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Avoiding Plagiarism Tutorial: Exercises on Note-taking

Exercises: Integrating Quotations

Read each original source, and then integrate the part of the quotation that is underlined into a sentence of your own. Be sure to correctly cite the source in your answer.

Tip: A quotation notes a source's exact words and is signaled by the use of quotation marks. If you change a quotation in any way, you must indicate this by including ellipsis points (when you omit part of a quotation) or square brackets (when you make a slight change for clarification).

1. Original Source: And because cable news success often seems to rest as much on the presentation of the programs as the journalism itself, executives are looking for different production twists to enhance their war, and prewar, coverage.-From page C1 of a New York Times article, "War or No, News on Cable Already Provides the Drama," by Jim Rutenberg

2. Original Source: [F]or three or four decades during the Gilded Age, corporations and railroads took their favors–enormous ones that helped produce the world's biggest fortunes–by all but seizing key portions of federal and state government. The legitimate encouragement of industry and technology aided U.S. growth and democracy; these political usurpations fundamentally threatened it.-From page 232 of a book, Wealth and Democracy, by Kevin Phillips

3. Original Source: During episodes of unemployment I find it rewarding to sleep as much as possible—

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anywhere from twelve to fourteen hours a day is a good starting point. Sleep spares you humiliation and saves money at the same time: nothing to eat, nothing to buy, just lie back and dream your life away.-From page 207 of an essay, "Something for Everyone," in the book Naked, by David Sedaris

4. Original Source: The cannon is not only important in itself as a power-machine applied to warfare: it is a one-cylinder internal combustion engine, and all of our more modern motors of this type are descended from it.-From page 100 of a book, Medieval Technology and Social Change, by Lynn White, Jr.

5. Original Source: Sara Campbell does not have a coach. She relies on techniques of meditation that she has learned in yoga. Her method of training has been to dive every few days and then allow her body time to recover.-From page 26 of a New Yorker article, "The Deepest Dive," by Alex Wilkinson

Exercises: Writing Summaries

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Read each passage, and then type your own summary below.

Tip: A summary should use your own words and phrasing to briefly state the main point of a passage. Summaries concentrate on the gist, rather than the details, of an original source. Summaries should identify the original author and cite the source correctly.

1. Original SourceLike all other manifestations of the syndrome, delusions are not unique to schizophrenia; they can be present in a variety of mental disorders, including mania, depression, and a variety of somatic illnesses. But the types of delusions that [Nobel Prize-winner John Forbes] Nash suffered from are particularly characteristic of schizophrenia, specifically of paranoid schizophrenia, the variant of the syndrome from which Nash apparently suffered. Their content was, as it often is, both grandiose and persecutory, often shifting from one to the other in the space of moments or even including both at the same time. At different times, as we know, Nash thought of himself as uniquely powerful, as a prince or an emperor; at other times he thought of himself as extraordinarily weak and vulnerable, as a refugee or a defendant in a trial. As is quite typical, his beliefs were what is called referential, in that he believed that a host of environmental clues–from newspaper passages to particular numbers–were specifically directed at him and that he alone was capable of appreciating their true meaning. And his delusions were multiple, a particularly common feature of paranoid schizophrenia, although all were organized, in subtle ways, around coherent themes.-From page 325 of the book A Beautiful Mind, by Sylvia Nasar

2. Original Source[In 2002], attacks on the rich have found little traction. The party more sympathetic to the wealthy has won control of the White House and the Senate since stocks began falling and joblessness began rising in 2000. One possible reason the class-war criticism has not yet stuck is that defining wealth is more complicated than it once was. Some people have homes that have appreciated enormously in value, but they can't sell them without buying a new, similarly expensive home. High earners who live in high-cost areas feel stretched. Lower earners who live in less expensive places don't feel poor.-From page 1 of a New York Times article, "Defining the Rich in the World's Wealthiest Nation," by David Leonhardt

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3. Original SourceRodents can make wonderful pets. But uncaged mice and rats make the worst houseguests possible.These creatures can cause astounding damage. One cute little pair of mice can produce as many as 90 offspring a year. This is hardly a benign problem. For instance, the Johns Hopkins Medical Center has shown that rodent dander and droppings are a leading cause of asthma in children. I have seen cases in which rodents have started fires by gnawing through the plastic insulation of electrical wiring in the walls.-From an article by Lou Manfredini, "When Mice Aren't Nice," on page 14 of USA Weekend

4. Original SourceIn the mid-1980s, potted plants from the Caribbean began arriving in Honolulu carrying frogs. Some were 5-centimeter-long coquies (Eleutherodactylus coqui), and others, a quieter and even tinier cousin, the greenhouse frog (Eleutherodactylus planirostris). These stowaways reveled in their new setting: a largely amphibian-free land with a bountiful smorgasbord of insects, tiny spiders, mites, and other delectables–and no snakes, tarantulas, or other natural predators.By the end of 1998, seven populations of coquies had established themselves on the Big Island of Hawaii, recalls Earl Campbell of the Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) in Honolulu. And the number has rocketed. "We now have over 400 populations on the Big Island," reports Campbell, the FWS Pacific Basin coordinator for invasive-species issues. He also notes a few coqui outposts on Maui, Kauai, and Oahu.-From page 11 of an article, "Hawaii's Hated Frogs," by Janet Raloff in Science News.

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5. Original SourceTermites are . . . extraordinary in the way they seem to accumulate intelligence as they gather together. Two or three termites in a chamber will begin to pick up pellets and move them from place to place, but nothing comes of it; nothing is built. As more join in, they seem to reach a critical mass, a quorum, and the thinking begins. They place pellets atop pellets, then throw up columns and beautiful, curving, symmetrical arches, and the crystalling architecture of vaulted chambers is created. It is not known how they communicate with each other, how the chains of termites building one column know when to turn toward the crew on the adjacent column, or how, when the time comes, they manage the flawless joining of the arches. The stimuli that set them off at the outset, building collectively instead of shifting things about, may be pheromones released when they reach committee size. They react as if alarmed. They become agitated, excited, and then they begin working, like artists. -From pages 13-14 of a book, The Lives of a Cell, by Lewis Thomas

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Exercises: Writing Paraphrases

Read each original source, and then type your own paraphrase.

Tip: A paraphrase should use your own words and phrasing to restate all of the relevant information in a passage. Paraphrases concentrate on communicating the exact ideas of an original source without using the source's exact words. A paraphrase should identify the original author and cite the source correctly.

1. Original Source:Just as Pavlov's dogs became classically conditioned to salivate to the sound of a bell that had been repeatedly paired with food, people can become classically conditioned to associate environmental stimuli with eating. Stimuli such as the sight or smell of appealing food, other people eating, or even just the thought of food can trigger a surge of insulin in our bodies. Once such learned reflexes become firmly entrenched, we can experience increased insulin production and enhanced feelings of hunger before we've taken a single bite.-From page 312 of a book, Psychology, by Don H. Hockenbury and Sandra E. Hockenbury

2. Original Source:Silver was used during the Middle Ages to treat various nervous disorders and in the early twentieth century to treat syphilis. As recently as the nineteen-fifties, colloidal silver was an ingredient in many cold remedies. Three years ago, the Food and Drug Administration ordered companies whose products contain colloidal silver to stop making claims about its health benefits, but promoters still sell silver via the Web as a dietary supplement.-From page 72 of a New Yorker article, "A Case of the Blues," by Robert Sullivan

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3. Original Source:Here's some bad news for students who put off studying: procrastinators get more cold and flu symptoms and have more digestive problems than their punctual classmates.-From page 7 of a New York Times article, "Dillydallying: Bad for Your Health," by Laura Randall

4. Original Source:Religion, nationality, or race may not be the primary causes of war and mass murder. . . . But "identity" is what gets the blood boiling, what makes people do unspeakable things to their neighbors.-From page 12 of a New York Review of Books article, "The Blood Lust of Identity," by Ian Buruma

5. Original Source:Canadian scientists report that energy stores in the brains of rats decline when the animals are forced to stay awake and the stock rebuilds while the animals sleep. The findings support a hypothesis that dwindling energy stores in the waking brain induce sleep.From an article, "Sleepy Heads," by Kristin Cobb, on page 38 of Science News

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Exercises on Recognizing Paraphrases

Read each passage, and then decide whether or not the sample student paraphrase that follows it is acceptable. If the paraphrase is acceptable, highlight Acceptable. If it is plagiarized or otherwise unacceptable, highlight Unacceptable.

1. Original Source:Much of what [Art] Hoppe described–unsanitary misery, helplessness in the face of addiction, panhandling for change, passing out on the sidewalk, is as real among the homeless today as it was among the winos of then. The main things that changed are that crack, heroin and vodka have replaced wine as the chief substance of abuse, most men don't wear fedoras, and the geography has moved.-From page B1 of an article, "Skid Row Gone, But Memories Linger Just Around the Corner," by Kevin Fagan, in the San Francisco Chronicle

Paraphrase:The conditions of the homeless are the same today as they were in the past, and yet some things have changed, like wine, and fedoras, and locale.

Acceptable ParaphraseUnacceptable Paraphrase

2. Original Source:Much of what [Art] Hoppe described–unsanitary misery, helplessness in the face of addiction, panhandling for change, passing out on the sidewalk, is as real among the homeless today as it was among the winos of then. The main things that changed are that crack, heroin and vodka have replaced wine as the chief substance of abuse, most men don't wear fedoras, and the geography has moved.-From page B1 of an article, "Skid Row Gone, But Memories Linger Just Around the Corner," by Kevin Fagan, in the San Francisco Chronicle

Paraphrase:Although the drugs of choice, wardrobes, and hangouts of homeless people have changed since the days of Art Hoppe and the “winos,” certain characteristics of homelessness–such as begging for money, substance abuse, woefully unclean conditions, and public displays of drunkenness–remain fundamentally unchanged (Fagan B1).


3. Original Source:Nobody calls anything Skid Row anymore in San Francisco. Nobody gets called a wino. Those terms belong back in another era, back before political correctness and a more sensitive understanding of poverty and dysfunction prevailed.-From page B1 of an article, "Skid Row Gone, But Memories Linger Just Around the Corner,"

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by Kevin Fagan, in the San Francisco Chronicle

Paraphrase:According to Kevin Fagan, almost no one in San Francisco uses the terms “Skid Row” or “wino”; they were terms used in the age before political correctness and before sensitivity toward the poor and dysfunctional was widespread (B1).


4. Original Source:Harassment by computer viruses has been so far regarded largely as a nuisance. It is rapidly becoming more serious, however, as the world's most critical institutions–banks, hospitals, and governments among them–place their clients' personal details online. The Net was never envisioned as a security vault, and as its importance has grown so have its weaknesses. The federally funded Computer Emergency Response Team, at Carnegie Mellon University, which follows electronic attacks more closely than any other organization does, reported about ten thousand cases of corporate hacking in the United States in 1999 and more than twenty thousand cases in 2000. Those are the ones we know about; most companies would never speak publicly. As you read this, there are at least fifty thousand computer viruses crawling across the junglelike vines of the World Wide Web, and hundreds more are created each day. -From page 101 of a New Yorker article, "The Doomsday Click," by Michael Specter

Paraphrase:Michael Specter argues that computer viruses are rapidly becoming a more serious problem than ever before, partly because the Internet is increasingly important and partly because it has never been secure enough to hold the kinds of vital information now stored there. The federally funded Computer Emergency Response Team, which follows electronic attacks more closely than any other organization does, reported approximately ten thousand cases of corporate hacking in the United States in 1999 and twenty thousand cases in 2000–those are just the ones we know about. New viruses are created daily to supplement the fifty thousand computer viruses currently crawling across the World Wide Web (101).


5. Original Source:The Net was never envisioned as a security vault. . . . -From page 101 of a New Yorker article, "The Doomsday Click," by Michael Specter

Paraphrase:As Michael Specter points out, "The Net was never envisioned as a security vault" (101).


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6. Original Source:Harassment by computer viruses has been so far regarded largely as a nuisance. It is rapidly becoming more serious, however, as the world's most critical institutions–banks, hospitals, and governments among them–place their clients' personal details online. -From page 101 of a New Yorker article, "The Doomsday Click," by Michael Specter

Paraphrase:Michael Specter notes that the problem of computer viruses is likely to continue to grow more serious as more and more personal, financial, medical, and political information that is supposed to remain secure appears on the World Wide Web (101).


7. Original Source:Harassment by computer viruses has been so far regarded largely as a nuisance. It is rapidly becoming more serious, however, as the world's most critical institutions–banks, hospitals, and governments among them–place their clients' personal details online. The Net was never envisioned as a security vault, and as its importance has grown so have its weaknesses. The federally funded Computer Emergency Response Team, at Carnegie Mellon University, which follows electronic attacks more closely than any other organization does, reported about ten thousand cases of corporate hacking in the United States in 1999 and more than twenty thousand cases in 2000. Those are the ones we know about; most companies would never speak publicly. As you read this, there are at least fifty thousand computer viruses crawling across the junglelike vines of the World Wide Web, and hundreds more are created each day. -From page 101 of a New Yorker article, "The Doomsday Click," by Michael Specter

Paraphrase:As Michael Specter says, computer viruses, often considered a minor annoyance, are actually an increasingly serious problem. The Internet's importance is increasing as vital personal, financial, and government information is stored online, but the Internet was not originally intended to be secure enough to keep determined attackers from getting access to such information. According to the primary organization tracking computer hacking, the Computer Emergency Response Team, ten thousand incidences of electronic attacks on corporations occurred in the United States in 1999, and that number doubled the following year. Computer hacking crimes are almost certainly underreported because "most companies would never speak publicly"; meanwhile, some fifty thousand live viruses are in circulation already, with new ones added constantly (101).


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8. Original Source:From the start, Frankenstein was a tremendous success. -From page 23 of a book, The Men Who Made the Monsters, by Paul M. Jensen

Paraphrase:Paul M. Jensen points out that the film Frankenstein was a tremendous success (23).


9. Original Source:From the start, Frankenstein was a tremendous success. At its Los Angeles premiere, lines formed for the 10 A.M. showing and remained until midnight; the theater dropped the usual shorts and newsreel to fit in more showings. In New York, Frankenstein drew crowds on a rainy opening night and became Broadway's biggest hit. Extra showings were scheduled, with the Mayfair Theatre selling tickets as late as 2 A.M. The film's first week set a new house record of $53,800. . . .-From page 23 of a book, The Men Who Made the Monsters, by Paul M. Jensen

Paraphrase:According to Paul M. Jensen, the film Frankenstein drew hordes of viewers as soon as it opened. In Los Angeles, where the film premiered, people stood in line even for morning shows, and the theater eliminated newsreel footage and short films in order to present the feature more often. In New York, where crowds turned out in the rain, the theater added extra late-night shows, and the first week's take of $53,800 broke box-office records (23).


10. Original Source:At [Frankenstein's] Los Angeles premiere, lines formed for the 10 A.M. showing and remained until midnight. . . .-From page 23 of a book, The Men Who Made the Monsters, by Paul M. Jensen

Paraphrase:Paul M. Jensen says that people stood in lines to see Frankenstein when it opened in Los Angeles; however, this does not prove that viewers liked the film (23).


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Exercises: Recognizing Summaries

Read each passage, and then decide whether or not the sample student summary that follows is acceptable. If it is acceptable, highlight Acceptable Summary. If it is not, highlight Unacceptable Summary.

Example:Original Source:Genocide is the mass killing of individuals in an attempt to extinguish a racial, ethnic, or religious group. One instance of genocide in the twentieth century was the action of the Ottoman Turks against the Armenians. Similarly to the denial of the genocide of European Jews by the Nazis, the Republic of Turkey and various organizations have, for their own purposes, discounted events that took place under the Ottoman Empire. Thus, the issue remains controversial.-From page 904 of The Global Past by Lanny B. Fields, Russell J. Barber, and Cheryl A. Riggs

According to Lanny B. Fields, Russell J. Barber, and Cheryl A. Riggs, it is doubtful that the Ottoman Turks committed genocide against the Armenians.Acceptable SummaryUnacceptable Summary

Original Source: When the Ottoman Empire joined with Germany in World War I, the empire had been ruled for some years by a group known as the Young Turks, who largely came from the military. An Ottoman campaign in the Caucasus Mountains against the Russians in 1914 failed miserably. Soon, the western part of Anatolia, home to perhaps 2 million Armenians, was deemed by the Turks as an area needing to be "cleansed." A complex set of actions in which hundreds of thousands of Armenians were evicted from their homes followed. Guiding the policymakers was a combination of factors, including religion (the Turks were Muslim and the Armenians were Christian), racism (the Turks strongly promoted a Turkism that was ethnically based), and wartime needs (the Turks feared an alliance between the Armenians and the Russians). Whatever the reasons, Armenian men were usually killed first and then women and children were forcibly marched to distant places. With little or no food or water, many perished along the way, and others were killed.-From page 904 of The Global Past by Lanny B. Fields, Russell J. Barber, and Cheryl A. Riggs

1. After the Turks deemed western Anatolia to be an area needing to be ethnically cleansed, they evicted hundreds of thousands of Armenians from their homes, usually killed the men first, and then forcibly marched the women and children to distant places, ensuring that many perished along the way.

Acceptable SummaryUnacceptable Summary

2. Lanny B. Fields, Russell J. Barber, and Cheryl A. Riggs argue that the Ottoman Turks' genocidal actions against the Armenians during World War I were motivated by religious and

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ethnic differences and by the Turkish fear that the Armenians would join with the Turks' enemies in war (904).


3. Lanny B. Fields, Russell J. Barber, and Cheryl A. Riggs have this to say about the Armenian genocide:

When the Ottoman Empire joined with Germany in World War I, the empire had been ruled for some years by a group known as the Young Turks, who largely came from the military. An Ottoman campaign in the Caucasus Mountains against the Russians in 1914 failed miserably. Soon, the western part of Anatolia, home to perhaps 2 million Armenians, was deemed by the Turks as an area needing to be "cleansed." (904)

4. The Armenian genocide occurred after the Turks, feeling invincible after their defeat of the Russians in 1914, evicted Armenians from their homes to punish them for assisting the Russians.

Original Source:Low doses of alcohol relax the drinker by slowing sympathetic nervous system activity. With larger doses, alcohol can become a staggering problem: Reactions slow, speech slurs, and skilled performance deteriorates. Paired with sleep deprivation, alcohol becomes a potent sedative. (Although either sleep deprivation or booze can put a driver at risk, their combination is deadlier yet.) These physical effects, combined with lowered inhibitions, contribute to alcohol's worst consequences–the several hundred thousand lives claimed worldwide in alcohol-related accidents and violent crimes each year. Accidents occur despite most drinkers' belief (when sober) that driving while under the influence of alcohol is wrong and despite their insisting that they wouldn't do so. Yet as their blood-alcohol level rises, people's moral judgments become less mature, their qualms about drinking and driving lessen–and virtually all will drive home from a bar, even if given a breathalyzer test and told they are intoxicated.-From page 211 of a book, Exploring Psychology, by David G. Myers


5. David G. Myers describes how large doses of alcohol can affect drivers not only by making them sleepy, but by slowing their reaction times, inhibiting their skills, and preventing them from exercising the good judgment that they show when they are sober (211).


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6. Research shows that accidents caused by drunk driving happen because even people who believe that they would not drink and drive do, in fact, drive while intoxicated because their judgment is impaired by the alcohol.


7. David G. Myers notes that alcohol is a strong sedative, especially in combination with sleep deprivation, and that alcohol-related accidents occur because even drinkers who believe (when sober) that they wouldn't drive while under the influence of booze will drive home from a bar, even if told they are drunk, because their moral judgments become less adult when they are drinking (211).

Original Source:[Electric vehicle] devotees like to point out that electricity is everywhere, and that the country has more than a billion outlets. But many of those are tucked away behind sofas. What's more, many drivers park on the street: building a recharging infrastructure for them, one that feels as ubiquitous as the country's hundred and sixty thousand gas stations, will pose an expensive challenge.-From page 56 of a 2009 New Yorker article, "Plugged In: Is the Electric Car the Future?," by Tad Friend


8. According to Tad Friend, powering electric vehicles will be more challenging than powering cars with biofuels (56).


9. Tad Friend points out that according to fans of electric vehicles, “electricity is everywhere, and . . . feels as ubiquitous as the country's hundred and sixty thousand gas stations” (56).

10. Tad Friend notes that although fans of electric vehicles claim that electricity is readily available, our electrical grid is far better suited to powering-up our vacuum cleaners than a nation full of electric cars (56).


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Exercise: Recognizing Integrating Quotations

Read the original source below. Then read each student sample that incorporates a quotation from the passage. If the sample correctly integrates the quotation into the sentence, highlight Acceptable. If not, highlight Unacceptable.

Original Source:Scientists learn about the brain’s networks by asking people to perform all sorts of mental acrobatics – interpreting optical illusions, solving riddles, taking tests of mental or muscular skills. But some neuroscientists think they can learn even more about the brain by asking volunteers to just lie back, close their eyes and let their minds wander.Such unstructured journeys of the mind–be they planning tonight’s dinner, thinking about that meeting at work and what your boss said afterward, debating whether to drive or fly for your next vacation, or recalling that day in your childhood when you first sat in your new tree house listening to birds chirp–turn out to offer clues about one of the most important, mysterious and well-connected networks of all. It’s called the default mode network, and it’s responsible for what the brain does when it is doing nothing in particular. It’s the brain’s core, both physically and mentally, and it’s better connected to the brain’s system of circuits than Kevin Bacon is to movie stars.-From page 16 of an article, "You Are Who You Are by Default," by Tina Hesman Saey in a 2009 issue of Science News

Example:Neuroscientists often ask their subjects to undertake challenging mental tasks. “Interpreting optical illusions, solving riddles, taking tests of mental or muscular skills.” (Saey 16).

1. Tina Hesman Saey notes that scientists “asking volunteers to just lie back, close their eyes and let their minds wander” (16).


2. According to Tina Hesman Saey, neuroscientists collect valuable information about the brain after encouraging “volunteers to just lie back, close their eyes and let their minds wander” (16).


3. As Tina Hesman Saey notes, “turn out to offer clues about one of the most important, mysterious and well-connected networks of all.” (16).


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4. Tina Hesman Saey points out that “such unstructured adventures of the mind turn out to offer clues about one of the most important, mysterious and well-connected neurological networks of all” (16).


5. Saey points out, “It’s called the default mode network . . . what the brain does when it is doing nothing in particular” (16).


6. Tina Hesman Saey explains that “unstructured journeys of the mind” are as valuable to neuroscientists as deliberate and complex mental feats (16).


7. The default mode network, as Tina Hesman Saey explains, “it’s responsible for what the brain does when it is doing nothing in particular” (16).


8. Tina Hesman Saey explains that volunteers who, for example, “[debated] whether to drive or fly for [their] next vacation” lent scientists valuable insight into the workings of the brain (16).


9. By contrast, some neuroscientists ask very little of volunteers. As Saey notes, “They close their eyes and let their minds wander” (16).


10. Saey notes that by allowing the mind to wander, “better connected to the brain’s system of circuits than Kevin Bacon is to movie stars” (16).

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bcs.bedfordstmartins.combcs.bedfordstmartins.com/webpub/Ektron/McWhorter Re… · Web viewShe relies on techniques of meditation that she has learned in yoga. ... and the crystalling