PLAGIARISM
The original text from 2000, Elaine Tyler May's "Myths and Realities of the American Family" reads as follows:
Because women's wages often continue to reflect the fiction that men earn the family wage, single mothers rarely earn enough to support themselves and their children adequately. And because work is still organized around the assumption that mothers stay home with children, even though few mothers can afford to do so, child-care facilities in the United States remain woefully inadequate.
Here are some possible uses of this text. As you read through each version, try to decide if it is a legitimate use of May's text or plagiarism.
Version A:
Since women's wages often continue to reflect the mistaken notion that men are the main wage earners in the family, single mothers rarely make enough to support themselves and their children very well. Also, because work is still based on the assumption that mothers stay home with children, facilities for child care remain woefully inadequate in the United States.
Version B:
As May (2000) points out, "women's wages often continue to reflect the fiction that men earn the family wage" (p. 588). Thus many single mothers cannot support themselves and their children adequately. Furthermore, since work is based on the assumption that mothers stay home with children, facilities for day care in this country are still "woefully inadequate." (May, 2000, p. 589).
Version C:
By and large, our economy still operates on the mistaken notion that men are the main breadwinners in the family. Thus, women continue to earn lower wages than men. This means, in effect, that many single mothers cannot earn a decent living. Furthermore, adequate day care is not available in the United States because of the mistaken assumption that mothers remain at home with their children.
Version D:
Women today still earn less than men — so much less that many single mothers and their children live near or below the poverty line. Elaine Tyler May argues that this situation stems in part from "the fiction that men earn the family wage" (May 2000, p. 588). May further suggests that the American workplace still operates on the assumption that mothers with children stay home to care for them (May, 2000, p. 589).
This assumption, in my opinion, does not have the force it once did. More and more businesses offer in-house day-care facilities. . . .
Available through the writing center at Indiana University jttp://webster.comment.edu/mlas/plagiarism.htm