Plagiarism Assignment

Rutgers definition of plagiarism in in line with the definition most colleges and high schools have generally adopted. This definition is seen as fair and necessary by many in the academic community. Lethem, in his work, does not have as clear cut a definition of plagiarism as Rutgers. He argues for the creative commons as an asset, not something that is "plagiarized" from. Rutgers definition of plagiarism states that any material which is not one's own, if uesd, must be quoted accordingly. Herein lies the distinction between Lethems definition and the definition of most universities; while Lethem believes that recognizing the source is largely unnecessary, while universities emphasize the importance of citation to almost no end. Lethem would argue that the burden of citation limits the natural creative growth that would otherwise occur if students were allowed to use other's work in a more liberal manner. However, I do think Lethem believes that there is a limit to how far the definition of plagiarism can be stretched. Work that is either bought or word for word stolen would not in any way produce anything new or creative and thus Lethem would be against this form of plagiarism.