Contest: Atlas Shrugged (Deadline Sept. 27)

10th Annual Essay Contest on Ayn Rand's Novel Atlas Shrugged.

FIRST PRIZE: $10,000
3 SECOND PRIZES: $2,000
5 THIRD PRIZES: $1,000
20 FINALISTS: $100
20 SEMIFINALISTS: $50

ATLAS SHRUGGED—TOPICS

1. Why do Dagny and Rearden oppose the strikers in action?

2. Explain Ragnar Danneskjold’s statement that Robin Hood is the one man he is out to destroy. What is the deeper moral meaning of his claim?

3. For each of the following three passages from Atlas Shrugged, explain its meaning and its relation to the story and theme of the novel.

a. Galt: "In any compromise between good and evil, it is only evil that can profit. In that transfusion of blood which drains the good to feed the evil, the compromiser is the transmitting rubber tube.”
-Part Three, Chapter VII

b. Dagny: “We never had to take any of it seriously, did we?”
Galt: “No, we never had to.”
-Part Three, Chapter I

c. Francisco: “You have a great deal of courage, Dagny. Some day, you’ll have enough of it.”
-Part One, Chapter VFirst prize: $5,000 Cash Award

Entrant must be enrolled in a college degree program at the time of entry.
High school students entering college in the fall of 2008 are also eligible.
Contest is open to students worldwide.
A stapled cover sheet MUST include: name and address of entrant; entrant's e-mail address (if available); name and address of entrant's university; topic selected (1, 2 or 3 from list above); and your declared major.
Essay must be no fewer than 800 and no more than 1,600 words in length, and must be typewritten and double-spaced. One entry per student, please.
Essay must be solely the work of the entrant.
Essay must be postmarked no later than September 17, 2008.
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 and other participants will be notified by November 27, 2008.