Essay Contests for 12th Graders, College Undergraduates and Graduate Students to Win Valuable Prizes 2019

The Ayn Rand Institute offers Essay Contests for 12^th Graders, College Undergraduates and Graduate Students for Atlas Shrugged novel.

Select one of the following three topics:

1. Atlas Shrugged depicts a society of diminishing economic freedom. What is the philosophical motivation behind these controls and what is the practical result? What is hero John Galt’s answer, both practically and philosophically? Use the events in the novel to support your answer. In your answer, consider what Ayn Rand says in the lecture “Faith and Force.”
2. Dagny says to Rearden: “If I’m asked to name my proudest attainment, I will say: I have slept with Hank Rearden. I had earned it.” Why is she so proud, and what does she mean by having earned it? How and why does Rearden’s attitude differ from hers? 
3. Atlas Shrugged is a story that portrays a dramatic conflict of characters and their values. What is the most significant conflict in the story? Is it the conflict between the creators and the looters? Is it the conflict the creators experience in their own souls? Is it something else? Explain your answer.

Requirements:

1. Contest is open to students worldwide, except where void or prohibited by law. Essays must be written in English only.
2. Entrant must be in be a 12^th grader, college undergraduate or graduate student for any part of the school year in which the contest is held at the time of the current contest deadline. ARI reserves the right to make exceptions to this rule, on a case-by-case basis, for international students or for students with nonstandard school years.
3. One entry per student per contest.
4. Essay must be submitted online or postmarked by September 19^th, 2019, no later than 11:59 p.m., Pacific Standard Time.
5. Essay must be no fewer than 800 and no more than 1,600 words in length, double-spaced. Spelling errors and/or written corrections (by anyone) found on the essay will count against the final grade and should be omitted before submission.
6. To avoid disqualification, mailed-in essays must include a stapled cover sheet with the following information:

• your name and address
• your email address (if available)
• the name and address of your school
• topic selected (#1, 2 or 3 from the “Topics” tab)
• your current grade level
• (optional) the name of the teacher who assigned the essay if you are completing it for classroom credit