IRISH WRITING CONTEST

NATIONAL LADIES ANCIENT ORDER OF HIBERNIANS
Irish History Writing Contest
2007-2008
Maureen Shelton, National Irish Historian

This contest will be held in every state where the Ladies Ancient Order of Hibernians has an established Division. The State Historians will submit FIVE (5) writings on each level: First, Second, Third Place and Two (2) Honorable Mentions to the National Historian on the National Level.
Historians will send five entries from each level as follows:
§ Divisions send five (5) entries from each level to County
§ Counties send five (5) entries from each level to State
§ States send five (5) entries from each level to National

Time: Contest Opens August, 2006

Deadlines for the contest are:
Division-January 5, 2008
County-February 5, 2008
State- March 5, 2008
National-April 5, 2008

SUBJECTS: Level 1 grades 6, 7, 8: Irish in the American Revolution

Level 2 grades 9, 10, 11, 12: Irish Contributions to Pop Culture

LENGTH: Level 1 grades 6, 7, 8: Not less than 500 or more than 1000 words

Level 2 grades 9, 10, 11, 12: Not less than 750 or more than 1500

Eligible: All children in levels 6-12 attending public, private, parochial and home schools.

1. All Irish History Writing Contest entries must be double spaced and may be legibly hand written or typed, on one side of the paper only. Typeface may NOT exceed 12 point.

2. Each writing must have a separate cover sheet with:

Contestant’s Name, home address, and age
Contestant’s School Name, School Address and Grade Level
Number of words in essay, exclusive of cover page, introduction and bibliography
Subject

Writing Guidelines:
§ Be sure to submit writing. Do not simply list facts. Show that you know and understand your subject and give your opinion or interpretation. You may set the scene by giving facts then drawing your conclusion. This contest is intended to produce essays which show that students have researched, read about and understood the subject and formed their own opinions. The writing should not be just a recap of facts and others’ opinions, comments or observations.

§ Be careful to stick to the topic.

§ Be sure to give the source credit if you quote someone else’s work. Every time you borrow someone else’s words, facts or ideas, you must DOCUMENT the source-that is give a reference telling readers that you borrowed the material and where you borrowed it from. Although this is not a research paper, information in the MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers is a good reference tool for writing and citing sources. List only those sources that contribute to the development of your writing. Be sure NOT to use exact words from your sources without giving credit. If you do so, you are committing plagiarism.

§ Be sure to include a bibliography, or a list of sources on the information you used.

§ Drawings, maps, etc. should not be included in the Writings

§ Only original and unmarked writings (i.e. no corrections, judges’ marks) will be accepted for the Writing Contest

§ All winners and non winners will receive certificates.

Essays will be judged by persons competent in the areas of English composition and Irish Culture who will fairly assess the originality of the presentation and knowledge of the subject matter as well.

IRISH HISTORY CONTEST

NEW HISTORY CONTEST!!!!!!