I recently ran across a news story that made me realize that you guys might not know what is or isn't plagiarism.
Basically, any time you go to a source outside your own head, you need to cite your source. My 101 students don't have to use research; my 102 students don't need to except for the last paper. However, if you do use any type of outside source, you have to cite your source internally, in a parenthetical reference (explained in your Hacker handbook), and in a Works Cited entry at the end of your paper.
When it comes to blogs, I expect you to link your sources, like I did above. It's explained in the textbooks I created for you, in the Course Documents section of whichever class you've signed up for. If the linking doesn't work for you, e-mail me at hollychism@hotmail.com, and we'll try to figure out what's going on.
There are consequences for not properly citing your sources. The least that will happen if I determine that you've purposely plagiarized is that you'll fail the paper (101) or the class (102), and get reported to the proper authorities for it to go into your permanent school record. If I can tell it's not on purpose, you fail the paper until you revise to cite your sources.
Let me know in the comments, in the General Questions thread on the course site, or by e-mail, if you have any questions.
