As indicated earlier in this chapter, the approach to ethics can vary by individual and culture. Consider your family’s cultural background: what examples might you point to that show some variance of opinion about ethics and communication? For example, how do members of your family feel about exaggerations or little white lies—as opposed to big lies? Do they tolerate the former and reject the latter? Do they think they are all unacceptable—or, conversely, unavoidable? Where do you stand on these questions?

Review your school’s policies on plagiarism. How clear is the definition of plagiarism? Do you think the guidelines provide clear rules for citing others’ work? What is the punishment for stealing someone else’s words or ideas? Based on this information and what you’ve learned in this chapter, where would you draw the line between plagiarizing material for a speech and using the material as inspiration for what you write?

Listen to a few of the twentieth century’s greatest speeches (you can find most of them at AmericanRhetoric.com). Do they all stand up to ethical scrutiny? Does the Internet—which has multiple Web sites devoted to fact checking in real time—make modern public figures more or less careful about what they say?