Late bird; still like elementary school..

GRRawr. and i thought being a latebird was a joy~

Manohboy, lately I've been remembering things that need to be done sooner than later a little too late or in the last minute. >_<
Like getting the scantron from JDT and then do the survey I was supposed to give her to turn in for me TODAY, and the letter assignment I just posted minutes before its deadline! ...to name a couple XP

Would the S-U-M-M-E-R be okay to blame? :D
TSKTSK, iknow.

Well, have a great one ex-fellowFamaEnglish114classmates(;

Thank you and you're welcome Sarah(:

Practice makes progress, dear. I sure hope so~

Ooh, how about practice prevents plagiarism? Punishment prevents plagiarism?? Hah.

To the San Francisco State University administration,

Being in my first year of college as a student here at SFSU, I may not know very much about the university or the campus-life so far, but I believe I know enough to be able to bring up an issue that all schools should take into account: the issue of plagiarism. Plagiarism is frowned upon as it is synonymous with the words “copying,” “stealing,” and “cheating.” It has always been a topic of concern whether it is involved in music, novels, or academic writing, and it is a problem that needs to be addressed as early as possible or at the latest in college. College culture certainly connects with plagiarism just as Susan Blum would prove in her book My Word!, and students need the administration and people in general to take note of that. There are plenty of pressures in life overall (especially in college) that may lead to students plagiarizing which fall under the categories of – student motivations, extracurricular culture, demographics, and academic culture. Therefore, I would like to discuss how plagiarism should be dealt with specifically at this university (if no one has brought it up yet or quite enough). With the use and support of responses and results from conducting primary research (surveys and interviews) on SFSU students for my English 114 class research assignment divided into four groups with the categories I listed earlier, I suggest that our school should start here and now with some sort of set of careful precautions (more like an addition of classes and/or workshops) to prevent plagiarism.

Most students turn to plagiarizing because they feel overwhelmed with the schoolwork and other loads of responsibilities they need to take care of. With having jobs to pay rent and other extracurricular activities such as clubs or sports that take up any leisure time, they tend to not have enough energy to even get through the whole school day. Then the strain and pressure of last-minute cramming of homework becomes too much to handle at once, so they are left with the option to plagiarize. Group 3, who focused on extracurricular activities, reported that “out of the 41% [of the people surveyed that worked], 58% [of them] plagiarize(d)” (Miraflor, 2010, p. 3). This tells us that there are many students who juggle work and going to school, and over half of them cheat their way through class assignments to compensate time lost. In one of their interviews, a student mentions his experience with plagiarism because of extracurricular activities, “Yes, everything kind of builds up and eventually you find yourself running out of time, so to save myself some stress, I copy and paste or in some cases just ask someone for a favor or pay for a written paper” (Miraflor, 2010, p. 4/5). As seen here, the problem is that everything has to do with time whether we have too much or not enough to do what we want or need, so the solution is time management. Students can be taught helpful skills for studying and managing time if simple classes and/or workshops which focus on doing that are offered. I think better time management is a good way to avoid plagiarism because students are then able to prioritize accordingly. Before, I would say that professors should just “go easy” on the assignments, lighten the homework load to relieve any stress; however, now I really don’t think that’s likely to happen or that there’s some easy (and specific) way to do so anyway. Yet, from my group’s research which concentrated on the academic culture, I noticed something that could make stuff easier for them. Most of our interviewees liked to make a schedule or an organized to-do list in order to balance all their errands (Gibb, 2010, p. 5). I, too, like making bullet point lists of my tasks or quickly jotting down reminders on post-it notes because it simply does help; it kind of eases the stress. If it is written down on paper, then I won’t worry too much about remembering everything that needs to be done. Basically, I see all this planning and organizing with lists as a practical tool, one of the things that can be taught in such classes. It would be a great class to have at SF State, especially for the new coming first year students who can then begin their college experience with these tools and without much worry through the following years.

Although it probably would not surprise you that many students have or are likely to plagiarize, it is the consequences they face that will. Blum (2009) wrote, “The two dominant approaches to preventing plagiarism call for either treating plagiarism as a sin or treating plagiarism as a crime” (p.149). I would agree with her statement because there’s no other way to treat it, and that is also what then determines the type of "punishment." Our school could have a specific class like "Plagiarism 101" or have students attend some kind of a workshop every so often as their “punishment” for committing plagiarism instead of the more serious solution and threat of expulsion. Expulsion is the last resort; I don't believe any student would ever want it to result to that. This class/workshop can help students realize and better understand what exactly they did wrong, instead of professors using the "quick fix" of automatically giving them a failing grade for the class which doesn’t actually “teach” the student their lesson. The instructors can teach students about the various types of plagiarism and have them practice the proper use of citation. Then again, this shouldn't only be taught to those who have wronged with plagiarism, all instructors should teach their students about it in all courses. It seems as though the weight of teaching students about those types of plagiarism are mostly carried by just the English professors because many think English teachers are the ones who should be responsible for informing the students about it, but they’re not. What about all the other classes that may include writing some sort of paper? Wouldn’t students be more likely to plagiarize in those classes just because it’s not an English course that requires writing a bunch of essays? That's definitely part of the dilemma, so teaching and learning about plagiarism and citation should actually be encouraged in all classes as well as in that "special" class used as "punishment" if we want people to understand and avoid plagiarism all together. In that class, one will be sure to know the "do's and don'ts" or "ins and outs" of plagiarism and what they did wrong to begin with by the time it's over. To plagiarize would no longer be one of the options students have..

All in all, the matter of dealing with plagiarism does not have to be such a “tricky” issue if the students and staff of SF State are willing to lend a hand (without regarding the costs of an arm and a leg due to budget cuts, but that’s a different story). The addition of these classes and workshops that help students follow through and use what they learn may postpone or finally put an end to the problem. So, why not put it to the test and wish for the best for our campus? Well, at the same time as I do hope to see my recommendations in action sometime in the near future, I just want to say thank you for your time and consideration for reading this until the final word.

Sincerely from,
Suzette Liberal


Works Cited

Blum, S. D. (2009). My Word!: Plagiarism and college culture. New York: Cornell University Press.

Gibb, E., Lin, J., Liberal S., Morazan, F., Siksamat, K., & Peralta,L. (2010). Group 1 research report: Academic culture.

Miraflor, C. D. C., Abdon, A., Yuen, V., Neira, A. D. V., Erfe, R., Rodriguez, A. (2010). Group 3 research report: Extracurricular culture.

Finderskeepers!

HAH! Uhhh yeahhhh.. ;D

Our research report assignment is coming to its deadline this Wednesday. I hope all the groups (including my own) are doing well on the research paper and aren't stressing too much with stuff as summer is drawing closer. Gotta pull through! :)

So, what I found to be interesting in the data my group collected is that there were common themes in the answers of almost all the people we've interviewed. For example, when we asked about balancing workload with other responsiblities, most said they made to-do lists or had some type of schedule organizer in which they tried to follow to the point. My interviewee prioritized and done things based on how easy or quickly it can be done.
Another thing common in their answers was that they'd only participate in class if they felt comfortable or knowledgeable of the topic at hand. It also depends on how big of a class it is, smaller = more participation.
Then we asked about missing class(es), most said only if they were really sick or super tired (overslept). I was a bit surprised yet comforted by knowing that there were some people who wouldn't want to miss one class. I just don't like having to miss out and then make up. XD But then there's always that one class where you really feel it's pointless to attend because they're doing the same ol' stuff or whatever. A friend of mine had that issue with her class and it totally sucks because she has to commute everyday, and sometimes that was her only class for the day!

But anyway, those were just a few observations I liked..

College and ME

caution: a long read, haha.

Hmm, what can I say about being an SFSU student? Well, I’m a freshman, so this is only my second semester at San Francisco State University, but it still gives me enough time to share some experience.

Let me start from the beginning of the whole college application process, it was junior year and the time to start taking action on our plan for college life. It was such a stressful time because of all the SAT and subject tests taking, applying for financial aid, filling out numerous forms, searching for scholarships, writing our personal statement essays, and making sure we keep our grades up all around the same time. Almost all students, whether applying to SFSU or Notre Dame, would know exactly what I mean and how overwhelming it may be. And that was only the getting in part! Imagine how nerve-wrecking waiting for the results was, and then finally attending college. I applied to SFSU because it was one of the nearest schools from where I live, the “city life” of San Francisco sparked my interest, and a state university was much more affordable than attending a UC or a private school like Notre Dame. It’s supposedly easier to get into as well. I realized that they didn’t require any written assignments, subject tests, or a really impressive high school and extracurricular activities schedule. That process was just the kick start for a memorable college life.

As the baby of the family, I feel like there is a heavy weight on my shoulders to do well and graduate from college. My parents especially constantly stress the importance of education because they want me to get a “good” job (high-paying). It just seems so hard to achieve since I can’t even decide what I want to be, and at the same time make them happy or proud of whatever it is I will become. It’s like I may not come close to their expectations or needs. When registering for classes, I knew I had to take what I can get. I thought of taking more units, but I didn’t want to start off with more than I can handle, so I tested the waters with just 4 classes. I know most SFSU freshmen are trying to satisfy as much of the GE requirements they can as soon as they can. I believe most of the people who go to or plan on going to Notre Dame already know mainly what they want to do (declared a major) and probably know how to get it (knowing the classes they need). The students at Notre Dame seem to have it almost all planned out or something. As for me, I came to college not knowing what I really wanted, leaving me with an undeclared major and most likely more years needed to graduate.


I feel like SFSU is so much more fast-paced and that everyone is like busy in their own little world compared to Notre Dame. First off, I commute almost 2hrs total (back&forth) every day by BART and bus, since I live at home (trying to save whatever we can). I don’t think there’s as much students commuting to and from Notre Dame. There are always mobs of people rushing to and from class to get wherever they need to go, like work or extracurricular activities. I don’t have a job, so luckily I have a bit more time. I decided not to join any clubs (yet) because most meetings and events happened in the evening, and that doesn’t suit my schedule. I spent/spend most of my time doing school work then helping around the house (chores). I know there are SFSU students partying and drinking over the weekends, but I don’t take part in it. The students of Notre Dame seem to party hard way more than those here. I don’t have like 4 day weekends (Thursday being the new Friday) due to having classes all 5 days. Gotta look forward to weekends~ I do always try to make sure my Sundays are free for last minute homework though. I’m like a robot stuck in the usual routine of school being a top priority just with different assignments and random little things going on.

From the little experience I had so far, I noticed I hadn’t grasped nor come close to the whole college feel. Go Gators!? ;) Need more school spirit?? Notre Dame has more than enough..

My (last) Word!

Whew, finally finished reading it and Spring break is almost over. Boohoo~

Anyway, I must say that the fourth chapter is one long read, but it was nice to be able to relate to some of what Blum and the interviewed students said. I like how she refers to college as some bubble because life is full of all sorts of bubbles. Heck, you are in your very own bubble waiting to pop. Haha, now don’t burst my bubble! ;P Okay, back to Blum, it’s great how she acknowledges the fact that college includes countless distractions and expectations. She brought up GPAs, SAT scores- the whole college application process and college life itself, “resume padding,” and how students try the “work now, play later” or work hard and play hard thing.

In an interview with this “John Stamos” guy, he talked about note taking and some classes being a waste of time, and I agreed with him. He mentioned a class where his professor used slideshows, but refused to post them online, so Stamos had to worry about jotting everything down instead of actually listening to what the professor said. I totally know what he means because I experienced it back in high school (but with overheads) and I remember my hand hurting from trying to write all the notes down quickly while the teacher was speaking. As for the wasted time, it only seems that way because you are totally not interested in the stuff or it feels like you’re going over the same material again and again.

Blum pointed out that there are many students who look at school as a chore needing to done and over with, so plagiarizing wouldn’t be so surprising. She listed a few reasons for why students are likely to cheat: “makes things easier, helps them attain the grade they desire, class work is not their primary priority, they have a number of obligations and goals to meet, and they are surrounded by other students who scorn the “nerd” or “dork” mentality.” I think this list is actually right on key. Doesn’t it sound like everyone cheats or has before? Gee.. When Blum wrote about the intrinsic versus extrinsic motivations of learning, it reminded me of the authentic and performance self. A performance self would have extrinsic motivations such as a passing grade while an authentic self would learn for the love of knowledge. I figured those two types would be brought up again somehow.

Oh yeah, I mustn’t forget about the story of one of Blum’s students who didn’t realize her mistake until the third try (you can find it in the conclusion). The girl had plagiarized a paragraph from some source in her first paper and was given a second chance to revise and re-do the paper, but then she still included plagiarized sentences from another source. You would think she’d learn by now because that’s a second violation! Fortunately for her, Blum let her have a third and final chance to do a new assignment. The student was able to complete it without plagiarizing, and finally learned her lesson.

Blum sure did show me that plagiarism and college culture are very much related…

So, what ya reading?

"Ohh. Uhhm.. nothing?" Oh wow, boy do I feel silly. I don't really read for fun.. Don't kill me! ;P
My hate for reading began in middle school because we always had to have group discussions and write summaries like everyday. Remember SSR (silent sustained reading)? Teehee. I remember my preference of a SSR book in sixth grade was with poetry. Short&simple, awesome. Arghh! I just can't remember the title or author, but I know the books had simple drawings as covers.. one of them had a green cover with an apple tree on it, I think. Later on in seventh grade, there was the book Seven Daughters and Seven Sons, our teacher read aloud in class that I remember liking. I wanted it to be a movie, haha.

No worries, I don't hate reading anymore. Well, at least not reading for fun. I'm not including all those textbooks and articles reading for school, although some may have been quite interesting at the time. I wish I could have written down all the books I've read and liked before I forgotten them.. Anyone else planning on visiting their local library to check out a couple books or even better, DVDs? It's going to be one busy week of spring break~ homework and all.. REMEMBER TO TAKE A BREAK and breathe HERE AND THERE!
I plan on reading more, and I should(: I'll continue to read whatever I'm simply in the mood for at the time... it varies from realistic fiction like teenage love stories and all that mush, knights and fairies, greek gods and goddesses, how-to books- oh, and anything that'll make me laugh (out loud)! I love how someone would just burst out a laugh when they're surrounded by silence. I never really thought of how you can get so into a book, and it's like the perfect escape from reality.. *content sigh*

Anyway, before all the bashing or obsessing, let me say that it's only a consideration of a suggestion. I think I'm going to start reading New Moon by Stephanie Meyers (I should probably read Twilight first though). My brother's girlfriend suggested to check out the whole series(; For those of you who have read them, what do you think? There are plenty books turned to movies or vice versa.. "Don't judge a book by its movie." ;D I'll gladly take any other recommendations too~

"idea draft"

Alrighty then people, let's get some brainstorming going~

The essay#2 prompt: Wikipedia as a source in academic writing?
My stance: Ye-nahh-idontknow? teehee.

"Welcome to Wikipedia
the free encyclopedia that anyone can edit"

Almost everytime it involves choosing a side, yes or no, I find myself floating around in between the two. I like to hear out some of the arguments from all sides before I could make up my mind. In this case with the use of Wikipedia, I already know that it's widely used and have heard the complaints about its inaccuracy. I have used the site many times before and also been prevented from its use. I don't believe that Wikipedia is as bad as what some people make it seem, even with the fact that anybody can edit it. It still contains information that can be dependable. Besides, the risk runs on the reader/user if they want to use it, so we can't blame the site itself. Wikipedia can't be the only place with misleading information anyway.. If some teachers or universities think that prohibiting its entire use will be better off, I think they're wrong. It might go in the opposite direction and do more damage. People just have to be more cautious when doing research and dealing with sources. I forgot who in what article said this, but I remember he/she suggested something about teaching students how to find and use (reliable) sources rather than eliminating the weak ones. There's always room for improvement! I think we should allow Wikipedia to be a source, but not encourage it as much.. ? to the point that that's students' first pick

Eesh, I'm confusing myself now.

Well this was the paragraph I designed from using the "paragraph generator" handout and all I have so far:
"Wikipedia can develop into a more reliable site (source) if professionals and/or even the readers are willing to help. Everyone would more than likely agree that the probability of Wikipedia being accurate is not so high, since just about anyone can edit and add on to the information on the site. But if such people posting were those who were knowledgeable in that certain category and have the proper skills, others may begin to believe in what is put up on the page. The experts and scientists can revise the incorrect or questionable areas. In an article from a Nature editorial, “Wiki’s wild world,” it was mentioned, “But scientists can bring a critical eye to entries on subjects they study, often highlighting errors and misunderstandings that others have unintentionally introduced.” This allows a chance for Wikipedia to perhaps gain people’s trust. It may become more acceptable as a source once experts adjust the content. With them lending a hand, it lessens the slip-ups and misinterpretations posted by those random people on the internet. On the other hand, one cannot be so sure that with such specialists, it will make everything better. Plus, not much may even want to contribute. Still, Wikipedia can slowly progress with the help of peer review and experts who can try to “fix” whatever is uncertain on that subject."

I must say that the "paragraph generator" paper is a great help to make essays easier to write. First time to use such a tool and I wonder why I hadn't before.. :)

EC! please?

Uh-oh, another case of potential plagiarism~ >_<

Alright, so... is Helene Hegemann simply "mixing" or down right plagiarizing?
I don't like choosing sides, but I'd have to say she did more "borrowing" than "mixing." *gasp*
From what I have read in the given articles, Hegemann copied a whole page (although made slight changes) without permission or giving proper credit to the author of the novel she got it. She defends herself saying it wasn’t plagiarism because she was creating something different or new out of it. Is that supposedly okay then? I haven't read or heard of her "new" twist on it being much different though. And if I remember correctly, there was a similar situation (in a previous blog) where this woman “borrowed” chunks of lines and another person’s life to create a play. I found it sort of difficult to point straight at plagiarism in that case because it was more like she made it into a work of art instead of a duplicate. But as for Hegemann, I don’t think I can say the same. After all, she borrowed from a less-known novel to write another novel which just so happened to attract more readers and moolah. Lucky her?
The issue of originality and/or authenticity always comes to surface when determining plagiarism.. Actually, I too, kind of believe what Hegemann said that, “There’s no such thing as originality anyway, just authenticity.” It ties in with one of the discussions we had in class about the authentic self type, how being authentic isn’t exactly being original and if it’s really possible to be an authentic self. It is tough to distinguish…
As for The Guardian saying, “To her, coming from the cut-and-paste world of blogs and Facebook, what she's done is no more than ‘mixing,” suggesting that she didn’t know or understand better, I think they’re just saying so because of her age. She's only 17.. and? I hope age won't start to be seen as a major affect on plagiarism or the charges related. tsktsk!
Ehh, I got to say she borrowed a tad much and mixed a tidbit.

~
I like what one of the commenters, tengrrl, said at the end of the NCTE article:
"It's not just that the sources need to be recognized in some kind of citation, but also that for the text to be successful the reader has to recognize the sources too. How would a parody be successful if you never knew the original, for instance?
Even if I can forgive Hegemann for copying w/o attribution, I can't label her work as a successful mix when no one readily recognized her source until the scandal broke."

*props to her! ;) Even simply having a long bibliography or a short footnote doesn’t quite cut it for acceptable use of other’s work.

Inventing THE University

Like said, this article was a tough read and sort of lengthy, but with the discussion we had in class on Friday, now I could understand it much better than before. The questions my group tried answering had to do with differentiating the "reader-based" from "writer-based" prose and defining "audience awareness." A reader-based prose is pretty much writing in a way which the reader will be more able to respond or relate, and then the writer-based one is just not writing in that way, writing without keeping in mind who your audience is.
Luckily, that leads right into audience awareness which is self-explanatory~
Knowing your audience is a key thing in successfully getting a point across. Besides, wouldn’t it be a heck of a lot easier if both the reader and writer could be on the same page? Heck yes(; "Writers have to 'build bridges' between their point of view and the reader’s." (4/5) I found that line to be true, and a good way to show that connections need to be made between the two. It’s like in a persuasive/argumentative and any other essay, the writer would use counter-arguments to make their own stronger. Basically, I agree with the importance of knowing your audience and trying to write for the reader to better understand you.

“Inventing the university” sounds an awful lot like something a performance self would do, "He has to invent the university for the occasion -- [...] The student has to learn to speak our language, to speak as we do, to try on the peculiar ways of knowing, selecting, evaluating, reporting, concluding, and arguing that define the discourse of our community." (1) The performance type’s goal is to please the reader or grader and do what is needed or expected of them to pass. It involves acting/talking/writing differently in certain cases than others, which is known as “code switching.”

When Bartholomae talked about the use of first/second person in writing, and how it's quite common to do so. When that was brought up, I immediately thought of myself. I tend to write using "you,” “I,” or "we" multiple times in previous essays, but have been told not to. It does make sense that I shouldn’t given that you aren’t exactly addressing the reader and you definitely do not want to sound like you’re commandingdemanding them. One time this classmate who was revising my essay commented, “I think you should replace these with something else… it kind of makes me uncomfortable in a way” on my use of “you.” I took his suggestions because that’s not what I intended to make anyone feel and I didn’t want it to seem like I was talking down to the readers.

From what I remember hearing in our discussion, the rest of the groups talked about: voice or authority using the "Clay Model" and the "White Shoes" papers as examples, what “discourse” and “commonplace” mean, how Bartholomae disagrees with the other authors Linda Flower and John Hayes about the problem belonging solely to the writer or something, and “basic writers.”
Oh boyyyyy, does that mean I must be a ‘basic writer” even though I’m not in a remedial English class? XP

Rollin' with the blogs

I finally figured out you need to update your blogger in order to add the blogroll gadget.

>> My favorite thing to do is laugh, so WongFuProductions and HappyMoments cover that for me.
>> Not only do I love sweets, but baking goodies can always be a joy.
>> CREATIVITY for the win! Inspirational and Himehood have lovely ideas (and items) from handmade cards to earmuffs. If only I had a working sewing machine, and knew how to use it! ;D

There are so many other interesting websites and/or blogs waiting to be "blogrolled" by me~ LAWL, i crack myself up sometimes.

ohhMyWord! (iforgotabout) Ch.3

Hope I'm not too late~

Authentic self vs. Performance self

I didn't even know there were two such types you can identify with. I agree for the most part with Blum on the key concepts for each type. In chapter three, Blum described, "Groups are anathema to the authentic self, because participating in a group requires compromise, while authenticity requires consistent loyalty to one’s own principles.” If the authentic type prefers isolation, then I would find myself as the performance type because I enjoy working with other people. Another thing that stood out to me was that “authentic selves would never plagiarize because they believe to their core that all they say should be theirs and theirs alone.” I mean, c’mon!? I don’t think that’s totally true to say even though they want to be original, there’s the possibility of them plagiarizing unintentionally. When Blum discussed the performance type, it kind of seemed like it was the supposed "bad" one. I can see how that's so because we went over the cons as well as the pros in class, but still no type should be superior to the other. The bad things that were mentioned were: the likelihood of plagiarizing and the point that it’s appearance-based. My group covered the pros – being goal-oriented (school), making own writing much better with the use of others’, getting the grade.

I believe everyone would want to be the authentic type, able to be truly honest to their word. You want other people to admire you as so rather than frowned upon as a cheater or whatever. I want to say I’m the authentic type and that only, but then I’d be lying. Most likely I’m in the area between both types, as well as many other students. I don’t think you can be just one type.. I like having uniqueness, and being able to speak for myself, but I also like to just do whatever gets the job done or suits the occasion. I guess I tend to lean more on performance type than the other simply because I do care mostly about the final result, and the grade I get in the end. Plus, I know I don’t always feel “connected” with everything I write. It doesn’t mean that I don’t ever want to go beyond the expectations or think plagiarizing is acceptable though.

I think what Blum stated on p. 89 that "The performance self is more prone to cheat and plagiarize than the authentic self. . .For a performance self, intellectual property is a quaint yet meaningless notion." is partly right, but I wouldn’t agree with the last part.

I couldn’t laugh more at one of the quotes Blum included, which was said by Lawrence Lessig in Free Culture, “We live in a ‘cut and paste’ culture enabled by technology.” Actually it shouldn’t be funny, but I agree that technology does have a major affect on how/what we do especially in/for school. Also mentioned in the chapter, Wikipedia, a widely read and used site filled with information, was an interesting read.. When you search up something, let’s say chocolate, the first link or so would most likely be from Wikipedia! I remember one of my high school teachers didn’t allow us to use it for one of our assignments, probably because he didn’t think it was entirely accurate (not that it is).

"Something Borrowed" and never returned

A charge of plagiarism shouldn't ruin our lives.

After reading Malcolm Gladwell's article covering a case of plagiarism involving a psychiatrist that studies serial killers, I found myself caught in the middle. Was what the playwright, Byrony Lavery, did wrong? Immoral/unethical, perhaps?
I think what Lavery did was wrong, but also "okay" in some sense. It was wrong because she "borrowed" Gladwell's writing almost word for word for the most part and never even mentioned his name. That's like the main point of plagiarism, not giving credit to whoever or whatever they took something from. You don't use someone else's work and then claim it as your own. Gladwell, in his letter to her, wrote, "I am happy to be the source of inspiration for other writers, and had you asked for my permission to quote—even liberally—from my piece, I would have been delighted to oblige. But to lift material, without my approval, is theft." This shows his discontent with the whole thing, but he also thought what she did was sort of like a compliment. If someone likes what you did so much that they wanted to do it too, you would be flattered. It's just WHAT and HOW they did it which causes people to get touchy. Other than taking Gladwell's words, Lavery "borrowed" the life of Dorothy Lewis, the psychiatrist, as well. By doing that, she hurt Lewis. She took someone's life and shared it with everyone else. But if you think about it, many people have done it and/or do it today with "inspired by a true story" movies and whatnot. Besides, people learn by examples.. like children with their parents

What Lavery did was also kind of acceptable because it was her inspiration for her play, "Frozen." It was for a work of art, not another article in a magazine. I liked what Gladwell said about understanding the difference between a transformative kind of borrowing and a derivative one, "that distinction, I realized, was what was missing from the discussion of Bryony Lavery’s borrowings. Yes, she had copied my work. But no one was asking why she had copied it, or what she had copied, or whether her copying served some larger purpose." At least he didn't take it too personal or made assumptions.

I agree with Sarah on how asking for forgiveness is much harder, probably worse than asking for permission. It can apply to a bunch of situations! Imagine a situation when you wanted to drive your parents' car and so you drove it without their permission, then accidently ran into the mailbox. Next comes the part where you must tell your parents and beg for their forgiveness when you could have simply asked first, which might have lessened their anger and your punishment. Lavery could have easily asked for permission and avoided the guilt for it, but she didn't.

Eek, essays! Here we go again~

I shudder just at the thought. :P

BESTestAWESOMEst essay experience ever: zero.
CRAPPIEST: all. JOKE!
Sadly, I can't recall any favorites or hates of all the essays I've ever written. I do know that I liked it when we wrote papers about ourselves and our memories/experiences back when I was in middle school though. There were no sides or citations. But essays as punishment? LOL. I may be swaying to that belief.. My English teachers did try to use them against us whenever people acted up in class. There was also the "Bart Simpson" punishment (well, what i called it) where we had to write something like "I will not chew gum in class" a bajillion times. Gee, writing sure is popular-

Wow, after all this time I never really thought about the actual definition of "essay" until this blog.
Sarah, you're totally right! WHY DIDNT I ASK/FIND OUT SOONER?! >_< I overlooked. I should be, AM quite mad myself that students tend to just do what they're told or whatever is required to do well in school. I'm not saying that we never ask questions or for help, but it seems to be better off/easier for everyone (esp. teachers) to follow the directions, go by the book. Now is the time we can change that(:

I simply knew and know it as a noun, just another 'name' for a written paper that was assigned for class. Whenever I had to write an essay (before college), it was usually on one or two specific topic in the five paragraph (hamburger) format -- introduction, three body paragraphs, and conclusion. But nowadays (in college), English professors tell us to forget the cycle-like layout because there should be no limit on the number of paragraphs nor seem repetitive (conclusion similar to intro). Sarah said, "Essays can take up just a single page or a whole book." To me, that sounds like any and all kinds of writing! There are differences when comparing a fictional story or a creative poem to an essay. I suppose essays are considered more focused on the breakdown or analysis/opinion of a certain issue. I know that when I write or read essays it tends to be one's opinion on the matter along with concrete evidence and quotes to back it up.

I never thought "essay" as a verb either. My guess was "to interpret or make sense of," but the dictionary defines it as "to try, attempt." Oh well, I essayed! Ahah, yeah I'm weird~ :D

Oh My Word!

Yupp, you're not as slick as you think~ ;P

Now let's get started on my first blogging assignment before it’s too late.
Hello fellow bloggers~

Almost everyone or students at least, has heard about the touchy topic of plagiarism. The first thing I think of when I hear that word is “punishment.” Yeahh. It’s probably because of all the school years of elders and peers never letting me forget about its consequences. Just last semester, one of my professors made us copy and paste this paragraph definition of plagiarism on each and every HW assignment! Like I defined in our last class, plagiarism is when one uses another’s work (i.e. words, ideas) without giving them credit. Synonymously we have copying and even stealing. Yikes~ But how do we really know what “plagiarism” is if there’s such a blurred line?

After reading the introduction and the first chapter of what Sarah D. Blum wrote about plagiarism along with its relation to college culture, she brought up some questions that I would also like to know, like if plagiarism was the same as cheating, both which are more than just frowned upon. Blum lightly brought up the effect of our technology-dependent generation on our likeliness of plagiarizing. Everything has its ups and downs. I agree with her about being the wordiest and most writerly generation with the constant use of text messaging and such. Also her “intertextuality” (what a mouthful!) bit was interesting, since I never really realized it until she mentioned it.

I liked the quote she used in the beginning by Leonardo Da Vinci, “Nothing can be loved or hated unless it is first known.” I suppose she’s talking about plagiarism here though. =P I was also surprised about the accusation on MLK like most of us are.

When we broke up into groups, my group had questions on how to avoid plagiarism all together. We wanted to know the proper way to cite our sources without a doubt, especially ideas. We know you can’t just copy paste other’s writing, but when you agree with their idea(s), how would you refer to that? Paraphrasing was another issue we had. In the book, I believe it was called “patchwriting.” There’s a thin line between plagiarizing and paraphrasing which does make it difficult to know what’s what and when. Overall, I think this plagiarism thing is still going to take a lot of decoding. There’s the chance you could be plagiarizing without even knowing it! I believe I say this for most, it’s a pain in the buttocks. We’re in troubled waters here… Hopefully you know how to swim! ;D Sadly, I can't.

no reason..