New book traces plagiarism to its sources , By Meghan Gill West Milford n Plagiarism can be fought on two fronts and Laura Hennessey DeSena crafts an argument for drilling to the roots to prevent plagiarism before the students’ computers are turned on. “Rewards of original thinking” is the central theme of the West Milford High School teacher’s new book, Preventing Plagiarism: Tips and Techniques. She designed the book as a teaching tool for combating plagiarism, seen by many as epidemic in this age of Internet research. Published by The National Council of Teachers of English, it advocates “creating assignments that emphasize students’ original thinking through freewriting and the use of primary sources,” DeSena wrote. She defined “freewriting” as presenting original ideas and thoughts without structure. “Rather than focusing on a witch-hunting, post-plagiarism approach, this text presents the tougher challenge: for educators to bank plagiarism at its sources: lethargy, apathy, moral turpitude, insecurity, ambiguity, misconception,” DeSena said. DeSena presents solutions for teachers to prevent the plagiarism plague engulfing our web-based culture. “All to often teachers emphasize the content (the information) students will cull and hopefully learn. But it is our obligation as teachers to encourage them to respond to the expert or scholar, to answer his or her underlying claim,” she wrote. To do this, teachers need to emphasize primary sources over secondary, to embrace students freewriting, honing in and transforming the first draft into formal writing, cultivating a thesis, creating an outline, and learning how to paraphrase. The text also explains practical techniques, designed to assist teachers in defining, avoiding, and preventing plagiarism, including definitive lessons and assignments. For research projects, which require the use of secondary sources, DeSena institutes a formula beginning with “freewriting (which I collect) to literary analysis essay (in response to primary sources) to form (model for research) to term paper (integration of secondary sources).” The book helps educators generate research topics for students, identify plagiarism in student papers, and provides strategies for working with second language students who may have different writing and composition standards. DeSena, born and raised in Brooklyn, has lived in Sparta for 15 years with her husband and two children. She is an adjunct assistant professor of humanities at New York University’s School of Continuing and Professional Studies as well as an English teacher at West Milford High School. She is a playwright, a member of the NCTE, the Dramatist Guild, and the Washington Square Playwrights. “Writing a textbook is a big shift for me; it is very different writing a textbook than writing plays,” she said. She will be speaking at the NCTE conference in New York City, during the author strand session on the text and original student writing. The conference runs Nov. 15 through 18. Preventing Plagiarism: Tips and Techniques, listed as a “book of note” in Education Weekly on March 21, can be ordered online at www.ncte.org or by phone at (217) 328-3870 or (877) 369-6283.