Plagiarism In Mrs. Trump's Address

On the very first night of this year’s Republican National Convention, Republican nominee Donald Trump’s wife, Melania Trump, gave a beautiful speech on her Slovakian upbringing, and the values which her family bestowed upon her. She mentioned her sister, Ines, whom she calls “an incredible woman and a friend” (Lowe), her mother Amalia, who “introduced [her] to fashion and beauty” (Lowe) and her father Viktor, who “instilled in [her] a passion for business and travel” (Lowe). The moments of her speech in which she touched upon her family life were likely the truth and raised no questions or controversy. However, for many Americans, copious other aspects of Mrs. Trump’s speech rang awfully familiar. When compared with Michelle Obama's 2008 speech at the Democratic National Convention, the similarities are uncanny. Phrases such as “you work hard for what you want in life” (Lowe) and “your word is your bond” (Lowe), are verbatim from Mrs. Obama’s speech. When played side by side, there is no denying Mrs. Trump and her speech writers took inspiration from Mrs. Obama’s speech, but did they crossed the line into plagiarism?
Plagiarism is a word drilled into students’ heads from the moment they are old enough to grasp the concept. Again and again, students are reminded how nefarious the act
According to Gladwell, “art is not a breach of ethics,” (Gladwell) and by taking Lewis’s experiences and words and turning them into a new idea, Lavery has done nothing except create art. However, by taking Lewis’s personal experiences, did Lavery not violate her life and present her to an audience who may think of her negatively now? Yes, art is not a breach of ethics, but when you take someone's life and misrepresent it, without stating that the unfavorable acts are not true, is this not an act of defamation that goes far beyond