Research Paper- Creativity/Imitation

3208 Words13 Pages
Creativity vs. Imitation: Where do we draw the line? Abstract This essay is about two things that are supposedly completely different: creativity and imitation. After discovering that both ideas had processes, steps to go through in order to reach the desired result, that both ideas were effected by the same outside influences, that both had equally positive effects on the other, and that numerous experts on creativity in their respective fields saw many similarities between the two ideas, I came to the conclusion that creativity and imitation were, in fact, the same thing. Mr. Palmquist March 17, 2014 Creativity vs. Imitation: Where do we draw the line? Creativity is something that seemingly everyone strives to utilize. There are not a lot of people that say, "I think I need to be a little bit more unimaginative today." Being creative is being different, being unique. It makes things special, seemingly better and of a higher quality than the things that surround them. In the context of high school, students are motivated to "be creative" so their work stands out from that of their peers. Sometimes, when brooding over ways to be creative to be creative, they get lazy and uninspired (as many teens are prone to do) and start to cut corners. Instead of coming up with ideas that are entirely their own, they imitate the work of others. Imitation is considered virtually indistinguishable from plagiarism, and is looked down upon as the ultimate crime of crimes for students to commit doing their work. Students that are caught imitating someone else's paper or project are punished more harshly than students that start fights. Companies such as iParadigms, LLC have made hundreds of thousands of dollars selling licenses to schools, allowing them to use their plagiarism-checking software. In short, imitation is viewed as the polar opposite of creativity.

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