Skip to main content

Essay Contest

    ALL JUNIORS (and those seniors who choose to) are required to write a 500-word essay for the Congressional Seminar National Essay Contest. The essay is for a grade (extra for seniors) and should be typed, double-spaced, and formatted according to MLA.

    The essay question for this year:
    "If you were a presidential candidate, what domestic issue would you consider the most important, and what would you do about it?"

    The most discussed domestic issues, in my estimation, are the economy, the energy "crisis", the health care "crisis", immigration, and the pro-life/pro-choice debate. You are welcome to tackle any other domestic issue, but please limit it to one. In your paper, you will establish the issue (or problem) and provide solutions. The information you use should be documented (discussed in class next week), and a logical place to start is the candidates themselves.

    The presidential candidates still in the mix:

    Of course, there are other candidates (i.e. Ron Paul, and Dennis Kucinich), and you can look those up if you'd like.

    IN FACT, try out this handy candidate calculator to see which candidate best matches your opinions on the issues (here's another)!

    DUE DATE: Wednesday 1/16

    Popular posts from this blog

    Juniors ~ Restoration Period

    For more on the Restoration Period, go to the homepage for the Norton Anthology of English Literature . Click on the picture below to go to Wikipedia's page on Hogarth's Marriage a-la-mode :

    Seniors ~ Three (Small) Writing Assignments

    As you work on your memory books this week and next, you should also be working on the end-of-year writing assignments.  I've given you a handout (if you were on class): A letter to your future self -- imagine yourself four years from now...where will you be, and what will you be doing?  Is it what you planned?  What do you hope to remember about NOW?  What's important?  Address your future self in a letter (standard form), and enclose it in a self-address envelope.  I won't read it, but I do need to know you've done it, so don't seal it. A reflective paragraph that will serve as the introduction to your memory book.  What is your overall impression of your high school years?  What do you want to remember most? Finally, write a poem about your senior class.  The form and tone of the poem is up to you: funny, serious or sad; rhyming couplets, ballad, or free verse.  However you write it, though, please take it seriously.  A copy of this poem should go in your memory ...

    Homework

    Seniors Your exam is on Thursday, and your final essay is on Friday. I'll talk more about the essay in class tomorrow. Also, the senior auction project lacks one more important detail - your memories! We will spend a bit of time tomorrow in class writing down some of your fondest memories of your senior year, and the rest of your time at RO.  Sophomores Read "Lines Composed a few miles above Tintern Abbey," and complete the questions at the end of the selection in your book. As always, please use complete sentences and cite frequently from the text.