Miscellaneous and Difficult Cases

... ...

Profiles in Plagiarism: Miscellaneous and Difficult Cases

________________________________________________________________________________

Llinos Dafydd

Participation in and contributions to Welsh cultural events; Writing for Golwg magazine

Twenty year old Llinos Dafydd took the crown at the 2005 Urdd Eisteddfod (Welsh Language Youth Festival) based upon what were thought to be highly "creative" pose pieces such as a dialogue between a pedophile and a teenage girl in an Internet chat room.

Dafydd had actually lifted some of her creative content from another Welsh author by the name of Heiddwen Thomas. This lifting came to be discovered after a portion of Dafydd's work was read aloud at the annual Urdd Eisteddfod and a member of the audience recognized Heidwen Thomas's authorial imprint in Dafydd's prose reading.

As a result of this discovery, the young journalist was forced to abdicate, relinquishing the crown to Gwenno Mair Davies. Dafydd admitted that she had been "negligent and careless in using quotations from the work of authors, without acknowledging the fact . . . They were all extracts that inspired me to write my own work but I accept that I should have noted clearly they were quotations" ("Festival Winner Returns Crown", BBC News).

As Ms. Dafydd has come to find out, exposure of plagiary in full view of the public is a rather uncomfortable experience. Other journalists have learned from such "transgressive intertextuality" (Pennycook et al)--take as an example the case of Nina Totenberg who learned early on in her own journalism career the perils of unacknowledged derivation.

Yet there are others who have committed mid-career to late career plagiarism after leaving a pattern of unacknowledged derivation for investigative committees and managers to sift through (c.f the cases of Jack Kelley, Stephen Dunphy, and Tom Squitieri).

With regard to curbing a penchant for plagiary, analysis of such cases seems to indicate the following:

the sooner the better

better late than never

References

End Profile MISC-2005-LD

... ...

________________________________________________________________________________

Helen Keller

Green: Low Risk

Overcoming childhood handicaps of deafness, blindness

Known worldwide for her remarkable accomplishments in overcoming the dual physical handicaps of deafness and blindness, Helen Keller embodies the strength and determination of the human spirit in the presence of great adversity. Her story is shared by Anne Sullivan as well, the teacher who patiently worked with Helen and helped her to unlock the mysteries of language in the absence of sound and sight. That the acquisition of language and extremely powerful forms of written expression could be within the reach of a disabled child such as Helen aroused incredulity in some, and sheer amazement in others.

In the space of a few short years, Helen would become an articulate young woman, a greatly gifted writer of beautifully penned letters, stories and books. In the process of her language development, an unfortunate incident known as the “Frost King” episode called into question the integrity of Helen and her teacher. Helen was accused of copying a story by Margaret Canby, with Anne Sullivan named as a possible collaborator in this case of alleged plagiarism. The “plagiarism” incident left deep scars on the young Helen, and it brings up some very important considerations with regard to plagiarism, originality of expression, mimicry, and memory.

The technical term cryptomnesia refers to the phenomenon of having an idea which one believes to be original, but which is actually derived from some other source. These “hidden memories” lurk in our subconscious minds, and sometimes come forth to masquerade as original thinking.

Memory retrieval is often triggered by appropriate cues, such as emotional or sensory stimuli. Within our memories there exist a large number of concepts and patterns which are used to recognize incoming new patterns and stimuli. And these new, incoming stimuli are interpretable only so far as the input is meaningful in some way in relation to this previous knowledge. Mnemonic systems for learning capitalize on ways to make new information input meaningful in some way.

The theory underlying discussions of memory suggests strongly that Helen Keller was undergoing a special case of cryptomnesia when she wrote the “Frost King” story. For one thing, when she first heard Margaret Canby’s story at the age of eight, she was receiving much new input which would have been stored as a part of her remembered system of concepts and patterns. Canby’s story seems to have been an important pattern stored away, perhaps associated with other sensory stimuli such as autumn smells and cool breezes.

At the age of eleven, when Anne Sullivan was relating her description of the autumn leaves to Helen, this memory retrieval cue evoked “The Frost Fairies” story which had been stored away in Helen’s memory when she was first becoming aware of the world around her. The mental pictures spelled into her hand when Helen was eight, were recalled again three years later by relevant retrieval cues, and this explains the remarkable similarities—with important differences—which are evident in Helen Keller’s “Frost King” and Margaret Canby’s “The Frost Fairies”.

The vindication of Helen Keller comes mainly from her own writing. She did not need to “parrot” the words of anyone else in writing her own autobiography and subsequent works. And she would prove later that she would be able to function without having to rely completely on Anne Sullivan. After Anne’s death in 1936, Helen carried on with a busy career in lecturing, writing, traveling and promoting the interests of the disabled until the very end of her life.

To think that an eleven year old girl could be seriously charged with plagiarism is indeed a ludicrous thought—particularly when so much learning that occurs results from imitation and mimicry. It is only through development of writing ability over time that writers attain a degree of originality. Of course, acknowledgement is the accepted convention for indicating reliance on other sources. But what does one do when the influence is not remembered, when the subconscious mind has retained words, phrases, or even an entire story? The “Frost King” episode does not quite seem to be a case of plagiarism.

Subconscious influence is something other than plagiarism—derivation, imitation, mimicry, cryptomnesia, but not deliberate theft. By its very definition, plagiarism must be an intentional, deliberate act of deception—an on purpose “kidnapping” of the words and phrases of another author. If it is un-intentional, it cannot and should not be called plagiarism. Unintentionally committing a deliberate, intentional act of deception is a logical impossibility.

After completing her education Helen led a busy life as a lecturer, writer, and activist on behalf of the disabled until her death in 1968. She had learned to speak at the Horace Mann School for the Deaf in Boston, and this meant that she was able to travel and lecture across America. In addition to these national lecture tours, Helen also traveled overseas to countries in Europe, Asia, and Africa where her message brought hope to the physically handicapped. She even spent a few years on the vaudeville circuit and made a movie about her life experiences.

By the end of her life she had obtained a college education, she had traveled the world, she had written fourteen books, she had served on the Massachusetts Commission for the Blind, she had established an endowment fund for the American Foundation of the Blind—in retrospect, she had accomplished far more in one lifetime than most “normal” people would if they were given several lifetimes. And this was done by a girl who had gotten a relatively late start in life, not even learning to communicate until the age of seven! What a life—what a unique accomplishment!

References

End Profile MISC-1891-HK

... ...

________________________________________________________________________________

Matthew Lesko

Free Money !

"Late-night TV infomercial icon"; Trademark bright colored suits emblazoned with question marks and exclamation points; "free money" advice, books, and info/consulting

Overview:

What an embarrassment to the family name! Oh, the shame of it--having to write up a famous plagiarist by the name of Lesko.

At least he's my long, long, long, lost cousin Matthew--a very, very, very, VERY distant relation--or something like that--and not a member of the immediate family.

Matthew, or just Matty as we used to call him at the family reunions, seemed to start out all right. He was always sort of quiet, kept to himself mostly, never caused any trouble. Who could have ever predicted that later in life he would become a con-artist and plagiarist of government documents? And a second rate plagiarist at that.

Lesko freely admits helping himself to government documents in his so-called "research" toward helping people get lots and lots of "free money".

In a review of "Mr. Info", Wendy Guild Swearingen points out that Lesko has worked as "an information consultant to Fortune 500 companies . . . a columnist, best-selling author, and regular talk show guest . . . [with] fifty books, e-books, and CDs to his credit". Lesko's goal seems to be a helpful committment to showing folks how to get free money from the government, just like "elephant hunting . . . Man, you bag one of those suckers and you've got meat for a long, long time" ("Mr. Info: Take the Money--It's Free!").

But there is a problem with Lesko's mode of publication. "Lesko has a unique writing process: plagiarism", says Swearingen. "He simply cut and pasted text from government publications for his first New York Times bestseller, and has been 'writing' that way ever since".

One blogger describes Lesko as "the Riddler-meets-Joker human cartoon who hypes his Free Money books on TV infomercials", a reference to Lesko's trademark suits, bright in color and emblazoned with question marks (and occasionally exclamation points). This blogger goes on to lament having been suckered in by Lesko and buying one of his books, finding himself "sorely disappointed" and questioning Lesko's composing strategies as did Swearingen: "Free Money for Repurposing Publicly Available Information, anyone?"

Lesko's "free money" antics are somewhat of a cultural phenomenon, with one artist by the name of WolfmaN painting a Mona Lesko spoof! Good grief, Matty ! What's next !?!?

The Mona Lesko

There are many Lesko spoofs and Lesko wannabes on the Internet and at parties on any given weekend. Take as just one example the following photo from a blogger writing about this strange dude "adorned in various loud, multi-colored suits, covered with question marks, squawking about how the government will give you free money to pay credit card bills, go back to school, pay your rent, etc...":

One of many Lesko Wannabes

And Lesko has also featured in political misadventures with the likes of Joe Lieberman:

In a speech outside the Capitol building Thursday, Matthew Lesko, author of Free Money To Change Your Life and Hey, Here's Some Money, Damn It, one the bill's most vociferous opponents, argued against repealing the grants by extolling the benefits of free government money.

"YOU CAN GET FIVE THOUSAND TO RUN FOR CONGRESS!" shouted Lesko, clad in a question mark-laden costume, while wildly gesticulating. "AND SIX THOUSAND TO OPEN A REPAIR SHOP!"

He added: "IT'S ALL IN MY NEW BOOK! ORDER NOW!"

Lesko then shot his arms out and flew around his podium, pantomiming an airplane.

Following Lesko's address, a video featuring several recipients of federal grants was shown. (from Witty Tirade National News)

Pay no attention to my crazy cousin . . . he's really gone off his rocker this time. Come on, Matt! Why haven't you offered to share any of the dough with me and the rest of the family?

Ask Lesko . . . Ask Matthew Lesko about $$$ (at your own risk!)

Ask Dr. Lesko about plagiarism!





References

End Profile MISC-2005-ML

... ...

________________________________________________________________________________

Carlos Alberto Parreira

Leading Brazil to the 1994 World Cup

The coach who led Brazil to the 1994 World Cup has been accused of interlingually lifting an old English football manual for use in the book Tactical Evolution and Strategies of the Game. Carlos Alberto Parreira, Brazil's national football coach, is alleged to have lifted the content of a 1973 work by Charles Hughes, Tactics and Teamwork, published by the English Football Association.

Much of the content is now outdated, but that did not stop the Brazilian School of Football from publishing Parreira's derivative work after a number of university lectures delivered by the famous football coach.

Parreira admits having translated materials from foreign sources for use in his lectures and passing these translations along to the Brazilian School of Football, but he denies having authorized their publication: "This is not my book . . . I don't have a book."

He also clarifies the target audience for his new manual--soccer coaches in training rather than a general readership. However, the fact that his name appears on the work has created a "plagiarism row" for the Brazilian coach, the BBC gleefully seizing on this story courtesy of Steve Kingstone, Sao Paulo correspondent for the BBC News.

References

End Profile MISC-2005-CAP

... ...

________________________________________________________________________________

Jack Vettriano

Blue: Guarded Risk

Popular paintings result from Vettriano's self-taught background; He is known as the "People's Painter" for this popularity, but remains somewhat of an outcast among members of the art establishment in Scotland

After being "nabbed red handed with his figure painting for beginners manual poking out from the shadows of his easel" (Pickles, A. "Painting by the Book"), Scottish artist Jack Vettriano has been widely criticized in the media by members of the art establishment who seem to resent the self-taught nature of the "People's Painter".

Accused of "plagiarising his most famous painting ['The Singing Butler'] from a reference book" Vettriano has responded with a defense of his technique as well as a reference to his self-taught background and poverty stricken early years as an impecunious, *starving artist* in an Edinburgh flat (Christian, N. "Vettriano Breaks Silence To Strike Back Over Plagiarism Claims").

During those years, Vettriano claims that he couldn't afford to pay for live models and instead foraged around for sources of inspiration to create his works of art: "When an artist wants to create a painting he will forage around anywhere to get material . . . What people don't appreciate is that the manual was only a part of the process . . . no more than a tool, just like brushes or a canvas . . . " (Christian, N.).

The painting in question, Vettriano's "The Singing Butler", sold for a whopping £750,000 British pounds.

The Singing Butler

And although his popular paintings have made a fortune for the self-taught artist, they have been criticized as being "rather like a second-rate Sunday evening TV drama series -- colours too bright and bold, motives too crassly financial, creativity too obviously formulaic. And all vaguely grubby but somehow cheesily attractive" (Pickles, A.).

As if the snooty members of the art establishment have never used a scrap of tracing paper themselves!?! As if they've never used one of those projector gadgets to reproduce an image from a magazine, photo, or image that caught their fancy in the process of composing their objets d'art and masterpiece ouvres. "Now if only those masterpieces would sell like those of this nobody Vetrianno!"

References

End Profile MISC-2005-JV

... ...

________________________________________________________________________________