Relying extensively on interviews conducted by students with students, My Word! presents the voices of today's young adults as they muse about their daily activities, their challenges, and the meanings of their college lives. Outcomes-based secondary education, the steeply rising cost of college tuition, and an economic climate in which higher education is valued for its effect on future earnings above all else: These factors each have a role to play in explaining why students might pursue good grades by any means necessary.

Includes bibliographical references (p. [193]-215) and index.

Introduction : plagiarism in college -- A question of judgment : plagiarism is not one thing, once and for all -- Intertexuality, authorship, and plagiarism : my word, your word, their word [arrow] our word -- Observing the performance self : multiplicity versus authenticity -- Growing up in the college bubble : the tasks and temptations of adolescence -- No magic bullet : deconstructing plagiarism -- Conclusion : what is to be done?.