Atlas Shrugged Essay Contest – How to Win
by
Indigo Research Team
&
Published:
June 5, 2024
Last Updated:
September 11, 2024
The Atlas Shrugged Essay Contest 2024 is your dream come true if you are a high school student who loves literature and complex ideas.
An essay contest like this is one of those lifetime opportunities that should never be passed up by any writer.
This competition gives young minds the chance to read Ayn Rand's "Atlas Shrugged" and write an essay showing just how much they understood from reading it.
Besides, there is a possibility for a $25,000 reward through scholarships.
In this post, we will go over everything about this competition while sharing ethical tricks and strategies from past winners.
This essay contest is sponsored by the Ayn Rand Institute yearly. It's a contest for college students, high schoolers, and even students who have graduated.
As earlier mentioned, it is an essay competition on Ayn Rand's novel, "The Atlas Shrugged." As a student, you're offered three topics to choose from. You're to write on just one of these topics following the essay rules.
Your essay will be judged based on three things. This will be your level of logical reasoning, how well you could develop a theme, and how clear your essay is. That last part includes grammar, punctuation, coherence, and other small details.
The prizes are from first to third. The first prize winner goes home with $10000, while the second place will receive $5,000. Third place walks away with $2,000.
And that's not all. The top three winners of this essay contest also receive media coverage. The nature of this contest gives you an opportunity to learn, get recognized, and even improve your chances for college.
Ayn Rand's essay contest is not only important but prestigious. While we can't say the exact number of students participating in this, the essays submitted are estimated to be around 1000 to 2000 annually.
Even with the handful of participants, only three essays win prizes.
As a student passionate about writing, you get an opportunity for recognition and even get your essay vetted by a panel of academic writers and sound leaders within the Ayn Rand Institute.
Success in this kind of contest means you're a student who can develop a sound argument using abstract philosophical concepts. It also shows that you command a high level of logical reasoning and clearly know how to communicate even the most complex ideas.
Top colleges and universities usually accept Atlas Shrugged essay contest winners. And they got to use their awards to fund their education. Winners from the 2022 edition were accepted into Stanford, Cornell, and other top universities.
Participating with thousands of students worldwide motivates you to think outside the box, improves your literary and analytical skills, and improves your confidence as a writer.
You have to fall in any of the three categories to be eligible. You should be in senior high school, college, or grad school. It is a contest that has nothing to do with the age or where you're writing your essay.
Ayn Rand's writing contest is usually fierce, as all essays will be judged together, regardless of your age or academic level.
While the novel's themes can be controversial, you must remember that the judges will evaluate the strength of your argument and writing.
So, they don't have to agree with your views. You're free to share your unique perspective on how you see things, regardless of your political or economic beliefs.
The annual Atlas Shrugged Essay Contest runs from mid-May to mid-November. Prizes are awarded online in April of the current year to the winners of the previous year.
Above all, read the book prior to entering the essay contest. Familiarize yourself with the difficult themes and plot of the book while you jot down notes of what you unearth.
If you require a copy, e-mail the Ayn Rand Institute, and they will send you one free of charge (essays@aynrand.org). This essay will focus on some Atlas Shrugged characters from the book and will be around 800 to 1,600 words.
Although the content is based on Ayn Rand's philosophy, new ideas are expected to inspire the essays' themes. Relate the book's themes to real-life events in your community or as seen through your lens.
In this line of argument, essay judges base their evaluations on clear reasoning and writing, epitomized in examples that have been applied to support the major arguments.
Thus, what is most appreciated is the overall persuasiveness of the argument. Prompts are often incredibly long, inviting one to bridge the novel's themes.
To apply, students must submit an online registration and an electronic copy of the essay to the contest web page. Every essay sent in will then be scrutinized by the Ayn Rand Institute, where they will look at your essay, its structure, and the overall idea that the essay makes.
Prizes for the best essays are considered for first, second, and third place.
One grand prize winner will receive $10,000, three second-place winners will receive $2,500 each, five third-place winners will receive $500 each, there will be 25 finalists receiving $100 each, and 50 finalists receiving $50 each. You must stick with the Atlas Shrugged essay contest deadline.
To write an essay that could win the Ayn Rand essay contest, you need to choose one of the three prompts that interest you most. It is essential to pick a topic you're comfortable with because it will be lengthy work.
Before writing your essay, ensure you understand the Atlas Shrugged inside out. These things include knowing the themes, like key quotes, and character arcs.
An example of the theme for this year's prompt could be "the moral dilemmas faced by individuals who produce." or "Individualism and Altruism in American Culture"
A comprehensive understanding of the novel will enable you to write a more fascinating and imaginative essay while ensuring that judges can differentiate it from others.
While reading the novel, take notes in a clear manner that can help you write your essay later on, such as linking characters with page numbers as well as quotes with arguments.
The main part of any essay is a strong argument. This argument needs to be guided by a concise thesis statement. Logical reasoning, examples from Atlas Shrugged, and current events should support your thesis statement.
Your essay should take a clear stand (your thesis) and might even be somewhat controversial. You have to back up your thesis with sound logic and examples from the novel and real-life scenarios.
A good thesis is like a riddle; it makes the reader think and may disagree with you at first, but by the end of your essay, they will have to agree that you were right.
Every argument has different perspectives because each person has their own point of view on particular issues. Acknowledge opposing views, then explain why your position is stronger or better supported by evidence.
You could even use those opposing views to make your argument more convincing. Showing you've considered other viewpoints makes your essay stronger.
The judges will read many of these essays, so yours needs to really stand out. Use correct grammar and spelling.
But also, try to make your writing lively and very engaging. Use different sentence structures, vocabulary, and even literary techniques.
You could think of it as a good book: a great story is more fun to read if the writing is interesting, too.
After you've poured your heart and soul into writing it, take a step back and give your eyes a fresh look. Read it several times, looking for areas you could have made more explicit, smoother, or even gripping.
Ask for feedback from friends or teachers, particularly those unfamiliar with the novel's world of "Atlas Shrugged." Having someone else read your work can help you catch anything you've missed or might be confusing to a reader who is not an expert on the book.
Try reading your essay aloud as well; it is a great way to notice awkward phrasing or sentences that are holding back the flow of your writing.
After you are okay with your work, take another look to ensure it follows the contest requirements. Is it within 800 – 1600 words? Is it written in clear, concise English and double-spaced?
You can also check your formatting to ensure it follows the competition's guidelines.
We hope you found this blog helpful. Don't forget we're rooting for you to win the competition.
What is the whole point of Atlas Shrugged?
It is a novel authored by Ayn Rand that explores the philosophy of objectivism. The author supports reason, individualism, capitalism, and self-interest while opposing collectivism, altruism, and government intervention in the economy. In this work of fiction, Rand imagines a world where all the most capable people ("prime movers") stop working, thereby causing societal breakdowns that underscore personal achievement and worth.
Does the Ayn Rand scholarship exist?
Yes, the Ayn Rand Institute only provides scholarships through essay contests based on her works like "Atlas Shrugged." This competition is open to students at different levels who can show how they know much about what she thinks of. That idea was reflected in different parts of this particular publication.
Who are the primary characters in Atlas Shrugged?
The book presents various figures representing Objectivism. Atlas shrugged characters include Dagny Taggart, Hank Rearden, Francisco d'Anconia, John Galt, and Eddie Willers.
Atlas Shrugged summary
Society crumbles when the best members walk out, led by an unknown personality called John Galt, in protest against oppressive government policies and collectivist ideologies as described in Ayn Rand's "Atlas Shrugged". While trying to keep the economy alive, Dagny Taggart, who is a railroad executive, also seeks answers about these vanishings and what Galt's strike stands for.
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