Be Careful What You Read

The other day my son Jacob asked me to proofread a paper before he went to class. I said, “Sure.” After I read it, I said, “Uh, Jake, what’s this all about?”

Turns out, Jake had to read an essay in his rhetoric textbook and write a paper on it. As he read, he became increasingly skeptical—it seemed to him that in spite of the author’s inflammatory rhetoric, the author’s quotes were weak and he made several logical fallacies. So, Jake decided to google the author….wow!

Subsequent to the publication of the textbook, the essay’s author was stripped of his journalism awards. Turns out the author not only plagiarized, he invented quotes. Then, when the truth came out, he attacked his critics, etc. Jake mentioned this in the conclusion of his paper.

My hope was that this essay assignment was a “trick” from his professor, that the prof used this as an exercise in always being vigilant—just because something is in a textbook doesn’t mean it’s right.

So Jake took the paper to class for peer review. As the students in his group read his paper, they pulled out their phones and googled the author. Jake said, “They started muttering and swearing.”

Then, during the class discussion after peer review, no one from Jake’s group said anything. The other groups talked about how great the article and author were. Jake felt increasingly awkward. Finally, he raised his hand, shared his opinion, and explained what he found out about the author.

When Jake got home, I said, “So was it a set-up by your professor?” Jake said, “I don’t know, Mom. When, I talked about the article and the author, the professor looked surprised—I don’t think she knew.”

Hmm…I wonder how she’s going to grade this paper.

Update: Jake just had a meeting with his professor--she did know all about it. I guess she was just surprised that any of the students caught it. :)

Image courtesy of Wikimedia

Plagiarism, Classics Style

Since Virgil is dead, and I can’t be sued for libel (slander is spoken, libel is in print—I’m not sure which one a blog falls under, but I’m covered), I’ve decided to speak my mind about The Aeneid. For those of you who don’t know, Virgil wrote the epic poem The Aeneid. Something I’m forcing my children to read, much against their will (imagine me smiling—my kids don’t call me the “mean parent” for nothing).

Caesar Augustus supported the writing of the poem in the hopes that it would revive Roman ideals of self-sacrifice, dedication to the state, etc. Apparently, these ideals had deteriorated, no kidding. Augustus becoming emperor might have contributed to that.

At any rate, Virgil decided that Aeneas from The Iliad was the ancestor to the Romans. Why did he decide that? My guess is propaganda. Anyway, Virgil wrote the poem but died before he finished editing. (That explains some things, doesn’t it?) He directed that the poem be burned after his death (and you thought Emily Dickenson came up with that on her own.). Of course, Augustus wasn’t going to waste all the money he put into getting this epic written so he had it “published.”

Some people think that Virgil wanted it burned because he no longer supported Augustus’ policies. (Others think he wanted it burned because it sucked.) But the real reason—remember, you read it here first—is because he’s such a massive plagiarist.

I mean hello, whole chunks are taken out of Homer’s The Iliad. Compare the “shield scene” of Aeneas in (book 8) with Achilleus’ shield in (book 18, Iliad). Pretty similar. How about Odysseus/Diomedes Raid (Iliad, book 10) with the Nisus/Euryalus Raid (Book 9)? Yep, plagiarism, pure and simple. Granted the Dido episode is quite cool and is a lesson to women everywhere to make sure you’re really married and did not just undergo a fake promise/ceremony.

Yes, yes, I know imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. Consider this: Imagine I wrote about a boy who discovers he’s a wizard and goes to wizard high school. But instead of calling him “Harry” I called him “Bob the boy Wizard,” and instead of going to Hogwarts he went to Omaha High School, do you think JK Rowling wouldn’t sue? Of course, she would. And she’d get a whole pile of money because it’s plagiarism! The only reason Virgil didn’t end up in jail in Rome (besides the fact that he was Augustus’ buddy) was that Homer had long since rotted in his grave.

Right now I’m thinking about writing a novel—it’s about a man who tries to sail home after a long battle. But the gods interfere, and in the years it takes to get home, he meets lots of weird creatures, including a Cyclops. I’m thinking of calling it the Long Voyage Home. The title’s not as catchy as The Odyssey, but hey, Homer can’t sue me either.