Is copying an answer for a fixed question considored plagiarism?
5 replies, posted
I'm still kinda confused as to what plagiarism is.. Is it like.. Copying down shit from the internet for an essay or copying an answer down from the internet? Well.. my english 2 honors teacher gave us this huge worksheet about Frankenstein and i googled the questions and copied down the answers (i had no idea it would count as plagiarism). Apparently, she found out, she gave me a zero (I fucked up, so i deserve it) and she told me that it's illegal and i can get sued for copying down an ANSWER for a fixed question from the internet. Is that true? If it is then what the fuck? That's like buying a set of words and saying that if anyone says that then i can take money from them (apart from name brands, im talking about sentences). But is it true that i can get sued?
Yes it it plagiarism. Right stuff down in your own words don't copy stuff word for word.
[QUOTE=Region;32741701]I'm still kinda confused as to what plagiarism is.. Is it like.. Copying down shit from the internet for an essay or copying an answer down from the internet? Well.. my english 2 honors teacher gave us this huge worksheet about Frankenstein and i googled the questions and copied down the answers (i had no idea it would count as plagiarism). Apparently, she found out, she gave me a zero (I fucked up, so i deserve it) and she told me that it's illegal and i can get sued for copying down an ANSWER for a fixed question from the internet. Is that true? If it is then what the fuck? That's like buying a set of words and saying that if anyone says that then i can take money from them (apart from name brands, im talking about sentences). But is it true that i can get sued?[/QUOTE]
I'm not going to bother trying to put plagiarism into my own words, so:
[i]Plagiarism is defined in dictionaries as the "wrongful appropriation," "close imitation," or "purloining and publication" of another author's "language, thoughts, ideas, or expressions," and the representation of them as one's own original work[/i]
I have copied a lot of stuff directly from the web for my work, sometimes I have even taken another person's entire assignment in my class and copied it. The key is that you rewrite it and make sure to change the sentence structure to your own, and sometimes cut back/write a little extra for different bits and pieces.
It isnt that nobody can take words from them, it is mainly for things like journalism/academic purposes, if you let people just copy+paste then you are essentially marking work from some random person on the internet instead of the student.
What was the question, out of interest? If they just had short answers then it might have been that she had gotten those questions from the same place you found the answers, and was pissed that you found the site and just copied every answer word for word.
*EDIT*
Also, yes, it is possible to be sued for plagiarism, but that doesn't so much apply to academic uses, the only real punishments you would face for plagiarism in an academic context is disqualification/expulsion.
Copying other peoples work/statements is generally a bad idea unless you make sure to mention that you are quoting someone. Even then, some assignments require that you put some thought of your own into the questions and don't just copy the answers someone else gave you. Just copying other people's statements isn't the same thing as giving your own thought on something.
[editline]12th October 2011[/editline]
Also since your essay was about Frankenstein's Monster, I reckon that simply using answers your found on the Internet wasn't proof enough that you had read the book and understood/had an opinion about the contents.
Go read it OP, it's one of the best books I've ever read.
[QUOTE=Lilolia;32741771]I'm not going to bother trying to put plagiarism into my own words, so:
[i]Plagiarism is defined in dictionaries as the "wrongful appropriation," "close imitation," or "purloining and publication" of another author's "language, thoughts, ideas, or expressions," and the representation of them as one's own original work[/i]
I have copied a lot of stuff directly from the web for my work, sometimes I have even taken another person's entire assignment in my class and copied it. The key is that you rewrite it and make sure to change the sentence structure to your own, and sometimes cut back/write a little extra for different bits and pieces.
It isnt that nobody can take words from them, it is mainly for things like journalism/academic purposes, if you let people just copy+paste then you are essentially marking work from some random person on the internet instead of the student.
What was the question, out of interest? If they just had short answers then it might have been that she had gotten those questions from the same place you found the answers, and was pissed that you found the site and just copied every answer word for word.
*EDIT*
Also, yes, it is possible to be sued for plagiarism, but that doesn't so much apply to academic uses, the only real punishments you would face for plagiarism in an academic context is disqualification/expulsion.[/QUOTE]
It was a bunch of little questions for example: How did mary shelley reference stories such as "the natural man" (or whatever it was called)
[editline]12th October 2011[/editline]
[QUOTE=Simski;32741813]Copying other peoples work/statements is generally a bad idea unless you make sure to mention that you are quoting someone. Even then, some assignments require that you put some thought of your own into the questions and don't just copy the answers someone else gave you. Just copying other people's statements isn't the same thing as giving your own thought on something.
[editline]12th October 2011[/editline]
Also since your essay was about Frankenstein's Monster, I reckon that simply using answers your found on the Internet wasn't proof enough that you had read the book and understood/had an opinion about the contents.
Go read it OP, it's one of the best books I've ever read.[/QUOTE]
Wasn't an essay. They were numbered questions.
While they were just numbered questions, they weren't just basic yes/no or set answers like in maths. In English they take it quite seriously because the questions are asking your thoughts on it, and while you can look on the internet, they still expect it to be written in your words than just copied/pasted from somewhere else.
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