Kaavya Viswanathan

[Matterhorn Fan]

I'm suprised this isn't on the LoT yet. (If it is, I didn't see the thread--I haven't been here for a few days and there's a lot of new stuff.)

Basically, this 19-year old Harvard student and author of some chick-lit book that I never intend to read is accused of plagiarising 40+ passages from 2 other books. She claims that this is a genuine mistake, and that she must have "internalized" those books more than she knew.

I think she's a liar.

Here's a link to the story in the NYTimes from a couple days ago: http://www.nytimes.com/2006/04/25/books/25book.html?_r=1&oref=slogin

[Gemini Cricket]

It's been all over the news here in Boston. You know, her being a Harvard student and all.
I haven't read her book nor the one she may have copied.

[Matterhorn Fan]

While digging up that link, I spotted a headline that said she may be taking a "break" from Harvard.

[Stan4dSteph]

Was the book she allegedly plagiarized somewhat obscure? I bet she was hoping no one would notice.

[katiesue]

The article says they were popular books.

I'd guess she was hoping no one would notice as well.

[Alex]

I don't know. I'm willing to give her the benefit of the doubt if she is anything like me (and I haven't looked at the passages closely).

Not to be immodest but I have a pretty powerful memory for exact writing when it is something that clicks with me. It isn't uncommon for me, when trying to summarize someone's writing to end up using exact or near exact passaages without intending to. This was useful when I took the AP History exam and I was able to quote several consecutive paragraphs of a Thomas Jefferson essay from memory. Not so useful when I don't realize I'm doing it, which is often.

I can easily see sitting down to right a book in a style inspired by some specific books I've read and unintentionally spewing out very similar and at times exactly similar segments without realizing I had moved so close to the source material.

If the passages are all short like I've seen in newspaper articles then I'll cut her slack. If some are longer then I'll turn on her.

I also don't see why Harvard should get involved (as many have been saying Harvard should expel her). She wrote the books after she was accepted and they are entirely separate from her academic work (though professors might want to take a closer look at anything she has written for them).

[innerSpaceman]

Yeah, none of Harvard's frelling business.

I know that zapppop has a phonographic memory, and can remember everything he's ever heard with astounding precision. Who knows if someone with a photographic memory has so much text in their heads that they sometimes confuse imitation with the exact source.

I would say cut her some slack ... but since she's in Massachusetts, I say BURN THE WITCH!!!

[SzczerbiakManiac]

I have a pornographic memory. Everything I remember becomes a sex scene in my mind.

[Ghoulish Delight]

I have a pornographic memory. Everything I remember becomes a sex scene in my mind. Considering some of the links you post...that disturbs me. ;) I mean, I like the Optimus Keyboard as much as the next guy but...

[Motorboat Cruiser]

I know that zapppop has a phonographic memory, and can remember everything he's ever heard with astounding precision. Who knows if someone with a photographic memory has so much text in their heads that they sometimes confuse imitation with the exact source.



I can relate, in the sense that I'm very good at remembering pieces of music that I have heard before and can generally play something pretty accurately, even if I haven't heard if for 10 years.

But I'm usually very aware of the source during my own recollection, and if I'm not, the one thing I am pretty certain of is that the source isn't ME.

I guess I have a hard time understanding how she could include something close to verbatim in her books and yet have this same material not ring any bells when she was writing it. If I was "borrowing" from someone else while writing something, I would like to think that I would be aware of it while doing so. And if I was aware, I would certainly alter it enough to where it wasn't easily recognizable as someone elses work.

[innerSpaceman]

^ If you weren't an idiot, as well as a plagerist.



Hmmmph, shows you what kind of dolts they admit to Harvard nowadays.

[Janie]

Harvard isn't all that great. When I met my best friend's DH who graduated from Harvard, he was boring as a pair of used bedroom slippers and his "snooty Harvard" attitude grated on my nerves but then again, I'm fully aware that my attitude grates on some people's nerves.:D

[Alex]

Like I said, I do it all the time without realizing I'm using the exact same words as someone else. It is actually someone that causes me to seize up whenever I try to write fiction and I know someone has written anything remotely similar.

But she's 19. She got herself into a situation with a lot of hype and a lot of pressure. I can easily believe that she decided to cheat but I can easily believe that it was unconscious on her part.

[Matterhorn Fan]

Unconscious or not, plagiarism is plagiarism.

[Alex]

I'm not saying its not. But she has owned up to the plagiarism part of it. If she is telling the truth about it being unintentional then she has handled it quite graciously in my opinion.

If she is lying about it then she should be scorned. I'm just saying that I'm willing to take her at her word with the information I currently have about it all.

[Moonliner]

I don't know. I'm willing to give her the benefit of the doubt if she is anything like me (and I haven't looked at the passages closely).

Not to be immodest but I have a pretty powerful memory for exact writing when it is something that clicks with me. It isn't uncommon for me, when trying to summarize someone's writing to end up using exact or near exact passaages without intending to. This was useful when I took the AP History exam and I was able to quote several consecutive paragraphs of a Thomas Jefferson essay from memory. Not so useful when I don't realize I'm doing it, which is often.

I can easily see sitting down to right a book in a style inspired by some specific books I've read and unintentionally spewing out very similar and at times exactly similar segments without realizing I had moved so close to the source material.

If the passages are all short like I've seen in newspaper articles then I'll cut her slack. If some are longer then I'll turn on her.

I also don't see why Harvard should get involved (as many have been saying Harvard should expel her). She wrote the books after she was accepted and they are entirely separate from her academic work (though professors might want to take a closer look at anything she has written for them).

[Alex]

Couldn't have said it better myself.

[Not Afraid]

So, why is it you remember things with exactitude but you don't remember that they came from somdwhere else?

[Alex]

Because I'm not remembering them as exact. I store away what I read and then when I try to write about things later my brain spews out words and stuff. It's not photographic like I can picture in my head the page with the words on them, they are just the words that come out when I try to write about something. 99% of the time it is completely original composition. But not an insignificant amount of the time my brain just spits it back out the way it went in. If I am specifically trying to regurgitate something I will realize it but if not then it passes unnoticed.

In short, I don't know why.

[Not Afraid]

Fascinating.

I have a horrible linear memory but my visual memory is great. I just think it is interesting how the mind works - or doesn't.

[€uroMeinke]

My memory summarizes - I think the rest of you are liars and plagerists, or so my resentment leads me to believe...

[Prudence]

I'd cut her some slack. In class we had to listen to "He's So Fine" and "My Sweet Lord" over and over and over again. I don't think George Harrison intentionally plagiarised, but damn he sure wrote the same song.

I suspect that this sort of thing happens more often than we're aware of, but generally only comes to light when the both the original and and the copy are popular works.

[Kevy Baby]

I have a horrible linear memory but my visual memory is great. I just think it is interesting how the mind works - or doesn't.I'm a peripheral visionary: I can see into the future, but only way off to the sides*







* Plagiarised from Steven Wright