[nabs-l] High School Essay Contest

Sat Mar 28 02:24:45 UTC 2009

World Future Society High School Essay Contest

http://www.wfs.org/Sept-Oct08/FUTUP-SEP/Essaycontest.htm   

As you look ahead to the years after high school, one of the biggest
challenges is what kind of world will be waiting for you, especially as you
enter the workplace or decide what sort of career to pursue.  What skills
and knowledge are going to be most the valuable to you in a job or career?
What areas should you concentrate on in college?  What job areas will have
the most opportunities in five years? In ten years?  

The world around us is becoming an increasingly complex place, with changes
occurring at an accelerating pace, but it is also an exciting one,
especially when you begin to understand what is happening and why.  One way
to make some sense of the dizzying environment we live in is to identify
what have been called 'Trends' in the world around us. Another way to say
this is to describe how a specific change or set of change s is occurring -
how fast, in what direction, and with what consequences.   When we talk
about consequences, we really mean:  What might the world look like as a
result of this change? 

Of course, no one can really predict the future, but we can think about more
and less likely possibilities (such as, it is very likely the sun will come
up tomorrow) and prepare for the most likely.  Also, it is also likely that
some changes might influence others (such as, the 
Internet might make it easier to do homework).  And what is most interesting
about the future is how it might change your own life and the lives of
others in your school, family, community or even country.  

Describe the trends you want to talk about in your essay in your own words,
including what changes you expect to occur, and include your understanding
of the consequences that might result in the lives of people affected by the
trends you describe. Use as much detail as you feel is necessary to make the
description easy to understan d and meaningful to its readers. Remember that
you are describing change in the real world and not a world of fiction, so
do some research in the area or areas you have chosen about how change
actually occurs and include your citations with the paper. 

For the purposes of this Essay Contest, an essay is a three-part paper that
lays out and develops a position in response to the essay contest question.
Although researching the topic to find examples that support your points is
crucial to writing your essay, it should be more than a research paper, a
narrative description of an event, or a statement of opinion.

Your essay should contain the following:

An introduction, which introduces the subject and contains an explanation of
your position. The objective is to demonstrate that you understand the essay
contest question and have formed a response to it.

A body, which develops your argument using research and analysis. T
he process of analysis may include comparing and contrasting,
differentiating among several ideas or events, critiquing a variety of
perspectives, interpreting results, or drawing inferences. In this section,
you should analyze two case studies. Be sure to identify the sources of your
information or ideas.

A conclusion, which summarizes the research and analysis presented in the
essay and sets forth your conclusions. Drawing on ideas already presented,
you should demonstrate that your conclusions support the position you put
forward in the opening paragraphs. Your aim is to convince the reader that
your position is reasonable and valid.

Your essay should also include notes and a bibliography except when using
APA style:

Reference notes (footnotes or endnotes) give the sources of your information
or ideas. Footnotes are placed at the bottom of the page where the
information appears. Alternatively, you may gather all the notes at the end
of the text as endnotes.

A bibliography is a list of the works that you have referred to in your
essay or have consulted in order to write it.

Essays that use a variety of sources-academic journals, news magazines,
newspapers, books, government documents, publications from research
organizations-fare better in the contest.

Citations in the reference notes or bibliography should follow rules given
in a handbook such as the MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers or the
Manual for Writers of Term Papers, Theses, and Dissertations. Typically a
n entry will have at least the name of the author or editor, title of the
work, and date and place of publication. The bibliography should be arranged
alphabetically by the last names of the authors.

The Internet or World Wide Web should not be the only source for your essay.
Be aware that you may encounter "republished" or "third generation"
information on the Internet that is inaccurate or improperly attributed.
When citing Internet sources, you must include the following information:
author(s), title of work, Internet address, and date information was
accessed. Detailed instructions can be obtained from the manuals listed
above. For the purposes of this essay, Internet sources should be listed
separately from non-electronic sources, such as books, magazines, and
newspapers.

Again, send all submission (double spaced and no smaller than 12 font) to
Tim Mack, <tmack(at)wfs.org> (replace (at) with @)

 by March 31st2009. 

First prize - $300 - 3 year student membership in WFS -- Free admission to
Chicago conference in July 2009
Second prize $200 2 year student membership in WFS -- Free admission to
Chicago conference in July 2009
Third prize $100 - 1 year student membership in WFS -- Free admission to
Chicago conference in July 2009

Complete guidelines available at:

http://www.wfs.org/Sept-Oct08/FUTUP-SEP/Essaycontest.htm   

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