For Students

Eligibility for Anthem

8th – 12th GRADE

Entry Deadline

APRIL 29, 2021

• 1ST PLACE
  $2,000
  1 Winner
• 2ND PLACE
  $250
  3 Winners
• 3RD PLACE
  $100
  5 Winners

SELECT ONE OF THE FOLLOWING THREE TOPICS:

• In the society of Anthem, individuals are persecuted for their pursuit of knowledge. Why do you think this is? What lessons can be drawn from Anthem about how we should think about the pursuit of knowledge in our world today, especially in the face of social opposition?
• In what ways do you think people should be more like Equality 7-2521? In your answer, give examples of Equality’s actions, character, or attitude that you think are good or admirable. Using experiences from your own life, explain why you think these actions or traits are good and worth emulating.
• The people in the society of Anthem are taught to live by certain principles concerning what is good and evil, right and wrong. Do you think those who adhere to these principles are happy or unhappy? What lessons do you draw from this about how we should think about morality today?

CRITERIA

Essays will be judged on whether the student is able to argue for and justify his or her view—not on whether the Institute agrees with the view the student expresses. Judges will look for writing that is clear, articulate and logically organized. Winning essays must demonstrate an outstanding grasp of the philosophical meaning of Anthem.

REQUIREMENTS

• No application is required. Contest is open to students worldwide, except where void or prohibited by law. Essays must be written in English only.
• Entrant must be in the 8th, 9th, 10th, 11th or 12th grade for any part of the school year in which the contest is held. 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.
• Essays must be submitted electronically through the online portal. If you are unable to submit an essay electronically contact us at [email protected]
• Essay must be no fewer than 600 and no more than 1,200 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.
• One entry per student per contest.
• Essay must be submitted online by 11:59 p.m. Pacific Time of the entry deadline.
• The Ayn Rand Institute has the right to provide contest deadline extensions when deemed appropriate.
• Essay must be solely the work of the entrant. Plagiarism will result in disqualification. Essays must not infringe on any third-party rights or intellectual property of any person, company or organization. By submitting an essay to this contest, the entrant agrees to indemnify the Ayn Rand Institute for any claim, demand, judgment or other allegation arising from possible violation of someone’s trademark, copyright or other legally protected interest in any way in the entrant’s essay.
• Decisions of the judges are final.
• Employees of the Ayn Rand Institute, its board of directors and their immediate family members are not eligible for this contest. Past first-place winners are not eligible for this contest, but may enter other contests if they meet the eligibility requirements of those contests.
• All entries become the property of the Ayn Rand Institute and will not be returned. Essays may be reproduced on our website and/or shared with third parties for purposes of marketing the contest.
• Winners, finalists and all other participants will be notified via email and/or by mail, typically by July.
• Winners are responsible for providing their mailing addresses and other necessary information under the law in order to receive any prizes. Prizes must be claimed within six months of the results being announced.
• Winners agree to allow the Ayn Rand Institute to post their names on any of ARI’s affiliated websites. The first-place essay may be posted in its entirety on any of these websites with full credit given to the author.
• Winners consent to participate in interviews and allow ARI to use quotes and take photographs or make movies or videotapes of them.
• Winners also grant to the Ayn Rand Institute: The Center for the Advancement of Objectivism the right to edit, use and reuse said products for nonprofit purposes, including use in print, on the internet and all other forms of media.
• Winners release the Ayn Rand Institute and its agents and employees from all claims, demands, and liabilities whatsoever, regarding the above.
• Winners will be solely responsible for any federal, state or local taxes.

Protected by Ithenticate Plagiarism Detection Software

ADVICE ON YOUR ESSAY SUBMISSION

Other than endorsing perfect punctuation and grammar in English, the Ayn Rand Institute offers no advice or feedback on contest essays.

The following links are recommended to improve your essay content:

• Anthem discussion series
• Anthem ARI Campus Course
• The Art of Nonfiction by Ayn Rand
• Objective Communication and “Principles of Grammar” by Leonard Peikoff
• “Writing Objectively” by Keith Lockitch
• The Writing Skills section of the Ayn Rand eStore
• FreeObjectivistBooks.org

To submit an essay electronically, please complete the steps below:

1. Click the “Submit your essay” button below.
2. You’ll be taken to our Education Programs online portal. Once there, either create an account or login using your existing user name and password.
3. Once you’ve accessed the portal, complete the eligibility quiz, identifying yourself as a Student/Non-Educator.
4. Next, click on the “View Programs” button.
5. Create a submission for the Anthem essay contest.
6. Complete the application form.

Eligibility for The Fountainhead

11th and 12th GRADE

Entry Deadline

APRIL 29, 2021

• 1ST PLACE
  $5,000
  1 Winner
• 2ND PLACE
  $1,000
  3 Winners
• 3RD PLACE
  $500
  5 Winners

SELECT ONE OF THE FOLLOWING THREE TOPICS:

• Describe a situation in your own life when you faced a conflict between doing what you truly thought would advance your own goals in life, and doing what was approved of by society. What do you think Roark would decide to do in such a situation? What would Keating decide? Explain your answers by citing scenes from The Fountainhead. What decision did you make, and how would you compare it to Roark’s and Keating’s likely decision?
• In an editorial defending Roark, Wynand writes: “It is precisely the self that cannot and must not be sacrificed. It is the unsacrificed self that we must respect in man above all.” What does The Fountainhead have to say about what it means to actually have a “self”? Illustrate by giving examples of major and minor characters who are described in ways that suggest that they either have or lack a self.
• The novel opens with the line “Howard Roark laughed.” What things does Roark laugh at in this scene, and in other scenes? Give a few examples from the book. Later in a scene with Keating, Toohey reveals that part of his method is to “kill by laughter.” What things does Toohey laugh at? Give a few examples. What is different about the things Roark and Toohey laugh at? Explain how the contrast reflects wider themes in the novel.

CRITERIA

Essays will be judged on whether the student is able to argue for and justify his or her view—not on whether the Institute agrees with the view the student expresses. Judges will look for writing that is clear, articulate and logically organized. Winning essays must demonstrate an outstanding grasp of the philosophical meaning of The Fountainhead.

REQUIREMENTS

• No application is required. Contest is open to students worldwide, except where void or prohibited by law. Essays must be written in English only.
• Entrant must be in the 11th or 12th grade for any part of the school year in which the contest is held. 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.
• Essays must be submitted electronically through the online portal. If you are unable to submit an essay electronically contact us at [email protected]
• 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.
• One entry per student per contest.
• Essay must be submitted online by 11:59 p.m. Pacific Time of the entry deadline.
• The Ayn Rand Institute has the right to provide contest deadline extensions when deemed appropriate.
• Essay must be solely the work of the entrant. Plagiarism will result in disqualification. Essays must not infringe on any third-party rights or intellectual property of any person, company or organization. By submitting an essay to this contest, the entrant agrees to indemnify the Ayn Rand Institute for any claim, demand, judgment or other allegation arising from possible violation of someone’s trademark, copyright or other legally protected interest in any way in the entrant’s essay.
• Decisions of the judges are final.
• Employees of the Ayn Rand Institute, its board of directors and their immediate family members are not eligible for this contest. Past first-place winners are not eligible for this contest.
• All entries become the property of the Ayn Rand Institute and will not be returned. Essays may be reproduced on our website and/or shared with third parties for purposes of marketing the contest.
• Winners, finalists and all other participants will be notified via email and/or by mail, typically by July.
• Winners are responsible for providing their mailing addresses and other necessary information under the law in order to receive any prizes. Prizes must be claimed within six months of the results being announced.
• Winners agree to allow the Ayn Rand Institute to post their names on any of ARI’s affiliated websites. The first-place essay may be posted in its entirety on any of these websites with full credit given to the author.
• Winners consent to participate in interviews and allow ARI to use quotes and take photographs or make movies or videotapes of them.
• Winners also grant to the Ayn Rand Institute: The Center for the Advancement of Objectivism the right to edit, use and reuse said products for nonprofit purposes, including use in print, on the internet and all other forms of media.
• Winners release the Ayn Rand Institute and its agents and employees from all claims, demands, and liabilities whatsoever regarding the above.
• Winners will be solely responsible for any federal, state or local taxes.

Protected by Ithenticate Plagiarism Detection Software

ADVICE ON YOUR ESSAY SUBMISSION

Other than endorsing perfect punctuation and grammar in English, the Ayn Rand Institute offers no advice or feedback on contest essays.

The following links are recommended to improve your essay content:

• The Fountainhead discussion series
• The Fountainhead ARI Campus Course
• The Art of Nonfiction by Ayn Rand
• Objective Communication and “Principles of Grammar” by Leonard Peikoff
• “Writing Objectively” by Keith Lockitch
• The Writing Skills section of the Ayn Rand eStore
• FreeObjectivistBooks.org

To submit an essay electronically, please complete the steps below:

1. Click the “Submit your essay” button below.
2. You’ll be taken to our Education Programs online portal. Once there, either create an account or login using your existing user name and password.
3. Once you’ve accessed the portal, complete the eligibility quiz, identifying yourself as a Student/Non-Educator.
4. Next, click on the “View Programs” button.
5. Create a submission for the The Fountainhead essay contest.
6. Complete the application form.

Eligibility for Atlas Shrugged

12th-Graders, College Undergraduates and Graduate Students

Entry Deadline:

SEPTEMBER 27, 2021

• 1ST PLACE
  $10,000
  1 Winner
• 2ND PLACE
  $2,500
  3 Winners
• 3RD PLACE
  $500
  5 Winners

SUBMIT YOUR ESSAY

SELECT ONE OF THE FOLLOWING THREE TOPICS:

• In Atlas Shrugged, the society’s leaders enact a series of laws and directives (the Equalization of Opportunity Bill, Mouch’s directives about the railroads of Colorado, Directive 10-289, etc.) that exercise increasingly arbitrary power. Describe one example of a major recent government policy decision in your country that resembles one of the edicts in Atlas Shrugged. How has this decision been justified by today’s leaders, and how do their claims resemble those given in Atlas Shrugged? In light of the story, what do you think Ayn Rand would expect to be the consequences of the policy you’ve described? Do you agree with her? Explain your answers.
• Francisco d’Anconia presents himself as a playboy who has abandoned serious concern for his family’s business. But early in the story Dagny realizes that Francisco’s public persona does not fit with the man she knows. Compare Francisco to another major figure in film, TV, or literature who adopts a similar double life to accomplish his purposes. How is he similar? How, in terms of his motives and methods, is he different? What kind of purpose could make the price of leading a double life like this worth paying? Explain your answers.
• After quitting her job, Dagny thinks this to herself: “It is not proper for man’s life to be a circle . . . or a string of circles dropping off like zeros behind him—man’s life must be a straight line of motion from goal to farther goal, each leading to the next and to a single growing sum, like a journey down the track of a railroad, from station to station to—oh, stop it!” How do Dagny’s thoughts here relate to the wider dilemma she faces at this point in the story? How does her dilemma relate to the wider themes of the novel? Explain your answers.

SUBMIT YOUR ESSAY

CRITERIA

Essays will be judged on whether the student is able to argue for and justify his or her view—not on whether the Institute agrees with the view the student expresses. Judges will look for writing that is clear, articulate and logically organized. Winning essays must demonstrate an outstanding grasp of the philosophical meaning of Atlas Shrugged.

REQUIREMENTS

• No application is required. Contest is open to students worldwide, except where void or prohibited by law. Essays must be written in English only.
• Entrant must be a 12th grader, college undergraduate or graduate student for any part of the school year in which the contest is held. 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.
• To avoid disqualification, mailed-in essays must include a stapled cover sheet with the following information:
  1. your name and address;
  2. your email address (if available);
  3. the name and address of your school;
  4. topic selected (#1, 2 or 3 from the “Topics” tab);
  5. your current grade level; and
  6. (optional) the name of the teacher who assigned the essay if you are completing it for classroom credit.
• 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.
• One entry per student per contest.
• Essay must be submitted online by 11:59 p.m. Pacific Time of the entry deadline.
• The Ayn Rand Institute has the right to provide contest deadline extensions when deemed appropriate.
• Essay must be solely the work of the entrant. Plagiarism will result in disqualification. Essays must not infringe on any third-party rights or intellectual property of any person, company or organization. By submitting an essay to this contest, the entrant agrees to indemnify the Ayn Rand Institute for any claim, demand, judgment or other allegation arising from possible violation of someone’s trademark, copyright or other legally protected interest in any way in the entrant’s essay.
• Decisions of the judges are final.
• Employees of the Ayn Rand Institute, its board of directors and their immediate family members are not eligible for this contest. Past first-place winners are not eligible for this contest.
• All entries become the property of the Ayn Rand Institute and will not be returned. Essays may be reproduced on our website and/or shared with third parties for purposes of marketing the contest.
• Winners, finalists and all other participants will be notified via email and/or by mail typically by January.
• Winners are responsible for providing their mailing addresses and other necessary information under the law in order to receive any prizes. Prizes must be claimed within six months of the results being announced.
• Winners agree to allow the Ayn Rand Institute to post their names on any of ARI’s affiliated websites. The first-place essay may be posted in its entirety on any of these websites with full credit given to the author.
• Winners consent to participate in interviews and allow ARI to use quotes and take photographs and make movies or videotapes of them.
• Winners also grant to the Ayn Rand Institute: The Center for the Advancement of Objectivism the right to edit, use and reuse said products for nonprofit purposes including use in print, on the internet and all other forms of media.
• Winners release the Ayn Rand Institute and its agents and employees from all claims, demands, and liabilities whatsoever regarding the above.
• Winners will be solely responsible for any federal, state or local taxes.

Protected by IThenticate Plagiarism Detection Software

ADVICE ON YOUR ESSAY SUBMISSION

Other than endorsing perfect punctuation and grammar in English, the Ayn Rand Institute offers no advice or feedback on contest essays.

The following links are recommended to improve your essay content:

• The Atlas Project Facebook Group
• The Art of Nonfiction by Ayn Rand
• Objective Communication and “Principles of Grammar” by Leonard Peikoff
• “Writing Objectively” by Keith Lockitch
• The Writing Skills section of the Ayn Rand eStore
• FreeObjectivistBooks.org

To submit an essay electronically, please complete the steps below:

1. Click the “Submit your essay” button below.
2. You’ll be taken to our Education Programs online portal. Once there, either create an account or login using your existing username and password.
3. Once you’ve accessed the portal, complete the eligibility quiz, identifying yourself as a Student/Non-Educator.
4. Next, click on the “View Programs” button.
5. Create a submission for the Atlas Shrugged essay contest.
6. Complete the application form.