Plagiarism Definition

Lethem's display of the word "plagiarism" in his essay involves the idea that people use each other's works as inspiration for their own work. It runs off the idea of drawing inspiration rather than copying what other's do. Lethem emphasizes that in order to actually create a masterpiece and something new, one needs to look at previous works to be able to build off of the past and improve it. The Rutgers' Academic Integrity Policy essentially states that plagiarism involves copying work that is not your's. It emphasizes the idea of dishonesty and negative intentions behind looking at another person's work rather than positive intentions. Negative intentions would include stealing the idea but positive intentions as stated through Lethem includes drawing inspiration. Lethem even states, "all ideas are secondhand, consciously and consciously drawn from a million outside sources..." (Lethem 225). Essentially, Lethem goes into the fat that nothing in this world is in fact made on its own; everything is built off of something else so in this way we are all guilty of plagiarism. Rutgers on the other hand, sees plagiarism in a negative light and sees copying someone else's work as a major offense. This distinction matters because both definitions are necessary; we cannot be copying each other's works word for word otherwise nothing would get done or further advance in society, and at the same time we need to draw inspiration from each other so we could improve as a whole.