Methods how to Deal with a Bad Grade

Professor Quick,

I am writing this paper as a result of being flagged for plagiarism. Unintentionally, I plagiarized some of my week one book assignment answers. Upon further research of the word “plagiarism,” I relearned the meaning of the word and corrected what I thought I knew of it. Plagiarism comes in more ways than one. It is not always a copy of someone else’s writing word for word. Plagiarism can also be to copy someone else’s thoughts and ideas, not using quotation marks and citations, copying the structure of sentences, and copying too many words from a sentence stealing the overall idea of the work.

I know I am guilty of a not using quotations and copying the overall idea of sentences. Not fully understanding the questions, I was quick to Googling. I thought I was rewording the answers found, but apparently, I was sticking to close to the author’s structure and not rewording into my own thoughts. This makes me guilty of stealing the author’s ideas.

Merriam-Webster dictionary defines plagiarizing like this, “to steal and pass off (the ideas or words of another) as one’s own, to us (another’s production) without crediting the source, to commit literary theft, to present as new or original an idea or product derived from an existing source” (Merriam-Webster). As I quote the dictionary, I am sure to use quotation marks to mark the quote and to use citations where needed. This is what I should have done when writing my answers for this week questions.

This is the first time I have been in trouble for plagiarism and I will be sure it is the last time as well. Although unintentional, I know now what I have done wrong and plan to correct my wrongdoing. I will make sure in the future to write down my own thoughts and ideas, use quotation marks and citations to credit an author when using their words, and find my own voice when writing. I fully accept the zero percent grade I have been given for this week’s assignment and understand the reasoning behind the grade. I will work harder to understand the coursework and be able to put the answers in my own words from this point forward. I apologize to you, as well as the University.

My sincere apologies.

References

1. Merriam-Webster. (n.d.). Plagiarize. In Merriam-Webster.com dictionary. Retrieved April 2, 2020, from https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/plagiarize

Did you like this example?

691

36