The Atlas Shrugged essay contest is open to all high school, college, and graduate students worldwide. If you are unsure about your eligibility status or have other questions about this year’s contest, please email us at essays@aynrand.org.
We hope to see your essay among this year’s entries!
Improve your ability to write and think effectively. This contest will require you to reflect on philosophic themes, form your own opinion, and argue a thesis with evidence and clarity.
Test yourself against talented students from around the world and the high grading standards of our faculty. On average, only the top 5–10% of essays are awarded prizes each year.
Win cash prizes among five placement categories. This is an excellent way to earn money for college and higher education, and we place no restrictions on how the money is spent by recipients.
With adoring fans, fiery critics and very few in between, why does Atlas Shrugged evoke such impassioned responses? Because it grapples with the fundamental problems of human existence — and presents radically new answers.
Atlas Shrugged, Ayn Rand’s last novel, is a dramatization of her unique vision of existence and of man’s highest potential. Twelve years in the writing, it is her masterwork.
Is the pursuit of profit a noble enterprise or the root of all evil? Is sexual passion an exalted spiritual virtue or a dirty, animalistic vice? Is reason an absolute or is faith an alternative source of truth? Is self-esteem possible or are we consigned to a life of self-doubt and guilt? In what kind of society can an individual prosper, and in what kind of society is he doomed to the opposite fate?
Rand’s worldview emerges in the compelling plot turns of a mystery story, centered on the question “Who is John Galt?”
1 Winner
3 Winners
5 Winners
25 Winners
50 Winners
Select ONE of the following prompts as the topic of your essay. Your essay must be between 800 and 1,600 words in length.
1 In the world of Atlas Shrugged, material goods that many of the characters take for granted become increasingly difficult to obtain as the plot progresses. Identify several examples of such goods, and explain how the novel accounts for their disappearance. Describe the economic and the moral-philosophical forces at work in their disappearance. Are there significant parallels with the shortages our world has witnessed in the last few years? Explain any similarities and differences (using contemporary examples).
2 Throughout Atlas Shrugged, there are both literal and figurative references to motors and motive power. Describe three examples of this that occur in the novel, and explain their meaning in the context of the scenes they are taken from. How does this meaning relate to the wider philosophical themes of the novel?
3 Among the many advocates of the “morality of death” he targets in his radio speech, John Galt reserves special criticism for the “mystics” who declare that man’s duty is “to crawl through years of penance, atoning for the guilt of his existence to any stray collector of unintelligible debts.” Name and describe at least two of the doctrines about human nature that Galt says these mystics use to encourage this moral outlook. Then illustrate their impact by choosing a character from Atlas Shrugged who struggles with these doctrines. (If one character struggles with both doctrines, you need only discuss one character.) What types of behavior do the doctrines encourage? What are the consequences for the character(s) in question? How is this struggle resolved?
September 26, 2022
October, 2022
November, 2022
December, 2022
January, 2023
Mariah Williams
2021
Graduate student
Regis University
Denver, Colorado
United States
Watch last year’s winner announcement ceremony, in which our faculty celebrated and discussed the top essays!
Nathaniel
Shippee
2020
College Student
University of Illinois
Chicago, Illinois
United States
Sam
Weaver
2019
Graduate student
St. John’s College
Annapolis, Maryland
United States
Patrick
Mayles
2018
College Student
Universidad Nacional de Colombia
Bogata, Colombia
Christina
Jeong
2017
College Student
University of Notre Dame
Notre Dame, Indiana
United States
Other than endorsing perfect punctuation and grammar in English, the Ayn Rand Institute offers no advice or feedback for essays submitted to its contests. However, we do recommend the following resources as ways to improve your essay content.
When you finish writing your essay, submit it to the contest by completing our brief online form.
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