Readers Respons #8

James Porter in “Intertexuality and the Discourse Community” covers a major point in writing. He starts with questioning the construct of originality. What is originality when every text has a “trace” of plagiarism? He believes that everyone is guilty of drawing some ideas from another text. He is questioning how we should even define plagiarism when originality is so hard to find.

Porter’s article to me has a different purpose than previous articles that we have read. You can, however link it to Kantz’s article. They both pertain to the usage of sources, but have a very different meaning and audience.

Before You Read:

2. I get help from various books, websites, friends, and teachers when it comes to my writing. I explore different views on the subject in order to take my own stand.

QD:

4. I agree with Porter. I believe that when it comes to evaluating writing they key focus should be on its “acceptability” rather than its sources. Porter states “…choosing the “right” topic, applying the appropriate critical methodology, adhering to standards for evidence and validity…” when explaining what really is important in writing (96). I think that this relates to the writing I have done in the past because the teachers are so focused on how good I reworded the text than the actual text itself.

5. I think his own work reflects on the principles he’s writing on very well. He’s explaining that nothing is really original! The fact that everyone gets these ideas from somewhere just supports the claim that he is trying to make.

AE:

2. I think they should rewrite plagiarism by telling students you can’t copy a paper or take credit for work that isn’t your own. I don’t think as a student is writing a research paper they need to re-word every sentence that they come about in their research. I also don’t think the way you word a sentence is crucial to plagiarism because hasn’t it all been worded before? This differs than the original definition of plagiarism by eliminating the need to change every word you come in counter with and just get your point across without worrying about getting kicked out of school because you forgot to paraphrase.

MM:

1. Porter’s idea has not changed the way I view writers. I never really thought that good writers come up with brilliant ideas without any help or all by their selves. Adopting his notion might be a relief to me. It won’t necessarily change the way I write a lot, but I will be more comfortable presenting ideas in the way they were meant to be written and not paraphrase so much that it takes away from its own meaning.

I liked Porter’s argument, it made a lot of sense to me and I support his ideas. I think that plagiarism is sort of a wall put up between the writer and the information. If someone is going to steal someone else’s work they should suffer the consequences, but don’t hold everyone’s work accountable. Let the cheaters be aside from the writers who want to get their point across.