Plagiarism Essay It’d be good to have an introductory paragraph which identifies the topic and why it’s important that you’re writing about it, or what you’re going to try to accomplish in this essay. Quotation marks are generally used to represent what was actually said or written. A writer uses quotation marks when inserting a comment or something that another writer wrote first. The purpose of using quotation marks is to prevent plagiarism. A quotation is usually used to indicate direct speech. An example of this would be: The charge nurse asked, “What time will the patient arrive on the unit?” Yes, and when quoting from a published article or book, the quotation marks represent verbatim writing as you mention in your first sentence and thus must be followed by a citation. The purpose of paraphrasing is to allow you to explain a person’s idea. You describe in your own words their reasons for their beliefs. When paraphrasing the position of the person the reader should obtain an understanding of their position. It does not matter if you agree, but only that you understand the concept of the idea. It is also important that you explain the ideas correctly. It is not always appropriate to use quotations. Paraphrasing is easier and makes more sense at times. You would use paraphrasing if the quotation is long, weak, or instead of performing plagiarism. It is my opinion that paraphrasing shows a higher understanding of the original material. The use of quotations is simply copying the language of another and showing they are other people’s ideas. Paraphrasing gives the credit for the thought or idea to its origin, while stating it in a clearer way which is easier for readers to comprehend. Yes! However, there are times when the author has expressed an idea so powerfully or so uniquely that you simply can’t write it better yourself. Plagiarism is using the work of others and submitting it as your own. The academic community sees plagiarizing as cheating and stealing the work of others and not citing from where you gathered the information. Teachers start early in grade school preparing students for college writing and teaching the proper way to write. Teachers also discourage cheating, copying others work, and this unethical behavior. Students may be expelled from institutions for plagiarism. Patricia, your written expression here is clearer and stronger with only two errors that need correction. And your contrast between when to quote and when to paraphrase is fine. However, you don’t write anything here about the information to be included in the citation and when/where a citation is needed. Also, no example of a paraphrase followed by a citation. 7/10