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Imagine that you are the new
U.S. Secretary of State, head of the U.S. Department of State,
whose mission is to create a more secure, democratic,
and prosperous world for the benefit of the American people
and the international community. Describe one international
issue you think is important today. Why do you think this
issue is important to both the U.S. and the world? What would
you do about it? |
Sponsored
by
ESSAY LENGTH:
1,000 words or less, typed and double-spaced.
DEADLINE: April 6, 2005 (postmarked).
All essays must be submitted in 4 copies with an Essay
Cover Form (PDF).
ELIGIBILITY: Washington residents
in 2nd through 12th grades.
AWARDS: Awards will be granted
in each of the three categories (grades 2-5, 6-8, and 9-12).
First prize: $200 and recognition at a World Affairs
Council event
Second prize: $100
Third prize: $50
JUDGING:A panel of judges will
select winning essays. They will use the criteria to evaluate
essays according to three categories of equal weight: content,
analysis, and style. Please see the judging
criteria for detailed information.
NOTE: English language learners
are encouraged to participate. |
Content
Thorough research of your topic is necessary to allow
you to provide strong factual evidence to support your argument.
- Provide clear, real-world examples for every point
you make.
- Provide rich details to illuminate every example.
- Ensure that all your evidence is accurate and relevant.
Analysis
Your essay must provide your clear and original vision,
and it must use this vision to help make sense of the examples you
use.
- Provide a concise and arguable thesis that addresses
the topic.
- Explain how each of your examples helps support
your thesis.
- Consider your topic from a variety of perspectives.
Style
The clarity and power of your language is essential
to making your essay convincing.
- Organize your essay with an introduction, a conclusion,
and well-structured body paragraphs.
- Use powerful language that expresses your ideas
coherently, precisely, and persuasively.
- Ensure that your essay is free of errors in spelling,
punctuation, syntax, and grammar.
Download Cover
Form and checklist (PDF)
 |
Is your essay no longer than 1,000
words? |
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Is your essay written in English? |
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Does your essay address all the
parts of the essay topic? |
|
Have you given your essay a title? |
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Have you followed accepted standards
regarding attribution of quotations, arguments, and ideas
of others and have standardized citations and a bibliography? |
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Is your essay typed and double-spaced
on 8 ½ x 11 paper? |
|
Have you numbered the pages of
your essay? |
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Have you made sure that your name
and school does not appear anywhere on the essay? |
|
Have you made 4 copies of your
essay, including the bibliography? |
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Have you made a copy of the essay
and this cover form to keep for your own records? |
THE FIRST STEP:
The first step to writing an essay as if you were the U.S. Secretary
of State is to understand what exactly that means. The U.S. State
Department has two websites that are a great place to start.
Some basic questions to try and answer are:
What
are the duties of the Secretary of State?
http://future.state.gov/who/secretary/duties.html
Check out this site for a list of the Secretary's duties.
What
has the Secretary been saying lately?
http://www.state.gov/secretary/trvl/
Visit this site to read transcripts from Dr. Rice's travels.
THE NEXT STEP:
The next step of your research will be to find an
international issue that you think is important today and find evidence
to support why the issue is important to both the U.S. and the world.
Try and gather examples that illustrate the impact this issue is
having on people's lives both in America and in the international
community.
International
Topics and Issues
http://www.state.gov/interntl/
The U.S. State Department maintains a list of international topics
and clues you in to what the government is doing to address these
issues.
TeachGlobalEd.net
http://www.coe.ohio-state.edu/globaled/display.cfm?parent=97&isGlobal=true
TeachGlobalEd.net provides online resources for global educators.
However, this is also a great way to connect to websites
about global issues. All of the sites listed here have been reviewed
by educators who have written a description about each link. If
you are someone who likes to do their research online, this can
save you a lot of time searching through websites that do not contain
credible sources of information and will not be useful to you in
writing an essay.
THE LAST STEP:
The last part of the essay question asks you to suggest
at least one action that the Secretary of State could take with
regard to the issue you selected. While you should form your own
opinion and be creative in framing a solution, it can also be useful
to find out what kinds of strategies other people have suggested.
To find your local public library on the Web go to:
http://www.publiclibraries.com/washington.htm
Global Classroom is proud to be involved in a partnership
with educator Steve Peha and his organization Teaching
That Makes Sense. Mr. Peha has designed several lesson plans
and authored hundreds of articles on the subject of writing. Below
are excerpts and links to some of his relevant resources.
| A Concise Guide to Formal Writing |
| Forms:
- Research Reports
- Business Letters and Other Formal Correspondence
- Job Applications
- Writing for Newspapers or Other Publications
- Submission to a School Anthology
- Essays for Contests
- Published Interviews
And so on…
Style:
Formal; like talking to an audience of people you do not know;
like you were giving a speech. Here, the conventions of presentation
are just as important as any other trait of the writing. This
type of writing requires the full Writing Process. The writing
style must suit the demands of the medium and the expectations
of the intended audience.
Audience:
The writer, classmates, teacher, parents, or a group of people
unknown as individuals to the author (political leaders, students
at their schools, scientists, historians, etc.). The writer
must have an audience in mind even if he or she does not know
anyone personally in that audience. The question to ask yourself
and your students is this: How can I write to affect my audience?
How can I best use my ideas and my presentation to get my
point across to my readers?
Function:
Learning the value of producing formal written communication
to achieve a specific goal; learning to write for a specific
group of readers; learning to produce final, published writing
that meets the expectations of a target audience. This type
of writing should have a definite purpose, and the author
should be able to articulate that purpose early on in the
Writing Process. |
Mr. Peha has a list of six basic things to pay attention
to when you are writing. It may be useful to keep these things in
mind as you revise your essays.
| 1. Ideas that are interesting
and important.
Ideas are the heart of the piece — what the writer
is writing about and the information he or she chooses to
write about it.
2. Organization that is logical and
effective.
Organization refers to the order of ideas and the way
the writer moves from one idea to the next.
3. Voice that is individual and appropriate.
Voice is how the writing feels to someone when they read
it. Is it formal or casual? Is it friendly and inviting or
reserved and standoffish? Voice is the expression of the writer's
personality through words.
4. Word Choice that is specific and
memorable.
Good writing uses just the right words to say just the
right things.
5. Sentence Fluency that is smooth and
expressive.
Fluent sentences are easy to understand and fun to read
with expression.
6. Conventions that are correct and communicative.
Conventions are the ways we all agree to use punctuation,
spelling, grammar, and other things that make writing consistent
and easy to read. |
Do you want a "What is Good Writing?” organizing
checklist? You can find one for beginning writers and one for maturing
writers on pages 5 and 6 of Mr. Peha’s downloadable Organizers
packet (PDF).
| What Did You Think? Why Did You Think
It? |
If you want to sharpen your expository writing skills
you must try to tell your readers not only what you think but why
you think it as well. The secret to good expository writing (and,
ultimately, to just about every other kind of writing, too) is always
being able to answer two simple questions over and over and over
again: [1] What do you think?; and [2] Why do you think it?
To learn more about how you can do this in your writing
download Mr. Peha's Writing
Across the Curriculum packet (PDF) and check out pages 15-17.
One final tip is to read some of the winning
essays from previous years. These essays are examples of powerful
writing by students who are passionate about their topics and employ
all of the good writing skills mentioned above. However, it is not
a good idea to spend too much time comparing your writing to these
students. We each have our own voice and that is a good
thing. Anyone can be a powerful writer if they work at it!
Good luck! And enjoy the process!
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