Therefore, it is quite clear that there are several necessities to get a good mark.
1) You must compare and contrast two different items. Why choose something tht is going to be difficult to compare from the outset? Why not football and soccer? Shakespear and Hemmingway?

2) “similarities and/or differences” Surely to get a high mark it would be helpful and a lot easier if you had both, it gives you more to write about and allows a more advanced and developed style of writing to be used. For e.g.
“Initially many people thing X and Y are similar because of….”
“However, arguably they are very different because of…”
“Finally, it is clear that there are both similarities and differences, the common ground between the two can be best illustrated by…”

Presto, you’ve chosen your two clearly seperate items, and in three clear parts, you analysed a stark similarity, a stark difference, and then you’ve provided another similarity, and given a clear example from it.

Does he do this. Nope. It is a poor essay. He got a poor grade. Deal with it.

The essay sucks, to be sure.

He has arbitrarily created definitions for piracy/pirates to mean one thing, then doesn’t effectively compare/contrast to thievery/thieves.

Perhaps if he had contrasted “Music Downloaders” or “P2P Users” vs. “Bootleggers” or “Pirates”, he might have had an argument.

The teacher’s comments were not judgemental of his opinions, just that he didn’t effectively make his point, or any point at all.

It is an ENGLISH class after all.

I am a friend of Steve’s. This was an exit exam, meaning that he didn’t have to pass it the first time and it doesn’t affect his grade. He does have to retake the test and if he doesn’t pass it this time then he will fail the entire course. It’s not fair, but then life isn’t either.

Sorry, but I just don’t believe that an 11 year-old could write better than this guy.
The ideas and expressions used are clearly from someone beyond an 11 year-old’s abilities.
Secondly, my grammar has never been good and never will be, yet I have a PhD. So please don’t go around demonstrating your own ignorance by judging people based on their lack of grammatical aptitude.

You might be able to make a point that “copyright infringement” (and not just “piracy”, because piracy has a variety of other meanings, some of which involve stealing) is not the same as “stealing music” but this essay was just dumb.

I would most certainly have failed this student, too.

So, I will NOT restrain myself – this teacher IS a TOTAL MORON!

The syntax, structure and verbage of the students essay, DID have many good points that differentiated the ‘modern’ WAYS of both piracy and out right theft.

It IS forever true that the english language, writing styles, definitions are DYNAMIC – NOT static!

Example – use and definition of the word gay. In the 1920’s, in society there would have been NO doubt what anyone using this word ment. Today? Unless further followed with some other word, phrase or term, there is little most can do to gleen the intent of the user in use of this word.

The same is also with ‘theft’ and ‘piracy’. Both terms are under going a ‘redefining process’ – yet to be completed, in both a legal and social use sense.

Lastly, let’s NOT forget this was a STUDENT! What did this teacher expect, another Hemmingway?

To cite a further example in support of the above ‘opinion’ (though some might label it ‘arguement’) – take the recently filed case over the song “The Wall”.

It was OK THEN for the band to hire a chorus of school children to sing background on their recording, pay them mere pennies, press the record, cd, video and make millions off mere children.

So, these ‘once children’, now adults, have filed a lawsuit, claiming ‘theft’ and asking for compensation from the royalities made off the record by the band, the managers, the agents, the attorney’s, the record companies and others.

So, is THAT a NEW definition of ‘theft’ or to ‘pirate’ and profit from the use of children? This is yet to be decided and along with it, new foundation in law and social impact.

In this case, in conclusion, I support the right of this student to have picked the subject of his choice (there were no stated restrictions by the teacher) and voice his opinion in words on his ‘dynamic’ preception of the meaning of both.

also, he didn’t support his opinion very well…i probably would have given him a low grade too.

according to the legal definition of piracy, yes, it is “murder and pillaging on the high seas”. Yep, if you interpret the definition in the literal sense it IS stealing and he does deserve the F.

However, interpreting it in the modern vernacular, ergo copyright infringement, no, it is not stealing.

I hope they choose to overturn his grade, because it’s particularly egregious that a language professor does not understand the nuanced difference between theft (removing a useful object from someone elses posession) and copyright infringement (removing “potential revenue” from a copyright holder… wait.. isnt that called CAPITALISTIC COMPEITION?)

The essay wasn’t that great, but he only had 3 hours to write it and sometimes when you get writers block, it’s hard to write a good essay on the spot.

This teacher obviously doesn’t know the difference between piracy and theft and she had no right to fail him just because she doesn’t agree with his stance on file sharing and piracy. I think she should do some research and grade essays fairly in the future. What’s really disturbing is that he couldn’t get this grade overturned.

Drake

TT

piracy is stealing. he deserved the F.