To answer simply, writing is a form of communication that requires the physical act of inscribing symbols such as letters or numbers in a sequence that someone else can understand. Although personally the word writing itself sends up alarms in my head to prepare for a few long nights of research, construction, editing, and more commonly procrastination until the very last second of the paper's due date. Writing reminds me of after school journalism club meetings for the school's newspaper and never getting enough sleep, but that memory also reminds me of the outlet writing provided me to learn about my classmates and their opinions.
What defines successful writing for you?
To me, successful writing varies on the genre or type of writing presented at the time. If the piece is supposed to be fiction, the writing should encompass a theme presented across the entirety of the novel with experiences the reader can relate to or a feeling or place the reader can escape to from realty. If the piece is a poem, the writing should match the tone and language as should the structure. Successful writing does not come from reviews or the "New York Times Best Seller List." A successful piece will affect the reader everyday. It will offer references to their everyday lives and maybe teach one a lesson.
What type of writer do you see yourself as, and why?
Personally, I am a very formal writer. I very rarely write anything using personal pronouns or experiences from my own life. I enjoy writing pieces that reflect on collected data or research papers that support one of my own claims. I enjoy argumentative pieces where I can give my opinions in a formal essay and refute others' claims. Although I cannot point to a precise moment where I realized why this type of writing attracts me the most, I've always looked at both sides of every story or problem in order to find the best solution and offered my opinion.
Create a list of 5-8 key terms that define writing.
Expressive, personable, interpretation, story, escape, didactic
What is the major argument that you see these authors making?
The authors of this piece claim plagiarism should not be seen as such a negative thing because someone else's work can be manipulated to solve more problems than the original author intended for which in turn offers someone else research and knowledge to solve more problems and address more issues in the world.
Preceding reading this text, I tried to Google search other pieces that agreed with the author's opinions and came up empty handed. Instead, I found an article that explicitly states why plagiarism is a very bad thing: http://tlt.psu.edu/plagiarism/student-tutorial/why-plagiarism-is-wrong/
This interesting contrast of two views only supports my newly found knowledge that not everyone in the education system agrees with the academic integrity policy.
What did you learn about writing from this text?
This text offered a unique opinion about the ethics and originality of writing. A lot of which I agreed with because in high school, all of the students had to sign an Academic Honesty Policy paper that addressed the consequences of anything that was turned it that even resembled someone else's work. In the text, the authors write, "Most thumbnail definitions of plagiarism on syllabi frame the issue exactly like this, as an issue of academic honesty," (400). In the text, they directly reference this academic honesty policy schools have, but they refute it by saying that if this "hierarchy" was removed from the classroom, student's would not shying away from referencing a credible source. I was also very surprised to learn that there are teachers in our education system that do not agree with the norm. I figured every single teacher and institution would agree that plagiarism is an unethical action that hinders the education of the student.
Is this article “successful” according to the criteria you defined earlier? If so, how? If not, why not?
Early, I said that a piece should affect the reader and offer daily references to a certain work that would influence their daily lives. This piece left a surprising effect on me and I'm sure my peers as we learned assemblage and plagiarism are not negative techniques if knowledge is gained from applying the reference to the author's own claim and ideas.
Has your understanding of writing changed as a result of engaging with Johnson-Eilola and Selber's article? Why or why not?
Prior to reading this article, I believed original content existed. Post reading, it is evident to me that no content is original since every thing has inspiration. Not only that, this piece offered a completely new idea to assemblage and plagiarism that acknowledged but refuted the once repeated thought to completely staying away from anyone else's work. They showed how it might be beneficial, an unheard of opinion after years of education.
Do you want to revise your list of key terms based on this reading? Explain what you would revise (or not) and why (not).
I do not want to revise my key terms because Johnson-Eilola and Selber's article only reiterated my terms. That writing can be interpreted through many different forms and using someone else's writing, color scheme, typography, and/or construction does not necessarily promote the same ideas as the other. Organization of a website to produce the most effective form of communication to teach or inform, for example, should be able to be accessed by anyone without the fear of consequences.
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