Exercise 8.1

The draft is patch writing because it is still using the key words that the original author used in his text. The sentence structure that the writer used is also very similar to the original text.
Here is my attempt to eliminate the patch writing, and make it more like paraphrasing;
     Wikipedia is monitored by up to one thousand people that act as volunteers to make sure that the site is not tampered with by outside, non reliable sources. A problem has arisen that was presented in the Lowell Sun newspaper. It stated that Marty Meehan had his representatives replace the information that was given with content that was more flattering to him. As a result of this, the "Capitol Hill Wikipedia Blackout" occurred. This meant that all the computers that were connected to servers located at the House of Representatives were no longer allowed access to the site.

-Yuki Noguchi, "On Capitol Hill, Playing WikiPolitics," Washington Post 4 Feb, 2006: A1. Print

Patch Writing, Paraphrasing, and Plagiarism.

     My definition of patch writing would be someone copying down part of someone elses work, not in its entirety, but changing only part of the content from the source.
     Paraphrasing to me is basically giving a generalization of what someone has said. Instead of picking out every detail, you focus on the main points, change the words around into your own, and re-say what has already been said.
     Plagiarism is copying down someone elses work, word for word, and not giving them credit in your bibliography/citation, or putting what they said into quotes. This is the worst possible thing you could do.