Q:

On page 2, Lethem writes “…I discovered Burroughs had incorporated snippets of other writers’ texts into his work, an action I knew my teachers would have called plagiarism.” This quote stands out to me because it really dives into the theme of this article and sets up the reader with some things to consider. It makes me wonder where the line between influence and stolen ideas can be drawn. If one never closely approaches plagiarism, there is no way for new ideas to be created and branch off the already pre-existing ideas. However, stealing ideas and creating them into your own is also just as much as an issue. Seeing this quote made me wonder what Lethem began to consider as plagiarism, as he seems unsure with his teachers’ definition of it.

C:

I personally connect with this quote as a writer myself. Much of my writing pieces have been constructed through the ideas of others. I’ve included famous sayings, characters who are incredibly similar to pre-existing characters, etc. Many of these ideas were not made up on my own, so it is difficult to place whether or not they can be considered “stolen.” Though I would look at them as inspiration in order for my own thoughts and choices to occur after the initial idea (like Lethem thinks), some may see this as plagiarism of sorts.

Q:

How can we know whether or not our ideas are stolen or inspired? Is the definition different for everyone, or is there a criteria?