ON-THE-SPOT ESSAY WRITING for NUTRITION MONTH Celebration 2017

GENERAL GUIDELINES

1. The Essay Writing contest is open to all Grade 7 to 12 students of Royal International
School, Inc. The Essay must be original and must expound on the given theme that
shall be announced on the spot.
2. There shall be 3 clusters for the contest: Cluster 1- Grades 4, 5 and 6; Cluster 2-
Grades 7, 8, and 9 ; Cluster 3- Grades 10, 11 and 12
3. There will only be one (1) representative in the contest for each class.
4. Entries must be written in English and shall consist of not less than 500 words nor
more than 800 words.
5. No distinguishing mark or name of the contestant shall appear in the entry.
6. Participants will be given two (2) hours to complete their essays in a one (1) whole
sheet of yellow paper. No extra sheet of paper or any loose paper materials are
allowed to be brought inside the venue. The proctors will provide the papers for the
participants.
7. There shall only be two (2) proctors who will facilitate and maintain the fair standards
of the said competition. Class advisers, subject teachers or fellow students are not
allowed to be inside the contest venue.
8. Failure to come in the contest venue and submit their essays on time will mean
disqualification of the participant. They will only be given five (5) minutes grace period
after the starting time and ending time.
9. The venue of the ESSAY WRITING CONTEST is _____________ on ____________
from ___________.
10. The decision of the panel of judges is FINAL AND IRREVOCABLE.
11. Three winners (first, second and third places) per cluster shall be selected for the
contest.
12. The following criteria should be applied:
Creativity 40%

Structure 20%

Adherence to Topic 20%

Grammar 10%

Wow! factor 10%

TOTAL: 100%

Description of Criteria

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 40% Creativity

Although this is the most difficult thing to measure, it remains the focus of the contest
and the most important aspect to take into account when rating the essays. The goal is
to reward teachers who display the ability to think outside the box that is, those who
provide something other than formulaic answers, and who can do so in a novel or
unusual way. Here are the checkpoints to use for a truly creative essay in this
competition:

(10%) Does this essay express ideas not commonly found in the other
essays? Yes / No
(10%) Does this essay discuss the topic in an unexpected way? Yes / No
(10%) Does this essay display a lot of thought on behalf of the student writing
it? Yes / No
(10%) Does this essay address the topic in a way that makes the reader
think? Yes / No

20% Structure

The way in which an essay is organized helps make it more easily understood and
appreciated. Essays that are, for example, just one long paragraph with no visual breaks
are both hard on the eyes and display a lack of maturity in composition.

(10%) Is this essay organized in a comprehensible way? Yes / No

(10%) If the essay adheres to a traditional format, is there a clear beginning, middle,
and end or introduction, body, and conclusion? Yes / No

20% Adherence to Topic

Sometimes essays are cleverly written, but they actually have little to do with the given
topic. While creative essays should be able to find many unusual ways to discuss the
topic, they should still obviously respond to the chosen topic.

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 (10%) Does this essay, in one way or another, address the topic at
hand? Yes / No
(10%) Does this essay take the given topic as the central theme? Yes / No

10% Grammar

Although good grammar is important and should not go unrewarded, the goal of this
competition is to encourage creative thinking, not drive teachers to worry about their
verb conjugation or spelling. That said, as long as the grammar is understandable and
does not hinder a readers ability to comprehend the essay, this 10% should be
awarded.

(10%) Is the grammar of this essay correct enough that the essay is easy to
understand? Yes / No

10% Wow! factor

This portion is where points are awarded for exceptional essaysthose that display
an incredible use of vocabulary, clever ideas, mature style, advanced English. This
10% is to be awarded only to essays that truly impress the readers, and these essays
should likely make it to the second reading session.

(10%) Does this essay wow the readers for one reason or
another? Yes / No

Created by: maika0417@gmail.com