LONG BEACH CITY COLLEGE 24th ANNUAL ESSAY CONTEST

The English Department of Long Beach City College and the LBCC Foundation are pleased to announce the 24th Annual Essay Contest to acknowledge students for outstanding work written in composition and literature classes during the Spring '09, Summer '09, and Fall '09 semesters.

Contest Rules

1. Entrants must be enrolled in one of the following LBCC courses: English 105, 896AD, 899AD, 801, 1, 1H, 2, 3, 3H, 18, 30, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 41, 42, 43A, 43B, 44, 44H, 45, 45H, 46, 47, 48, 48H, 51A, 51B; or, ESL 34.

2. Essays must be written for a general audience. The essay must be written for the class in which the entrant is enrolled. Each entrant may submit only one essay per category, per semester.

3. All entries must be submitted with an entry form signed by the entrants' instructors. Entry forms are available in P119 at the Liberal Arts Campus or may be printed from this web page (see below).

4. While writing the essay, entrants may seek the assistance they would normally receive from their instructors or the Writing and Reading Center.

5. Essays must be the original work of the entrants.

6. Because winning essays will be published, the subject matter must not infringe upon the rights of any third party.

7. The deadline for submission is the end of the first week of classes of the semester following the class for which the paper was written.

Essay Format

1. Each entry must be typed or printed and double spaced. The entrants' names should not appear on the essays. Essays will be identified by entry blank. The essay's title must be typed along with the page number in the upper-right-hand corner of each page. Do not staple; fasten pages together with a paper clip.

2. Essays are not to bear instructor's remarks.

3. Entrants must submit any available notes and drafts that went into the essay's composition.

4. Entrants must document primary and secondary sources using MLA parenthetical format and must include a Works Cited page. (See MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers) A copy of this book is available, as is the MLA Handbook, at the LAC Library's reference desk.

5. Include a completed entry blank with each essay.

6. Entrants must submit a paper and a digital copy of the essay. Submit a paper copy of the essay to:
Essay Contest
Department of English, P119
Long Beach City College
4901 East Carson Street
Long Beach, California 90808-2313

Email your essay as an attachment (save as .rtf) to Dr. Laura Wheeler at lwheeler@lbcc.edu

Essays will not be returned.

7. The Department of English offers the following information in an effort to discourage plagiarism: "To use another person's ideas or expressions in your writing without acknowledging the source is to plagiarize" (MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers). Entrants should read Section 2.1 on plagiarism in the MLA Handbook (available in the college bookstore and in the Writing and Reading Center). One major source of unintentional plagiarism stems from the use of an indirect source. The Modern Language Association says that "If what you quote or paraphrase is itself a quotation put the abbreviation qtd. in ("quoted in ") before the indirect source you cite in your parenthetical reference (MLA Handbook).

8. For further information, email Dr. Laura Wheeler, Essay Contest Chair: lwheeler@lbcc.edu

Prizes and Recognition

1. Prize winning essays will be selected for the following qualities:

Originality and Insight
Strength of Purpose
Convincing Development
Clarity and Precision of Language
Effective Arrangement of Parts

It is expected that essays will be generally correct in grammar, mechanics and documentation.

2. Up to three prizes of $50 each may be awarded in each category. An entrant may not win more than one prize per category.

3. "Honorable mention" awards may be given to additional essays of merit.

4. Winning essays will be made available to faculty and students through the publication Jacaranda in the 2009-2010 academic year.

5.Winning entrants will be notified by mail .

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At this time you cannot email this entry from to the college. You may, however, print it out.

ENTRY BLANK: LONG BEACH CITY COLLEGE 24th ANNUAL ESSAY CONTEST

Student Name: _____________________________________

Student ID#_____________________

Home Address: ____________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________

Home Phone Number (with area code): ___________________________________________________________

Email address: ______________________________________________

(Please inform the English Department at 562-938-4365 if any of the above information changes.)

Essay Title: _______________________________________________________________

Date Submitted to Contest: ________________________

The deadline for submission is the end of the first week of classes of the semester or session following the class for which the paper was written.

No late submissions will be accepted. Entrants may submit only one paper per category, per semester. Entrants are advised to keep photocopies of their essays and all notes and drafts which went into the composition.

To the best of my knowledge, this essay was written for the above course.

Instructor's Signature (in whose class paper was written)

_________________________________________________

Instructor name (printed) __________________________

Date___________________________ course__________

Category (Please circle one):

Expository Essay: An essay that seeks to inform the audience as its primary purpose. Such essays may be based on research materials and/or personal experience.

Persuasive Essay: An essay that seeks to convince the audience of a particular position. Such essays may be based on both research materials and personal experience.

Literature Paper: An essay whose subject matter is literature. Such essays may be either expository or persuasive in purpose.

LBCC will have the right to edit, reproduce and publish my essay and that LBCC assumes no responsibility for the receipt or return of any entry. This essay is my original work.

__________________________________________ Date________________________

Student's Signature

The deadline for submission is the end of the first week of classes of the semester or session following the class for which the paper was written. No late submissions will be accepted. Entrants may submit only one paper per category, per semester. Entrants are advised to keep photocopies or hard copies of their essays and all notes and drafts which went into the composition of the essay.

Essay Contest

English Department

Long Beach City College

4901 East Carson Street

Long Beach, California 90808-2313

Email copy (saved as .rtf) to Dr. Laura Wheeler.