Blog 3

When I read the introduction and conclusion alone, I thought Johnson-Eilola and Selber’s concept of assemblage and remix meant the same thing, but after reading the entire paper I learned these terms are different. Assemblages in writing are “texts built primarily and explicitly from existing texts in order to solve a writing or communication problem in a new context.”  Assemblages, with respect to writing, combine different elements of writing, but keep the main identity of those elements, while a remix just uses multiple ideas to create something “new.” They both work to combine other people’s ideas, but assemblages try to move more towards action, not just performing like remixes do.

There is a substantial amount of controversy as to what is considered “original” work. This paper argues, and I agree, that teachers should realize there is nothing truly original; everyone takes bits of other’s works and creates their own rendition by either assembling or remixing. The thing most teachers are concerned with is when someone steals someone’s idea and does not give the respected person credit; this is what is known as plagiarism. Plagiarism is a legal matter, as there are copyright laws protecting someone’s patented work. The only way a teacher allows for someone to copy or reword someone’s ideas is if citations and quotations are used, then it could be considered “original.”

There was only one thing I was bit unclear about in this paper. I understood what Christopher Alexander’s pattern language was, but I don’t quite understand how that ties into assemblage and how it works as “the intersection of principle and concrete.”