CRL #2: Plagiarism

1.Summary
In her work Plagiarisms, Authorships, And The Academic Death Penalty, Rebecca Moore
Howard proposes that universities should revise their plagiarism policies as they do not reflect
the contemporary idea and practice of authorship. Colleges narrowly define plagiarism as an act
of immorality, when in truth it presents negative and positive values. Howard describes the
widely-held assumptions behind why students decide to plagiarize: Either they did it
unintentionally without knowledge, or they lack academic moral values and cheated with
knowledge doing so. Because colleges only recognize and emphasize these negative aspects of
plagiarism, this unfairly prevents a student from learning and developing in their intellectual
mindset. Therefore, Howard advocates for a reformed plagiarism policy that showcases and
considers the positive aspects of plagiarism that is often disregarded. She points out that writing
was once considered to be a collaborative and accumulated work, pre-modern times. Because of
the technological advancement of the printing press- mass circulation of texts, and higher literacy
rate sparked the evolution of composition from mimesis to individual authorship. However, the
second technological advancement in the modern age of the computer paved the process of
disintegrating the modern norm of the individual and autonomous author. Thus, Howard
establishes the point that authorship is collaborative and accumulated in the modern American
culture. For instance, she discusses Martin Luther King, Jr. practiced "voice merging"; his prose
revealed the merging of different communities that ranges from the Bible to sermons. The
example of Martin Luther King establishes her argument that no writer is exclusive with a
community, and rather that communities overlap and are intertwined with one another- thus
making authorship collaborative. Authorship is not autonomous, simple, and homogenized in
contemporary composition. For this reason, Howard believes that intricate concept behind of
authorship needs to be redefined. For example, she proposes that patchwriting, a form of
plagiarism, is too commonly associated with vice and immorality. Unlike the other two forms of
plagiarism- cheating and non-attribution, it may not always be considered a true form of
academic dishonesty. The nature of patchwriting reveals rather the learning process from a
writers inexperienced and unrefined writing towards comprehension. Howard suggests that
patchwriting is a positive intellectual tool as long as patchwriting is utilized correctly, and not
used as a way to use in substitution to understanding the material read. She encourages this kind
of positive plagiarism for that kind of inexperienced writers, as she identifies it as adding value
to a writers intellectual growth. Thus, she advises composition instructors must be aware of the
kind of plagiarism committed- as patchwriting is an example of a kind of positive intellectual
opportunity that is misrepresented as immoral. She suggests that teachers shouldnt treat
patchwriting as a punishment, but rather should be considered in a positive manner and used as a
pedagogical practice. Furthermore, instructors should aid a writer to patchwriting correctly and
give more guidance in writing.

2. 3 Concepts
A. Patchwriting- Patchwriting is a form of plagiarism that is often overlooked as an
act of immorality that students commit, when rather proves to be beneficial for students
as an intellectual comprehension tool. Writers may utilize patchwriting when they are
inexperienced or unfamiliar with the text, because it allows for them to replace part of the
original text with similar words that makes the material easier to understand and grasp.
Although it does not show that the writer understands the material, it is more of an
effective mechanism helps a writer learn and develop in their intellectual growth.
B. Hypertext- A form of the 21th century technological advancement that has helped reshape the
definition and practice of authorship in the present and contemporary era. This tool blends/
homogenizes the original text and revised work so that unfinished work is constantly open for
collaboration and revision.
C. Authorship- Howard spends a great deal discussing authorship and how it relates to
plagiarism. Authorship is the modern age is in nature collaborative and accumulated work, and
yet colleges have yet to keep up with authorship. Colleges enact plagiarism policies that follow
an outdated authorship practice, the idea that it is autonomous and strictly unique and original.
3. 3 Quotes
A. We are as dwarfs mounted on the shoulders of giants, so that although we
perceive many more things than they, it is not because our vision is more piercing or our
stature higher, but because we are carried and elevated higher thanks to their gigantic
size. (Howard 789)
I like this quote because it is a metaphor for how the giant is the source/the seed of some idea,
and the height to me represents ideas that are bouncing off one another/built on top of one
another. The dwarf standing on top of all these ideas can see the finished product
B. It is, however, reasonable to revise definitions of plagiarism to account for the contingent
nature of authorship and its constituent discourses; to account for the collaborative nature of
writing; to allow authorial intention as a factor in the adjudication of student plagiarism; and to
postulate positive value for patchwriting, a textual strategy that is too often classified as
plagiarism, regarded as immoral, and punished by "Fs" and even expulsion. (Howard 798)
I like this quote because it explains why it is so necessary for colleges to revise their plagiarism
policies.

C. If there is no originality, there is no basis for literary property. If there is no originality and
no literary property, there is no basis for the notion of plagiarism (Howard 791)
I like this quote because it reveals and reinforces how authorship is hardly autonomous, but
rather usually a collaborative and accumulated piece of work that is constantly revised.