Journal Response #4

A composing framework of remix and assemblage results in work that is very different, for better or for worse, than work that is entirely original. As Selber and Eilola mention, the increased accessibility of texts (via archives, digital portfolios, etc) have brought about a new and sometimes cloudy fusion between remixes (samples, citations, etc) and original work. Never before have the two been so closely intertwined. While there is a lot to be gained from this vast pool of usable resources, there is also a sense of authenticity and originality that is being lost. The ability to remix other writers' works allows us the opportunity to incorporate works that the "remixer" deems to be better or more credible than what they themselves feel capable of bringing into fruition. For this reason, I think   remixing other writers' works is a nod of respect, an admission that the work with samples is better than it otherwise could have been. What is said to be lost in the practice of remixing works is a sense of ownership and notoriety, but I don't see it like this. In a world with 7.6 billion people, an original thought or idea is a modern day rarity, so I don't see it fair to claim that a work is unoriginal simply because it features another writer's ideas, which more likely than not had been contemplated by someone else in a previous time.

Journal Response 4

To remix and assemblage is to do something new. Everything in our society now-a-days is a remix. Movie plots, books, everything has inspiration draw from something else. I do not think remix is a negative thing, though. With the help of old content and new ideas, we can get a better understanding of a subject matter.

Remix and assemblage is essentially using your own thoughts and taking inspiration from other sources. The whole remix and plagiarism thing is quite contradicting. Plagiarism is frowned upon, but if you copy the exact text and cite the author, it is okay? Remixing is seen as plagiarism as well, but people are more open to remix only if it gives a new perspective. From remix and assemblage, we gain knowledge that helps us create new works, but we also lose the ability to 100 percent research and think for ourselves.

Our culture is into remixing old trends. Fashion, music, writing; we just put new spins on them by using new media.

Journal 4

When thinking of composing practices, we have to take into account remixing and assemblage. Remixing is taking bits and pieces from other works and putting them together as one. When I first thought of remixing, I thought of the music industry. It has become so popular during this day in age for musicians to take parts or beats from other songs, and form one of there own. In the reading, the authors introduce their views on plagiarism and give us a perspective that relates to remixing and assemblage. They basically show us that it may not be as negative as we have previously known.  However, when I think of plagiarism and remixing, I do not think they are one in the same. Remixing is taking bits of other people’s work, but it is making it new and in a different way. Plagiarism is blatantly copying someone’s work and passing it off as your own. I think the two concepts do relate, but I do not think that they are interchangeable. When thinking about this topic, I did think about the fact that almost nothing is a completely new idea anymore. We are always taking concepts that have been previously taught to us, and putting our own twist on them. We are remixing what we know and have learned. Even when new inventions are created, they are taking items or ideas that have previously been taught to us. I think we live in a very remixed world, overall.

Journal #4

            Every form of writing is somehow a remix. An individual get their ideas from something they read or something they saw and then they gather all of the ideas and write them down in a concise and orderly manner. “Remix” is taking something that has already been done and remaking it to make it your own. Remix and assemblage are beneficial to our understanding of composing practice. They allow people to create new ideas by dissecting old ideas and making them their own. When we think of a remix we think of people remixing a song. The person who remixed it was probably not the individual who made the song. What they did was get a song by a different artist and change certain things about the beat and the order of the lyrics. They take something and make it new and make it their own. It can be better than the original or not as good. Assemblage is taking old ideas and mixing them with new ideas. This is how books and movies are made. In the show Once Upon A Time they get fairytales and add a new twist to them. They modernize something that is old by taking the old stories and telling them in a different light. No longer are the characters one-dimensional because through the use of assemblage they are brought to life.

            There are many benefits of remix and assemblage but there are cons as well. When things are taken and remixed the original message could be lost or ruined.  Remix could also coincide with plagiarism. Its different to use someone else’s ideas and credit them to help your argument but to take their ideas is wrong and illegal and something than can get you kicked out of school. Remixing someone’s ideas could be used as a supplement to your paper but there is a line that once crossed is considered plagiarism. Some people do not even realize they are doing it. Assemblage and remix both have many positive benefits to the understanding of composing practices. It can be used as a tool to teach students how not to plagiarize and how to take ideas and expand on them to make them their own.

Remix allows a person to recreate an original piece and turn it into something of their own making. Many songs that are released come with people remixing their song to bring more awareness to the song and both the artists. On top of that, some artists release "original" songs that share the same production as some of previously released songs. The framework for remix of assemblage allows the writer to gather other thoughts from other readers and helps the writer to formulate their own work and what to put in the work. These writers are sometimes questioned for their originality because their work is taken from many other sources. Some examples of this is could be a researcher paper that gathers information from other sources and people.
The understanding of this can allow for others to gather more information to give their reasoning for topics they are interested in or giving informations about. These practices are better understood through remixing, but can also lead to plagiarism. When taking other's ideas, one must give credit to the works of other or it could lead to legal trouble in one of the other writer's seek legal issues. This is where a fine line of remixing and plagiarism begin to occur because even when credit is given, some of the writers might seek more than just name recognition.
Through remix, a new perspective can be given. New a fresh ideas to the idea, song, or work of art can be brought. It gives a new audience as well and can give the collection of more than one idea to this audience. Through remix, though, credibility can be lost. This can take away recognition from other writers and artist who did the same thing and not give credit to the work they did. As well, originality is lost because the ideas found are from other's and not the writer.

Journal 4

To understand composing practices, one must acknowledge the fact that remixing of assemblage is done frequently. When creating a work, the writer may incorporate the characters, storyline, or information from other sources of work and attempt to make it his/her own version. This type of remix must be looked at because it alters the way the composer operates. Lessig says, “Remix is an essential act of RW creativity. It is the expression of a freedom to take ‘the songs of the day or the old songs’ and create with them.” But this brings up the thoughts of copyright. And not only the need for copyrighting works but also the need to limit copyrighting to maximize inventiveness. Selber and Johnson-Eioloa in “Assemblage” discuss the repercussions and idea of plagiarism and originality in composition. They say, “at least one set of social forces suggests to students that using citations and quotations from source materials will be valued less than their own original text, a situation that may encourage them to conceal their sources.” I think this is important to address because by putting an emphasis on the importance of citing and using credible sources, teachers and professors are putting a damper on the students’ creative thought and actual connection of concepts, but when the students aren’t citing, then they may fall into the plagiarism category. It’s a touchy subject and thin line that deals with the composing of the paper or work. When reading further, I think this issue is perfectly addressed with Selber and Johnson-Eioloa say, “We want to change the goal of writing from performance to action or effect in context.” If this adjustment were to be made across schools, universities, and jobs, this would increase gains when looking at increased action and creativity. But the loss would be that the writers would lose the ability to effectively find out side sources and cite them effectively strengthening their arguments and supporting factors. When composing a work, whether it be a book, song, paper, or article, remix and assemblage play important roles in the process and over all outcome. The gains and losses depend on the person analyzing the case, but both are numerous.

Journal #4

I once read somewhere that no one creates original content: Everything that is created has been modeled after something else that the creator has seen or read. However, I don't believe that remixing and plagiarism are one in the same. Remixing is taking small fragments from multiple mediums and reworking them in a way that was not intended by the original author. Plagiarizing is claiming another artist's work in full as your own.

As soon as elementary aged children learn to compose an essay, we are told not to plagiarize. Teachers threaten students with the possibility of a failing grade if they copy another's work. However, we are taught subconsciously to remix. By teaching children to cite and quote several different authors in a research paper, that child is able to "create" a thesis all their own. They take pieces from each author's work and combine them with other author's opinions and writings to create something unique.

While some may argue that we lose originality in a remix culture, I don't believe this is true. All writing is built on the basis of other writings. Even the Bible, a three thousand year old book, isn't seen as fully "original" by scholars: Several of the stories in the bible are thought to be based off of oral legends and myths. Remixing and assemblage is nothing new for writers. In fact, I think it's natural for humans to take inspiration from other sources to create something new to them.




Morgan Wren

Journal Response #4

        By being able to understand the concept of remixing and assemblage, one can apply it to his or her own creation of a text in a way that is advantageous to the writing. It can improve one's own understanding of how writing happens and where the ideas come from. It can help you distinguish what is your own ideas, to what is someone else's ideas, and to what is maybe a combination of both. Ever since you learn how to write your first essay in elementary school, you are taught that plagiarism is wrong and that copying someone else's words or ideas is not acceptable. So for years you strive to make sure that everything is your own. But with the concept of a remix, it takes some of that burden off. There is a popular saying that goes, "there is noting new under under the sun." This is a perfect way to understand assemblage. There are no new ideas, just ideas you have created by taking previous ideas and mixing them together in a new way. Your new idea or text might be a new way of interpreting something or might give a new perspective, but the things/words it is composed of are not new. That is what remixing and assemblage is.
        While the commonly known definition of plagiarism is stealing someone's ideas word for word, from the remixing perspective, technically everything is a form of plagiarism. While teachers tell us we can't steal other people's ideas, they also want us to use sources and evidence from previous people's work but do that without stealing. Basically, what teacher's want is a remix that gives a new perspective, and by understanding this, we can write and create better. This is what we gain from understanding assemblage. We gain knowledge that helps us form and create, and we can now successfully use other people's ideas without stealing them. What we lose from this is our sense of ingenuity and creative. By realizing that we aren't creating anything that is wholly new, it sort of stifles our imagination and might make the creator feel like he or she can't create.

Journal Response 4

The concept of a “remix” can be understood as remaking something that has already been done before. This meaning may seem like the definition of a remix is like plagiarism, which is essentially copying or getting someone’s else’s work for your benefit and creating something out of that. In fact, everything around us is practically a remix of something else. Everything we have comes from something else; we all get inspired by different ideas and make it our own. Novels, TV shows, movies, etc., are all formed by their own ideas with some help of other stories and ideas already made. The process of remix and assemblage does benefit the process of composition because we all have something to gain from other texts and improve it by using that support and being able to expand the text or media in that way.

Remix can be referred to anything that has been altered from its original form, such as a remix of a song, which is the most common form of remixing. However, remixing can be done to any forms of media. Assemblage is when something, or a form of text, incorporates new ideas with a previous old idea. Those two terms and their meanings might be similar because in a way you are still changing the old form of the media or text and making something new, while still using the original form as a “base” or some sort of inspiration. We can gain a lot from both remix and assemblage. For instance, by remixing, we can have a whole new text or media using different ideas and create something different. However, one negative aspect of remixing is that the more it is done with a certain concept, it could become redundant to have several remixes of the same concept all over again. I’m all for remixing but if it is done in moderation. We can all gain from assemblage in the fact that we all can contribute to a media piece or writing by adding our own ideas and using those old ideas as support. By having those old ideas there, they can be used to make an argument stronger, include different point of views and make the narrative or writing even better.

Journal #4

Remixing, according to Lessig, simply means that someone is drawing influence from other works to create something new. J.Cole, states "you were inspired by the world, now let the world be inspired by you". Here, he means that no one is one hundred percent original, and we should all share ideas. The composing framework of remix of assemblage teaches us several things about composing practices. Remixing is inevitable, but it must be done so in a tasteful way as to not offend the originators. We gain new perspectives on old subjects through this practice of remixing, become more connected to the original work, but the work may lose its uniqueness in the process.

A Thomas Sowell (political commentator) quote that rings true for me here is: "There's nothing older than the idea that something is new". Though he is speaking about politics, the same can be said for writing: everything has been derived from something else. Even the great Shakespeare drew upon old Roman and Greek myths for several of his plays. He remixed these into (then modern) tales of history, tragedy and comedy. Shakespeare is viewed as the quintessential playwright of his time. This extends to modern day as he is still viewed as an artistic genius. Even someone who is so creative derives his work from previously established pieces. The beauty of Shakespeare's work is in his remixing. He takes ancient stories and gives them a (then modern) twist, proving that the same tropes have existed throughout history. Furthermore, people in modern day remix Shakespeare's work, proving that his stories remain relevant today. People, who do not quite understand (or even enjoy) Shakespeare's language, can connect with his stories through modern day versions of his plays. So, by watching modern arrangements of Shakespeare, people connect with stories from Renaissance period and from the Classical period in human history.

Of course, not all of us are Shakespeare-esque. Not everyone is a lyrical genius, and sometimes, we do a poor job or remixing people's works. Examples of this can be seen in pop culture, where the common practice of using others' instrumentation or lyrics can be done so in good or bad taste. This can draw attention away from the original work or even cause controversy.

Journal #4

From the moment you're able to comprehend the subject-- maybe in third or fourth grade-- teachers aggressively emphasize the horrific nature of plagiarism, that it is one of the worst crimes we as students could ever commit. However, with the idea of assemblage, it spins plagiarism on its head. I don't think Eiola and Selber are trying to give students a way to plagiarize and not be reprimanded for it, but they open up discussion to a different type of assignment.

Throughout college, I've had to do many papers like the ones suggested in the article. I create a main point, but I use articles and essays and documents that have already been published to support my claim. By having different sources by various writers and various opinions, the paper can become much more nuanced and in depth than any paper strictly based on my own opinion. By remixing all the points of view, you get something new from articles that might be years old. The difference between this and plagiarism is you're not calling everything you're own: you're using it as support and evidence.

Even take popular media, such as Buzzfeed. Many of their articles and galleries take old media and remix it into something new. They use photos from Disney movies, other peoples' Instagram posts, tumblr posts, etc. They never claim to own these mediums, but they use them in new ways and create new posts with them. Without the added support of those posts, the articles Buzzfeed posts probably wouldn't exist.

Our culture is becoming an assemblage/remix culture and there's no turning back. I don't think it's a bad thing either. It just means we are taking in multiple mediums, meshing them together, and creating new remixes from them.

Journal #4

The understanding of remix and assemblage allows us to benefit from the process of composition.With plagiarism being such a forbidden act and sensitive topic to discuss, these two authors justify that there is a grey area when it comes to “copying” someone’s words and/or ideas. Essentially, a topic of writing always stems from something and never starts from nothing. When I think of the word remixed, I think of a mix tape that has altered songs that connect together to make one new song. Remixed, however, can apply to any form of media that is altered. Assemblage is the form of something new that is incorporated with something old. These two words are extremely similar to me being that they both are used to form something completely new, something that’s never been done before. From what I interpreted from the readings, is that remixed is less clear in identifying what’s old and new and to whom the concept belongs to. Assemblage is more organized and better used for creating more in depth material because it compares old and new ideas and concepts. For example, an essay that cites several sources and contains quotes from multiple perspectives, will have a better effect in reaching the audience.Not only does this establishes credibility, but it expands the topic. This is how new ideas and concepts can be created. I think many people would jump to conclusions and call this plagiarising because the new form doesn’t stem from original thoughts and ideas. However, one can also argue that original thoughts and ideas don’t stem from nothing. There had to have been a cause to these thoughts whether they are someone else's opinions, an event, or a issue in society.

Journal #4

Since I was a young student, I felt as if have been indoctrinated to believe that plagiarism is a horrible and unlawful act and to use someone else’s work and call it your own can be a detriment to one’s academic success. Though this is an accurate statement, this article titled “Assemblage” by Selber and Eilola, seems to dismantle that common way of thinking by suggesting a switch from the “performance” of a writer to the “action” or “effect in context” that the writer takes. In other words, students should focus less on which parts of a text are original and which have been found and gathered somewhere else, and more on assemblages, or texts built primarily from existing texts in order to solve a writing or communication problem in a new context. We can gain a lot by switching our focus from making sure our work is original, to making sure we provided enough examples to support or prove our point. For example, I believe that an essay that has provided a multitude of different materials such as words, texts, and concepts from outside sources, has much more depth and appeal than an essay in which one gives their own opinion about whatever the subject is about. Students can still express their creativity through the assemblage of different texts, such as their ability to find something that already exists and make it into something that works to solve problems in a new form. Furthermore, by placing more of an importance on assemblage and remix, students gain a new set of skills, “to situate texts not only in pre-existing but new contexts.” Although I agree with this, there are something’s that a writer can lose when composing in this form. One example could be how writing something in your own words demonstrates an understanding of the information more than if you were to copy someone else’s work. In addition, explaining a topic from a different angle can help others understand a topic they previously did not understand. Overall, I think that the process of assemblage and remix are important factor’s when composing any text because the use of outside sources from a variety of materials can help build an essay and add a different perspective.