17th Annual Essay Contest on Ayn Rand’s Novelette Anthem

For 8th, 9th and 10th Graders

Entry Deadline: March 20, 2009

FIRST PRIZE: $2,000
5 SECOND PRIZES: $500
10 THIRD PRIZES: $200
45 FINALISTS: $50
175 SEMIFINALISTS: $30

Quick Overview of Anthem:

Anthem, a novelette in the form of a prose poem, depicts a grim world of the future that is totally collectivized. Technologically primitive, it is a world in which candles are the very latest advance. From birth to death, men’s lives are directed for them by the State. At Palaces of Mating the State enacts its eugenics program; once born and schooled, people are assigned jobs they dare not refuse, toiling in the fields until they are consigned to the Home of the Useless.

This is a world in which men live and die for the sake of the State. The State is all, the individual is nothing. It is a world in which the word “I” has vanished from the language, replaced by “We.” For the sin of speaking the unspeakable “I,” men are put to death.

Equality 7-2521, however, rebels.

Though assigned to the life work of street sweeper by the rulers who resent his brilliant, inquisitive mind, he secretly becomes a scientist.

Enduring the threat of torture and imprisonment, he continues in his quest for knowledge and ultimately rediscovers electric light. But when he shares it with the Council of Scholars, he is denounced for the sin of thinking what no other men think. He runs for his life, escaping to the uncharted forest beyond the city’s edge. There, with his beloved, he begins a more intense sequence of discoveries, both personal and intellectual, that help him break free from the collectivist State’s brutal morality of sacrifice. He learns that man’s greatest moral duty is the pursuit of his own happiness. He discovers and speaks the sacred word: I.

Anthem’s theme is the meaning and glory of man’s ego.

For your essay - Select ONE of the following three topics:

1. Equality 7-2521 states that it is very unusual for men to reach the age of 45 (Chapter 1). Consistent with the story and its meaning, offer several possible explanations as to why life expectancy is so short in his society.
2. Anthem is a heroic and inspiring story about the triumph of the individual’s independent spirit. Even though, at the end of the novel, Equality is greatly outnumbered, and modern society lies in ruins, it is a story of liberation and hope—not despair. Discuss.
3. In a single, unified essay, explain the meaning and wider significance of each of the following quotes in the story:

• “The glass box in our arms is like a living heart that gives us strength. We have lied to ourselves. We have not built this box for the good of our brothers” (Chapter 7).
• “I wished to know the meaning of things. I am the meaning” (Chapter 11).
• “I owe nothing to my brothers, nor do I gather debts from them” (Chapter 11).

Anthem—Judging

Essays will be judged on both style and content. Judges will look for writing that is clear, articulate and logically organized. Winning essays must demonstrate an outstanding grasp of the philosophic meaning of Anthem.

Essay submissions are evaluated in a fair and unbiased multi-round judging process. To ensure the anonymity of our participants, essays are graded without cover sheets. Winners’ names remain unknown to judges until after the essays have been ranked and the contest results finalized. ARI checks essays with Ithenticate plagiarism detection software.

Anthem—Rules

• No application is required.
• Entrant must be in the 8th, 9th or 10th grade.
• Contest is open to students worldwide.
• Essay must be no fewer than 600 and no more than 1,200 words in length and double-spaced. One entry per student, please.
• Essay must be submitted online or postmarked by March 20, 2009, no later than 11:59 PM, PST.
• Essay must be solely the work of the entrant. Plagiarism will result in disqualification.
• Decisions of the judges are final.
• Employees of the Ayn Rand Institute, its board of directors and their immediate family members are not eligible for this contest. Past first-place winners are not eligible for this contest.
• All entries become the property of the Ayn Rand Institute and will not be returned.

Winners, finalists, semifinalists and all other participants will be notified via e-mail and/or by mail by July 27, 2009.

Anthem—To Enter

» Submit Your Essay via our Web Form

Click on the above link to access our Web Form. Simply fill in your contact information (this takes the place of a cover sheet), copy and paste your essay into the designated field, and click “Submit.” A message stating, “Your entry is being routed” will immediately follow. You will receive an e-mail acknowledging receipt of your entry within 24 hours. If you have not received e-mail notification within 24 hours, please email essay@aynrand.org.

Students unable to submit online may submit essays to:

Anthem Essay Contest
The Ayn Rand Institute
P.O. Box 57044
Irvine, CA 92619-7044
For mailed-in essays only:

You MUST include a stapled cover sheet with the following information: your name; mailing address; e-mail address (if available); the name and address of your high school; topic selected (#1, 2 or 3 from the list above); your current grade level and (if applicable) the name of the teacher who assigned the essay.

If you wish to verify our receipt of your essay, please paperclip a stamped, self-addressed postcard to the essay.