Plagiarism in America Analysis
In Dudley Devlin’s short essay “Plagiarism in America”, various points for how plagiarism is becoming a more substantial problem arise. Devlin’s essay includes how plagiarism has become rampant in today’s society, and this essay includes various opinions on why students and writers steal intellectual information and some possible solutions to these cases. Furthermore, Devlin discusses that these seemingly harmless actions may end up ruining someone’s career or jeopardize them some other way years later.
This essay explores that various sides of cheating such as buying a paper off the internet, copying and pasting information from outside sources, or simply copying a roommate's homework. Within the essay, many points about piracy of information are made. The first point made includes that access to internet is substantial reason behind why intellectual theft has become more rampant. Teachers and administrators argue for educating the suspects and criminals of cheating and its effects. Finally, Devlin introduces that idea that students could sign an honor code that states that students will properly cite all sources and preserve intellectual integrity along with them having to take courses that show them how to properly
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Devlin argues “...students caught plagiarizing should fail the course and be expelled from school, no questions asked.” Expulsion from a school or job that threatens a future is a seemingly high price to pay for a quick and easy assignment grade. To follow this, Devlin writes “Research has shown that educating students about honor codes… can have a positive effect.” If students are taught the proper methods of citing sources and held to a code of honesty, it makes sense that they would be less likely to