Question

Read the following text reproduced from neil postman's amusing ourselves to death (new york: penguin, 1985. 127-128): the television commercial is the most peculiar and pervasive form of communication to issue forth from the electric plug. the move away from the use of propositions in commercial advertising began at the end of the nineteenth century. but it was not until the 1950's that the television commercial made linguistic discourse obsolete as the basis for product decisions. by substituting images for claims, the pictorial commercial made emotional appeal, not tests of truth, the basis for consumer decisions. which of the following is not a plagiarized version of the above?
a. television commercials have made language obselete as a basis for making decisions about products. the pictorial commercial has substituted images for claims and thereby made emotional appeal, rather than tests of truth, the basis for consumer decisions.
b. postman argues that television commercials do not use language or "tests of truth" to viewers decide whether to buy a product. instead, they rely on images to create an emotional appeal that influences consumers' decisions (postman, 1985: 127-128). correct
c. the television commercial is a terrible thing. the move away from the use of propositions in commercial advertising began at the end of the nineteenth century. but it was not until the 1950's that the television commercial made linguistic discourse obsolete as the basis for product decisions. by substituting images for claims, the pictorial commercial made emotional appeal, not tests of truth, the basis for consumer decisions. (neil postman, 1985).
d. all of the above passages are plagiarized.

Answer 1

The correct answer is B. Postman argues that television commercials do not use language or "tests of truth" to viewers decide whether to buy a product. instead, they rely on images to create an emotional appeal that influences consumers' decisions (postman, 1985: 127-128).

Explanation:

To avoid plagiarism you need to reference the author, this means mentioning the name of the author and including the last name, date of publication, and pages in a parenthesis at the end of the citation. Also, if the exact words of the author are included rather than only a summary or paraphrase of these it is necessary to enclose the exact words in quotation mark (").

According to this, the option that is not a plagiarized version is B, because this reference the author correctly in (postman, 1985: 127-128) and uses the quotation marks when the exact words of the author are used. Also, in other options, the author is not referenced and the exact words of Postman are used without the quotation marks.