NJCTE High School Writing Contest 2010
The New Jersey Council of Teachers of English
Invites New Jersey Students in Grades 9-12 to Participate in its 2010 Writing Contest
“Who We Are”
2010 Categories: Poetry (one poem), Short story (10-page max.), Personal essay (5-page
max.) All personal essay submissions must respond to this year’s prompt. Poetry and short story submissions are
not limited by topic.
Personal Essay Writing Prompt: By choice and by chance, we all belong to many
groups. These groups include not only those into which we’re born or which we build over time (such as family and
friends) but also other groups that form more fleetingly out of circumstance (such as “the students who take the 7:30
bus” or “the ones who sit out during gym” or the readers of a certain blog). In a personal essay, tell your
readers about one of the groups to which you belong, or to which you once belonged. Use imagery, details, and other
narrative techniques to bring to life your group. Encourage your readers to consider meanings through your portrait of,
and reflections on, your group.
You might use the following questions to prompt and/or to guide your writing
about your group:
Who are you? Where do you "live together"? By what rules or understandings do you live? How do
you impact one another and/or how do you impact others and the world? What do you learn together? What do you share
together? Why is this group important?
Aim to educate your readers about segments of life and views on life
that they might not already know. You might find it useful to imagine that you are describing your group to a visitor
from another country (a distant relative or an exchange student visiting your school) and that you are acting as the
spokesperson for your group. Surprise your readers as you allow them to see through the eyes of the group. We encourage
you to express your answer in the first person plural (“we”) voice.
Each student may submit a maximum of
one entry in each category. Each participating teacher may submit up to ten entries in each category.
This
year all submissions and all judging will be digital. Students (and/or teachers on behalf of students) will upload
submissions to the online galleries listed below. Upon approval by contest curators, submissions will be published to an
online gallery of writing. Until judging is complete and to ensure fair judging, all submissions will be posted
anonymously.
Submission deadline: December 15, 2009
Poetry Submissions:
http://www.galleryofwriting.org/galleries/735416Personal Essay Submissions:
http://www.galleryofwriting.org/galleries/699259Short Story Submissions:
http://www.galleryofwriting.org/galleries/725566 Questions or concerns? Want more
information? Visit the contest blog:
writingteacher.edublogs.org and
njcte.org
