Plagiarism

The Colbert Report April 14, 2010 interview. It's perfect. The interview is with David Shields is a great starting point for a discussion on plagiarism. In the interview, Shields argees for more lenient copyright laws, because he feels like having to quote and cite and source everything limits the writer's freedom of expression. After all Thomas Jefferson and William Shakespeare borrowed heavily from others without correct citations and their writing is revered and taught at most schools. So why can't the average writer do the same thing?

Watch the clip, and then ask students to respond. Why do we worry so much about plagiarizing? Why can't we use other people's ideas to enhance our own?

After the discussion, you'll of course want to emphasize the reason for copyright laws and strict punishments for plagiarizing is to allow for more creativity. If people were afraid they weren't going to get paid for their writing, then they might stop writing. Also, it's only fair to attribute greatness to the originator. And, most importantly for students, the reason you have the write is not to see how well they can copy and paste but to see how well they write and understand the information. And so, still, even after the discussion, no plagiarizing, but wasn't it nice to get involved in your own education?