Linguist Richard Ohmann, with the help of a computer, estimated that it would take ten trillion years to articulate all the possible twenty-word sentences. Consequently, any twenty-word sentence you utter in your lifetime, unless memorized for some reason, is likely to be unique and spoken for the first time.

Citing Sources
Any time you use information that was gathered from another source, you must cite your sources. Obviously there is general information that you would not need to cite (e.g. the Earth revolves around the Sun), so use your discretion. The greatest benefit of citing sources is that you support your argument and / or ideas with another (possibly expert) viewpoint; but you eliminate the possibility of plagiarizing as well.

Citing your sources means that you not only include a properly-formatted bibliography, but you must also cite your sources within your text. Any paper that fails to do so will be considered to be plagiarized, must be reported to the Dean of Students Office, and will receive an "F" for a grade, with no opportunity to make up the grade.

If you are uncertain as to whether you need to cite material in your paper, refer to this Checklist for Avoiding Plagiarism, from the Parks Library homepage. Related information from our class handbook can be found on these pages:

• Plagiarism (p. 405)—defines and discusses plagiarism
• Documenting Sources (pp. 142-65)—shows how to cite information in the text of your document and how to create bibliography entries for your sources
• Quotations (pp. 468-70)—discusses how to use direct (using information in exact phrasing as the source) and indirect (paraphrasing information from the source) quotations
• Paraphrasing (pp. 393-4)—clarifies the concept of citing someone else's ideas that you present in your own words

Group Work
We will be doing numerous group exercises in class that will provide us with external feedback about our papers, and I encourage you to work together outside of class as well. The more you discuss this material with other people, the more viewpoints and insight you will gain. Your papers will be different enough that you won't be able to "cheat" off one another, so help each other out, but don't copy.

There will be one or two major projects and several minor homework assignments for which you will work in groups. Group work requires that the entire group should contribute equally on all of these projects in their entirety. Failure to do so will earn you a zero grade for that project, regardless of the group project grade.

More Information
If you have any questions as to what specifically qualifies as academic dishonesty, see the Judicial Affairs Administration homepage or pages 18-20 of the Student Information Handbook. If you have questions about the policies there and how they might relate to a paper you are writing, either schedule an appointment with me or talk to me after class.