Lisa had to write a 10-page paper for her art history class, but she was suffering from a serious case of writer's block. She became so frustrated that she decided to borrow her roommate's paper, change a few details, and pass it off as her own. Is this ethical?

1. Yes; the professor should not have asked her to write a paper that long.

2. Yes; she changed enough to make it her own.

3. No; she plagiarized her roommate's paper, pure and simple.

4. No; you should never look at someone's paper, even for ideas.

Question

Rory Lynch

English

26 November, 17:19

Lisa had to write a 10-page paper for her art history class, but she was suffering from a serious case of writer's block. She became so frustrated that she decided to borrow her roommate's paper, change a few details, and pass it off as her own. Is this ethical?

1. Yes; the professor should not have asked her to write a paper that long.

2. Yes; she changed enough to make it her own.

3. No; she plagiarized her roommate's paper, pure and simple.

4. No; you should never look at someone's paper, even for ideas.

+2

Answers (1)

Know the Answer?

Efrain Rojas · Answer 1

3). No; she plagiarized her roommate's paper, pure and simple.

Explanation:

Ethics (in writing) is primarily concerned with the credibility and the character of the speaker. Ethical writing is characterized by the reliability that requires an appropriate description of the sources or material that are taken as a reference or incorporated in the text as evidence.

As per the given description, it is completely unethical as 'she plagiarized her roommate's paper, pure and simple' without even citing it. Ethically, she herself was supposed to be the sole creator of the paper and if any ideas or content is borrowed it requires to be cited or referred appropriately. Thus, option 3 is the answer.