A Defense of Plagiarism

Teachers and parents better hope that the kids don't find Malcolm Gladwell's latest post defending plagiarism like that committed by Harvard sophomore Kaavya Viswanathan in her debut novel.

While the press and public have been busy wagging their fingers at Viswanathan, Gladwell points out that much of teen literature (and journalism, for that matter) is so derivative in nature that making a big deal about specific sentences misses the larger issue. Except Gladwell says it better.