For me the plagiarism experience came in three distinct emotional stages: first excitement and enthusiasm, then a certain bitterness, and finally a strange acceptance and empathy for the plagiarist.
When we began discussing the project I was really eager to do it. I thought it would be fun and I had quite a few ideas floating around. My goal was to “rip-off” an incredible number of sources and blend them into one seamless paper. I wanted to borrow from everywhere--Calvin and Hobbes, books I’d read years ago with passages still standing out brilliantly in memory, the dilapidated ancient texts of Helen C. White, you name it. I wanted to make my plagiarism epic, on the scale of Ben-hur or the D-Day invasion.
Thus I had several things in consideration format-wise. My original thought was to write a short story. I really enjoy writing creative work and I thought this would be a golden opportunity to try out a scenario with pieces drawn from the work of favorite authors. However as I thought about it I realized there was almost nothing I would want to use word-for-word. I wanted to change things drastically from their original forms, and it became more like I was alluding or making a veiled reference than actually plagiarizing. It certainly wasn’t 25% plagiarized, so I thought about just dropping in the chunks verbatim. The problem with that was just how obvious it was. I realized that because the class would be searching for pieces plagiarized I had no chance of pulling it off (I think maybe with an instructor grading dozens of papers and not aware something has been plagiarized I could have slipped it past). Anyway I also didn’t feel right about doing it, which gradually led to the resentful stage. As Emily commented in class, plagiarizing creative writing is most offensive. Be it pride or something else, I hated the concept that what I was writing wasn’t mine. I decided to bag the entire effort, largely out of annoyance and frustration.
Of course these are midterm weeks and the assignment wasn’t a central focus for most of my time. Over the weekend I went to Iowa for a conference, and didn’t get back until Sunday night. It was then that I gained disturbing insight into the mind of a plagiarist. I’d like to say I purposely waited until 11:30 Sunday night to write the paper in order to feel as a plagiarist feels, however that would be a lie. In fact I was very busy studying for my other classes, all the while remembering the paper was due at 8:50 the next morning. Now for many of you that doesn’t sound all that bad, but I’m a guy that likes going to bed early. In other words, I think I sufficiently experienced the panic, stress, and desperation of a plagiarist. Luckily I had been thinking about the paper while I should have been doing other things all week, so I had some idea what to write. I still had to actually put it down on paper, though. I think this truly reflected the hastiness of plagiarized papers; I wasn’t particularly satisfied with the way it turned out, but there was no other option and no more time. Of course most plagiarists probably don’t lovingly dote over their stolen creations. When I was done I didn’t feel anything except relief that it was over. I didn’t give thought to anything except going to sleep. I imagine were this real the emotions would quickly kick back in after I had turned it in and realized it was now in the position to ruin my academic reputation. Luckily I don’t have to endure that particular fear. My only worry now is whether I’ll win the prize for best plagiarist among my group.
If I didn’t know better I’d say this whole thing was meant to teach a lesson. On the one hand I experienced how guilty i felt plagiarizing someone else’s work. I realized I like the sense of satisfaction I get from making it on my own steam, even if it isn’t regarded particularly highly by an instructor. I also discovered something very unexpected. While I would have originally called plagiarists a variety of negative things, I now have some insight into the humanity of academia’s “them.” They probably aren’t plotting creeps with some bizarre sense of right and wrong; they’re probably very real people with extenuating circumstances. At least that was my story. If this newfound wisdom has inspired me to ask one thing of an instructor, it would be to ask a few questions before offering a plagiarist up to the wrathful gods of higher-education academic honesty. Chances are that person isn’t as much a monster as we’d all like to believe. If we pause for a moment, we might become uncomfortably understanding of someone we've been taught to despise. Chances are, if we look deep enough, there’s a little plagiarist in all of us.
2 comments:
I agree with you. I know that students can be under pressure and forget to write their papers so as a last mintue decision they plagiarize. Of course that's unexcuseable but it was a desperate attempt to get it done.
I think that what you've mentioned about trying to write under pressure is significant to the plagiarism experience overall. it shows that most often, people who plagiarise because they don't have the time to do an assignment, not because they are morally disgusting or accademicly lazy (although perhaps this is sometimes the case). and even if a person gets away with turning in some work that is not their own, i think you now probably have a better sense of the guilt and shame the experience in doing so.
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