Essay Contest Guidelines
Coordinators, Eligibility, Essay Requirements, & Judging

Essay Contest Guidelines Coordinators Eligibility Essay Requirements Judging

Coordinators

The contest coordinator is the key contact between students and the United States Institute of Peace. The coordinator may be selected by the student and can be a teacher, parent, youth leader, etc. Coordinators can obtain a teaching guide on this year's topic that will provide useful information on integrating the topic into the classroom curriculum. Coordinators do not need to contact the Institute prior to submitting essays.

Your contest coordinator is responsible for reviewing your essay for grammatical and typographical errors. In addition, although the research and analysis must be your own work, your contest coordinator may review the essay to see that it reflects the essay description above. The text of the 2002–2003 winning essay is also available online.

The coordinator:

• chooses how the contest will be conducted
• oversees the selection process for essays submitted to the contest
• ensures that essays are conceived and written by students and represent the students' own thoughts
• reviews the essays to ensure that they follow the guidelines, and to check for grammatical and typographical errors
• signs each student registration form to certify compliance with the rules
• completes one copy of the coordinator participation form, and submits four collated copies of each student's essay and completed forms to the Institute

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Eligibility

Students are eligible to participate if they are in grades nine through twelve in any of the fifty states, the District of Columbia, the U.S. territories, or if they are U.S. citizens attending high school overseas. Students may be attending a public, private, or parochial school or participating in a high school correspondence program. Entries from home-schooled students are also accepted.

Previous first-place state winners and immediate relatives of directors or staff of the Institute are not eligible to participate. Previous honorable mentions are eligible to enter.

Students may take part in the contest with the sponsorship of any school, school club, youth group, community group, or religious organization. There must be a contest coordinator—someone in the school or community who can review essays and act as the key contact between participants and the Institute. If there is no designated coordinator at your school or organization, you may ask a teacher, youth group leader, club sponsor, parent, or other adult to be your coordinator. It is to your advantage to have someone review your essay before you submit it to make sure it is complete, has all the necessary forms, is free from typographical and grammatical errors, and addresses the topic. There is no formal process to become a coordinator.

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What Are the Essay Requirements?

For the purposes of the National Peace Essay Contest, an essay is a three-part paper that lays out and develops a position in response to the essay contest question. Although researching the topic to find examples that support your points is crucial to writing your essay, it should be more than a research paper, a narrative description of an event, or a statement of opinion.

Your essay should contain the following:

• An introduction, which introduces the subject and contains an explanation of your position. The objective is to demonstrate that you understand the essay contest question and have formed a response to it.
• A body, which develops your argument using research and analysis. The process of analysis may include comparing and contrasting, differentiating among several ideas or events, critiquing a variety of perspectives, interpreting results, or drawing inferences. In this section, you should analyze two case studies involving transitions to democracy. Be sure to identify the sources of your information or ideas.
• A conclusion, which summarizes the research and analysis presented in the essay and sets forth your conclusions. Drawing on ideas already presented, you should demonstrate that your conclusions support the position you put forward in the opening paragraphs. Your aim is to convince the reader that your position is reasonable and valid.

Your essay should also include notes and a bibliography:

• Reference notes (footnotes or endnotes) give the sources of your information or ideas. Footnotes are placed at the bottom of the page where the information appears. Alternatively, you may gather all the notes at the end of the text as endnotes.
• A bibliography is a list of the works that you have referred to in your essay or have consulted in order to write it.

Essays that use a variety of sources—academic journals, news magazines, newspapers, books, government documents, publications from research organizations—fare better in the contest.

Citations in the reference notes or bibliography should follow rules given in a handbook such as the MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers or the Manual for Writers of Term Papers, Theses, and Dissertations. Typically an entry will have at least the name of the author or editor, title of the work, and date and place of publication. The bibliography should be arranged alphabetically by the last names of the authors.

Encyclopedias are not acceptable as sources. Essays citing encyclopedias in notes or bibliography may be disqualified.

The Internet or World Wide Web should not be the only source for your essay. Be aware that you may encounter "republished" or "third generation" information on the Internet that is inaccurate or improperly attributed. When citing Internet sources, you must include the following information: author(s), title of work, Internet address, and date information was accessed. Detailed instructions can be obtained from the manuals listed above. For the purposes of this essay, Internet sources should be listed separately from non-electronic sources, such as books, magazines, and newspapers.

You must:

• Type your essay, double-spaced, on one side of white 8 1/2 by 11 inch paper with left and right margins set at 1 1/4 inches each. Your name and your school's name must not appear anywhere on the essay.
• Answer the essay contest question in a well-organized, well-reasoned essay of no more than 1,500 words. Points will be deducted from essays exceeding the 1,500-word limit. The word count includes articles (the, and, a) and quotations.
• Include standardized citations and a bibliography. (These are not included in the 1,500-word count.) Essays without these elements will be disqualified.
• Write the essay in English and address all parts of the 2004–2005 contest topic. Essays on other topics will be disqualified.
• Number the pages of your essay.
• Include your name, school, and address on the student registration form.
• Submit four stapled, legible, collated copies of your essay, along with the completed registration form, to your contest coordinator well in advance of the February 2, 2005 postmark deadline. Attach the registration form (one copy only) to the top of your essay copies. Your coordinator will submit the essays to the Institute.

Your essay may be disqualified if:

• It is not on the topic.
• Registration forms are not complete.
• It does not have reference notes and a bibliography.
• It uses encyclopedia citations in the bibliography, or relies solely on Internet research.
• It is postmarked after the deadline of February 2, 2005.
• It plagarizes—that is, uses someone else's statements or ideas as your own.

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How Will Your Essay Be Judged?

Essays submitted to the National Peace Essay Contest in Washington, D.C., are sent to state-level judges—qualified experts selected by the Institute. Using the criteria described below, state judges select winning essays. National winners are selected from among the first-place state essays by the Institute's board of directors. The decisions of the judges are final. The Institute reserves the right to present no awards at the state and national levels, or to reduce the number of awards if an insufficient number of deserving entries is received. Participants are notified in May of their essay's status. Please do not call the Institute for information about the status of your essay.

Your entry will be judged by the criteria below.

Quality of the research (1/3 total score)

Your knowledge and depth of understanding about the issues you are addressing will be demonstrated by the quality of your research. The following questions are provided to assist you in developing the research component of the essay.

• Have you adequately researched both facts and points of view regarding the topic?
• Have you examined two cases, at least one of which was post–Cold War?
• Does the essay analyze whether democratization contributed to peace or conflict and what other factors contributed to this condition?
• Does the essay suggest a sequence of actions that would provide a smooth transition to democracy?
• Have you supported your assertions with good examples?
• Does your essay show that you know the topic well enough to make informed judgments?
• Are the ideas and information obtained from other sources cited properly?

Quality of the analysis (1/3 total score)

One goal of the contest is to encourage you to develop your own perspective on international issues. This perspective should be reflected in your analysis of a complex issue and presentation of clear, concise arguments to support your point of view.

• Have you carefully and thoughtfully analyzed the information presented?
• Have you examined issues from an original perspective?
• Have you used critical thinking skills to support your positions and conclusions?

Style and mechanics (1/3 total score)

The National Peace Essay Contest is designed to promote good writing as well as serious thinking. The clarity of your presentation and quality of your writing will also figure in the score.

• Does the essay have a clear structure, including an introduction, body, conclusion, and bibliography?
• Is your essay free of errors in syntax, grammar, spelling, and punctuation?
• Are your ideas expressed coherently and effectively?

Mail the Essays and Registration Forms to:

United States Institute of Peace
National Peace Essay Contest
1200 17th Street NW, Suite 200
Washington, DC 20036-3011

All essays must be postmarked no later than February 2, 2005.

Four copies of each essay must be submitted with the registration form or the essay will not be forwarded for judging. Disqualified essays will not be returned for correction or forwarded to judges.

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