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National peace essay contest essays

The contest

United States Institute of Peace (USIP) conducts the National peace essay contest every year. It is open to all school students from grade 9 to 12 residing in USA. Students who are US citizens and studying abroad are also eligible. There is one award of $1,000 for each state. 53 State level winners compete for the national level award. The first, second and third prices at the national level are $10,000, 5000 and 2500 respectively. All the 53 winners attend a five day awards function in Washington and meet many dignitaries.

The last date for entry into the 2010-11 contest expired on February, 01, 2011.

Competition

More than 1000 students participate in the National peace essay contest every year. Apart from the scholarship, the winners get national fame and prestige. The award helps them throughout their career. The success rate is approximately 5%. The competition is very severe.

Contest methodology

Coordinator

Each student must select a coordinator registered with USIP and intimate USIP. He or she can submit the essay only through the coordinator. The coordinator is the ‘mentor’, who vouches the originality of the essay and ensures that it and meets all USIP requirements. One coordinator can mentor many students. Generally teachers register themselves as coordinators. But USIP permits some others like parents also to register as coordinators.

Topic and type of essay

National peace essay contest topics are generally matters of worldwide interest. 2010-11 Topic was “Governance, Corruption, and Conflict”. USIP usually explains the topic in a document of nearly one A4 page. The document explains USIPs views of the topic and asks some three or four questions. Your essay should consider the answers for these questions without fail. It should be not more than 1,500 words. But the essay prompt is nearly 500 words!

In National peace contest you cannot buy essays for submission. Whether you can use a custom essay writing service or not, depends on your coordinator. Remember that the coordinator has to vouch and attest your essay before submission. These essays are akin to reflective essays, but with a twist! Remember that this web site is a great resource for even custom research papers.

Essay format

USIP specifies the format, which you should strictly adhere to. The essay is in the three part format comprising of introduction, body and conclusion. USIP expects you to do adequate research for your essay. The citations and references should be in any one of the widely accepted formats like, MLA, APA or Chicago. USIP prohibits references from general encyclopedias. It specifies that your citations should not be exclusively from web pages and internet resources. At least a few references from reputed print resources like books and government publications are compulsory.

Help

USIP provides a ‘guide book’ and ‘study guide’ for writing the essays. You can download copies of previous years’ winner essays for your guidance.