Atlas Shrugged Essay Contest, Ayn Rand Institute, Canada – 1st prize: $25,000
Entry Deadline: September 21, 2020
Have you ever read one of Ayn Rand’s thought-provoking novels? Now’s the time! Enter an Ayn Rand Institute essay contest and you’ll have a chance to win thousands of dollars in scholarship prize money. ARI has been holding worldwide essay contests based on Ayn Rand’s fiction since 1985, and has awarded $2 million in total prize money! This year we will award more than $50,000 to student winners.
Eligibility for Atlas Shrugged Essay Contest
12th-Graders, College Undergraduates and Graduate Students worlwide.
Prizes
- 1ST PLACE: $25,000 – 1 Winner
- 2ND PLACE: $2,500 – 3 Winners
- 3RD PLACE: $500 – 5 Winners
- FINALIST: $100 – 50 Winners
Topics (Select one)
- The covers of many editions of Atlas Shrugged describe it as “a mystery story, not about the murder of man’s body, but about the murder—and rebirth—of man’s spirit.” Choose three of the most significant mysteries you encounter in Part I of the novel and explain what you think are the solutions to each. For each one, how does it relate to “the murder—and rebirth—of man’s spirit”?
- Atlas Shrugged tells the story of what happens to a society when its most productive members go missing. Where today can a similar situation be found? Select a well-known situation that has made international headlines. Explain what you understand to be both the cause and the effect of the situation. In what ways are the circumstances similar to the story of Atlas Shrugged? In what ways are they different?
- James says to Cherryl: “I don’t want to be loved for anything. I want to be loved for myself not for anything I do or have or say or think.” What does James mean by this? What do Cherryl’s responses to James suggest her view of love to be? What is your view? How does this issue relate to the wider themes of the novel?
See the Details of the Contest (Rules / Essay Submission) on Official Website HERE.