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Ayn Rand Institute Fountainhead Scholarship Essay Contest (Visit this link)

THE FOUNTAINHEAD
For 11th and 12th Graders
Entry Deadline: April 25, 2006
FIRST PRIZE: $10,000
5 SECOND PRIZES: $2,000
10 THIRD PRIZES: $1,000
45 FINALISTS: $100
175 SEMIFINALISTS: $50
THE FOUNTAINHEAD--TOPICS
Select ONE of the following three topics:
1. Explain the relationship between Peter Keating and Ellsworth Toohey. Does either character need the other? If so, in what way(s)? How does their relationship differ from that between Howard Roark and his friends. How do these issues relate to the theme of The Fountainhead?
2. For each of the following passages from The Fountainhead, explain its meaning in the story and its wider significance.
a. Dominique Francon (about Ellsworth Toohey): “I admire him. He's so complete. You don't meet perfection often in this world one way or the other, do you? And he's just that. Sheer perfection in his own way. Everyone else is so unfinished, broken up into so many different pieces that don't fit together. But not Toohey. He's a monolith. Sometimes, when I feel bitter against the world, I find consolation in thinking that it's all right, that I'll be avenged, that the world will get what's coming to it—because there's Ellsworth Toohey.”
Peter Keating: “What do you want to be avenged for?” (Part I, Chapter 10)
b. Howard Roark: “What tension? I feel completely natural only when I'm working.”
Austin Heller: “That's it. You're completely natural only when you're one inch from bursting into pieces. What in hell are you really made of, Howard? After all, it's only a building. It's not the combination of holy sacrament, Indian torture and sexual ecstasy that you seem to make of it.”
Howard Roark: “Isn't it?” (Part II, Chapter 6
c. Howard Roark (to the judge): “The defense rests.” (Part II, Chapter 12)
3. Explain the similarities and differences between the characters of Dominique Francon, Steven Mallory and Gail Wynand. How does each’s view of life and its possibilities differ from Howard Roark’s? How does this issue relate to the theme of the novel?
THE FOUNTAINHEAD--JUDGING
Essays will be judged on both style and content. Judges will look for writing that is clear, articulate and logically organized. Winning essays must demonstrate an outstanding grasp of the philosophic and psychological meaning of The Fountainhead.
THE FOUNTAINHEAD--RULES
Entrant must be in the eleventh or twelfth grade.
To avoid disqualification, a stapled cover sheet MUST include: your name and address; your e-mail address (if available); the name and address of your high school; topic selected (#1, 2 or 3 from list above); your current grade level and (optional) the name of the teacher who assigned the essay, if you are completing it for classroom credit.
Essay must be no fewer than 800 and no more than 1,600 words in length, and must be typewritten and double-spaced. One entry per student, please.
Essay must be solely the work of the entrant.
Essay must be postmarked no later than April 25, 2006.