Parents of 9th and 10th Graders, here's a chance for them to make some cash!

http://www.aynrand.org/site/PageServer?pagename=education_contests_anthem

All they have to do is read Ayn Rand's novella Anthem and write an essay about it.

So which of us with kids in that age group will be encouraging their offspring to read the book and write an essay?

And have parents smart enough to explain to them that not *everyone* wins the prize...

That's kind of implied by the entering a contest.

And explain to them that the weak don't deserve to win it...It is Ayn Rand after all...

It wasn't implied in your post.

Of course it wasn't, what with the rules and all.

Whatever.

The first part, that's the teaser. It gets people to want to read more. In this case, it's me saying wirte a little, make a lot. Then you bring in the main part of the story. In this case, the actual rules of the contest. And then the plot twist. Here, you tried trolling me and failed miserably. If we throw in a little conflict and then the denouement and we're done. It's pretty much a paint by numbers thing with no real work involved.

Kind of like writing a Star Trek novel.

I wrote a book report on Anthem in high school.

I put it in a white folder, with red lettering,
and a yellow light.

Aside from that, it was awful.

They usually are. I'm glad I don't have to read those things.

I wrote an essay over her book "The Fountainhead" my Junior year of High School.

I usually read a book of its size in 3-5 days of school reading that book took 2 weeks for me to get through. By the end I threw a paper together and didn't give a shit if I won or not. I was not a fan of, the going against human nature theme, she loved.

Maybe they should just sell Grit newspapers instead.

So, who thinks that the phrase "Winning essays must demonstrate an outstanding grasp of the philosophic meaning of Anthem" means "Winning essays must demonstrate an agreement with the ideas of Libertarianism?"

You'd think it was their contest or something.....

Grit hasn't been a newspaper in a while. They went magazine 10 or so years ago.

Hey, there's no problem with that. They should just be open about it.

"Ayn Rand was a selfish bint who would steal from the Salvation Army if it furthered her purposes."

A+

$2,000? Even if won that's not enough to persuade any teenager to join the Randian army.

Heck if you gotta pay people to embrace your philosophical system you've already failed.

Isn't making your kid read Ayn Rand child abuse?