(Image credit: French School (15th century), Bridgeman Education, Image no. XIR192862)
Dr Catherine Walter, University Lecturer in Applied Linguistics and Fellow of Linacre College is a member of the Turnitin User Group. She found and translated this very apt piece. It could help students understand a little more about how to avoid plagiarism:
‘Bees pillage the flowers here and there, but then they make honey of them, and this is all theirs; it is no longer thyme or marjoram: likewise pieces borrowed from others: the author transforms them and blends them, to make a work that is all his own, according to his critical judgment: his education, his work and his studies all aim at forming that judgment.’ (Catherine’s translation)
Original:
Les abeilles pillotent deci dela les fleurs : mais elles en font aprez le miel, qui est tout leur : ce n’est plus thym, ny mariolaine : ainsi les pieces empruntees d’aultruy, il les transformera et confondra pour en faire un ouvrage tout sien, a Savoir son iugement : son institution , son travail et estude ne vise qu’i le former.
(from Full text of “Essais de Michel de Montaigne avec les notes de tous les commentateurs”, approx. 1575) Available at http://www.archive.org/stream/essaisdemicheld00montgoog/essaisdemicheld00montgoog_djvu.txt
