Writing Papers that are too Sophisticated?

Post Reply New Topic

To plagiarise or not to plagiarise, that is the question:
Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer
The strains and anxieties of original writing,
Or to Google against a sea of troubles,
And by cut-and-pasting, end them?

Anna wrote: I had a macroeconomics teacher give me a poor grade on a paper once because what I wrote looked to him like I had copied it from some expert analysis. When I verbally went through it with him and showed him the report and where every number came from and made clear to him that, not only had I done the analysis, but that I was *capable* of doing that depth of analysis. Then I asked if I were really going to be penalized for writing too well. He changed my grade and apologized.


This would be where you and I differ. I am not highly intelligent and able to analyze well. In fact I struggle with that. I just happen to be able to use the English language effieciently and make myself sound intelligent! I can research something and put a report together. Of course, I am only a first year college student, so I am counting on the college to cultivate the genius in me! (I hope I won't be disappointed!

Emmetman wrote: To plagiarise or not to plagiarise, that is the question:
Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer
The strains and anxieties of original writing,
Or to Google against a sea of troubles,
And by cut-and-pasting, end them?

That's good! (I hope there's no insinuation there, Emmetman! You must be in league with my Comp. II Professor!)

Emmetman wrote: Thank you. You could always offer it to your professor...

It is my own work. (with additional dialogue by W Shakespeare)


(No slithy toves were harmed in the production of this text.
Do not attempt uffish thought at home without training or supervision)



Yes, and a mimsy work it is! No galumphing through borograbes for you, sir. I can almost hear your vorpal literary blade sound out; Snicker-Snack!!

You teacher can't prove anything unless he finds the plagiarized piece. If he accuses you of it, ask him to show you what you plagiarized.

As long as you cite diligently, he can't do anything to you. (I speak from experience.)

Thank you all for your encouragement. The professor did not see fit to openly accuse me, but preferred to merely insinuate plagiarism. (coward!)

Good news! I completed the class and recieved a final grade of A! (quite satisfactory)

Oh wow....I didn't know this could be a problem we have to face. I thought I was the only one!

Back about 10 years ago in college, I was accused of plagiarism by a professor. Knowing the amount of work I poured into it, not to mention constantly thinking about the paper, I may have very well chosen to cook the paper if I had known she would have accused me of fakery.

I nearly dropped out of school because of this blow to my academic confidence. Only a year or two later did I find out from her former teaching assistant that she wanted a citation for everything possible. She was also a divorced, female teacher with a huge chip on her shoulder. I secretly wondered if she was somehow trying to challenge me to see if I would step up and 'prove myself' as a scholar. I didn't.

If I told her the sky was blue, this lady was the type to ask me to find the reference and cite it. I think my mistake was categorizing her as my "target audience", therefore negating the need for citing references for what professionals in my field of study (Criminal Justice) considered to be common knowledge.

Never before had my work been questioned like this. It took years to get over it. In the end, I took an Incomplete for that class and did a completely new paper. Out of spite, I did it on how drunk driving laws were totally useless--that if people were bound and determined to get behind the wheel when drunk, they will. Offensive to some, I know. She just p*ssed me off completely.

I never did have this problem, even if my writting was at times fairly sophisticated. Of course that my spelling was/is pretty bad likely helped.

When I talked as well, which I did a fair amount of I used a lot of sophisticated words as well. What's more, they probably picked up on my writting style.


I write like I talk for the most part.