9-17-12 Homework

IWA:
The concept of intertextuality is not a new one.  This says that all texts have somehow come from other texts, more or less that no writing is original.  In this article, one main document discussed is the Declaration of Independence.  When examined closely it can be said that Thomas Jefferson took ideas from other documents previous to his.  If it weren't for intertextuality, he could be charged with plagiarism based on today's standards.  We are taught to be creative and original with our own writing however, intertextuality challenges that.  I find this reading to tie back to what we have been learning because we are constantly reading about how to make your work your own.  With all the information we have available to us today, it is hard to be creative and original with your work.  It is tempting to model our writing after other works, but we are constantly being taught that we have to write our own thoughts.  This reading relates to our other readings, but also contradicts it as it tells us it is hard not to model our writing after others.
pre-reading: When I think about the difference between an author and a writer, I associate an author with a novel and a writer with essays and education texts.  I would use the term author to describe somebody who is publishing a fictional book that takes our minds to another world.  I would describe a writer as someone writing shorter pieces that are mostly educational.  For example, somebody who writes and essay is someone I would consider a writer.
list of ways I get help in writing:
my mom because she is a teacher
my friends
teachers
my neighbor because he used to be my english teacher

QDJ:
4.) The way Porter argues writing should be evaluated is different than how I thought.  In my mind the writer would be writing for themselves and not what other people think.  It is important to please your reader but that doesn't mean you shouldn't write for yourself.  You can't please everybody when you write so I don't think you should write just for your audience.  However, I feel like in the past my writing has been evaluated this way because we are always being told exactly what and how to write.  In high school papers I always felt I had to write to fit the teachers needs rather than what I actually wanted to write.
5.) I think his article reflects well on what he is trying to say.  The simple fact that there is a works cited page shows that he used other works to create his own.  He did not plagiarize, he made his own point, but he used other works to help make his point.  According to his theory on intertextuality, this is okay to do.

AEI:
2. "If a student uses the help of another work for their paper, it is okay as long as it is cited."  This is somewhat similar to the policy now.  If it is cited then it is not considered plagiarism.  However, with Porter's argument, it is okay to use other works into your own.  The way it is now we are constantly being told that we must create the entire thing to be our own thoughts.

Meta Moment:
Porter's study definitely changed the way I look at writers.  I always assumed they came up with everything on their own.  I now see that they do have help because sometimes you can't make your point without the help of others.  It would change the way I would write because I wouldn't have so much pressure to make everything up on my own.  Sometimes I ramble in my writing because I know that everything I say needs to be my own.  With the help of other works, I would't have to ramble so much to make a point.