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The 2007-8 Shakespeare Fellowship
Essay Competition

 

Welcome, students and teachers, to the Shakespeare Fellowship 2007 essay contest guide.

The purpose of the contest is to involve secondary school students in the creative and analytic synthesis of knowledge about Shakespeare, the Shakespearean Canon, and the Shakespeare Authorship question, by offering prizes for the best essays.

Since we began our contest in 2002, many teachers have written to thank us for the pedagogical opportunity provided by the essay contest. "Thanks so much for providing the forum to inspire students towards excellence," wrote Audrey Wells from the Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy.

In our second year, 2003, our entries tripled to 690 entries. Essays came from 47 states in the United States, from Canada, Bulgaria, Romania, Nigeria, Malaysia, Thailand, Japan, Korea, and the United Kingdom.

From 2005-2007 we temporarily suspended the contest due to a lack of funding. But now, for the 2007-8 season, we're back!

We welcome entries from students of all nations and we also hope that this year of our contest many more teachers from all over the world will find the essay contest a useful resource for stimulating thinking, discussion, and the development of analytic and critical thinking skills.

On this page you'll also find everything you need to start thinking about involving your students in the essay contest for the 2007 season:

Please don't hesitate to email us if you need additional information.

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Teachers: Please Read this Before Assigning Essay Topics

The Shakespeare Fellowship has a mandate for public education on the Shakespearean authorship question.

We believe that it is impossible to separate authentic knowledge of the Shakespeare works from an active understanding of the author's life. As John Keats said, "Shakespeare lived a life of allegory: his works are comments on it." We agree; moreover, we are convinced that a preponderance of evidence shows that the life of whom the works are an allegory is that of Edward de Vere, 17th Earl of Oxford (1550-1604).

If you are not already familiar with the authorship question or the case for de Vere's authorship, we urge you to educate yourself on the subject before proceeding further with our essay contest.

Spend some time on our site and learn about the greatest mystery in literary history. Not only will your students have a better chance of winning the contest, you will discover that a focus on the authorship question will enliven your classroom like few teaching strategies you have ever tried.

Here, for example, is how Robert Barrett, a secondary educator from Kitsap County, Washington, describes his experience teaching the authorship question to 9th graders at Central Kitsap Jr. High:

When I began to discuss the Shakespeare authorship question with my students, I found I was tapping [into] something almost reflexive in its immediacy. Their natural iconoclasm and vague curiosity about the world around them quickly grew to focused interest in how it was possible that the Stratford man was credited with great works. I was pleased to see students' eagerness to engage figurative language as they looked for clues to confirm or reject the ideas that were arising in our discussions. Critical thinking skills sharpened...

Sound exciting? This could be your classroom....You can begin developing your own understanding of the issue with our FAQ.

Or find the whole story of Barrett's adventure teaching the authorship question (uncensored, with the good, bad, and ugly all told), here.

In conclusion, Please do not encourage your students to send us a volley of prefabricated essays on Shakespeare. These essays will not have a chance of winning our contest. Please do -- yes, do -- make active use of our website as a resource for your Shakespeare classes. Send us your students' best creative, original, insightful work.

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Students: Hints on Winning our Essay Contest

The Shakespeare Fellowship is composed of scholars, teachers, and students who study both the works of Shakespeare and the life of the person we believe is responsible for writing those works.

You may have noticed that the life of the traditional author, William Shakspere of Stratford-upon-Avon, bears little resemblance to the works of Shakespeare. Over the years, this discrepancy has given rise to doubts about the traditional authorship.

A growing number of scholars believe that William Shakspere was not the real author, but a convenient front man for a concealed author who, for personal and political reasons, chose to remain concealed. Many alternative theories have been proposed, but the best evidence supports the theory that Edward de Vere, the 17th Earl of Oxford, was the real author of the Shakespearean canon.

On this site, you'll find material which explains the evidence for this theory in some detail. Please spend some time exploring here. Do some research. Shakespeare Fellowship judges award preference to essays which incorporate materials used on this website, or other resources which deal with the question of authorship. It's fine if you don't agree that the best evidence indicates Oxford as the author; but we are looking for evidence that you have at least considered the proposition carefully enough to have an intelligent response to it.

What our judges are looking for, above all, is originality of thought and a clear expression of what "Shakespeare" means to you. Please do not simply summarize or paraphrase a plot from a Shakespeare play, unless you can add further commentary or insight.

Instead, consider this an exercise in "thinking outside the box." You'll have more fun, learn more, and be more likely to win the contest. Good luck!

Please note! The deadline for the 2007-8 essay contest has been extended until June 15, 2008. Spring semester teachers, you still have time to build a class project around the essay contest.

 

Authorship Resources for the Classroom

This site houses an abundance of resources on the authorship question as well as links to many orthodox sites with useful information of a more general nature on Shakespeare. Please spend some time visiting us. If you're just getting started, here are some highlights you might want to consider:

Details on the authorship question are available in our Beginner's Guide.

A wide variety of archived materials, including full length articles, are housed in our Virtual Classroom.

You might also want to read some previous winning essays from our first two contest cycles.

For pedagogical resources on the authorship question for a secondary school audience, here are some resources:

  • Our Virtual Classroom.
  • Ralph Flanagan's Webquest on the authorship question at the Charles W. Flanagan High School in Broward County, Fla. This resource includes detailed classroom activities for secondary school students interested in researching the authorship question.
  • For a list of print resources for your classroom, please visit the Shakespeare Fellowship's Classroom Resources page.

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Rules and Submission Guidelines

    1. The contest is open to students around the world. Contestants must be enrolled in grades 9-12, in private or public schools. Homeschoolers are also welcome.

    2. All submissions must be typed, double-spaced, in English, and must be the original work of the contestant.

    3. Each contestant may enter only one essay.


    4. Prizes are awarded for the best expository essays of 750-3000 words. Specific topics will be assigned annually. Below are listed topics for the 2007-8 contest cycle.

    5. The 2007-8 contest cycle is timed to encourage students and teachers to write and revise essays during the fall 2008 semester. All entries must be postmarked on or before June 15, 2008. Prizes will be awarded in August 2008. Manuscripts cannot be returned so contestants should keep a copy of their work.

    6. In the upper left hand corner of the first page list the name, address, phone # and email address of the writer. Provide page numbers for all the subsequent pages. Essays which do not include this contact information will not be read.

    7. Winning entrants will be asked to submit electronic copy of their essays for publication on the Fellowship web site.

    8. Send your essays to:

      The Shakespeare Fellowship
      P.O. Box 421
      Hudson, MA, 01749

    9. Prizes for the 2007-8 contest cycle are as follows:
             
      First: $600
      Second: $350
      Third: $150
      Fourth: $100
      Fifth: $50
      Sixth: $50
    10. Expository essays should conform to either the MLA or APA style sheets.

    11. Expository essays will be judged on the basis of originality of thought, insight into the Shakespearean experience, effective and logical development of thesis and other relevant factors such as consideration of contrary evidence, effective use of resources, and elegance of style.

    12. The names of winners and winning essays will be published on the Shakespeare Fellowship website.


2007-8 Essay Topics

1. At least since the 18th century, "Shakespeare" has been regarded as a mystery in one way or another (in 1989 PBS Frontline produced a documentary, The Shakespeare Mystery). Write an essay which explores some aspect of this mystery.

2. Consider Juliet's statement that "a rose by any other name would smell as sweet." Explore the implications of this statement within the play Romeo and Juliet or within the context of the Shakespeare authorship mystery.

3. Assume we knew nothing about Shakespeare, other than that he lived in England during the late 1500s. From your analysis of any two plays (or one play and the Sonnets, especially sonnets 71-76), what sort of life would you deduce the author to have lived?

4. Make a character study of two of Shakespeare's female protagonists. From this study, what would you infer about the author's attitude towards the education of women?

5. Historians identify William Cecil, Lord Burghley, as the most powerful man in England during the reign of Elizabeth I (1558-1603). A long tradition identifies Burghley as the prototype for the character Polonius in Hamlet. Explain whether you believe this view is or is not correct. Argue for your position.

Questions? Please email our Contest Guidelines coordinator, Dr. Roger Stritmatter.

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