In "Something Borrowed", Gladwell asks what constitues plaigarism. He begins by talking about a play that was produced by Bryony Lavery that had a lot of lines and ideas from a book he wrote. He claims how this is plaigarism because it was copied exactly from his own words. But then he goes on to talk about music, and how it is not as easily "owned". He claims how people can copy something without even realizing they are doing it. He uses this frame of mind to continue thinking about the copying of his book. He wonders if maybe Lavery had the right to use his information. That she still changed the story line behind his work, to make it into her own story. Gladwell concludes talking about how words will last forever, and will probably be used many times, without anyone being aware.
I really liked this article. At first I was confused because I thought it seemed like Dorothy Lewis was writing the article, but then I realized Gladwell just summarized her in his book. After that I like the example he used with the music, that it's hard to distinguish between plagairism and just not knowing you are using it; maybe because you heard it or read it once and it just stuck in your head, but you don't recall remembering it. I felt bad for the lady who used Gladwell's work in her play. She seemed genuine, and that she really didn't mean to hurt him. Overall, the article gave me a new perspective on plagiarism, and I am glad it's not a tell all definition.
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