Academic | Essay Contest
Announcing the 16th Annual Signet Classics Student Scholarship Essay Contest
Winners of the 15th Annual Essay Contest »
Read the winning essays from previous years »
With an unbeatable lineup of over 300 of the greatest literary works the world has ever known, Signet Classics is the publisher that students, education professionals and the public turn to more than any other. Now, we are proud to host our sixteenth annual Signet Classics Student Scholarship Essay Contest, in which five high school juniors or seniors can each win a $1,000 scholarship award to be used toward their higher education plus a Signet Classics library for their school! Essays must be submitted by a high school English teacher on behalf of students who write an essay on one of five topics for this year's competition book, Emma, by Jane Austen.
Essay Subject
Emma, by Jane Austen
Topics
Select one of the following five topics:
- In the "Introduction" to the Signet edition, Margaret Drabble writes:
When Jane Austen embarked on her novel Emma, she is said to have said, "I am going to take a heroine whom no one but myself will much like." (pp. v)
What is there about Emma that people might not like? Give specific examples from the novel. How does this reflect your own opinion about Emma? Explain. - Will Emma and Mr. Knightley be happy once they are married and settled? What passages in the novel led you to this conclusion? What differences or conflicts in these characters might lead to stress or dissatisfaction in their union?
- Curiously, four of the major characters, Emma, Frank, Jane and Harriet, are children raised by surrogate parents. How do you think their family situations influence them as adults? Consider their personalities, behavior, values, relationships. Choose at least two of these characters and discuss the ways their backgrounds influence the course they take in the novel. Use specific details.
- Emma experiences several painful events and realizations that alter her understanding of herself and jolt her out of her complacency. Discuss three or four of the most important events which trigger her development into a mature and compassionate young woman from a clever but self-centered adolescent.
- The Victorian writers who followed Jane Austen later in the nineteenth century often depicted a dramatic range of social classes. In contrast, Austen's focus in Emma is more narrow, essentially only depicting the middle class since none of the characters are either extremely wealthy or extremely poor. Nevertheless like the larger outside world, the society is quite rigidly stratified. How is community depicted? What defines each group economically, culturally and socially?
Official Rules for 16th Annual Signet Classics Student Scholarship Essay Contest
No purchase necessary. A purchase will not enhance your opportunity to win.
Open to 11th and 12th grade full-time matriculated students who are attending high schools located in the fifty United States and the District of Columbia, or home-schooled students between the ages of 16-18 who are residents of the fifty United States and the District of Columbia.
How to Enter
- Matriculated students: Four (4) copies of the essay must be mailed by an English teacher on behalf of the student (each English teacher may submit only one junior and one senior essay), along with a cover letter on school letterhead that includes the following details:
- Date
- Student's full name, grade, address, e-mail and home telephone number
- Name of high school
- Name, email and daytime telephone number of English teacher submitting essay (please include summer contact information if different from school year contact information)
- Name, e-mail and daytime telephone number of the school's administration officer
- Topic selected (#1, #2, #3, #4 or #5)
- Certification by teacher that the essay is the student's original work
- Home-schooled students: Four (4) copies of the essay must be mailed by a parent or legal guardian on behalf of the student, along with a cover letter on the parent/legal guardian's letterhead that certifies that the student is home-schooled and that includes the following details:
- Date
- Student's full name, address, e-mail and home telephone number
- Student's equivalent grade
- Name and daytime telephone number and e-mail of the parent/legal guardian
- Topic selected (#1, #2, #3, #4 or #5)
- Certification by sponsoring parent/legal guardian of home-schooled student that the essay is the student's original work
- Essays must be at least two and no more than three double-spaced pages, computer or typewritten. Please include four (4) copies (including the cover letter) of each essay submitted. Entries must be mailed to Penguin Group (USA) Inc., Academic Marketing Department, Signet Classics Student Scholarship Essay Contest, 375 Hudson Street, New York, NY 10014. To be eligible, all entries must be postmarked by April 13, 2012 and received on or by April 20, 2012. Submissions by fax, email, disc or any other electronic means will not be considered.
- Entries will not be returned. By entering the Contest, contestants agree to abide by these rules, and represent and warrant that the entries are their own and original creations, and do not violate or infringe the rights, including, without limitation, copyrights, trademark rights or rights of publicity/privacy, of any third party.
- Entries are void if they are in whole or in part illegible, incomplete, damaged or handwritten. No responsibility is assumed for late, lost, damaged, incomplete, illegible, postage due or misdirected mail entries.
Judging
All eligible entries received will be judged by a qualified panel of judges chosen by Penguin Group (USA) Inc. ("Sponsor") and winners will be selected on or about June 15, 2012. Submissions will be judged on style, content, grammar and originality. Judges will look for clear, concise writing that is original, articulate, logically organized and well-supported. Winning essays must demonstrate a comprehensive understanding of the themes and issues presented in Emma by Jane Austen. Winners will be notified by June 22, 2012 via telephone or email.
Prizes
There are five (5) prizes available to be won. Each prize includes a check in the amount of one thousand dollars ($1,000.00) to be used toward winner's tuition and/or expenses related to their higher education. Each prize also includes a Signet Classics Library for the winner's school library, or public library in the case of a home-schooled winner (Approximate Retail Value ("ARV") = $1,600.00). Total ARV per prize = $2,600.00.
In the event that there is an insufficient number of qualified entries or if the judges determine in their absolute discretion that no or too few entries meet the quality standards established to award the prizes, Sponsor reserves the right not to award the prizes.
Eligibility
- Open to 11th and 12th grade full-time matriculated students who are attending high schools located in the fifty United States and the District of Columbia, or home-schooled students between the ages of 16-18 who are residents of the fifty United States and the District of Columbia. Void where prohibited by law. All state and local restrictions apply.
- Employees of Sponsor and its parent company, subsidiaries, affiliates or other parties in any way involved in the development, production or distribution of this Contest, as well as the immediate family (spouse, parents, siblings, children) and household members of each such employee are not eligible to participate in this Contest.
General
- No cash substitution, transfer or assignment of prizes allowed. In the event of the unavailability of a prize or prizes, Sponsor may substitute a prize or prizes of equal or greater value.
- All expenses, including taxes (if any), on receipt and use of prizes are the sole responsibility of the winners.
- Winners may be required to execute an Affidavit of Eligibility and Release. The affidavit must be returned within fourteen (14) days of notification or another winner will be selected. If a winner is under 18 years of age, their parent/legal guardian will also be required to sign the Affidavit. Because the ARV exceeds $600.00, winners shall be required to provide a Social Security Number or an Individual Taxpayer Identification Number to Sponsor for issuance of a 1099 Form. The winner's school library or public library in the case of a home-schooled winner that will receive a Signet Classics Library shall also be required to provide a Federal Tax Identification Number to Sponsor for issuance of a 1099 form, in connection with its receipt of this portion of the prize.
- By accepting a prize, winners grant to Sponsor the right to edit, publish, copy, display and otherwise use their entries in connection with this Contest, and to further use their names, likenesses, and biographical information in advertising and promotional materials, without further compensation or permission, except where prohibited by law.
- By participating in the Contest and/or accepting a prize, contestants release Sponsor, its parent, subsidiary and affiliated companies, authors whose books are promoted hereby or the agencies of any of them, from any liability, injury, damages, cost or expense, including reasonable attorney's fees, arising out of or connected to participation in this Contest or the acceptance, possession, use or misuse of any prizes.
- Any dispute arising from this Contest will be determined according to the laws of the State of New York, without reference to its conflict of law principles, and the entrants consent to the personal jurisdiction of the state and federal courts located in New York County and agree that such courts have exclusive jurisdiction over all such disputes.
Winners List
For a copy of the winners list, send a self-addressed, stamped envelope by December 14, 2012 to Penguin Group (USA) Inc., Academic Marketing Department, 375 Hudson Street, New York, NY 10014, Attention: Signet Classics Student Scholarship Essay Contest or check online after July 2, 2012.
Sponsor
Penguin Group (USA) Inc.
Academic Marketing Department
375 Hudson Street, New York, NY 10014
The title for the 17th Annual Signet Classics Essay Contest will be 1984 by George Orwell. Essay topics will be posted on our website after July 2012.
