April 27, 2006
slingshot | a cut n' paste world
by Cheo Tyehimba
Yeah, I know, its been a minute. The good thing about writing your own blog is you can say whatever you want and write it whenever you want. The bad thing about writing your own blog is you can say whatever you want and write it whenever you want.
steal this book
Writers of the world did some justifiable playa hatin' last week against Kaavya Viswanathan, the 19 year-old Harvard sophomore who has been accused of plagiarism in her debut novel, "How Opal Metha Got Kissed, Got Wild, and Got a Life." To add insult to injury, Little, Brown, Viswanathan's publisher, gave the then 17 year-old high-school student, a reported $500,000 for a two-book deal. The "crime" was first reported by the Harvard Crimson after the publication was sent a letter by Random House -- the publisher of author Megan McCafferty's young adult novels -- to bring attention to several passages in Viswanathan's book which bore striking similarities to McCafferty's books, the 2001 novel "Sloppy Firsts" and the 2003 novel "Second Helpings."
What does Viswanathan have to say for herself? After initially denying any culpability in the matter, she finally came clean, well almost.
"I wasn’t aware of how much I may have internalized Ms. McCafferty’s words," said Viswanathan, after confirming that she read McCafferty’s novels. Internalized? Hmm, is that the same as memorized?
She stated that she has a photographic memory and that this somehow may be responsible for her imbibing McCafferty's words.
"Any phrasing similarities between her works and mine were completely unintentional and unconscious." Uh huh.
Sounds more like Viswanathan was "unconscious" when she wrote her book.
At one point, "Opal Mehta" contains a 14-word passage that appears verbatim in McCafferty’s book "Sloppy Firsts." Here are a few other passaged from both authors books. You be the juidge:
‘SOMETHING SO RANDOM’
From page 217 of McCafferty’s first novel: “But then he tapped me on the shoulder, and said something so random that I was afraid he was back on the junk.”
From page 142 of Viswanathan’s novel: “...he tapped me on the shoulder and said something so random I worried that he needed more expert counseling than I could provide.”
‘INVADING MY PERSONAL SPACE’
From page 213 of McCafferty’s first novel: “Marcus then leaned across me to open the passenger-side door. He was invading my personal space, as I had learned in Psych class, and I instinctively sank back into the seat. That just made him move in closer. I was practically one with the leather at this point, and unless I hopped into the backseat, there was nowhere else for me to go.”
From page 175 of Viswanathan’s novel: “Sean stood up and stepped toward me, ostensibly to show me the book. He was definitely invading my personal space, as I had learned in a Human Evolution class last summer, and I instinctively backed up till my legs hit the chair I had been sitting in. That just made him move in closer, until the grommets in the leather embossed the backs of my knees, and he finally tilted the book toward me.”
‘I NEEDED IN A BEST FRIEND’
From page 7 of McCafferty’s first novel: “Bridget is my age and lives across the street. For the first twelve years of my life, these qualifications were all I needed in a best friend. But that was before Bridget’s braces came off and her boyfriend Burke got on, before Hope and I met in our seventh-grade honors classes.
From page 14 of Viswanathan’s novel: “Priscilla was my age and lived two blocks away. For the first fifteen years of my life, those were the only qualifications I needed in a best friend. We had first bonded over our mutual fascination with the abacus in a playgroup for gifted kids. But that was before freshman year, when Priscilla’s glasses came off, and the first in a long string of boyfriends got on.”
Researhers at Random House have found many more examples than the ones listed above. By the way, the text above that lists the comparisons was written by staff at the Harvard Crimson in their article, "Student’s Novel Faces Plagiarism Controversy. Book by Kaavya Viswanathan ’08 contains similarities to earlier author’s works." This was published on the publication's web site on Sunday, April 23, 2006 at 11:28 PM.
What would my commentary be worth, if I didn't correctly cite a source I used to write this article? Which brings me to my point. In our digital "cut and paste world" it has almost become acceptable to "borrow" words and thoughts of others without attribution. Most people have come to think of the Internet, esp. Google, as a never-ending nexus of thought and almost infinite source of information.
Say you're a college freshman given the task of writing an argumentative essay about why its time to bring the troops in Iraq home. A couple keystrokes on Google, the Meta-magical Mr. Wizard of our Times, and you can review commentary by leading columnists and scholars from here to Timbuktu. If several passages of their opinions and words find their way into "your" paper, who will notice? What's the big deal, anyway?
Writing is thinking
I guess its all how you look at it. Or, better yet, its how you think about it. Thinking. That's crux of the matter. And what lies beneath this New School of Cut and Paste Writing is bankrupt thinking. Effective critical thinking, which embraces and values authentic observations, deductions, and opinion based on primary research, has become oh so passe. In the wake of the dotcom boom, digital innovation clearly has the high ground; writerly intellect and creativity can barely hold up its white surrender flag.
When I was teaching writing at the University of San Francisco, one of the most valuable methods I used to evaluate my students' writing was in-class writing assignments. It was always a good barometer to see who in the class had fresh, original ideas and who was overly reliant on Internet search engines.
Questions
With Google possibly close to getting the go ahead to make the text of authors work searchable, what does the future have in store for the craft of writing? Will future novelists "create original works" in the same manner that hip hop djs have been cuttin' their own creations while sampling music from multiple sources? Will laws pertaining to copyright and intellectual property become more "flexible" making it easier for an onslaught of derivative books, plays, and films, etc. to be produced? Has there been a major decline in the overall appreciation for original thought and ideas being produced in the world?
Well, if you're a thinking person, you already know the answer to all of the above.
Author's Note: My headline "steal this book" is a reference to Abbie Hoffman's book "Steal This Book," which has been regarded as the epitome of counterculture literature.
BlogON: When is cutting and pasting written words from another author and using them as your own, NOT plagiarism? Whatchusay?
Posted at April 27, 2006 11:49 AM