Plagiarism? Citation Needed

Back in the early 2000s, I took an English class with a very strict teacher who was nearing retirement. She used a website that checked for plagiarism and reference checks. If anyone was caught plagiarizing or if the website could connect something you wrote to a Wikipedia page, you automatically failed and had a day of after-school detention. 

I wrote my paper, ran it through the website that the teacher used, and it came back clear.

When I got my paper back, there was a huge red “0%” across the entire front page. I flipped through the report and saw that she had circled four words and put a frowny face over the phrase. At the end of class, I stayed behind to talk to the teacher.

Me: “Hi. I was wondering why I failed this assignment?”

Teacher: *Flips to another page.* “Right here. You plagiarized this.”

Me: “It says “red, white, and blue.” That’s… everywhere.”

Teacher: “Well, the plagiarism check system flagged it as a direct quote from Wikipedia.”

Me: “It… I didn’t use Wikipedia. “Red, white, and blue” is very common.”

Teacher: “So you did plagiarize. Why are we having this conversation?”

Me: “Because I didn’t plagiarize anything. This isn’t right.”

Teacher: *Drops my paper on the desk.* “You’re going to be late for your next class. Detention is tomorrow, 3-5 pm.”

I took my paper and left. At the end of the day, I asked to speak to the principal. He heard me out and agreed that “red, white, and blue” was so common it should not count as plagiarism. The next day, I went to English class, both nervous and a little smug.

Teacher: “Apparently, some of you feel I am not doing my job correctly.” *She looks at me.* “If you have an issue with the way I run things, talk to me.”

She goes on to rant about how much time and effort she puts into educating us and how upset she gets when someone “tattles” to the Principal. I tried to leave with everyone else, but she called out to me.

Teacher: “Give me your paper.”

I hand it over, and she writes “70%” at the top. This is the lowest score before failing.

Teacher: “Get out.”

Me: “What else was wrong? There are no other notes. I don’t think—”

Teacher: “Go. Now.”

So, I went back to the principal. He was pretty irritated and called her in. She came in, saw me, and rolled her eyes.

Teacher: “Yes?”

Principal: “Run through this paper with me. I’ve read it several times and fact-checked the key points myself. I just don’t see how it’s only worth 70%.”

Teacher: “It was poorly written, lacked detail in important parts, and was overly detailed in others. Plagiarism aside, a 70% is generous.”

Principal: “[My Name], you can go home.”

Teacher: “She has detention.”

Principal: “I am overriding that decision.”

The next morning, [Principal] called me to the office. He returned my paper with a new score of 95%. The only notes from [Teacher] were things like not using an Oxford comma or only putting one space between a period and the beginning of the next sentence.

Me: “Thank you.”

Principal: “I appreciate you bringing this to my attention. That being said, please be extra careful in the future.”

[Teacher] spent the rest of the year going over my homework and tests with excruciating detail. She continued deducting points for small punctuation errors and other petty things. I knew the other students weren’t critiqued that harshly, and I could have argued, but I just wanted to finish the class. I passed with an 86% overall.