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Deadline: 15 May 2012

To foster the study and appreciation of Jane Austen, JASNA conducts an annual student Essay Contest, with support generously provided by the Sonia Raiziss Giop Charitable Foundation.

Students interested in the life and works of Jane Austen are encouraged to enter. The Essay Contest is open to students world-wide at the high school, college/university, and post-graduate levels of study. Entrants do not need to be members of JASNA. Students must be enrolled full-time or part-time in coursework during one or more semesters/quarters of the contest year. Home-schooled students at the high school level are also eligible. Part-time is defined for the college/university level as a minimum of six credit hours and for the post-graduate level as a minimum of three credit hours.

2012 Essay Contest

The 2012 Essay Contest topic aligns with the JASNA Annual General Meeting theme, “Sex, Money and Power in Jane Austen’s Fiction”:

How do sex, money, and power enable characters in Austen's novels to manipulate each other, and what forms of resistance are there to that manipulation? Consider no more than two of Austen’s novels or other major works and analyze the modes of manipulation, whether successful or unsuccessful.

Essay Contest Awards

JASNA awards scholarships to the winners in each of three categories: High School, College/University, and Post-Graduate.

First Place

• One year’s membership in JASNA for both the winner and his or her mentor
• $1000 scholarship
• Free registration and two nights’ lodging for JASNA’s Annual General Meeting (AGM) in New York [Note: Transportation to New York is not provided.]
• Recognition at the AGM and on the JASNA web site
• Publication of the essay on JASNA’s web site
• One of Jane Austen’s novels

• One year’s membership in JASNA for both the winner and his or her mentor
• $500 scholarship
• Free registration and two nights’ lodging for JASNA’s Annual General Meeting (AGM) in New York [Note: Transportation to New York is not provided.]
• Recognition at the AGM and on the JASNA web site
• Publication of the essay on JASNA’s web site
• One of Jane Austen’s novels

• One year’s membership in JASNA for both the winner and his or her mentor
• $250 scholarship
• Free registration and two nights’ lodging for JASNA’s Annual General Meeting (AGM) in New York [Note: Transportation to New York is not provided.]
• Recognition at the AGM and on the JASNA web site
• Publication of the essay on JASNA’s web site
• One of Jane Austen’s novels

The judges value original insights and clear, correct writing. Essays should be directed to a well-informed general audience of JASNA members rather than to a strictly academic audience. Essays should be based primarily on the students’ own observations, with adequate support from the Jane Austen work(s) under discussion. Since JASNA members are very familiar with Jane Austen’s works, plot summary is unnecessary.

Essays written for coursework may be submitted. If research is used as support, students should rely on no more than five sources and should avoid academic terminology unless terms are clearly defined in the body of the essay.

Reading previous winning essays will give entrants a very good idea of the sort of essay JASNA is seeking. Answers to frequently-asked questions are also available on this site.

Contest Rules

• Entries must be submitted with the official Essay Contest entry form. Click on this link to view the form in Microsoft Word and save it to your computer to fill out.
• The student must complete the above entry form, which includes a stipulation that the essay is the student’s original work and has not been published elsewhere.
• Entries may include a statement about the student’s mentor; however, a mentor statement is not required.
• Entries must be e-mailed on or before May 15, 2012.
• Contest judging is conducted anonymously. Personal information about the student, school, and mentor must appear ONLY on the entry form and not in the essay.

• The essay must be written in English.
• The essay must be 6-8 pages in length, not including the Works Cited page.
• The title of the essay should appear at the top of page one; further pages should be numbered on the top right; the student’s name must not appear on the essay.
• The essay must be in MLA format (double-spaced and in 12 point type throughout, with one-inch margins on all sides of each page).
• The essay must use MLA documentation, including a Works Cited page and parenthetical end notes. Note that source material which is directly quoted as well as that which is paraphrased or summarized must be cited. Note also that quotes from the Jane Austen work under discussion should be cited.

CONTACT INFORMATION:

For inquiries: Please review the Essay Contest FAQs. If you still have questions, contact Eric Nye at eric.nye@jasna.org. You must use “JASNA Essay Contest” in your subject line.

For submissions: Your essay must be submitted via e-mail. Submissions must be sent as attachments to an e-mail message labeled “JASNA Essay Contest Entry.” Send the following attachments as separate documents in Microsoft Word format: (1) the completed entry form and (2) the essay. Send the entry to essay-contest@jasna.org. (Note: this e-mail address is solely for essay contest administration and may not be used for questions or other correspondence with JASNA.)

Website: http://www.jasna.org/