Blog 3

“How does Johnson-Eilola and Selber’s concept of assemblage relate to remix? Where do we draw the line between plagiarism and originality? Are there any parts of this article that confuse you?”

Johnson-Eilola and Selber's concept of assemblage is very similar to the concept of a remix. Essentially, both are when you take parts of something that was already created and you change it to make it your own, while still including some of the original piece. Many people like to say that originality is when a person comes up with an idea completely on their own and doesn't borrow from other preexisting ideas. However, others argue that originality is being able to take a preexisting piece and change parts of it to make it your own. I think depending on a person's views on plagiarism, the gap between plagiarism and originality is different. For some there is a relatively distinct line between plagiarism and originality, while for others they may not be so strict or there could be a lot of grey area. The part of the article that confused me the most is where people draw the line when it comes to plagiarism. How much of an original work needs to be altered in order to be considered original and not just a copy of the work? I also had a hard time following when they talked about the different templates on the internet. I understand the basic concept that people create these different templates to allow people to use and have a basis to start somewhere, but I had a hard time following the rest of it. Overall I think the concept of the article is straightforward. We cannot define originality by just creating original works, but we need to respect and celebrate all forms of creativity that people have so they don't feel like using other people's work is looked down upon.