Here is a link to the Chicago Tribune's contest rules and downloadable form. Please fill out the form to turn in with your final draft/artwork.

Final drafts are due Wednesday, 4/22 (periods 1 & 6) and Thursday, 4/23 (periods 3, 4, & 9). When you turn in your final copy please make sure to do the following:

1. Turn in two (2) copies of the final draft (one to be graded, one to be submitted to the contest).
2. Turn in a completed contest entry form (linked above)
3. Turn in a completed Evaluation Form with your name and the student score column filled out.

REMEMBER: No names or identifying information on the artwork or in the essay! 

Below are some pointers from the guru of teaching students to read and write well, Nancie Atwell:

A few tips for effective and engaging essay introductions:

• Anecdote - a quick story to illustrate a point
• Quotation - usually from someone famous (though it could be someone from your own life, too)
• Background - information about the topic or about yourself
• News - current events
• Announcement - a quick, to-the-point introduction to the topic

A few introductions to avoid ...

• A question ("Can you imagine living in a world without freedom? Well, ... ")
• A clichee or bromide ("Give me liberty or give me death!")
• A dictionary definition ("Webster's defines freedom as 'the absence of necessity, coercion, or constraint in choice or action.'")

A few ideas for effective and satisfying conclusions:

• Admonition or instruction - what the reader can do about the issue
• Prediction - an insight into how the future might be different, better, or worse
• Strong, punched statement - perhaps a one-sentence paragraph
• Anecdote - a brief story that reiterates the essence of the issue/situation
• Pointed question - leaves the reader thinking
• Echo - circles back to the lead (without being a restatement)