Plagiarism Definition

Rutgers University take opposing views on the concept of plagiarism. Rutgers defines plagiarism as "the use of another person’s words, ideas, or results without giving that person appropriate credit."  For Rutgers, plagiarism is among the worst things a student can do.  One's intellectual property is sacred, and should never be stolen. By forcing students to admit which ideas are and are not their own, Rutgers indirectly promotes originality, because original ideas are the only things that need not be cited. Rutgers students must be careful of the influences they integrate into their works, because plagiarism is a serious offense. "The Anxiety of Influence" by John Hollander, the book whose title Lethem parodies in his "The Ecstasy of Influence: A Plagiarism", deals with how poets, much like students, are fearful of being derivative of others.  

On the other hand, Lethem teaches us to not only accept that plagiarism is inevitable, but to celebrate it. There is no such thing an an original idea; anything you want to say has already been said by somebody else. Attempting to write a paper under such a philosophy would be futile, because every sentence would require a citation. Lethem's main point of contention with the Rutgers Office of Academic Integrity however, is that to him, plagiarism is not necessary stealing ideas. Not only does Lethem reject the concept of intellectual property (Lethem 217), but he also shifts the responsibilities from the student to the original author. According to Lethem, "Art that matters to us [...] is received as a gift is received [...] the daily commerce of our lives proceeds at its own constant level, but a gift conveys an uncommodifiable surplus of inspiration" (Lethem 217). A piece that an author writes is a gift to his or her community, and when a student is inspired by it, the student is merely accepting the gift, not stealing it. After all, "You Can't Steal a Gift" (Lethem 220). Thus, plagiarism is not stealing to Lethem, whereas it is to Rutgers.

Interestingly, Lethem's entire essay consists of almost none of his own words, but is instead other essays cut and pasted together. In his own words, he is accepting the gift of other author's works, therefore he is plagiarizing. Yet, at the end of his text, he has cited all of his sources (though admittedly not adhering to a formal citation format), so by Rutgers's definition of plagiarism, Lethem did not plagiarize. This example alone highlights the difference in the two viewpoints: Plagiarism as influence by the outside world and plagiarism as a strict doctrine of citation.