Journal One - Samantha Murphy

• What is writing—the definitions, ideas, thoughts, expressions, etc.—that you associate with writing?
• Writing, by definition, is the activity or skill of marking coherent words on paper and composing text. However, I see writing as any kind of communication through a medium. The words don't have to be in a coherent order if that is how you want to portray your emotions or ideas.
• What defines successful writing for you?
• Successful writing to me is anything that portrays the emotions, feelings or ideas of the writer in the writer's opinion. Whether the audience believes it is successful or not does not matter, for the work's success should be judged the hardest by the composer. 
• What type of writer do you see yourself as, and why?
• I identify as a strong poetry writer. Poetry is such a beautiful form of writing that seems the best way to express my emotions. I was personally inspired in my English class sophomore year when my teacher showed us a poem in the form of a song featuring Billie Holiday. It was a simple connection between poetry and music that made me fall in love with that style of writing. 

http://www.historyisaweapon.com/defcon1/fruitholiday.html - "Strange Fruit" original poem

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h4ZyuULy9zs - "Strange Fruit" sung by Billie Holiday

• Create a list of 5-8 key terms that define writing.
• Technique, expression, passion, connection, communication, broad

• What is the major argument that you see these authors making?
• The major argument presented by the authors is the issue of plagiarism. They argue that borrowing the ideas of other writers should not be as frowned upon as the education system has taught us. "Comparing an “original” text to its “remixed” counterpart is less important than understanding how the remixed artifact was redesigned for the new context or how the redesigned artifact is performing in that context," is an important idea discussed supporting assemblage and remixing works done by others. 
• What did you learn about writing from this text?
• I learned that being able to draw the ideas from another person's work can be extremely beneficial to my own work. Being inspired by someone else's writing and using it in a constructive and positive way should be okay. 
• Is this article “successful” according to the criteria you defined earlier? If so, how? If not, why not?
• I personally believe it did its job in informing the audience of their ideas and I fully enjoyed reading it, but according to my definition of a successful piece of writing, it only matters what the author believes. 
• Has your understanding of writing changed as a result of engaging with Johnson-Eilola and Selber's article? Why or why not? 
• Yes, it has. I have been taught that plagiarism was among the worst things a student can do next to murder. I always agreed with the ideas expressed in the article, but never had the courage to express them myself in fear of lash back by everyone who grew up believing how awful plagiarism was. 
• 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 would not revise my list of words, but I would emphasize the word connection. Looking back at my list, connection is an important word to me after reading this article. Being able to connect your writing to the ideas of others is so important to express through words.