Blog on Plagiarism

 What the student did wrong was that he/she exactly copied what the original writer stated, making it as if it was his own writing and that he made it up. He/She could have quoted and named the source in his/her bibliography.


"There is a peaceful essence flowing from the structures. Perhaps the cool dark colors and the fiery windows spark memories of our own warm childhood years filled with imagination of what exists in the night and dark starry skies. The center point of the town is the tall steeple of the church, reigning largely over the smaller buildings. This steeple casts down a sense of stability onto the town, and also creates a sense of size and seclusion."  (Vincent Van Gough; Starry Night)

One way to avoid plagiarism is to put a sentence or statement in a quote and name the source/site. Another way is to paraphrase and cite all sources with the name of the source and the page #, line, ect. An example is the quote above, referencing the starry night painting. A third way is to put something in your own words, but citing information in a bibliography.