1. Competitors shall submit an original theme of from 500 to 1,500 words on the announced subject. The essay must be typed, double-spaced, on one side of standard sized paper (8½ x 11) and must be submitted in triplicate.

1. Three judges shall be assigned to this competition. Scoring shall be determined by averaging the independent tallies of the judges. The judges may not confer on the scoring.
2. Judging shall be predicated on the following three categories:

1. Mechanics.

1. Spelling.
2. Grammar.
3. Punctuation.

2. Organization.

1. Paragraphing.
2. Topic and transitional sentences.

3. Content.

1. Material must be at least 75% original.
2. All quotations and other source material must be identified as such.

3. Penalties.

1. Mechanics.

1. Spelling (1 penalty per word)
2. Grammatical (1 penalty per error)
3. Punctuation(1 penalty per error)
4. Other (1 to 10 penalties)

2. Organization.

1. Paragraphing (5 penalties)
2. Transitional & topics (10 penalties)
3. Other (1 to 25 penalties)

3. Content.

1. Originality (5 penalties)
2. Use of sources (10 penalties)
3. Other (1 to 50 penalties)

1. See General Rules, Section 1.
2. The topic for each year's essay will be selected by the Director of Competitions.
3. It is presumed that each competitor begins with 1,000 points.
4. The word standards and a minimum of 700 points must be met to be eligible to win the competition.