Contest Guide

The Daily-Update Senior Contest Guide © Daily-Update.com 2006 Introduction: The person who assesses your work will tend to consider most of the points below. The marks are provided to indicate the general priority we give to various elements, although this is only a rough guide and we will not necessarily be choosing winners on the basis of high marks. Such marks will be affected by such things as the judge’s personality; cultural expectations; the type and style of writing; & the standard of other entries, so really the marks are largely irrelevant. You may, however, like to use this contest guide as a simple tool for understanding what’s common to a variety of well-written works, thereby improving certain areas that you would not otherwise have improved.
Item Assessed:	Examples:	Mark:	Out of:
1. STRUCTURE (organizing ideas)			30
a. Structure	Logically ordered & related parts; has format/ thesis/ themes if suitable		5
b. Clarity	Overall meaning is clear (unless clarity is not an objective)		5
c. Focus	Does not stray from any self-set topic/parameters; is concise; and responds as suitable, eg with research/ argument/ description/ evaluation/ discussion/ etc		5
d. Coverage	Defines & covers everything involved in any self-set topic; looks at all angles; looks at implications		5
e. Synthesis	Relates all parts & brings them together to form a potent new whole		10

2. CONTENT (good ideas)			40
a. Originality	New, creative, surprising, vivid, humorous, exciting, abstract, profound		8
b. Quality	Persuasive, intelligent, shows understanding, powerful, reflective, literary		8
c. Clarity	Clearly expressed, uses appropriate language, accurate, consistent		8
d. Depth	Intensifies our awareness, analyzes important ideas/ issues/ etc in depth (detail), yet is still concise		8
e. Breadth	Looks at related areas, applies topic to life/ society/ new areas, provides the big picture, widens our consciousness		8

3. SUPPORT (backing up ideas) [NB: If inapplicable, consider giving full mark of 6]			30
a. Examples	Quotations from books/ newspapers/ magazines/ experts/ famous people/ etc, illustrations from life (yours or another’s), history, etc		6
b. Evidence	Surveys & other statistics/ realistic research from newspapers/ Internet/ experts/ encyclopedia/ textbooks/ life (observations)/ etc		6
c. Details	Provides the background, atmosphere, character development, analysis, descriptions, small ideas/facts/ etc to support each big idea/ fact/ etc		6
d. Reasons	Provides reasons for arguments or beliefs; theories for observations; explanations for theories; motivation for characters; causes for effects		6
e. Expansion	Expands in other ways, eg compares and contrasts related areas; questions what we know (or think we know); applies the topic to society or other related areas (including new developments or recent events)		6

*4. MECHANICS (expressing ideas well)*			-0
a. Spelling	Nearly perfect mechanics are expected as the bare minimum. Thus, the best you can get (for perfect mechanics) is 0 marks. (This is similar to the law. You get nothing for obeying the law, but you’ll be penalized if you’re caught breaking the law).	less:	max -10 penalty
b. Grammar & Punctuation		less:	max -10 penalty
c. Word Choice	Varied vocabulary at the right level & with the right amount of jargon	less:	max -5 penalty
d. Usage	Language usage is effective/ natural/ standard/ skillful/ appropriate	less:	max -3 penalty
e. Flow	One point/idea leads smoothly to the next; one sentence leads to the next; one paragraph leads to the next; paragraphs may have topic sentences/ mini-conclusions if appropriate	less:	max -2 penalty

TOTAL	© Daily-Update 2006 http://www.daily-update.com		100

Note: Teachers may use this guide in school provided that it remains
unchanged (including the retention of Daily-Update’s copyright notice).
This guide, and adaptions thereof, may not be used commercially.

.................DU International Writing Contest.................

The Daily-Update Senior Contest Guide is shown below. You can use it in various ways as you work on your entry for the writing contest, such as:

(a) using it as a rough “to do” list when organizing your approach;

(b) learning what the competition judges will generally be looking for (as well as the relative importance of each element);

(d) using it as a checklist for areas you could improve or for final quality assurance.

Teachers/lecturers and students may also use the guide as a marking guide. It can be used for:

(a) teaching students what is required for an excellent essay;

(b) prompting teachers when marking;

(d) providing an indication of likely marks that would be allocated in western Senior High schools and universities

The Contest Guide is obviously rather detailed and complex. If using it as a marking guide, your teacher/ lecturer may decide not to use it all the time. It may just be used occasionally so that you can record your progress; get an idea of your strengths and weaknesses; and get help if on a plateau so that you can go on to the next level.

You’ll see that there are four main categories in the guide below. You can get some help with the first two categories, structure (planning your essay) and content (coming up with good ideas), by visiting the JUNIOR LEVEL HELP SECTION.

The third category is equally important. You should generally be able to support your ideas with relevant reasons, evidence, details and examples. You can visit the THIRD PAGE OF THE JUNIOR LEVEL HELP SECTION for more information on supporting details. The main thing to note is that the topic, genre and style you select will determine which (if any) of these sub-categories are relevant. A persuasive essay, for example, might draw heavily on all four sub-categories, whereas a short story might just provide reasons in the form of subtle cause-and-effect motivation (as discussed on the SECOND PAGE OF THE JUNIOR LEVEL HELP SECTION).

The fourth category should be no surprise to you – all the basics of English that you have been studying up to now. They are discussed on the FOURTH PAGE OF THE JUNIOR LEVEL HELP SECTION. Remember, proof-reading before submission is essential.

Each of the four categories of assessment has five sub-categories. These are hopefully self-explanatory, but competition entrants may CONTACT US with any question on the Contest Guide. We’ll get back to you as soon as we can.

For more helpful information on writing, check out the Daily-Update textbook, Writing Techniques

It contains simple steps for all types of creative and academic writing, plus 24 methods for overcoming writer’s block, plus methods for tackling 7 types of
exam essays. It rapidly builds up the writing skills!

SPECIAL FOR WRITING CONTEST ENTRANTS:

USD 23.75 for colour version

including postage to anywhere in the world!

BACK TO INTERNATIONAL WRITING CONTEST DETAILS

................DU International Writing Contest................