The Thief

The room was silent except for the rhythmic tapping of the teacher. Peter felt eyes boring into his racing mind. His knuckles began to turn white as he clenched the chair. How did he end up here, in this office, with these people? The idea seamed so innocent, so easy. He could feel his senior year slipping away. And then it was gone. Everything he worked so hard for, gone. It was all for what? Was stealing worth it?
Peter was caught plagiarizing. We do not know why he plagiarized; perhaps he was out of time, or too tired to concentrate on his paper, maybe he was failing the class and needed an A on this paper to pass the class. Whatever his reasons may be, Peter was caught, and now risks failing the class and being expelled from the school. If Peter is fortunate enough to attend TCC, then his first offence will only result in failing that paper, with no chance to make it up. However, if this was his second offence, expulsion is luminous.
I have related plagiarism to stealing, in order to express the seriousness of this crime. In its purest form, plagiarism is stealing the words, or ideas of someone else, and claiming them to be your own. This crime is as serious as stealing a physical item, and to the writer, may be far worse. In the same way a scientist is enraged when someone steals their notes and calculations for an invention, and then presents the finished product as if they had created it, so authors feel enraged when someone plagiarizes.
While some equate plagiarism to stealing, many more call it cheating. The purpose of a teacher asking you to write a paper is to see if you get the point. An English teacher can not judge how well you understand how to write, if it is not your own writing that you are presenting. A science professor will not know if you understand the concepts, unless you are writing these concepts in your own words. It is the equivalent of copying the answers off of your neighbors test.
Peter’s fate is eminent, but yours has not yet been decided. Avoid plagiarism like you avoid a plague. Do not give even the appearance of plagiarism. If you are unsure whether the ideas you are presenting are general facts or another author’s words, than give credit to the source. As Professor McDermott said, no teacher ever got mad about over citing in a paper.