INNOVATIVE COLLEGE OF SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

Malitbog, Bongabong, Oriental Mindoro

IT DEPARTMENT

I.T. SOCIAL AND PROFESSIONAL ISSUES 2

ERIC A. PELORIN

I. OBJECTIVES

At the end of this lesson, students should be able to:

 explain patchwriting;
 explain the importance of patchwriting;

II. TIME RAME

Week 3 June 22 – June 23

III. TOPIC

INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY

Patchwriting

A. Introduction

Patchwriting happens when you rephrase a portion of source material, but your language
remains too close to the vocabulary and/or sentence structure of the original text. All patchwriting is
a kind of paraphrase, but successful paraphrase is not patchwritten.
If you use patchwriting in the final draft of an essay, your teachers will likely see this as an
act of plagiarism since you are not directly quoting the original author or successfully using
paraphrase or summary to put the author’s ideas into your own words. But patchwriting can have its
place in the early stages of note-taking: it can be a useful step in the process of becoming fluent in
the language of a particular field or subject, as long as the patchwriting does not remain in your final
draft.[1]

B. Steps to Overthrow Patchwriting

Content marketers need to have practical strategies in their arsenal to combat patchwriting
each and every day in the trenches. Here are a few to get you started.

Eric A. Pelorin | I.T. Social and Professional Issues 2 Page 1 of 4

 1. Catalog your inspirations and sources.
Having your own archive as a reference inspires fresh ideas and indicates where
existing ones came from. Capturing your thoughts as they unspool in real-time isn’t hard.
Keep in mind, you’re also planning for the future. Content sources can be reused, and
may inspire content at different points in your sales funnel, or geared toward other audiences.

2. Identify your value proposition.

Before you put pen to paper or fingers to keys, ask yourself the following:
 Am I adding value? How? Write out your value proposition if necessary.
 Do I have a different perspective or opinion on the topic than the accepted wisdom,
current debate, respected thought leaders, etc.?
 Is there a reason (entertainment, humor, shared interest, etc.) others would find value
in this, even if the topic has already been discussed?

If you can’t convincingly answer at least one of these questions, you need a new topic
or change of direction.

3. Budget enough time for great content.

When you’re behind schedule, patchwriting rejoices. Break content creation into
phases: brainstorming, outlining, writing, editing, whatever’s necessary. Schedule a block of
time to execute each phase.
Put up a sign on your door. Wear headphones. Remove yourself to a secluded location.
Do whatever it takes to indicate your unavailability during block time.
Creating free time, instead of hoping for it, gives you more time to research and plan.
When your back’s not against the deadline wall, your odds of creating unique, valuable
content rise.

4. Focus, focus, focus.

Free time means nothing unless you use it. Writing time should be sacred, not
something you do in between Facebook breaks.

5. Read and set aside.

Read first, write later. After you have an outline and a direction for your content asset,
read your source(s) thoroughly.
Set the sources aside. Write. Don’t revisit the source until you’ve written as much as
you can. Call out areas as you write that require more information or fact-checking.
Revisit the source when you’re done to fill in gaps. Repeat the process until you’ve got
a final draft. You’ll avoid slipping in language and ideas that aren’t yours.

6. Give your work to another set of eyes.

Preferably someone who knows about the topic. This one is a no-brainer and easy to
do, which makes it really easy to skip. Even if your editor isn’t an expert, they’ll offer a crucial
second opinion on the work’s originality.[2]

Eric A. Pelorin | I.T. Social and Professional Issues 2 Page 2 of 4

 C. Where and When is Patchwriting Useful

Let’s say you encounter the following quotation while doing research on the role of women in
early 20th century college athletics:

Source:
“The logic of separate spheres easily applied to athletics, where physical differences
required separate activities. At college the goals of the womanly woman and the manly man
included physical fitness. Advocacy of physical exercise took hold during the first generation [of
female college students, 1860s-1880], with doctors and educators observing both the dyspeptic
tendencies of the young educated male and the chronic weakness of the female participant.”
Solomon, Barbara Miller. In the Company of Educated Women: A History of Women and Higher Education in
America. New Haven, CT, Yale University Press, 1985, p. 103.

Paraphrase Attempt 1:
Mid-19th century society used physical differences to justify dividing activities into
gender-specific separate spheres. Even though college men and women were both
encouraged to exercise, the exercises they were to perform were divided because of these
sex differences. This was because experts wanted to make sure that college education did
not weaken the bodies of students who needed to be properly manly men, and womanly
women after their school days were over.
If this paraphrase was in your final draft, you’d have a lot of problems. First of all, the
language is too close to the original text without any quotations or citations–phrases like “separate
spheres” and “manly men, and womanly women” are taken directly from the original text without
attribution. This is a classic example of patchwriting, where unfamiliar terminology (“separate
spheres”) is borrowed from the original text.

Paraphrase Attempt 2:
Historian Barbara Miller Solomon has argued that exercise was seen as an important
part of a mid-19th century college curriculum for both men and women, but cultural ideas
about masculinity and femininity meant that each group was using exercise to achieve
different roles in society (103).[3]

Watch the video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j9PUbe9yWv4

I. References

[1]
https://www.beyondplagiarism.sweetland.lsa.umich.edu/for-students/using-sources/patchwriting-
as-a-technique/
[2]
https://www.pr2020.com/blog/6-bulletproof-ways-to-prevent-patchwriting
[3]
https://www.beyondplagiarism.sweetland.lsa.umich.edu/for-students/using-sources/patchwriting-
as-a-technique/

Eric A. Pelorin | I.T. Social and Professional Issues 2 Page 3 of 4

IV. COMPREHENSION CHECK-UP

(Optional)

V. ACTIVITY

To be posted on Group Chat.

Checked by:

GRACE ANNE N. CASAPAO

OIC/Head, IT Department

Eric A. Pelorin | I.T. Social and Professional Issues 2 Page 4 of 4