Porter Reading

Poter Reading

This was definitly a reading that made you think and caught my attention. I do not agree at all with what Porter states but I understand where he is coming from and if you really think about such works as the Decleration of Independance it really does make you question if any writing is original. People have new thoughts and ideas every single second of every day somebody is thinking of something new. How is it fair to say that nothing is original. It offends me and offends the writing community as a whole in my opinion. Plagarism is taken to an extreme here and I don't beleive that you can make it this strict. Writing would be pointless if you lost your feelings to write becuase you feel so much pressure of the Discourse Community around you.

Questions for Discussion and Journaling

4. The fact that Porter argues that your writing is accepted only by the community around you is completely astonishing to me. It seems as if your already setting up someone for failure when you read their writing and it's constantly compared to someone else's work. I would never want to feel that pressure before starting a writing piece and I never would want anyone to evaluate my writing like that. There is a difference between a good writer and someone' that struggles but to put an every day person in the same boat as Shakespeare for example is a little extreme and ridiculous. I don't think I have ever been evaluated like this but at the same time I don't know for sure I haven't. Writing should not be about competition but about your thoughts being written on paper. So when you throw a young freshman into a world where there about to be judged by the writing community is a little crazy.

5. I think that Porter's writing completely represents his article and his thoughts. The answer to that is in the section "Notes", everything that is cited was taken from somebody else. If he argues that nothing is "original" than his definitely is not the exception. To me, he is doing exactly what he claims Jefferson to be doing. He not saying anything that hasn't been stated or thought about, he is taking a bunch of little information and putting into a bigger scheme. He is trying to prove a point to his audience and he does it by what he says but I also see it through how the paper is wrote and truly how he has many sources.

Applying and Exploring Ideas:

2. Plagiarism: All writing must be yours. It must be original and never borrowed. All thoughts and ideas must come from your own and you can't claim another's work as your own. All writing should be independent work. Always cite when using another person's work and give complete credit to their findings and thoughts.

Meta Moment:

I do not plagiarize but I do think Porter's thoughts about the subject and intertextual writing is a little extreme. It seems as if the idea is so strict that no writing is new or original. If that was the sense of writing what would be the point? I don't think that this reading has really changed my view of writers and writing because I know most people don't approach writing in this sense. I write what is on my mind with my research and personal thoughts put together. That is not illegal. I have to pull information from other writings to ensure I have proff and knowledge of my subject. I'm not stealing someones words or thoughts. You take ideas and bend them and form them into something of your own. If I did adapt to his theories, it might effect my writing a lot but I don't think I will. Something about his thoughts just sound a little too extreme for me.