Lethem Passage Research

The passage I selected appears at the conclusion of Lethem’s section entitled “The Commons.” Lethem writes, “We have to remain constantly vigilant to prevent raids by those who would selfishly exploit our common heritage for their private gain. Such raids on our natural resources are not examples of enterprise and initiative. They are attempts to take from all the people just for the benefit of a few” (223). This was a passage that stuck with me in my initial reading of the essay, and as I surveyed Lethem’s key, I was surprised to see that even these were not his own words. Instead, they belonged to President Truman, appearing in his address at the opening of the Everglades National Park. In the case of this quote, the key was a very useful research tool. The limited synapsis that Lethem provides gave me a lot of information regarding the context of the quote. Despite its length, it was one of the few instances when Lethem did not abridge his quote at all. About his choice to not alter the quote, he references a quote by poet Marianne Moore in his key. She had said, “If a thing has been said in the best way, how can you say it better?” (230). This is high praise for Truman’s words.

As I continued my research, I googled the first line of the quote. This led me to a page on trumanlibrary.org containing the entire transcript of the speech. In its original context, the quote was used to urge the preservation of public lands, parks, forests and mineral reserves. Johnson uses the same, exact words to urge the preservation of ideas in the public commons. In its new context, the references to natural resources serve as a metaphor for what Lethem believes that words and ideas should be. In fact, Lethem’s use of the quote out of context actually makes for a more persuasive argument as a result of this metaphor. The fact that I was clueless that these were not the original words of Lethem, and were not even the original context, demonstrates the effectiveness of appropriation in writing. In regards to plagiarism, Lethem makes a strong case in his essay, but this singular quote really does not indicate much about the morality of plagiarism, only its effectiveness.