PROMOTED BY THE MCKENDREE REVIEW
It’s time to show off your writing skills by participating in the annual Humanities Division Essay contest!
The official rules will be posted on Oct. 3, but in case anyone would like to get started on the contest, please read the following guidelines. As of right now, rules are subjected to change between now and Oct. 3 so be on the lookout for an email regarding the official rules. You may view the flier here: Humanities_Essay+contest_2014
This year you may choose from one of two prompts: The Villain You Love to Hate or Hate to Love! and What’s Alive in the Cemetery?.
Prompt Idea #1: The Villain You Love to Hate or Hate to Love!
Have you ever heard the saying “The Devil has all the best tunes?” Many times the devil, or villain, also has the best lines in movies and books. So, as villains continue to take center stage in entertainment, we have to ask ourselves, “If it is “good to be bad,” then who’s the baddest of them all and why?”
For your essay contest submission, identify and argue who you believe is the best fictional villain (someone you love to hate or hate to love) whether from book, film, t.v., musical, play, or game. Then, in a 4-5 page essay using at least one outside source, explain why and attempt to persuade us!
Don’t forget to include a Works Cited page!
- Prompt Idea #2: What’s Alive at the Cemetery?
St. Louis’ Bellefontaine cemetery has been described as “a majestic, 19th century park, with thousands of big trees spread out over more than 300 acres” (LaCapra, 2014). Nothing spooky about that! Typically, conversations about cemeteries revolve around the spooky and the supernatural — even the metaphorical. While the cemetery is often used as a metaphor for loss or the end of life, one visit to Bellefontaine cemetery, and a different image begins to surface. Cemeteries can be a place of refuge — where the living and the deceased may find peace and solace.
For your essay contest submission, answer the question: What’s really alive at the cemetery? Then, in a 4-5 page essay using at least one outside source, explain why and attempt to persuade us!
Don’t forget to include a Works Cited page!
All essay entries must be submitted to Stephanie Quinn smquinn@mckendree.edu by October 31, 2014, at 11:59pm Central Time!
Guidelines:
- Only one entry per student.
- All entries must be typed and submitted via email.
Awards:
Essays will be evaluated based on academic writing conventions BUT creativity will be rewarded as well.
First place award: $100 and publication in Montage and McKendree Review
Second place award: $50 and honorable mention in Montage and McKendree Review
Third place award: $25 and honorable mention in Montage and McKendree Review
