Examples:
PARAPHRASE VS. PLAGIARISM
Original Source:
‘[A totalitarian] society ... can never permit either the truthful recording of facts, or the emotional sincerity, that literary creation demands. ... Totalitarianism demands ... the continuous alteration of the past, and in the long run ... a disbelief in the very existence of objective truth.
Student Version A
Plagiarism
A totalitarian society can never permit the truthful recording of facts; it demands the continuous alteration of the past, and a disbelief in the very existence of objective truth.
The student has combined copied pieces of the author’s language, without quotation marks or citations.
Student Version B
Improper paraphrase, also plagiarism
A totalitarian society can’t be open-minded or allow the truthful recording of facts, but instead
demands the constant changing of the past and a distrust of the very existence of objective truth
(Orwell)
The student has woven together sentences and switched a few words (“open
-minded” for “tolerant,” “allow” for “permit”) has left out some words, and
has given an incomplete and inaccurate citation.
Student Version C
Appropriate paraphrase, not plagiarism
Orwell believed that totalitarian societies must suppress literature and free expression because they cannot survive the truth, and thus they claim it does not exist (Bowker336-337).
This student has paraphrased using her own words, accurately reflecting and citing the author’s ideas.
Student Version D
Quotation with cite, not plagiarism
In his biography of George Orwell, Gordon Bowker discusses the themes of 1984, quoting a 1946 essay by Orwell:
“‘Totalitarianism demands ... the continuous alteration of the past, and in the long run ... a disbelief in the very existence of objective truth’” (337).
The student introduces the source. Verbatim words are in quotation marks, omitted words are marked by ellipses, and both the book used and the original source of the quote are cited.
Bowker p. 337, quoting Orwell, G., “The Prevention of Literature,” Polemic, No. 2, January 1946