<p>Hi Everyone,</p>
<p>I have a bit of a dilemma. Yesterday in my first class of the semester we were asked to work in groups on why people study what we study. We wrote things in groups the professor came around and picked the ones he liked best to share. Mine got picked. I came up with a quick sort of catchy phrase with a more substantial analysis after it. I get nervous in public speaking so I was more focused on that than anything. </p>
<p>Turns out after digging a bit that the phrase I used is a modification of a fairly famous quote. I don't remember reading it but I must have and that's why it bugged me enough to check. </p>
<p>Anyways, should I like email the professor saying something? I don't particularly want to start the semester off as the person that plagiarize but at the same time it was unintentional and I had more substantial ideas along with it....</p>
<p>Thanks!</p>
<p>I think you should explain the situation to him. In general, when you’re open and honest about things, it works out for you. When you wait to see if you get caught…it doesn’t.</p>
<p>When you are answering sort of “off the cuff”, informal discussion type things, I don’t think you need to worry about citing. Your prof could have chosen your response because he also noted the reference to a fairly famous quote and thought it was catchy and appropriate. If this were a graded assignment of some sort, sure, you would cite, but I don’t think it was expected in this instance. If you are really unsure, you could casually ask how to handle quoting in a class discussion, but I certainly wouldn’t worry about being thought of as plagiarizing. (Formal speech, debate, presentation, etc, yes, cite.)</p>
<p>Since humans have shared common experiences throughout time, I think it is common to have the same thoughts about many experiences based on your perceptions of them, which could be very similar to others experiences and thoughts about them. Instead of worrying about the fact you must have “plagiarized” someone else’s ideas, perhaps these thoughts/opinions are actually your own. That is where the expression, “great minds think alike”, comes from. Continue thinking critically and do not worry that any readings, ideas, things you’ve heard are not truly your own. (maybe they are) Just be open to thinking about how things in your world influence you. Everthing eventually shapes your own values and beliefs according to your life experiences. That is what college (and life) is for. Many “original thoughts” are similar or the same as another’s and recycled throughout time due to commonalities of shared human experiences.</p>