Citizen of the Month » My Original Poem

My Original Poem

Today I wrote a poem titled “Supper Party.” I have heard some criticism that my poem is nothing but a plagiarized version of Lynn’s poem titled “Dinner Party,” which she wrote on her blog, Sprigs.

That is absolutely ridiculous. I know plagiarism is all in the news today because Harvard student, Kaavya Viswanathan, “supposedly” copied a large portion of her book, “How Opal Mehta Got Kissed, Got Wild and Got a Life” from a book by Megan McCafferty.

So, now it’s witch hunt time. Frankly, I think everyone is just jealous of Ms. Viswanathan because she was written about in the New York Times, received a two-book deal worth $500,000, and Dreamworks bought the film rights.

And now the green-eyed monster of envy is focused on me!

This is my poem, not Lynn’s.

Don’t you people understand writers and writing? While it is true that there are many similarities, so what? Don’t you realize that there are only six original stories out there? How many novels begin with “It’s a dark and stormy night…?” Is that so-called “plagiarism” also?” How many times during a movie chase scene do the bad guys fall off a cliff into the water? Or into a fruit stand? Plagiarism? Of course not.

I think Ms. Viswanathan clearly explained it all in her touching public comment:

“While the central stories of my book and hers are completely different, I wasn’t aware of how much I may have internalized Ms. McCafferty’s words. I am a huge fan of her work and can honestly say that any phrasing similarities between her works and mine were completely unintentional and unconscious. [note: many of the paragraphs were stolen verbatim] My publisher and I plan to revise my novel for future printings to eliminate any inappropriate similarities. I sincerely apologize to Megan McCafferty and to any who feel they have been misled by these unintentional errors on my part.”

Case closed.

I am a big fan of Lynn and her poetry. Perhaps I “internalized” some of her words, but this poem is ALL MINE. Please enjoy it.

SUPPER PARTY

They don’t know she can hear them.
Drunk in the next room, they
think she’s playing in the FRONT yard.
But she’s slipped in through the sliding
glass doors and listens to their every word.

She loves to eavesdrop on adults.
Makes her feel grown up just listening.
Usually they complain about the President
or taxes. Sometimes her father entertains
the guests with stories about Korea
or, if drunk enough, by singing a ELVIS tune.

See for yourself how completely different Lynn’s poem is from my poem (and to be perfectly honest, much inferior to mine).

As for Kaavya Viswanathan, how much do you want to bet that this notoriety will only help her sell books?

Moral of the story: Deceit and lying is morally OK, but only if you’re young, hot, and from an Ivy League school.

writer

Tags: Harvard, Kaavya Viswanathan, Megan McCafferty, plagiarism, poetry, writing

29 Comments so far
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Haters, man. See, what no one seems to realize is that you are an artist with a special gift. I mean besides your magical talking, typing penis.

This comment is comprised entirely of individual words taken from this and your past posts.

Man, your modifications make all. the. difference.

What modifications are you talking about?

You know the ones: supper, front, Elvis. Brilliant.

Mine is a completely original poem. You are crazy. Any phrasing similarities between your scribblings and my poetry are completely unintentional and unconscious. Eating supper or dinner is a fairly common theme. Like, duh.

That’s it. I am so coming over there and poking you in the eyes.

Lynn, poking in the eyes isn’t harsh enough. Time to get out the spanking machine!

Interesting social commentary. Love it.

Everyone eats, there’s bound to be similarities and such.

Have you been to my new blog, Resident of the Month? I write about my failing marriage and ongoing relationship with my spouse and stalk my opposite sex readers….

A very original idea that just sort of came to me one day.

Well, if we're going to take plagiarism to the next level we must look at the Cliffs Notes guy…he's openly making a profit off of other peoples works and doing it LEGALLY. That's where the money is. Cliff was my best friend in college…and so was Jack Daniels, but thats a WHOLE other story.

Yes, what’s new under the sun? (alternative, oriental - under the moon)

Cabriole leg, like my design Theory 201 prof used to say, was reinterpreted 100 times through the ages. Intuitively and genuinely.

And she was right to steal from the other one, whatsthename: who reads all the regurgitated crap that’s the bookstores are full of, anyway?

Kaavya Viswanathan? Is she really all that hot though?

Lizardek, the problem with the spanking machine is everyone seems to like it. It’s not punishment at all.

Right, Neil?

Neil, you would be the victim of plagiarism, not the perpetrator! You write so well!

Nancy

you’re hot too, who was hot first? and i’m sure you went to an ivy league school, or at least one that had an ivy plant in the office. same thing.

I knew there was a reason why I should have gone to an Ivy League school. Is it too late?

Maybe I should show your poem to my students - who have no clue what plagiarism is. Cutting and pasting from the internet is definitely not plagiarism to them.

Oh, and I forgot to mention that we use that cool software package called “turnitin” to detect plagiarism in students’ papers. It is actually pretty cool.

How high tech and cool. Unfortunately, as an only child, I never had the opportunity to use my older sister's term paper on The French Revolution as my own. But sections of the World Book always came in handy. Does anyone use the World Book anymore?

Whenever I write a post lately I’m always paranoid that someone else has already written pretty much the exact same thing (only better). At least it won’t be that way with my new book, Gone with the Breeze.

As I see it, your poem and Lynn’s, they tap into a sort of universal zeitgeist, and are clearly meant to be a package. You know, as in, not one without the other. I mean, they are both o.k. on their own, but together…you have just collectively revolutionized modern poetry. Congratulations!

No Neil, no one uses the World Book anymore, hence the unemployment spike from all those jobless door-to-door encyclopedia salesmen (they were all men weren’t they?). Now we use http://www.wikipedia.com.

my boss knows this chick. i agree on cliff and his notes. he found a loophole.

There’s a porn video called The Dinner Party. I think you guys both plagarized from that.

Be young and hot. Got it.

I’m worried that the paper I’m writing borrows too heavily from another paper. So if I’m hearing you right, I don’t need to modify the paper, but rather just wear a little more make-up and perhaps a lower-cut blouse?

[...] Kaavya Viswanathan, the Harvard undergraduate who's been accused of liberal 'borrowing' for How Opal Mehta got Kissed, Got Wild and Got a Life. I had just written a post about her, so I was very familiar with her situation. [...]

I’m so sorry anyone accused you of stealing. First off, you have to be an idiot not to know that supper and dinner are completely different. At least in THIS country! America! Supper is eaten at five and dinner at seven or eight. If you don’t know that then just go back to wherever you’re from and leave us alone! Support our troops!!!

It’s all about the greenbacks. If The Da Vinci Code had only sold 10,000 copies, do you think Lee and Baigent would give a rat’s ass? Hell no. Only when they saw a pay out from both the book and the movie, did they go after Brown.

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