{"id":292,"date":"2016-07-16T02:44:17","date_gmt":"2016-07-16T02:44:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/waymaker-level3-english\/?post_type=chapter&p=292"},"modified":"2016-10-06T20:56:32","modified_gmt":"2016-10-06T20:56:32","slug":"outcome-writing-ethically-3-3","status":"publish","type":"chapter","link":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/suny-corningcc-engcomp1wmopen-1\/chapter\/outcome-writing-ethically-3-3\/","title":{"raw":"Outcome: Writing Ethically","rendered":"Outcome: Writing Ethically"},"content":{"raw":"
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\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_1286\" align=\"alignright\" width=\"300\"]\"Melania Melania Trump[\/caption]\r\n\r\nParts of Melania Trump\u2019s speech at the Republican National Convention in July 2016 were\u00a0strikingly similar to Michelle Obama\u2019s speech from eight\u00a0years ago. How does this happen? Plagiarism at this level is typically the result of sloppiness, not outright theft, but it's still just as egregious a result\u00a0no matter the underlying cause. If you don\u2019t want this to happen to you, then you need to\u00a0be aware of plagiarism and how to avoid it.\r\n\r\nIn 2008, here\u2019s what Michelle Obama said, in part (most of the highlights in these passages, which show the similar parts, are from a\u00a0Wall Street Journal article<\/a> about the plagiarism).\r\n
Like my family, they scrimped and saved so that he could have opportunities they never had themselves. And Barack and I were raised with so many of the same values: that you work hard for what you want in life<\/strong>; that your word is your bond and you do what you say you\u2019re going to do; that you treat people with dignity and respect<\/strong>, even if you don\u2019t know them, and even if you don\u2019t agree with them. And Barack and I set out to build lives guided by these values, and pass them on to the next generation. Because we want our children\u2014and all children in this nation\u2014to know that the only limit to the height of your achievements is the reach of your dreams and your willingness to work for them<\/strong>.<\/blockquote>\r\nAnd here\u2019s the similar passage from Melania Trump\u2019s speech:\r\n
From a young age, my parents impressed on me the values that you work hard for what you want in life<\/strong>, that your word is your bond and you do what you say and keep your promise, that you treat people with respect<\/strong>. They taught and showed me values and morals in their daily lives. That is a lesson that I continue to pass along to our son. And we need to pass those lessons on to the many generations to follow. Because we want our children in this nation to know that the only limit to your achievements is the strength of your dreams and your willingness to work for them.<\/strong><\/blockquote>\r\nYou can watch a video of the similar snippets from their speeches here<\/a>.\r\n

How plagiarism really happens<\/h3>\r\nAccording to author\u00a0Josh Bernoff, Melania's Trump plagiarism is probably not the obvious kind of cut-and-paste theft you might associate with cheating on a research paper, but it's still clearly plagiarism.\u00a0He imagines that\u00a0Melania Trump and her speechwriters talked about what she wanted to communicate and what\u2019s important to her. They probably discussed\u00a0ideas, developed a theme, and researched it. They also researched past, successful speeches from prospective first ladies.\u00a0The result of that research was\u00a0a bunch of fragments from all over the place. One of those fragments was\u00a0the piece of Michelle Obama\u2019s speech. As the fragments coalesced into a speech, that one got\u00a0included, because the writers lost\u00a0track of its provenance, or Melania Trump did.\r\n\r\nYou may want to believe the more evil explanation here, but carelessness is far more likely. For example, the famous primatologist Jane Goodall blamed \u201cchaotic note taking\u201d<\/a> for plagiarized passages in her book, Seeds of Hope<\/em>. This stuff happens all the time.\r\n

How you can avoid this mistake<\/h3>\r\nHow do you gather your notes? Do you bookmark Web passages, use Evernote or Zotero, or create index cards or sticky notes? No matter your method, you should have a consistent and clear method to keep track of your sources. You wouldn\u2019t walk around without clothes on; notes shouldn\u2019t get around unless they\u2019re clothed in source attributions. And you should make those attributions habitually and consistently, using the same format every time. Your mind can run free, your text can flow, but your attributions must be as fastidious as an accountant\u2019s.\r\n\r\nWhile this is a pain, it\u2019s not nearly as painful as what Melania Trump and others suffer after plagiarism is discovered. You will\u00a0<\/em>get caught. Do you really want to explain whether you were dishonest or just sloppy? You'll learn how to avoid plagiarism in this section.\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n<\/header><\/div>\r\n

What You Will Learn to Do<\/h2>\r\n