Kaavya Viswanathan

[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).