Deadline: 30 June 2012
This competition is organized by SM Sains Alam Shah (Alam Shah Science School), Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia (ASiS) and aims to encourage young writers to express their thoughts and views on a given theme in both prose and poetry.
THE ORGANISER: SM Sains Alam Shah (Alam Shah Science School), Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia (ASiS).
THEME: Patriotism: A Global Perspective
Topic for the Essay Writing Section: John F. Kennedy said Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country. Discuss this statement in the light of your own country. See format, rules, and regulations below.
Topic for the Poetry Writing Section: There is no specific topic for this section but candidates are required to write a poem on the theme of patriotism. See format, rules, and regulations below.
CALENDAR 2012
- 09 March 2012 – Launch of the Essay and Poetry Writing Competition
- 30 June 2012 – Deadline for submissions.
- 01 July – 31 August 2012 – Processing of all entries
- 15 September 2012 – The 30 shortlisted participants from both sections will be announced on the website
- 15 September – 15 October 2012 – Judging the final entries
- 15 October 2012 – The top three award winning entries and the next seven best entries (consolation) for both the essay and poetry writing sections will be announced on the website
- 24 October 2012 – Closing and Prize Giving.
PATRIOTISM
The feeling of patriotism or love for one’s country is the duty of every citizen of a nation. A nation’s progress or failure rests to a great extent on its citizens. Besides being law abiding, citizens can contribute in many ways to his or her nation. For example if a citizen is honest and free from corrupt practices, then he or she is a patriot. Patriotism is one valuable asset any country can benefit from.
The ASiS International Essay and Poetry Writing Competition 2012 (AIWC) would like to hear the views of school students worldwide on the efforts undertaken to promote patriotism and love for one’s country. In this respect, prospective participants of the essay writing section are required to:
- Give a clear cut definition of the issue at hand.
- Give your perceptions of the situation in your respective countries.
- Outline the roles of the government, non-governmental organizations, and the people in efforts to instil love for the country.
- Focus on one or more programmes designed to instil patriotic values among the citizens of your country.
QUESTIONS TO ADDRESS IN YOUR ESSAY.
- How have current efforts in your country to instil love for the country helped in preserving peace and harmony?
- How do you perceive the long term benefits of patriotic values to your country and the world at large?
- What concrete actions would you recommend to ensure the continued love for your country by her citizens?
No definitions or questions to address are required in the poetry section.
We encourage you to draw on your personal experiences when possible and focus on providing your own creative solutions to ensure the inculcation of patriotic values among the citizens of your country and its long term benefits, both in prose and poetry forms.
PRIZES
ESSAY WRITING SECTION
- First Prize – US$300.00 and a certificate of participation.
- Second Prize – US$200.00 and a certificate of participation.
- Third Prize – US$100.00 and a certificate of participation.
- Seven consolation prizes of US$50.00 and certificates of participation.
POETRY WRITING SECTION
- First Prize – US$300.00 and a certificate of participation.
- Second Prize – US$200.00 and a certificate of participation.
- Third Prize – US$100.00 and a certificate of participation.
- Seven consolation prizes of US$50.00 and certificates of participation
RULES AND REGULATIONS
A. General
1. All work must be submitted by individuals, group work is not allowed.
2. One participant may submit only one work.
3. All submissions must be submitted together with the official entry form which is available online.
B. Format, rules and regulations.
(i) Essay Writing Section
1. Your essay must be not longer than 3,000 words.
2. Essays are accepted only on MS Word Document, using Arial, font size 12.
3. Submissions will be accepted until 30 June 2012.
4. This essay writing competition is open for school students only from ALL countries of the world. Participants must be between the ages of 15-18 on 30 June 2012.
5. All essays must be in English.
6. Submissions must be sent via email to aiwc2012@asiskl.org and must be together with the official entry form (AIWC2012 – PARTICIPATION). Please also include your postal / mailing address.
7. Please fill in your name in the official entry form only. Do not include your name in the body of the essay.
8. Participants must provide the names of their respective schools as well as websites when submitting their entries.
9. Each essay must be accompanied by a short summary (maximum 200 words). The summary will be used by the jury to make a pre-selection.
10. Quotes and references must be clearly marked throughout the essay and properly cited.
11. All submissions must be original. No previously published material will be accepted. Any form of plagiarism will result in automatic disqualification.
12. The Organizer reserves the right to publish and / to make available to the public the winning submissions.
13. The decision of the jury is final and is not subject to an appeal.
A Note on Submissions
Please name your files appropriately so that the organiser can retrieve them easily. When submitting an essay entry, you may send it as follows: “AIWC 2012 (essay) – John Brown”. When you submit the official entry form, it is better to name it “AIWC-2012-PARTICIPATION- (essay) – John Brown”. Do not use different names or codes as these can be confusing. When naming poem entries, the procedure is the same, except the word “poetry” should be stated in brackets.
(ii) Poetry Writing Section
1. Your poem can be in any form but must have a minimum of 20 lines.
2. Poems are accepted only on MS Word Document, using Arial, font size 12.
3. Submissions will be accepted until 30 June 2012.
4. This essay and poetry writing competition is open for school students only from ALL countries of the world. Participants must be between the ages of 15-18 on 30 June 2012.
5. All poems must be in English.
6. Submissions must be sent via email to aiwc2012@asiskl.org and must be together with the official entry form (AIWC2012 – PARTICIPATION). Please also include your postal / mailing address.
7. Please fill in your name in the official entry form only. Do not include your name in the body of the poem.
8. Participants must provide the names of their respective schools as well as websites when submitting their entries.
9. All submissions must be original. No previously published material will be accepted. Any form of plagiarism will result in automatic disqualification.
10. The Organizer reserves the right to publish and / to make available to the public the winning submissions.
11. The decision of the jury is final and is not subject to an appeal.
FAQ – FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
1. What is the deadline for submissions? The deadline for submissions for both sections is 30 June 2012. Work submitted after the deadline will not be considered.
2. How do I submit? The submission process is very simple. Essays and poems are submitted on MS Word (Arial, font size 12) via email. No other format is allowed.
3. Who is eligible to participate? This essay and poetry writing competition is open to school students of all countries. College and university students are not eligible to participate.
4. I am just under 15 or just over 18 – can I still participate? This competition is intended only for school students between 15 – 18 years of age. If you are between these ages on 30 June 2012, you are eligible. No exceptions will be granted. If you are 18 years and 1 day on that date, you are still eligible, so long as you don’t reach 19 years. Those who are 14 years and 11 months will not be considered as you have not reached 15.
5. In what language shall I submit my work? This essay can only be written in English.
6. Am I allowed to include graphs, tables, or diagrams in my essay? Yes, you are welcome (but not obliged to) to include the mentioned. The content will not count into the total number of words in your essay. Please make sure you explain what each graph, table, or diagram represents.
7. What is the summary of the essay? You are asked to write a summary to go with your essay, which cannot exceed 200 words. The summary should explain the aim, the methodology, the reasoning and main conclusion of your essay. The summary is important, as pre-selection of the essays will be based on the assessment of these only. This means that a good essay without a summary or a poorly written summary will not be graded highly.
8. What are the evaluation criteria for the essay submissions? Essays will be graded for their structure and coherence, originality and creativity and the use of thoughtful and concrete proposals / examples.
9. Do I need to address all questions? Yes, you need to address all questions in your essay.
10. Can my poem be less than 20 lines? The minimum number of lines for the poetry section is 20 lines and no exceptions will be made.
Download: official entry form
CONTACT INFORMATION:
For queries/ submissions: aiwc2012@asiskl.org
Website: http://www.asiskl.org/