The Writing and Critical Inquiry program holds a yearly writing contest for all students enrolled in WCI. Contest finalists and winners are honored at a celebration in April. The contest is a unique opportunity because students enrolled in the Spring semester partake in the judging process.
Use the links below to navigate through the process.
Winning Essays and Honorable Mentions
How to Submit
Submissions are collected at the end of each semester: December 1st-31st for students enrolled in WCI in the Fall, and May 1st-31st for students enrolled in the Spring. Students may only submit in the semester in which they took WCI. If you submit in the Spring semester, your essay will be evaluated in the following Spring.
Students who are interested in submitting should email their sumbisions to [email protected]
Submission Details
Students may submit in three genres:
1) Personal Narrative
2) Analysis
3) Argument
These three genres correspond with the three types of essays that all students will have to write in WCI. Your professor may have different titles for the three genres listed--and that's okay. You can still submit it!
You may submit in one, two, or all three categories. Please send a separate email for each entry, with the genre clearly marked in the email subject line.
Your essay must be in one of the following file formats: .doc, .docx, .rtf, or .pdf file.
In the Body of the email, please include the following:
1) Your name
2) The genre of the submission
3) Your WCI professor's name
Entries are read anonymously. Therefore, DO NOT include your name anywhere on or in the essay itself.
You should, however, have a title within your essay submission.
Judging Process
Once your essay is submitted, it goes through an initial round of judging. A committee of WCI professors read and discuss all entries and chooses finalists to move on to the next round.
The finalists are then judged by students of participating WCI faculty in the Spring semester. Students read, discuss, and collaborate with their instructor to determine the winning essay in each category.
Winning Essays and Honorable Mentions
If you win--or your essay earns an honorable mention--well, that's a huge feat! You've just earned permanent bragging rights for your CV/resume. Congratulations!
Winners and finalists are also honored at an end-of-the-year celebration, to which all WCI students and faculty are invited. Winners will be asked to read from or discuss their essay.
Winners can work with faculty members to best determine what feels most comfortable in presenting their work.
Winners, finalists, and any essayists that receive honorable mentions typically agree to have their works available as sample essays for use in future WCI classes. This is quite an honor.
Exclaimer
If you enter the contest, you agree to have your essay read and discussed by WCI students in the following Spring semester. Therefore, make sure you are comfortable with this knowledge before you decide to submit your essay.
Questions?
Email WCI instructor Amanda Giracca at [email protected] with any questions you may have about the contest.
We look forward to reading your work!
