Exercise 15.2 Identifying plagiarism

Read the brief original passage that follows, and then look closely at the five attempts to quote or paraphrase it. Decide which attempts are acceptable and which plagiarize, prepare notes on what supports your decision in each case, and bring your notes to class for discussion.

The strange thing about plagiarism is that it’s almost always pointless. The writers who stand accused, from Laurence Sterne to Samuel Taylor Coleridge to Susan Sontag, tend to be more talented than the writers they lift from.

—MALCOLM JONES, “Have You Read This Story Somewhere?”

  1. According to Malcolm Jones, writers accused of plagiarism are always better writers than those they are supposed to have plagiarized.

    Question

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    According to Malcolm Jones, writers accused of plagiarism are always better writers than those they are supposed to have plagiarized.
  2. According to Malcolm Jones, writers accused of plagiarism “tend to be more talented than the writers they lift from.”

    Question

    dsX2KsNbnd6HN1Ivy/1vvvEXfEgDowa8EByQoCGEatlg4+jESpo4X9EgOZjBeaY+VeIdTlXrbx+oOT8y8tCXBLtnTuZlIU/iSNduJF5iBbBzvvBz0uehbUbVkMTuH8eA/+z1QDc3SL/49tYVvXCH089YJFadIUvihBpsBpNHNkh8Sy2DDPI5E22JHLs=
    According to Malcolm Jones, writers accused of plagiarism “tend to be more talented than the writers they lift from.”
  3. Plagiarism is usually pointless, says writer Malcolm Jones.

    Question

    6wBDYp9tJz5j6JwWM+RmKIrSIUltF72s4q4lnVF26In18srAfHOJSp5Y/tAtcax3K42ddDeGQJZv6oA65MCZzdOn8lrFnq47SwrEWw==
    Plagiarism is usually pointless, says writer Malcolm Jones.
  4. Those who stand accused of plagiarism, such as Vice President Joseph Biden, tend to be better writers than those whose work they use.

    Question

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    Those who stand accused of plagiarism, such as Vice President Joseph Biden, tend to be better writers than those whose work they use.
  5. According to Malcolm Jones, “plagiarism is . . . almost always pointless.”

    Question

    h2EJi5jFW2H9Hb7jDqDqXmQmO9Q46cZWcx5PmlXCjuM4x0UADl3UDhNNRmFlDJzrh38Ci7tN5ssJKBqXrZEu5xaiYdcRAlfJ+pV+1TK/qO5qIrCiAq7pTfdtkiOFlQ6TLJEK/dgAciXMM+zA2dlEmAzMbKXGgeA6aK4Xba0vWWzhM83V
    According to Malcolm Jones, “plagiarism is . . . almost always pointless.”