Plagarised

LegacyUser

Basically in second year did a really stupid thing, for an English essay I pretty much copied the plot of a short story I wrote. I got an A and the story was published in the yearbook. I'm in 5th year now and I'm terrified my English teacher or someone else will read the story and realise I plagarised it. Can one be expelled or suspended for plagarising work in secondary school?

dudara

I'm assuming that you wrote both the essay and the short story?

I don't this is a case of plagarism, as you wrote the original story. However, you probably have a responsibility to product original material for your assignments rather than recycling old material.

For now, I'd suggest taking a deep breath and moving past it. Realistically, how likely is this to be noticed?

Chuchoter

You can't plagiarize yourself, seriously you're grand. The teacher only wants your work to be your own and of high quality.

Overheal

You're allowed to play off your own work, unless where expressly restricted from doing so. I've even had teachers tell me that recycling some elements/concepts are perfectly fine without actually re-submitting the same work. In practice though it's better to exercise originality.

LegacyUser

I'm sorry I wrote it wrong, I used the plot of a story that was already published by someone else.

Overheal

reallyworried wrote: »

I'm sorry I wrote it wrong, I used the plot of a story that was already published by someone else.

That can be more serious. Why was your essay selected for Yearbook publication? And for that matter how much of it did you plagiarize?

LegacyUser

Overheal wrote: »

That can be more serious. Why was your essay selected for Yearbook publication? And for that matter how much of it did you plagiarize?

The whole plot pretty much. It was chosen because it was considered very good. I feel really guilty and would confess but I'm afraid I could be thrown out. I go to a private school so I don't know if that means it easier to expel me.

LegacyUser

reallyworried wrote: »

Basically in second year did a really stupid thing, for an English essay I pretty much copied the plot of a short story I wrote. I got an A and the story was published in the yearbook. I'm in 5th year now and I'm terrified my English teacher or someone else will read the story and realise I plagarised it. Can one be expelled or suspended for plagarising work in secondary school?

look its a bad thing to do and Im not condoning it but you will most likely be grand, its likely you wont be expelled this late into the school and will get a slap on the wrists at most if discovered Id say which is unlikely. If you were in college this could seriously tarnish your record but even then they try and avoid it hurting your future career.

youve done it now worry wont help matters, just learn from this

tenchi-fan

You could get in trouble, but they'd need to prove you knew you plagerised it & unless it's word-for-word you'll have gotten off with it. Don't worry about it.

spinandscribble

Well is it a highly original plot? I mean there's many cliched plots that if you changed names/locations you couldn't get caught out for.

Or you could approach a trusted teacher and confess in confidence. They might tell you its alright, don't be daft ect. Its not like that essay gives you a leaving cert or degree, its more a matter of your own morals.

Blatter

Your in secondary school kid, forget about it and stop worrying.

And no you will not get suspended or expelled.

You will laugh at the fact you posted this in years to come.

Ebbs

In 5th/6th year you'll basically have your LC essay hacked out by taking plots of different essays and bending them all into one pointles essay.

Its how English teachers generally do things in this country. Crush creativity.

If you've ever watched the South Park episode where they turn into Simpsons characters you'll see that... the majority of what you write has been done before. If it is truely orginal, you should be getting a publisher.

IrishEyes19

Everyone knows the leaving cert is mostly rote learning for the most part. the fact that the essay was so good, it was taken aside from the course and published in the year book where anyone could see it, and I think you'll be ok, OP, but be more aware next time.

marzic

reallyworried wrote: »

Basically in second year did a really stupid thing, for an English essay I pretty much copied the plot of a short story I wrote. I got an A and the story was published in the yearbook. I'm in 5th year now and I'm terrified my English teacher or someone else will read the story and realise I plagarised it. Can one be expelled or suspended for plagarising work in secondary school?

Was it published in the same year you wrote it? What would make you believe that your teacher might read it now, three years later?

My point is that if there had been a question over the originality, it would have occurred when it was being corrected, right? And i'm sure that at the time it was published, every english teacher in the place read it, and might even have thought 'theres something familiar about it', but if no one raised it then, its unlikely they will now.

Firetrap

Your English teacher has probably read so many essays that while elements of it might sound familiar, they might not be recall why it's familiar. Or care for that matter. Unless the person who originally wrote the essay is going to find out? Really, all your teacher wants is to get your class through the curriculum in as trouble free a manner as possible. You say you're going to a private school but even if the worst case scenario was to happen and they twigged what had happened, they're unlikely to want to expel you because they'd lose the fees your parents pay to them.

If you do go on to third level though, don't even entertain thoughts of plagiarism. I remember a girl in one of my tutorial classes getting into a spot of hot water for plagiarizing an essay and she didn't get any marks for it. Not quite so wonderful when it counted a certain percentage towards the final mark.

If it were college, you'd likely be kicked out straight away, once they've discovered the fact you plagiarized. Well, maybe not kicked out, but there would be some severe disciplinary measures used against you. It's fine now, don't worry about it but don't risk doing it when/if you move on to third level education.

Moomoo1

problem is, there are no original plots in literature. At least since Chaucer was alive. So by that logic every author since then is a plagiarist.

I wouldn't really have a problem with it - as long as the plot was dressed up in a different wrapping from that in the story you copied it from.

LegacyUser

WHile you would be guilty of plagiarism if you copied the text of the story, I am fairly sure that that does not apply to copying a plot.

Count Duckula

crayolastereo wrote: »

You can't plagiarize yourself, seriously you're grand. The teacher only wants your work to be your own and of high quality.

Actually, you can! I remember being expressly told at university that if I was to make mention of something I had already discussed in a previous essay, or recycle conclusions and / or points I'd made in the past, then I was to reference them like I would any other author else I'd be guilty of plagiarism and the essay would be thrown out.

Essentially, I would be plagiarising my own work!

onlyrocknroll

Hey OP

I think that this heavily depends on the content of the plot you plagiarised. As some of the posters above had said a lot of plots are so similar that there essentially the same. Ever hear the expression 'there are only so many stories'?

i.e Boy meets girl, falls in love etc. Or a story about a boxer whose career is flagging, making one last shot at the big time. These stories are constantly retold, and it's not really counted as plagiarism.

However some stories are so specific that it would be obvious if they were replicated.

For example if your story was about an island where dinosaurs live, having being successfully cloned form genetic material found in a mosquito trapped in amber, then that would be different.

Having said all that I don't think that the punishment in a secondary school would be that severe, especially for something you did in second year. There was a girl in the school I went to who plagiarised a Calvin and Hobbes cartoon for a competition, and she didn't get into too much trouble.

Distorted

I don't think copying a plot is technically plagarism, which I would have thought to be copying chunks of actual words. However, the severity of it depends on whether you copied the basic plot (which happens a lot as there are only so many plots to go round and its a recognised literary technique to use various established plot devices) or the characters as well.

Anyway, since it happened at school and is done now, I think it highly unlikely anything will ever come of it. You will have it on your conscience, and thats punishment enough. I very much doubt your teachers could be bothered to go back over past works to dredge up things like this, and if its a well known work, its their own fault for not spotting it when it was submitted.

But do not ever do it at university level. Many universities now run plagarism checking programmes and it is suprisingly easy for markers to spot plagarised work. Its just not worth it, because as mentioned above, you risk ending up with no marks at the very least for that work and possibly worse sanctions.

Overheal

Count Duckula wrote: »

Actually, you can! I remember being expressly told at university that if I was to make mention of something I had already discussed in a previous essay, or recycle conclusions and / or points I'd made in the past, then I was to reference them like I would any other author else I'd be guilty of plagiarism and the essay would be thrown out.

Essentially, I would be plagiarising my own work!

that actually doesnt stack up with self-plagiarism.

Factors that justify reuse

Pamela Samuelson in 1994 identified several factors which excuse reuse of one's previously published work without the culpability of self-plagiarism.[37] She relates each of these factors specifically to the ethical issue of self-plagiarism, as distinct from the legal issue of fair use of copyright, which she deals with separately. Among other factors which may excuse reuse of previously published material Samuelson lists the following:

1. The previous work needs to be restated in order to lay the groundwork for a new contribution in the second work.
2. Portions of the previous work must be repeated in order to deal with new evidence or arguments.
3. The audience for each work is so different that publishing the same work in different places was necessary to get the message out.
4. The author thinks they said it so well the first time that it makes no sense to say it differently a second time.

Each educational facility (be it second or third level) has their own policy on plagiarism, so if anyone has any concerns, I would advise you to consult with them.

mdebets

Overheal wrote: »

that actually doesnt stack up with self-plagiarism.

Factors that justify reuse

Pamela Samuelson in 1994 identified several factors which excuse reuse of one's previously published work without the culpability of self-plagiarism.[37] She relates each of these factors specifically to the ethical issue of self-plagiarism, as distinct from the legal issue of fair use of copyright, which she deals with separately. Among other factors which may excuse reuse of previously published material Samuelson lists the following:

1. The previous work needs to be restated in order to lay the groundwork for a new contribution in the second work.
2. Portions of the previous work must be repeated in order to deal with new evidence or arguments.
3. The audience for each work is so different that publishing the same work in different places was necessary to get the message out.
4. The author thinks they said it so well the first time that it makes no sense to say it differently a second time.

I haven't access to Samuelson's article, but from reading these points, it looks like she only refers to half of the issues with self-plagiarism.

The first part of self-plagiarism is that you should avoid to write two papers with the same material. if you are a student, that's because you were already graded the first time and it would be unfair to other students who had to write a totally new paper rather than just copying it. If a paper was already published a new one with the same material would just up your publication count and would be unfair to other academics.
This point I think is what Samuelson is referring to, that under certain circumstances you are allowed to re-use material from older papers.

This however is totally independent from the second part of self-plagiarism. If you re-use from your earlier work, you still need to reference it (like any other academic work of others you were using), as otherwise it would look like you had more original research going into the paper than you really had.

Miss Fluff

You really don't have anything to worry about. There are a plethora of "original" plots you could have based your work on. You also did this in second year so it's not like your reward for same was getting higher LC points and cheating your way into a university place. Just forget about it, don't do it again (plagarism at third level is simply not acceptable) and concentrate your energies on your exams.

mdebets

mdebets wrote: »

I haven't access to Samuelson's article, but from reading these points, it looks like she only refers to half of the issues with self-plagiarism.

The first part of self-plagiarism is that you should avoid to write two papers with the same material. if you are a student, that's because you were already graded the first time and it would be unfair to other students who had to write a totally new paper rather than just copying it. If a paper was already published a new one with the same material would just up your publication count and would be unfair to other academics.
This point I think is what Samuelson is referring to, that under certain circumstances you are allowed to re-use material from older papers.

This however is totally independent from the second part of self-plagiarism. If you re-use from your earlier work, you still need to reference it (like any other academic work of others you were using), as otherwise it would look like you had more original research going into the paper than you really had.

He plagarised someone else anyway not himself

LegacyUser

Well I used Fr Ted's 'My Lovely Horse' as my own work for an essay when I was in first or second year and never got caught so I'd say you will be fine as 2/3 years have passed.

Spore

OP you can't copyright a plot. No matter how intricate bla bla. A plot is only a framework for a story. Nothing more. Trust me. Shakespeare based every single one of his plays (bar the Tempest) on existing plays. Some he didn't bother modifying at all, others he changed a little (by importing other plots, e.g. King Lear) so relax. Rob plots, rob and be damned. Nobody can touch you, seriously. Is Avatar an original story? Is Apocalypse Now original? Is Titanic original? My god no. No, no, no, no. Art depends on borrowing and stealing. Plagiarism is when you actually rip someone off word for word. Plot, theme, characterisation is fair game. Go forth and copy (so long as you don't do it word for word).

onlyrocknroll

Spore wrote: »

OP you can't copyright a plot. No matter how intricate bla bla. A plot is only a framework for a story. Nothing more. Trust me. Shakespeare based every single one of his plays (bar the Tempest) on existing plays. Some he didn't bother modifying at all, others he changed a little (by importing other plots, e.g. King Lear) so relax. Rob plots, rob and be damned. Nobody can touch you, seriously. Is Avatar an original story? Is Apocalypse Now original? Is Titanic original? My god no. No, no, no, no. Art depends on borrowing and stealing. Plagiarism is when you actually rip someone off word for word. Plot, theme, characterisation is fair game. Go forth and copy (so long as you don't do it word for word).

This isn't correct.

For the purposes of academia (which would include the OPs school), plagiarism covers stealing ideas, which would include original plots, not just ripping someone off word for word.

OP, I strongly expect that whether your school regards your story as having being plagiarised heavily depends on the details of the plot. The more specific details you took from the original the more likely you will be deemed to have plagiarised it.

Rosita

Ebbs wrote: »

If it is truely orginal, you should be getting a publisher.

There's no such thing as truly original and certainly publishers do not wait for that criterion to be fulfilled.

LegacyUser

Op,

I wouldn't worry too much about it. Like you are at second level, and while plagiarism is wrong at any level, well...

<There's a person in my college who plagiarized her mothers thesis and seems to have gotten completely away with it.

her parents would be high profile in ireland though, so she'll probably get away with it.
The college wouldn't want to be seen to be miffing off a successful past pupil... ect ect...

Maybe next time she's in the library directly copying some publication she'll make sure its the library down the road from the college, where there is no chance of another student seeing her.



Silly people really, those who plagiarize. Makes it so unfair for those who try to be original. />