Distinguishing Between Paraphrase, Summary, Direct Quotation and Plagiarism
Consider the following excerpt from p. 53 of Allison Lurie’s book, The Language of Clothes:
“Interestingly enough, the disappearance of the conventional hat was accompanied and paralleled by a severe simplification of formal etiquette. On all but the most formal occasions, rules of precedence and seating were forgotten. Strangers were introduced by their first names alone, often without regard for rank, age and sex; bank tellers, waitresses, and airline stewards presented themselves to the public as “Hi, I'm Billie.” Instead of talking about the weather or the news of the day, people one had known for five minutes would begin to describe their current emotional state and reveal intimate details of their lives; this process, known …show more content…
Some are summary, some are examples of paraphrase, some are direct quotation and some are plagiarism (accidental, we will assume). To further our understanding of proper source incorporation, do the following in regard to the examples below:
I. Begin by identifying which kind of use of the original source material you’re looking at: Is the author attempting summary, paraphrase, or direct quotation?
II. Next, evaluate how skillfully these attempts at source incorporation are executed and indicate whether the use of source material in each case is appropriate or whether it amounts to an instance of (accidental) plagiarism.
III. Finally, explain, briefly, what has led you to your conclusion.
Write your responses to the above prompts, and work either independently or with a partner. Take ten to fifteen minutes to do this. We’ll go over it once done, and I’ll collect them at that point (assuming time constraints do not make it the better option to simply go over this exercise out-loud as a class). Here are the sample efforts at source