Pre req. english class

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I am thinking of retaking english class again even though i passed with a C. I want a high GPA considering that i started off so bad and i want to do better.. My question is, if i take an online class and decide to reuse the essays i used the past semester, is that cheating??:o It will be for the same college, wiill another professor know? or is it a bad idea ?

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No, that wouldnt be cheating, I have known people to do that. They just changed a few things though. Also if you got a C in the English class, that must mean your essays needed improvement, maybe you shouldnt reuse those essays afterall. Are you sure that one A is going to affect your GPA that much?

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No, that wouldnt be cheating, I have known people to do that. They just changed a few things though. Also if you got a C in the English class, that must mean your essays needed improvement, maybe you shouldnt reuse those essays afterall. Are you sure that one A is going to affect your GPA that much?

My professor always corrected my essay and explained ways that would help make it better. Also, i never went to get help at the english lab like he always asked. I thought if maybe i took those essays there then i could actually make them better. I really never tried at all and just turned them it just like that. After they were typed i would see typos and small things i wish i could of corrected. I was going through alot during the time so i do think i can do better now that i am ready. i was actually suprised i even passed the class for not putting any effort at all.

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Specializes in ICU / PCU / Telemetry / Oncology.

Are you really going to learn anything by recycling your old essays?

You should know also that many professors tend to run their students' submitted work through turnitin.com to verify that they have not been plagiarized with other student papers or with published literary or web content. Once in there, it's there forever. Most profs don't even admit to using it. Just a heads up in the event that your prior essays are already in there ... and believe me, this site is quite accurate!

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No, it wouldn't be plagiarizing. It's your work. A different professor may not assign the same work, though, so you may wind up writing totally new stuff. If not you could just spruce up your previously written essays and hopefully get an A. It's not going to drastically raise your GPA though unless they drop the previous C.

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Hello!

I think the policy about this may vary by school, but at my school, "recycling" your own essays is considered plagarism, and you can be suspended/expelled for it. You can quote yourself, but you have to site it proplerly, as you would any other quotation, and it must be of a certain maximum length. Also, you must put it as your own work in your works cited page. I would look into your own school's policy VERY carefully, as this could be extremely damaging to your academic career, and your own future career prospects. Perhaps your professor could look over drafts of your NEW papers for you and provide feedback? Or maybe you have a friend who is doing an English degree who could look them over and maybe give you a few tips on how to improve your writing? Good luck! Just remember, if getting through this class helps you on your way to becoming a nurse, it will be worth it. :nurse:

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Specializes in Med-Surg, NICU.

It is not cheating, but it isn't a smart idea to use "C" essays in hopes to get an "A". Duh!

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It is not cheating, but it isn't a smart idea to use "C" essays in hopes to get an "A". Duh!

It is considered plagiarism at many schools.

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Specializes in Emergency/Cath Lab.

It is in fact plagiarism. You may use the old essays as references and cite yourself, but if you simply re-hand it in you can get in serious trouble.

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It's interesting to see that some people think it would be plagiarism. Technically plagiarism is the "use or close imitation of the language and thoughts of another author and the representation of them as one's own original work." So technically, you cannot plagiarize yourself. However there is this idea of self-plagiarism in academia. It's done frequently; people routinely recycle their own work for different publications. Research articles are peer reviewed to ensure the material is new, but it is widely accepted that recycled material is okay up to about half of the material. Reuse of one's own material is legal and accepted, so long as you aren't dealing with copyrights. It may be dishonest, but reusing your own work is not intellectual theft.

The real questions are 1) is it ethical and 2) regardless of what you believe, what does your college believe? If your college believes self-plagiarism is the same as plagiarism, then you'd have to be careful. I personally would do exactly as you proposed - take what you learned from your critiques and rework your essays so they are A papers. It is your work, plain and simple.

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One C, especially an English class won't hurt you that much. I got a C in my English class, and I got As in everything else and one B leaving me a 3.7, so if your other grades are great I wouldnt worry. Most schools look at overall GPA, and sci/math GPA

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Specializes in Emergency/Cath Lab.
It's interesting to see that some people think it would be plagiarism. Technically plagiarism is the "use or close imitation of the language and thoughts of another author and the representation of them as one's own original work." So technically, you cannot plagiarize yourself. However there is this idea of self-plagiarism in academia. It's done frequently; people routinely recycle their own work for different publications. Research articles are peer reviewed to ensure the material is new, but it is widely accepted that recycled material is okay up to about half of the material. Reuse of one's own material is legal and accepted, so long as you aren't dealing with copyrights. It may be dishonest, but reusing your own work is not intellectual theft.

The real questions are 1) is it ethical and 2) regardless of what you believe, what does your college believe? If your college believes self-plagiarism is the same as plagiarism, then you'd have to be careful. I personally would do exactly as you proposed - take what you learned from your critiques and rework your essays so they are A papers. It is your work, plain and simple.

That concept of self plagiarism talks simply of using your own ideas for another paper, while the OP stated they simply wanted to just reuse the paper and turn it in. I would think that there is a huge difference between expanding on previous work and being lazy and handing in a paper for the second time.

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