Time and the lack thereof is something we all struggle with in life. According to Tory Young (p.40) [1] when exploring our battle with time in the sense of university deadlines it is essential for one to have a strategy in taking the time to research the subject matter, plan, draft, write and re-write the work you aim to hand in. Without following these steps or having strategies in place to aid you one could fall foul of plagiarism. A scenario could be that a student is running out of time to meet a deadline and resorts to plagiarism in order to hand something in be it their work or that of someone’s, but of course the danger in doing so is not referencing the works origin. As Young says ‘Finding an acceptable critical voice is difficult. For some students…(p.36) with this in mind there is a chance a student may perceive plagiarism as their only way of completing the task at hand. It’s a situation that many students may find themselves in due to the fact that they are given a number of critical texts to troll through and mull over that they simply have no further original ideas of their own. With this in mind, as much as they have to read various critical texts it is a must to reference, reference, and reference if they choose to use any other sources. Young aims to share her realisation that students do have a voice in expressing their view on a text ‘…you do have a voice not just to admire a text, but to…ask questions’. (p.44) and feels students should ask questions and challenge the text in order to express their ideas fully.
[1] Tory Young, Studying English Literature: A Practical Guide (Cambridge University Press, 2008). Further reference to this edition will be given after quotations in the text.
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