Plagiarism Chronicles (redux!)

[polly_mer]

When I read that blurb on Jane Austin, the things that constitute facts as I was taught I wouldn't have to cite are:

* She was an English novelist
* She wrote six major novels
* She wrote near the end of the 18th century

Everything else there is someone's commentary and phrasing.

[Parasaurolophus]

So I met with Stu Plagiarist.  He said that copying stuff verbatim was okay because he wasn't copying arguments, just facts.  So, according to him, it's legit to copy:

"Jane Austen was an English novelist known primarily for her six major novels, which interpret, critique and comment upon the British landed gentry at the end of the 18th century. Austen's plots often explore the dependence of women on marriage in the pursuit of favourable social standing and economic security. Her works critique the novels of sensibility of the second half of the 18th century and are part of the transition to 19th-century literary realism."

(As per Wikipedia.) Because that's all facts and not argument.

FWIW, the last sentence looks a lot like a conclusion, and the preceding two like (inadequate) premises offered in support of it. In which case, it is an argument, and suxorz to your plagiarist either way.

(It's open to quibbling, but it's close enough that I'd count it, even if it doesn't amount to much, argument-wise, without a few more enthymematic premises.)

[Parasaurolophus]

Good old Bartleby.com. So easy to find.

I've not been too vigilant this semester, for a number of reasons, but I can't just ignore this essay, which is reproduced in its entirely. Sigh.

[Parasaurolophus]

Good old Bartleby.com. So easy to find.

I've not been too vigilant this semester, for a number of reasons, but I can't just ignore this essay, which is reproduced in its entirely. Sigh.

Double-posting because, FML, I just discovered that I have this student in another class, too. And he's made slightly less liberal use of Bartelby there, as well. At least, as far as I can prove.

[0susanna]

Student's extremely detailed discussion of Samuel Johnson's "The Vanity of Human Wishes" turned out to be largely paraphrased/copied from Schmoop.com--ze left in a few of the link tags by mistake. Usually I'm death to plagiarists, but right now, for a first responder with family on lockdown at home...I'm letting it go with a "never do this again" and 0.

Another one submitted a review that was 78% copied from various sources. This person was been a bit out of zir depth before coronavirus hit, but now as a nurse ze is working 12 hour shifts in a hospice setting. I'm giving a second chance and extensions.

Next semester, it's back to the hard line, I promise. And really, I'm surprised I haven't seen more of this kind of desperation plagiarism.

[kaysixteen]

I get having mercy on first responder types now, so long as the course material covered by the cheater is not vital to their professional competencies needed to be learned, but this also perhaps raises the question of just how much cheating is going on during this impromptu online Ed experiment?  And how to tell?

[RatGuy]

Foregoing my usual final assignment for a freshman-level course, I asked students to submit a reflection. Specifically, I asked them to determine what specific things they learned in class, and why those concepts are important for the foundations of a liberal arts education. One student copied almost whole hog the reflection from a student in a first-year writing course. The comp/rhet folks usually do these ePortfolios and blogs for semester-long projects, and it's all online. Amusingly, my student copied from another who had written about transferring to a school back in her home state. I'm wondering if my in-state student even read what she was copying.