ARI has held worldwide essay contests for students on Ayn Rand’s fiction for more than thirty years.
Eligibility for Atlas Shrugged
Open to all high school, college, and graduate students worldwide.
Entry Deadline:
November 6, 2023 11:59 PM (PDT)
Top Prize: $10,000; Second Prizes (3): $2,500; Third Prizes (5): $500
Learn
Improve your ability to write and think effectively. This contest will require you to reflect on philosophic themes, form your own opinion, and argue a thesis with evidence and clarity.
Compete
Test yourself against talented students from around the world and the high grading standards of our faculty. On average, only the top 5–10% of essays are awarded prizes each year.
Earn Cash
Win cash prizes among five placement categories. This is an excellent way to earn money for college and higher education. We place no restrictions on how the money is spent by recipients.
Choose Your Essay Topic
Select one of the following three prompts about Atlas Shrugged and write an essay in response to it.
Essays must be written in English only and between 800 and 1,600 words in length, double-spaced.
Prompt #1
In his speech about money, Francisco says: “Whenever destroyers appear among men, they start by destroying money, for money is men’s protection and the base of a moral existence. . . . Paper [money] is a check drawn by legal looters upon an account which is not theirs: upon the virtue of the victims. Watch for the day when it bounces, marked: ‘Account overdrawn.’” Explain what Francisco means by this and how it serves the purpose of his speech. Then explain how his statement can be seen as applying to our economic world today.
Prompt #2
In his radio speech, John Galt names a principle that Rearden and Dagny have struggled to discover for themselves: “The evil of the world is made possible by nothing but the sanction you give it. . . . Do not try to live on your enemies’ terms or to win at a game where they’re setting the rules. . . . One cannot hope to maintain one’s life by accepting bribes to condone one’s destruction.” Explain what Galt means by this and how the issue plays a role in the plot of the novel. Describe an issue or event from current events (whether in your country or in its relations with others) to which you think this principle applies. How might events have unfolded differently if this principle of the sanction of the victim were taken more seriously?
Prompt #3
The bum in the diner says to Dagny, “It doesn’t take any morality to turn out a ten-ton truck on an assembly line.” In important ways, the events of the novel go on to address this and other claims the bum makes in this scene about the nature of morality. What do they suggest is right about the bum’s conception of morality? What do they suggest is wrong about it? How, in particular, does Rearden start from the bum’s point of view and develop a new view over the course of the story?
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