NATIONAL ENGLISH WRITING COMPETITION

The competition consists of both essay writing and creative writing.

CATEGORIES
1st: Secondary school pupils not older than 19 on 31st December, 2014
2nd: Adults (no longer at school) aged between 18 and 28 on 31st December, 2014.

ELIGIBILITY
Participants must be resident in Chile for at least three years and have Spanish as their first language.

PARTICIPATION
Participants must hand in an original argumentative essay written in English.
The main feature of an argumentative essay is the development of an argument, using reasoning and examples, which shows that a particular point of view is the right one, having considered all options. If in doubt, please check on internet, or write to the organizers requesting instructions about how to write an argument essay

SCHOOLS must select the five best essays written by its pupils. Those who are still at school may not participate in the second category. Those who have won a prize of a trip in other ESU Chile competitions of any type will not be considered for the first prize in this writing competition. If a school is not participating then individual students may participate privately prior permission from the organizers.

STRUCTURE AND RULES OF THE COMPETITION
First Stage:
Each competitor should write an original argumentative essay in English, of between 500 and 800 words (1st Category) or between 700 and 1000 words (2nd Category), on one of the following themes:

1- Honesty is not always the best Policy. Do you agree?
2- Careers: Should these be chosen according to what the market dictates?
3- Apps and video games are the new opiate of the masses. Discuss.
4- Should Creativity be taught at school?
5- Is holding the World Cup a benefit or a disadvantage to the host country?

The themes are not titles. Each competitor should create his/her own title related to one of the themes and develop a personal point of view in the argument. The title should appear on the first page of the text.

The essay must be original. Nothing should be copied from the Internet unless attributed to its author, as this will result in disqualification. Bibliographic quotes should appear between inverted commas and their author should appear at the foot of the page. The sources used in the preparation of the essay should appear on the last page.
The deadline to send in the essay is: Monday 4th of August, at the latest.

Second Stage:
The finalists in each category, selected by the judges on the basis of the essays, will be invited to take part in an individual creative writing session on 29th September, 2014. The nature of the writing task will be announced at the start of this session.

FORMAT FOR THE ESSAY
The essay must be sent by email as an attachment. The following information should be included In the body of the email:

1- Category (1st or 2nd)
2- Theme and title of essay.
3- Complete names of the writer
4- RUT number
5- Date of birth
6- For Category 1: Name of School
7- For Category 2: Name of University or place of work
8- Home address, telephone numbers and e-mail address of the writer
9- How you heard about this competition

No part of the essay itself must appear in the body of the email.

The essay should be attached to the email as a Word document. It should be double spaced, Arial font, size 12. The title you have chosen must appear at the top of each page, but no other personal information should be included on any page.

The essay must be sent in by email to: prensa@britanico.cl entitled “ESU English Writing Competition”.

JUDGES
The judges for both stages of the competition will be teachers of English, writers and other suitably qualified people.

The judges will only have access to the essay, and will not know the names or origins of the writers.

JUDGING CRITERIA
a) First Stage: The judges will assess the essays according to the following criteria:
i) Use of language
ii) Analysis of the chosen argument
iii) Presentation and structure

b) Second Stage: The judges will assess the creative writing work according to the following criteria:
i) Use of language
ii) Originality
iii) Quality of response to a given stimulus

PRIZES
Prizes will be awarded principally to the best creative writing pieces of work.

The first prize awarded will be as follows:
1st Category:
1st prize: Air ticket to England, a 2 week stay and 2 week English Course with EF

2nd Category:
1st prize: Air ticket to USA or Canada, a 2 week stay and 2 weeks English

These and other prizes will be awarded at a special ceremony at the Biblioteca Nacional on November 13th, 2013 with the attendance of the British Ambassador, during which the winning stories will be read aloud.

KEY DATES
4th August: Deadline for reception of essays
3rd week of September: Notification sent to finalists
29th September: Final stage at the Biblioteca Nacional: Creative Writing
13th Nov: Prize-giving and cocktail at the Biblioteca Nacional for finalists and guests

RECEPTION OF ESSAYS
Essays should be sent in only by email to prensa@britanico.cl

SPONSORS
The competition is organised by the ESU in partnership with the Instituto Británico Chileno de Cultura
With the special sponsorship of EF (Education First), The Birchman Group, Biblioteca Nacional, Waitrose

FINAL POINTS
The decisions of the judges, appointed by the English-Speaking Union Chile and the Chilean British Institute, will be final.

The English-Speaking Union Chile

PRIZES

Prizes will be awarded principally to the best creative writing pieces of work.

The first prize awarded will be as follows:

1st Category:
1st prize: Air ticket to England, a 2 week stay and 2 week English Course with EF

2nd Category:
1st prize: Air ticket to USA or Canada, a 2 week stay and 2 weeks English

These and other prizes will be awarded at a special ceremony at the Biblioteca Nacional

on November 13th, 2013 with the attendance of the British Ambassador, during which the winning stories will be read aloud.

KEY DATES
4th August: Deadline for reception of essays
3rd week of September: Notification sent to finalists
29th September: Final stage at the Biblioteca Nacional: Creative Writing
13th Nov: Prize-giving and cocktail at the Biblioteca Nacional for finalists and guests