What really is originality?

The topic of originality was brought up in our discussion, and that led me to think about what originality really is. I agree with a point that was brought up in class that people’s thoughts and writing is greatly influenced by others so I think that in a way, nothing can be truly original. Human civilization and the invention of writing has allowed us to collect our knowledge and technology and pass them on from generation to generation, culminating into the amazing world that we know today, full of unimaginable technology like television, computers, and automobiles to name just a few. So why should writing be any different? We are taught how to write based on styles that have been passed on and in some sense we are taught how to think as well. Of course, that doesn’t mean that nothing can be original, just that we are given a platform to work on, so we should acknowledge that even a piece of work that is considered original has likely been influenced by other things. That being said, I think that for example, a novel (or any other form of writing) can be thought of as original as long as it shows some creative thought.

That brings up another question. What constitutes plagiarism then? Sometimes it is clear that one plagiarized the work of another. In other cases, it doesn’t seem to be as clear. What if you read someone else’s work a while ago and later write a paper that expresses some of the ideas presented in that person’s work without realizing that you had obtained those “ideas” from that person? What if you were influenced by that writer and your paper did contain some similar ideas but expressed your own ideas as well?