Plagarism and my experiences

In my Composition 2 class we briefly discussed plagiarism. Of course when you think plagiarism it is automatically a negative thought, which in a lot of cases is true, however some people disagree. Some people believe that if you take multiple ideas from people, and form it in to one, it is not considered plagiarism. Something we have been learning in this class is how to form research questions from our readings, and not just research questions to be simply answered with a yes or no, but questions that can be debated, questions that spark interest in society. In the following brainstorming entry I have given some of my personal experiences with plagiarism, and how they have affected me. Also, other literacy issues that have helped, and hurt me in becoming the writer I am today. On another note, my advice to you eleventh grade honors students, learn MLA, APA, and Chicago formats before starting college, it helps, a lot!

Brainstorming Journal 3

            Plagiarism has always been an issue with schools, and as a student I have had a couple of experiences with plagiarism. An extreme account of plagiarism that I have experienced was during my sophomore year of high school. There are the sports clubs, the art clubs, and then there are the academic clubs, perhaps the most elite was the National Honor Society. This organization had the best students, the students who wanted to make something great of their lives. I, along with the rest of the school, had a great respect for this organization, so when the President of National Honor Society was dismissed from the society for plagiarizing a speech, it was quite disappointing. What he did was unacceptable, and had a huge effect on me, so when I received an officer position in National Honor Society my senior year of high school I made sure to always make my work, my speeches, and my essays, my own.

            Now that I am in college I see that plagiarism is taken a lot more seriously than in high school. I never realized how easy it is to commit plagiarism, and sometimes you can do it without even realizing it. One of the positive aspects of college is that, to prevent plagiarism from happening, most courses require a cited page in their writing assignments, so it makes writing a little easier for students.

            There are some things I have experienced that have made me a better writer, and there have been some obstacles that have held me back from being a better writer. In my four years of high school, I have had two teachers that helped me improve my writing more than anyone else. Through these teachers I learned how to annotate, understand the deeper meanings of readings, and write well written essays. A few obstacles that have held me back as a writer is not being exposed to certain writing formats until my senior year of high school. Before senior year I didn’t know what MLA, APA, or Chicago format was, so in a way this has made college writing a little bit more difficult for me.