Ten years ago Rudyard Griffiths helped Canadians explore and debate what it means to be Canadian in his anthology Great Questions of Canada. Now it is time for the 2009 essay competition of the same name, where high school and university students are encouraged to write opinion pieces up to 1500 words on six key debates about Canadian history and culture.
Students are not only contributing to the debate on these key topics, but also vying for the chance to win $2,000 and a trip to Ottawa for the awards ceremonies.
The topics to choose from are wide-ranging and broad, but then again, that reflects Canada as a whole. Given the global economic climate, Canada’s role on the world stage and in Afghanistan, and the flood of immigrants into our country, it’s easy to find inspiration for one of the topics:
> Founding Concepts
> Identity Revolution
> After Unity
> Canada and the World
> Heroes and Symbols
> Does History Matter?
But at the same time these questions go beyond current events or the political landscape and touch deep inside each Canadian. Who are we as a people, as a society, as a country? Why?
So it’s time to get to talking with our children… and for the students to get writing – submissions are due May 15, 2009.
These are questions and issues that I look forward to talking about with my own son. I’ll just have to wait a while… he’s only a week old!
Photo of St. Andrew’s College. ©Our Kids archives.
When is the deadline to submit for this contest?
The contest ends on May 15, 2009 and a bit more information on submission rules is below.
Using the articles written by leading Canadian thinkers, participants must write an essay on one of the six Great Questions topics. Participants should read the guidelines carefully and ensure that they submit all the requested material.
- Participants must be 21 years of age or younger.
- Contest is open to Canadian students in high school or undergraduate students.
- Home school and IBL students are also eligible.
- Essays can be submitted in either English or French
- Essays should be no longer than 1,500 words
Participants will include the name and contact information of a teacher or instructor who has supervised and/or supported the submission. This person will be contacted in the event that your essay is awarded one of the prizes.
More details available at: http://greatquestions.com/e/bulletin.html