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Suppose Larissa never lifted the text from the magazine article verbatim. Instead, she used paraphrasing—restating the original author’s ideas in her own words. Would this constitute plagiarism?

This is where the rules defining plagiarism are a bit less clear. Is it stealing if you use your own words but not necessarily your own ideas? Your teachers will not expect you to be an authority on every speech topic you address; you will have to research your subject matter. This may cause you to wonder, “How could it be plagiarism if I’m paraphrasing someone else’s words or ideas? After all, these are my words!”

Students at the college level regularly struggle with this challenge. To resolve the dilemma, consider this simple rule of thumb: if you’re using most or all of the original material, simply rearranged and restated in your own words, you’re still taking another person’s ideas and presenting them as your own. This isn’t the same as directly copying without attribution, but it is wrong on several fronts. For one thing, you’re not generating your own ideas and opinions about your topic—so you’re not meeting your instructor’s expectations. For another, you’re being unfair to the person whose ideas you’re presenting as your own.

The safest bet is always to acknowledge the original source of any material you use in your speech, whether you are directly quoting or paraphrasing. For example, if Larissa had paraphrased some ideas from the magazine article, she could have mentioned the author and source of her material in the following way:

According to Roberta Gonzales, writing in the June 19 issue of Nevada Horizons on page D4, drive-in theaters tended to grow in popularity with Americans who were increasingly able to afford and enjoy the freedom of automobiles. This was especially true of younger drivers, who yearned for freedom of mobility and a common place to meet and socialize outside the scrutiny of mom and dad.