client." Yeah right! Somehow this idea that I can buy a paper that is custom made does not constitute plagiarism is really disturbing. What's most disturbing is that it makes detecting plagiarism that much more difficult. Googling words and phrases from a custom designed paper do not produce any results.
I've got an individual, now, that turned in his/her Memoir assignment (the second assignment in my schedule). This person is a pretty good writer, but the Memoir seemed to be just a little too slick. The person in question is from Saint Louis, and the paper talked about the individual's stay in a rehab center for heroine addiction. Because there were some red flags about this paper, I Googled some key phrases from the paper. The only thing I found out was that this individual used a real doctor's name and an actual rehab name for the place he/she claims to have attended. The only problem is that this place is in south Florida and it's one of those rehab centers for the rich and famous. The writing in the paper made it sound like it was a local place from this individual's home. Although I don't know the personal background of this individual, I find it hard to believe that he/she could spend over a year (which he/she claims) in a rehab in south Florida that caters to rich people.
Now I'm faced with that dilemma of giving this person an A for a paper that clearly deserves it , but may be plagiarized, or confronting this person on the paper that seems to be brutally "honest" if it's true. This is not a good position for me to be in. To compound the problem, this person's other papers are well-written, not spectacular, but well-written. He/she does, however, have one of the worst attendance records in my class because he/she claims that working hours are taking a toll on attendance. My assumption is that if this individual's family had enough money to send them to a fancy rehab for a year, he/she would not need to work to go through college.
This is my first suspected case of plagiarism. Am I being paranoid? What might be done that I could handle this with sensitivity? I certainly don't want to send a signal of accusing this person of plagiarism if their paper is original and written by them.
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3 comments:
I had a similar problem last semester. Personally, I never would have suspected the problem if another student had not approached me about it. Evidently, she "overheard" this student say he was going to use his sister's paper. Turns out, she was incorrect in what she heard. Dr. Weaver gave me some wonderful advice - talk to the student about it. To be on the safe side, you can also ask the student to make substantial revisions.
Wow, this sounds like a real powder-keg. I don't envy you, Tim. I think Shauna has given you some good advice, though. Talk to the student about his/her time in Rehab, point out the discrepancies, and see how he/she responds. Also, you might do a little research on Facebook and/or Myspace. Odds are, the student has a profile that will give you an awfully good idea whether "work" or something else is taking a toll on the student, which will help you evaluate his/her veracity.
I have always been fascinated by the modern era's preoccupation with the owning of ideas and words. For centuries scholars and major writers relied on the works of those that came before them and either added to, twisted in some way, and always added a new flare to the work. I have also been trained in the modern era of writing (duh) and I can see the need for this idea in today's world, but I am always saddened by the movement away from an older time when ideas were built on others. After all, most English majors hold Shakespeare up on a throne, and we know he was the ultimate plagiarist.
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