"Plagiarism Lines Blur for Students in Digital Age" Rhetorical Precis

In his New York Times article, "Plagiarism Lines Blur for Students in Digital Age", (2010) Trip Gabriel asserts that this day and age students are plagiarising fairly easily and blowing it off as if it was their own work. With the use of technology, plagiarism has undoubtedly become easier. A student can go to any website and just copy and paste what they need but when they do not document who originated the piece they have committed plagiarism. Gabriel uses various sources throughout the article such as the different cases that occurred at the University of Maryland, DePaul University, and Rhode Island College. He also made a point that it occurs outside of school enviroments when he mentioned the best selling novel written by Helen Gehemann who stole others' work and included it in her book. Gabriel also claims that plagiarism is taking away writers' originality and diminshing their creativity. Instead of creating their own paper they head straight for the internet. In the article the author was trying to open our eyes to the plagiarism, how students are getting caught, and how it impacts their ability to learn. Gabriel could have projected this article to different audiences, students who think or have done plagiarism, teachers to enlighten them on the subject, and others' so they're aware of the consequences. The way the author provided examples, facts, and his flow of words made the article into an interesting and enlighting piece.