originality, emulation, and theft - mra 2015
TRANSCRIPT
Originality, Emulation, and Theft:A Plagiarism Manifesto
by Beth Shaum and Michael Stohrer (and all the people we stole from)
(CON)TEXT
Helene Hegemann, age 17author of Axolotl Roadkill (2010)
(CON)TEXT
Helene Hegemann:“I myself don’t feel it is stealing, because I put all the material into a completely different and unique context and from the outset consistently promoted the fact that none of that is actually by me...”
“I help myself to whatever inspires me…”
“There’s no such thing as originality anyway. There’s only authenticity.”
(CON)TEXT
The New London Group “A Pedagogy of Multiliteracies: Designing Social Futures”
● available designs - conventions of a discourse (style/genre/dialect…)
● design - “re-presentation and recontextualization”
● the redesigned - transformed product/meaning
● available designs - slang (“be like”), block letters, all-caps
● design - meme generator, image search
● the redesigned - signal to quiet down, example of purposeful appropriation
How can learners: strategically
intentionally
critically
create
emulate
steal?
(UNCOMMON) CORE BELIEFS●Emulation is a natural part of the creative process and worth celebrating.●“Art is theft.” - Pablo Picasso●“Art is theft. I came up with that.” – Michael Stohrer●There is a complicated overlap between theft and original creation.●Certain writing situations require adherence to the conventions of attribution.
John Green: Plagiarist or “Famous Victim of Misquotation”?
From the mouths (pens, keyboards) of babes“The consequences of plagiarism should depend on their severeness. Like if you take someone’s entire essay or song and all you do is erase the name and try to completely claim it then obviously those consequences should be way bigger then someone, like in [John Green’s] situation, who doesn’t even realize he's doing it. So, I guess it obviously just depends on the severity of the plagiarism to determine the punishment or consequences.” - Lauren P, 8th grader
“This type of plagiarism, in my opinion, isn't even plagiarism. He simply was too lazy to check the sources. In fact, lazy isn't even the right word. He just trusted the internet. Which, let's be honest, wasn't that smart but he just didn't care really. And he more than made up for it by giving her all the money the merchandise made. And on the fact that he didn't apologize. This is the biggest overreaction, in proportion to, I have seen on the internet. First of all, he gave all the proceeds to her. And second of all, he clearly apologized in different words. He acknowledged his mistake in a different and more sincere than actually saying ‘I am sorry.’” - Jonah S, 8th grader
“Alright let me explain why i'm not happy, John Green gets it really easy here. There are people in college right now that are getting kicked out of their university. And then there's John Green who gives zero credit to this girl whatsoever and doesn't get any problems with the authorities.” - Chaz, 8th grader
The Ambiguous “Own” your own work ideas you own working on your own
curatorial creative
Leonardo da Vinci Mona Lisa 1503-1505
Fernando Botero Mona Lisa 1963
Salvador Dali Self Portrait as Mona Lisa about 1964
Andy WarholMona Lisa 1963
Robert Rauschenberg, Mona Lisa 1982
Kazimir Malevich Composition with
Mona Lisa 1914
BanksyMujahidin Mona Lisa
Raffaello Sanzio da Urbino
Lady with a Unicorn, 1505 Portrait of Maddalena Doni, 1506 Portrait of a Young Woman,1507
Sergei Rachmaninoff “Prelude in C-Sharp Minor”
Muse “Apocalypse Please”
Gentle Giant “Funny Ways” 1970
Madvillain “Strange Ways” 2004
you can(n’t) be original repurpose! recontextualize! rearrange!
“Authorship” =/= self-evident
What about…..
...collaborative learning? ...different contexts?
This is Just to SayI have eatenthe plumsthat were inthe icebox
and which you were probablysaving for breakfast
Forgive methey were deliciousso sweetand so cold
- William Carlos Williams
confession
Why it was wrong
false apology
This is Just to SayI have eatenthe plumsthat were inthe icebox
and which you were probablysaving for breakfast
Forgive methey were deliciousso sweetand so cold
- William Carlos Williams
confession
Why it was wrong
false apology
This is Just to SayI have eatenthe applesthat were inthe icebox
and which you were probablysaving for breakfast
Forgive methey were deliciousso sweetand so cold
- Beth Shaum
This is Just to SayI have eatenthe applesthat were inthe refrigerator
and which you were probablysaving for breakfast
Forgive methey were deliciousso sweetand so cold
- Beth Ann Shaum
This is Just to SayI have eatenthe applesthat were inthe refrigerator
and which you were probablysaving for lunch
Forgive methey were very deliciousso sweetand so cold
- Beth Ann Shaum
Other effective poems/short writing pieces to emulate
“Where I’m From” by George Ella Lyon“Chicago” by Carl Sanburg“If I Were in Charge of the World” by Judith Viorst“Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird” by Wallace Stevens “Ode to Pablo’s Tennis Shoes” by Gary SotoThis I Believe essaysThoughts from Places video essays
RED TAPE● truly “original” thoughts are barely
possible
● plagiarism isn’t not doing the assignment, it is incorrectly/partially doing the assignment○ What skills are used to plagiarize?
#hypocrisy
#hypocrisy
#hypocrisy
She totes rearranged the words, so that’s OK, right?
Whose quote is it anyway?
Whose quote is it anyway?
What does this mean for our schools, classrooms, and students when thievery abounds on social media and no one gets punished for it?
Michael’s school’s plagiarism policy:
“...presenting the words or ideas of another as if they were your own…”
“...submitting an assignment as if it were one’s own work, when… it is at least partly the work of another…”
First Offense: no credit for assignment, documented warningSecond Offense: no credit, documented 45-minute detention Third Offense: no credit, parent contact, one-day out-of-school suspensionFourth Offense: no credit, parent contact, three-day out-of-school suspension
(quoted/paraphrased from the Brandon High School Student Handbook 2014-2015)
Michael’s school’s plagiarism policy:
plagiarism = crime ?
Everything that needs to be said has already been said. But, since no one was listening, everything must be said again. - Beth Shaum
(well, I said that just now, but it was Andre Gide who said it the first time… or did he?)
Contact Us/Download our Presentation on Slideshare:
Beth Shaum: Email: [email protected] Twitter: @BethShaum
Michael Stohrer: Email: [email protected] Twitter: @mr_stohrer
Slideshare link: http://goo.gl/UEQZ4k
Session Code: SAGGC23
Bibliography (victims of theft)Kleon, Austin. Steal Like an Artist: 10 Things Nobody Told You about Being Creative. New York: Workman , 2012. Knobel, Michele, and Colin Lankshear. "Remix: The Art and Craft of Endless Hybridization." Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy 52.1 (2008): 22-33. Print. Lethem, Jonathan. "The Ecstasy of Influence: A Plagiarism Mosaic." Sound Unbound: Sampling and Digital Culture. Ed. Paul D. Miller a/k/a DJ Spooky That Subliminal Kid. 1st ed. London, England: The MIT Press, 2008. 25-51. Print. Levine, Gail Carson., and Matthew Cordell. Forgive Me, I Meant to Do It: False Apology Poems. New York: Harper, 2012. Print. New London Group. “A Pedagogy of Multiliteracies: Designing Social Futures,” Harvard Educational Review 66 (1): Spring 1996.
Nye, Naomi Shihab. "Valentine for Ernest Mann." Red Suitcase. Rochester, NY: BOA Editions, 1994. Print. Goldsmith, Kenneth. "It's Not Plagiarism. in the Digital Age, It's 'Repurposing'." Chronicle of Higher Education. (2011): Web. 10 Nov. 2013. <http://chronicle.com/article/Uncreative-Writing/128908/>. Howard, Rebecca Moore. "Plagiarisms, Authorships, and the Academic Death Penalty." College English. 57.7 (1995): 788-806. Web. 27 Nov. 2013. <http://jstor.org/stable/378403>.