Read this note for more information about the 9th annual Philip L. Carret Thomas Jefferson Essay Competition, including this year's question and a complete list of contest rules...
Individual submissions are invited for the 2005 Carret Essay Competition. This annual competition is open to all Elon University undergraduate students. Essays of approximately 1,500 words should be submitted in response to the following question:
“From the beginning of the American experiment, Thomas Jefferson insisted upon the freedom of the press, confiding in 1786 to John Jay that ‘Our liberty cannot be guarded but by the freedom of the press.’ This same advocate of an unfettered press later took an apparently contradictory view of American newspapers. He went so far as to label them ‘chimnies to carry off noxious vapors and smokes’ and, in 1804, even suggested that state governments might claim an exclusive ‘right to control the freedom of the press.’ What, exactly, did Jefferson mean by ‘the press?’ And what role did he believe that the press should serve in a free and republican nation? What role did it play in Jefferson’s own political experience?”
Your paper must be appropriately documented and must include an annotated bibliography. (“Annotated” means that you write 2-3 sentences evaluating each entry.)
The top three essays will receive the following awards:
- 1st Place: $1,000
- 2nd Place: $600
- 3rd Place: $400
In addition to receiving the prize money, the first place winner will be invited to tour Thomas Jefferson’s home at Monticello and stay overnight at The International Center for Jefferson Studies, courtesy of Dr. Daniel P. Jordan, president of The Thomas Jefferson Foundation.
Contest rules:
- All entries must be typed, double-spaced, on numbered pages, with a cover sheet containing the title only
- The writer’s name should not appear on the paper itself. Instead, an index card containing the author’s name, local address, phone number and the title of the paper should be attached
- Essays must be fully documented using any standard documentation style
- Submissions must be handed in to Ms. Melissa Holmes, Registrar’s Office, Alamance 102, by 4:30 p.m., on MONDAY, APRIL 4, 2005
- All entries will be judged by a faculty panel. The identities of the authors will not be revealed to the judges until judging is completed
- Essays will be judged according to the quality and the creativity of the response to the question asked. Additional criteria for judging include the following: quality of written English; quality of logical and rhetorical strategies; thoroughness of research; accuracy and completeness of documentation; individuality and style
- Students may want to consult a core of materials placed on reserve in Belk Library
- Winners will be announced at the Carret/Jefferson Dinner on Wednesday, April 20, 2005.
Questions about this competition should be directed to Clyde Ellis, associate professor of history, Powell 216, phone 278-6417; or to Mark R. Albertson, university registrar and assistant to the provost, Alamance 102, phone 278-6677.