Notes on the Research Paper and Plagiarism

Scholars:

  After class, a student pointed out to me that the research paper was supposed to be worth 150 points, but I graded it on a 100 point scale.   The easiest way that I can think of to correct this error and get you your 50 points is to have you annotate your bibliography. It is easy-- here's what you do!   Take your Works Cited page (if it needs corrections, then do that, obviously). Choose 5 of your research articles (reviews and journal articles-- not the textbook or film, though) and annotate them.


An annotation is a short summary. You cite in MLA format and then include the summary of the article right below it. It must be IN YOUR OWN WORDS, at least 5 sentences long, and it may include a quote(s) and a statement of how it was used as a source for YOUR essay. I will list an example below.   I will accept these throughout the week we get back from Spring Break-- I would like them by Friday March 27th. Just use the sources you already have (if I marked "not a scholarly source" on one of yours, then find another one-- they must be scholarly and in correct MLA format).   That is it-- you will get 10 points per entry for 50 points. This is a very easy way to get an extra 50 points added to your essay grade!!!!!!!!!!!  

 Here's a sample: [Follow MLA format, including alphabetical listing AND double-spacing].   Sample Annotated Bibliography [note that these citations are from library sources not gotten from any literary database, so the database info. is missing.... you need to include full citation information, including database info.]

Jordan Baker Materials Fryer, Sarah Beebe. "Beneath the Mask: The Plight of Daisy Buchanan." Critical Essays on F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby. Ed. Scott Donaldson. Boston: G.K. Hall, 1984. 153-166. This is a feminist essay that argues that Daisy is trapped in cultural constructions of Rich Wife and Pretty Girl - she chooses the "unsatisfactory stability" of her marriage because of those constructions. Fryer's only mention of Jordan is a foil to Daisy - - "Like Jordan, Daisy is affected" (156).

 Kerr, Frances. "Feeling Half-Feminine: Modernism and the Politics of Emotion in The Great Gatsby." American Literature 68 (1996): 405-31. A brilliant analysis of the homoerotics in the novel--Nick's attraction to McKee and to Gatsby. Kerr thinks the tennis girl with sweat on her lip is Jordan (which I think is wrong); she notes that Jordan has more control over her emotions than the other women in the novel (Daisy and Myrtle). Kerr argues that Nick's narrative about his dumping her "leads the reader to believe that it is Jordan's indifference, shallowness, and dishonesty that prompt his move. The psychological subtext of Gatsby, however, suggests a motivation entirely different. Nick Carraway identifies with and feels most romantically drawn not to 'masculine' women but to 'feminine' men" (418).

Mandel, Jerome. "The Grotesque Rose: Medieval Romance and The Great Gatsby." Modern Fiction Studies 34(1988): 541-558. Mandel argues that Gatsby follows many of the conventions of medieval romance, and analyzes East and West Egg as competing courts, Buchanan as a prince/Lord with Daisy as unattainable queen/fair lady. Gatsby and Nick are both construed as knights; Jordan is only mentioned in passing as a sort of attendant figure on Queen Daisy. This whole analysis seems somewhat farfetched.

Here are some links to sample annotated bibs:

    http://www.uwc.ucf.edu/handouts/Writing_Annotated_Bib.pdf     http://www.lesley.edu/library/guides/citation/mla_annotated.html  
http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/614/03/  

TO THE PLAGIARISTS: [If YOU are guilty of plagiarism, I expect to see a written explanation of your actions, as well as a brand new, plagiarism-free research paper on MONDAY. I would love to hear your reasoning/excuses before bringing formal charges. This includes those of you who did not show up to class on Friday.] What is Plagiarism Many people think of plagiarism as copying another's work, or borrowing someone else's original ideas. But terms like "copying" and "borrowing" can disguise the seriousness of the offense:

According to the Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, to "plagiarize" means to steal and pass off (the ideas or words of another) as one's own to use (another's production) without crediting the source to commit literary theft to present as new and original an idea or product derived from an existing source.
In other words, plagiarism is an act of fraud. It involves both stealing someone else's work and lying about it afterward.

But can words and ideas really be stolen? According to U.S. law, the answer is yes. The expression of original ideas is considered intellectual property, and is protected by copyright laws, just like original inventions. Almost all forms of expression fall under copyright protection as long as they are recorded in some way (such as a book or a computer file).

All of the following are considered plagiarism: turning in someone else's work as your own copying words or ideas from someone else without giving credit failing to put a quotation in quotation marks giving incorrect information about the source of a quotation changing words but copying the sentence structure of a source without giving credit copying so many words or ideas from a source that it makes up the majority of your work, whether you give credit or not (see our section on "fair use" rules)
Most cases of plagiarism can be avoided, however, by citing sources. Simply acknowledging that certain material has been borrowed, and providing your audience with the information necessary to find that source, is usually enough to prevent plagiarism. See our section on citation for more information on how to cite sources properly.

Have a wonderful Spring Break!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!