
competitions
John Locke Essay Competition
Write a persuasive essay on a humanities topic
What is John Locke Essay Competition about?
John Lock Essay Competition is a essay writing competition organized by the John Locke Institute that is related to Oxford University.
The competition aims to cultivate the characteristics that "turn good students into great writers":
independent thought
depth of knowledge
clear reasoning
critical analysis, and
persuasive style.
The John Locke Essay Competition invites students to explore a wide range of challenging and interesting questions beyond the confines of the school curriculum. Entering an essay in the competition can build knowledge, and refine skills of argumentation. It also gives students the chance to have their work assessed by experts.
Your essay will be assessed by a panel of judges selected from academic staff of Oxford and Princeton universities.
It goes without saying that doing well and receiving a prize in the John Locke Essay Competition would be a fantastic boost to your student profile if you are aiming for any subject related to humanities or Economics as a major. It would certainly put you way ahead of most other applicants.
What work is involved?
To take part in the John Locke Essay Competition, you will need to write an academic essay on a topic related to one of the following seven areas:
Philosophy, for example: A team of scientists wants to discover how many genders there are. How should they proceed?
Politics, for example: Do the results of elections express the will of the people?
Economics, for example: What would happen if we banned billionaires?
History, for example: Which has a bigger effect on history: the plans of the powerful or their mistakes?
Psychology, for example: Are beliefs voluntary?
Theology, for example: What was God doing before He created the cosmos?
Law, for example: Are there too many laws?
There are 3 questions poised within each of the seven categories. You should have a look at the complete list of the 2023 John Locke Essay Competition questions.
As you can tell, the questions are challenging, open-ended and can even be deemed loaded. In order to do well in the competition, you will need to skilfully dissect exactly what the question is asking, narrow down what it means to you, and develop your answer supported by logically consistent and argumentatively sound.
Am I eligible?
Students between ages of 15-19 are eligible. Students below the age of 15 can also make submissions for the John Locke Essay Competition Junior edition.
You will be required to provide the email address of an academic referee who can ascertain that the work is indeed yours. This could be your Ariton mentor, but any teacher who is familiar with your writing style will do.
When can I apply?
Application open in April while the deadline for applying is on 31 May 2023, and you will need to submit your essay by 30 June 2023. It is expected the timeline will be very similar in 2024.
How will

help
Ideation: you will brainstorm and discuss your thoughts with your Ariton mentor, and spend time picking the most suitable question to answer in your essay.
Expert writing training: you will work closely with your Ariton mentor to learn about different techniques relevant to your work, including improving your writing skills, building a sound argumentation to support your views, using relevant sources and more.
Mentorship: an experienced Ariton consultant with years of academic research, essay writing and debating.
Coaching sessions: from ideation to extensive review of your essay drafts, your Ariton mentor will be with you every step of the way.
Project management: there is a lot of work involved in completing the John Locke essay, and it will be your Ariton mentor's priority to ensure you stay on track.
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