assumptions

I had to take a biology quiz yesterday; I received a six out of eight.  My daughter taught the lesson, and she guided me through the whole complicated cell reproduction process.    However, on the quiz, I made what I thought to be an educated guess at the first answer.  I immediately crossed out an answer since I assumed that definition was not possible.  I saw two terms I did not remember being applied to the lesson, so out it went.  Well, I was mistaken.  Minus one right from the get-go.

What do you know about plagiarism?  I hope you know that you cannot use another writer's words or even ideas without giving her credit.  You must cite your sources.  But what if you lived in a different country.  Do you think the same stringent rules on crediting sources holds?  The assumption is that everyone knows you have to give credit.  Futhermore, we also know that you don't have to agree with the critic.  In fact, you can cite the source and then go on to disprove the source.

Well, once again I was mistaken.  My student from a former Communist country has not learned the same lessons.  In fact, she was penalized for disagreeing with a critic in her home country.  In some cases it was better for her friends to use someone else's writing so as not to sound less intelligent.  No credit was needed.

Life is in the details.  Mistakes can be made so quickly.  I have been reminded to ask questions before I simply jump to a conclusion.  What seems obvious just might need more clarification.  That's not so hard now is it?