Plagiarism?

Applying to College
1

<p>Hey guys,</p>

<p>I wrote the introduction to my essay based off of a popular essay book. My introduction follows the same format as one of the ones featured in it. Is this ok? Will college admissions officers recognize it and determine it to be plagiarism?</p>

2

<p>and you ask this question now?</p>

3

<p>I’d much prefer an answer to a smartass remark. </p>

<p>Yes, I am asking this question now. It is a detail within my essay that has been on my mind. With the admissions deadline looming, I figured that I should play it safe and ask the opinion of other like-minded students rather than take a risk.</p>

4

<p>Well how is your introduction in comparison to the one in the book? Word for word? Because then that is plagiarism.</p>

5

<p>It certainly is not word for word but it follows the same sentence structure, flow, and rhythm as the one in the book.</p>

<p>Also, this similarity is in the introduction paragraph only, if that makes a difference.</p>

6

<p>I’m not 100% sure how colleges search for plagiarism. I’m assuming that if they do, the essays are uploaded onto an online system that puts your essay into search engines that scour the internet for similar phrases/sentences. If your essay is only “based” off another’s style and does not have the exact same wording, it should be fine.</p>

7

<p>If you have the slightest doubt that it is plagiarism, or if someone who reads it may sense that he’s read something like it before, then rewrite it.</p>

8

<p>The fact that you’re even asking this question makes me think that it’s plagiarism. I doubt that admissions will notice though.</p>

9

<p>I wouldn not suggest modeling your essay’s introduction exactly like a famous book because a) the plagiarism issues b) you are supposed to show your own voice, not some famous author’s voice.</p>

10

<p>

</p>

<p>Not plagiarism, from what I understand and based on what you’re saying. But if the structure, flow, and rhythm are only present in the intro paragraph and not in the rest of the essay, it’ll stick out like a sore thumb. What you want here is consistency; if the first paragraph sounds like it was grafted on relative to the rest of the essay, it’ll probably seem more like a case of bad writing than anything else.</p>