Re: Grading, Plagiarism, Webbed Writing and ...

Dean Rehberger (rehberge@PILOT.MSU.EDU)
Mon, 5 Aug 1996 15:54:55 -0500

I agree with Chris. The student has learned a great lesson of the Web.
The idea of linking discourses is as old as rhetoric and I would argue
central to the history of rhetoric. It is only a function of the rise of
the middle class (to use a cheap functionalist argument that we all know
can be made more complex with just about any theorist from Jameson to
Foucault) and the focus on originality and independent thinking (a cover
for the continual linking of discourses).

Or you could argue that the student has shown independent thinking if you
want to use our old saws. But eiher way, it makes a great point for a
great class discussion (and the student should be rewareded).

>I think this student should get an A for the quiz and likely the course.
>After all, if he only linked to the other students' pages, then he
>illustrated part of what using the Web is all about. Grades, schmades...
>the students who responded negatively are still getting the grades they
>earned-- just as they would if the student in question spontaneously
>combusted. The comparison has little value, but the value of his thinking
>does. After all, when we approach a problem regarding the web or
>utilizing a web, creation of original content is one of the last ways to go.
>
>c
>
>--
>Chris Lott
>fncll@aurora.alaska.edu

Dean Rehberger
American Thought and Language/Michigan State University
e-mail: rehberge@pilot.msu.edu/URL http://www.msu.edu/user/rehberge
Office: (517) 432-2568/Home: (517) 332-2865/Fax: (517) 353-5250