Student Discipline Report

Student: Joyce, James – Sophomore class



Offense: Plagiarism



Remarks:



Having just turned in his cumulative piece of creative fiction for the term, I was immediately struck by the similarities between James’ work and a novel we read earlier in the term. His work, which he titles Ulysses, seems markedly similar in thematic form and structure to Homer’s The Odyssey, which we finished reading several weeks ago. Upon deeper investigation, I uncovered a multitude of thematic ideas, apparently lifted, wholesale, from Homer’s work. After reviewing several chapters of James’ lengthy piece I had already accumulated enough evidence to find him guilty of plagiarism. Such evidence includes the use of names and chapter titles identical to those that Homer uses. Nowhere is this content cited as Homer’s own. Furthermore, the tale finds James’ characters on quests virtually identical to those that Homer sends his characters on, such as Stephen Dedalus, a character that James seems to parallel with Homer’s Telemachus, who, just like Telemachus, heads out to try and find his father, or father figure. Chapter two brings no end to this uncited use of Homer’s ideas as James, brazenly titling it “Nestor”, recalls Homer’s Nestor in the figure of Mr. Deasy, both of whom are wreathed in images of shells and horses, not to mention their mutual inability to offer Dedalus (Telemachus) any decent advice. Though the incidents of plagiarism continue at length, the case against Mr. Joyce seems well defined by these few examples.



Based on the description of plagiarism given by the American Heritage New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition [“Plagiarism occurs when a writer duplicates another writer’s language or ideas and then calls the work his or her own.” (465)], it would seem clear that such an offense has been committed.



Recommendation:



I cannot petition for anything less than the expulsion of Mr. James Joyce from the school. Despite having had plagiarism policy explained to him countless times, during myriad school and class meetings, he seems to wantonly flaunt his copying of Homer’s ideas in his final class project. If for no other reason, an example should be made to the student body that such theft of literary ideas will bring neither profit nor fame to a writer and, in fact, is a corruption of the integrity of the writing profession. It has also come to my attention that, based on the seminal nature of Homer’s work in regard to the development of western literature, it may be in our best interests to much more rigorously examine all student papers, and perhaps even accepted parts of the English literature canon, for similar attacks of plagiarism.





"You! hypocrite lecteur!--mon semblable!--mon frère!"