In a competition entry you will have to nominate someone for a prize or award and support your nomination by explaining your reasons or giving a description. When you write a competition entry, your

COMPETITION ENTRIES

In a competition entry you will have to nominate someone for a prize or award and support your nomination by explaining your reasons or giving a description. When you write a competition entry, your readers will be a judge or a panel of judges. You will usually have to nominate somebody for something or propose yourself for selection for something (e.g. a grant to study). You will have to try to persuade the judges and give reasons why your choice is best.

Competition entries are written in response to announcements which may appear in newspapers, magazines, newsletters etc.

In general a competition entry should contain:

- an introduction which attracts and holds the attentions of the target reader (in this case, the judge of the competition)

- a main body which addresses all parts of the rubric.

- a conclusion which rounds off your writing by summarizing the information and opinions stated in the main body, or by adding a thought-provoking comment.

Competition entries, like articles, can involve various types of writing. For example, if you are asked to give an opinion, or make a suggestion or a recommendation then you will need to use discursive writing. On the other hand, if you need to describe your feelings or an experience then you will write in a descriptive or narrative style. When writing competition entries, register will depend on the target reader. Whether you are required to use either a formal or informal register, you should always be consistent. To make your entry appealing to the reader, you can:

· give it an eye-catching title and introduction

· use ‘question’ sentences

· make use of descriptive adjectives and adverbs

Task

You see this announcement for a competition in an international English-language magazine called Outer space.

More government funding is needed to widen the research being done into UFO sightings and the possibility of alien life forms.

Do you agree with this opinion? In an entry of 250 words, give us your reasons why or why not. The best answer will win newly-released video Are we alone?

Sample competition entry

A necessary expanse

Every week we read headlines about individuals encountering creature from outer space, seeing strange lights in the sky, or even being unwillingly whisked away in futuristic spacecraft. As a result of this negative exposure, many people are of the mind that UFOs and extraterrestrials are nothing more than science fiction. But should these claims be taken more seriously? Should the government be spending more to find out the truth about these sightings?

On the one hand, it must be admitted that many so-called UFO sightings are easily explained away. More often than not, ‘unearthly flashing lights’ and ‘disk-like saucers’ turn out simply to be low-flying aircraft or damaged satellites, while many sightings are either a product of someone’s overactive imagination or their yearning for public attention.

However, it would be incredibly arrogant of us if we were to believe that we were the only thinking beings in the entire universe. What if there really is life out there? And what if it is an intelligent life form that is trying to us, or even warn us about something?
It is safe to say, in conclusion, that we will never know the answers to these questions if UFO and alien sightings are not taken seriously and investigated. Investigations take time and money, and while it is obvious that government budgets are already stretched to breaking point, funds must be found to support research into the possibility of there being extraterrestrial life somewhere out there.

Task

Competition for an ambassador for children

We are looking for an ambassador for children. This person will have to get on well with young people and be able to represent them and their interests. Do you know someone who could do this? It could be somebody famous or even a member of your own family. If so, write to us telling us about this person saying why you think they could do this job and giving reasons why your nominee should be selected.

Sample competition entry

I would like to nominate Angelina Jolie as an ambassador for children.

Angelina Jolie is a famous Hollywood film star and she would make an excellent ambassador for children for several reasons. First of all, she is very famous, so wherever she went to talk about children or represent them, people would pay attention because they know her. Secondly she is very beautiful so she would make people notice her and any children she met would like her a lot. Thirdly, she is famous for travelling the world and adopting children from all over the world. Not only does she love and have their interests at heart, but also she is very rich so she could undertake a lot of tasks herself without much need to be funded.

Angelina Jolie should be selected because she would be better than the alternatives. A sports person may not be popular with girls and someone who was not famous would not be very good at meeting important people and representing children’s interests. Also some people who might be quite good are too old, like Madonna – Angelina has a very youthful appearance and could be more in touch with young people. Other people are too tied up in their careers to be able to devote enough time to the job.

All in all, I definitely think Angelina Jolie would be the best person and I urge you to appoint her in this role.

COMPETITION ENTRIES CHECKLIST

Task

• Does your writing achieve the purpose stated in the rubric?
• Have you included all of the relevant points?

Target Reader

• Would the target reader be satisfied with what you have written?
• Is your style of writing suitable for the publication it will appear in?

Layout and Organisation

• Have you included a heading/title?
• Does your first paragraph make the reader want to read more?
• Is your writing divided into logical paragraphs?
• Have you included an appropriate ending?
• Are you close to the word limit?

Accuracy

• Have you checked for spelling mistakes?
• Have you checked for grammatical errors (e.g. article, pronouns, tenses and verb forms, prepositions, subject-verb agreement)?
• Have you checked for punctuation errors (e.g. capital letters, commas, full stops, apostrophes)?

Language Features

• Have you used descriptive/ narrative/discursive language appropriately?
• Have you used appropriate linking words and phrases?
• Is your writing suitably serious/ light-hearted/ informative/humorous, etc?
  
  

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