Elizabeth Mohen (center), 2008 Irish History Writing Contest Winner.  Pictured with Sheila Kilcoyne, LAOH President (left) and Elizabeth Steede, LAOH Historian (right). Miss Mohen placed first on the High School level and received a Certificate of Participation and a check for $100. She is a freshman at Trinity Catholic High School.

We will be announcing information for 2008-2009 by December 2008.

This contest is open to all students in public, private, parochial and home schools.

Level 1:  Grades 6th, 7th and 8th
Topic: Irish in the American Revolution
Length: Not less than 500 or more than 1,000 words

Level 2:  Grades 9th, 10th, 11th and 12th
Topic: Irish Contributions to Pop Culture
Length: Not less than 750 or more than 1,500

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

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 in 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 and 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.

JUDGING CRITERIA

Comprehension            

• How well does the writing reflect a thorough comprehension of the issues involved in the topic

Organization 

• Does the writer show an ability to grasp the wider implication of the topic?

• Is there clarity and effectiveness of style and organization?

• Is there an adherence to length and format rules?

Conclusions 

• Do conclusions follow logically?

• How strong (compelling) are the conclusions?

Creativity 

• Are diverse resources used?

• Is there a creative angle of the issue?

• Is there originality in the approach?

Writing 

• Is there correct usage of grammar, spelling and punctuation?

• Is the language concise?

Please submit writings to:
Stamford LAOH Historian
Elizabeth Steede
28 Mitchell Street
Stamford, CT 06902