Introduction to the Persuasive Essay Project

Write a 5-(+) paragraph essay in argumentative style with proper unity, coherence, grammar, and sentence, paragraph, and essay structure where you argue that unrestricted downloading (and/or sharing) of copyrighted material should be either legal or illegal.

This is not simply an informative essay where you tell how it is but rather it should be an essay, which uses facts and figures with persuasive language in order to convince the reader to side with you on the issue. You may take it as a straightforward all-or-nothing case or you may choose to focus your essay to a specific area of downloading intellectual property such as only looking at the music or movie industry or only looking at digital pictures or artwork. In addition, you may choose to argue for an alternative system of copyright and downloading. You should choose a carefully focused topic that you can look at in-depth and defend clearly. Your personal opinion does not matter. You need only write a coherent well-researched essay taking a position. Whatever your stance is, be sure to clearly state your position and back it up thoroughly with logical reason, details, and support. 

Be absolutely careful when utilizing outside resources to cite them in proper form thoroughly. Your final essay should include a minimum of 3 cited sources (web or print) none of which may be a Wikipedia or other wiki-style source. You should use more than 3. You should not use any sources that are directly on your topic. For example, an essay about why downloading should be legal would not be something you should look at. Remember to avoid reading anything that is too similar to your topic so that you avoid plagiarizing their order of ideas etc. You must use proper MLA format and in-text citation and include a works cited page. The works consulted page is recommended but optional. 

As always, it is not enough to simply write the essay. You must also complete all intermediate steps in the process.