dukes essay prize

1st Place - Divya Ganesh, Royal Latin School

Vision - a look into the issue that is threatening the vision of marine animals today.

The evolution of vision is a process that has yielded staggering results: namely, the transformation of a simple photosensitive spot to an organ as complex as the ‘camera-type’ eye over less than half a million generations [1]. Today, vision remains as one of the most important senses in controlling an animal’s behaviour and thereby determining its survival. But in recent years, advancements in society have led to issues that pose a challenge to the vision of marine organisms in particular. We may have lost sight of what is truly important: protecting a biome with such a wide range of species and ensuring that the vision of these species doesn’t suffer. In doing so, we appreciate the functionality and intricacy of visual systems created through evolution of the eye over the years.

The watchmaker analogy has long been applied to the eye, most notably by William Paley in his book Natural Theology , to imply that for such an intricate creation to exist, there must exist a supernatural creator [2]. But as Darwin explains in On the Origin of Species , ‘if numerous gradations from a simple and imperfect eye to one complex and perfect can be shown to exist’, then it cannot be difficult to believe that such an eye can be formed by natural selection [3]. Ensuing research by Darwin and several other scientists has meant that we can now identify the stages in the evolution of vision. First came ‘eyespots’ in unicellular organisms like Euglena, which facilitated phototaxis, movement towards or away from a source of light [4]. Eventually this led to photosensitive cells forming a small indentation, which allowed organisms such as Planaria to identify the direction from which the light came; as the pit deepened the information became more precise. As the opening of this pit narrowed, the first ‘pinhole-camera’ eye developed: light enters through a small aperture and is focused onto the retina. Finally a cornea and lens formed to give the ‘camera-type’ eye that focuses light onto an even smaller area on the retina to produce higher-resolution images.

Today, out of 36 phyla only 7 have eyes, but these 7 account for approximately 96% of species in the world [5]. Why is vision so prevalent in the animal kingdom? For non-autotrophic organisms, the need for vision arises primarily from the need to find food. These organisms also need a way to avoid predation and identify potential mates. Out of all the senses that can be used to receive this information, vision is the longest in range and provides the most information in a certain amount of time [6]. Therefore for most animals, ‘light perception is both the trigger and the controlling sense for many, if not most, behaviours’, as published in an article in 2014 [7].

Through understanding the function of eyes in animals, scientists can now make conclusions about the behaviour of organisms solely by studying their eyes. This is most significant when studying deep-sea animals which are difficult to observe in their natural habitat and may not survive being brought to the surface for research: one such animal is the escolar, a deep-sea predatory fish. Research on the morphology of the escolar eye has shown that they have high sensitivity and slow vision, which suggests that the escolar may be a ‘sit-and-wait ambush predator’ [8].

Study of the eyes of marine animals is also becoming increasingly important for us to understand the evolutionary relationships between marine and terrestrial species. Lots of research has been conducted on the formation of limbs during the evolution of the first terrestrial vertebrates, but a research article published in 2017 suggests that it was actually a huge increase in visual range that led marine animals to move to the land [9]. Analysis of the scientists’ results shows a change favouring larger eye sockets would have happened before the arrival of vertebrates with complete limbs, with eyes tripling in size just before vertebrates began living on land. While this increase in size would have resulted in a negligible improvement in visual performance underwater, on land it provided a ‘large increase in performance’.

Further along in the evolutionary history of animals, when mammals returned to the oceans, their visual systems had to change again. Underwater, vision is far more difficult than above the surface: as depth increases, less light penetrates the water, and at all depths, light is more strongly scattered in water than in air. To function in the marine environment, the mammalian eye became more ‘fish-like’, and study of the aquatic mammal’s eye shows exactly how. The cornea, which in terrestrial mammals refracts light before it reaches the lens, plays an insignificant role in refraction, as the refractive index of the aquatic cornea (1.37) is very similar to that of salt water (1.33) [10]. To compensate for this, the lens is much more spherical and is responsible for focusing light onto the retina, while accommodation happens due to changes in intraocular pressure moving the lens back and forth rather than through the work of ciliary muscles.

It is clear that over time, evolution has selected for incredibly complex visual systems in marine and terrestrial organisms alike. This is despite the fact that the vision process requires huge amounts of energy provided in the form of ATP. The demand for ATP means that the retina is one of the highest oxygen-consuming tissues in the body; within the retina itself the layer of photoreceptor cells requires at least two times more oxygen than the rest [11,12]. Unfortunately, this means that hypoxia, or oxygen deficiency in a biotic environment, can compromise the visual systems of organisms by decreasing the photoreceptors cells’ sensitivity to light.

Hypoxia can affect the vision of any organism, but it has become a real concern for marine organisms over the past half century; this is due to the fact that global oceanic oxygen content has decreased by over 2% since 1960 [13]. A study has demonstrated ‘major retinal impairment’ in three species of marine invertebrates after they had been exposed to ‘surprisingly minor amounts of oxygen decline’, so this rate of ocean deoxygenation is alarming [14]. And while some organisms that already live in oxygen-deprived areas may have adaptations to maintain their sight, species that are less tolerant to reduced oxygen levels will be particularly at risk of visual impairment. In either case, decline in an organism’s visual function will lead to behavioural changes that may negatively impact their survival.

One of the two principal human causes for ocean deoxygenation is rising global temperatures. Increasing temperatures reduce the solubility of oxygen in water, which in turn reduces the concentration of dissolved oxygen in the ocean. This problem affects surface water disproportionately, with 50% of oxygen decline in the upper 1000m (the part of the ocean with the highest marine biodiversity) attributed to changes in solubility, but only 15% of total oceanic oxygen loss attributed to the same cause [15]. But this is not the sole problem caused by global warming: it also exacerbates stratification in oceans. Stratification is the process by which masses of water with different properties are layered with limited mixing. Stratification increases as surface ocean temperatures increase, but also as a result of increased freshwater discharge caused by glacial melting [15].

Another human cause for ocean deoxygenation is nutrient input into the oceans. Excess inputs of nitrogen and phosphorus lead to eutrophication, a process in which a surplus of nutrients in water results in dense plant and algal growth. These algal blooms prevent organisms below them from absorbing oxygen, so they die; the decomposition of these dead organisms uses up large amounts of oxygen, resulting in hypoxia. Increased nutrient inputs are a result of modern unsustainable intensive farming techniques which rely heavily on fertilisers and manure.

The threat ocean deoxygenation poses is severe and immediate. It is time to question whether our vision of a rapidly growing global economy is justification for degrading oceans to such an extent that the vision of marine organisms suffers. Solutions have been proposed to combat this problem: governments must urgently reduce carbon emissions which contribute to global warming, and industry must move away from the use of excess nutrients. From a individual perspective, we can also take matters into our own hands as a consumer and make small changes to our diet like reducing meat consumption, or choosing fuel-efficient ways to travel. There are several ways to limit and even reverse ocean deoxygenation; it is up to us whether we take responsibility now to protect the marine biome or leave it to future generations.

Works cited

[1] Nilsson, D. and Pelger, S. (1997). A pessimistic estimate of the time required for an eye to evolve Proc. R. Soc. Lond. B. 25653–58. http://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.1994.0048

[2] Gregory, T.R. (2009). The Argument from Design: A Guided Tour of William Paley’s Natural Theology (1802). Evo Edu Outreach 2, 602–611. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12052-009-0184-6

[3] Darwin, C. (1859). On the origin of species by means of natural selection, or preservation of favoured races in the struggle for life. London: John Murray

[4] Williams, D. (2016). Light and the evolution of vision. Eye 30, 173–178. https://doi.org/10.1038/eye.2015.220

[5] Schwab, I. (2018). The evolution of eyes: major steps. The Keeler lecture 2017: centenary of Keeler Ltd. Eye 32, 302–313. https://doi.org/10.1038/eye.2017.226

[6] Bova, B. (2001). The Story Of Light. pp. 35-36.

[7] Cronin, T. W., & Douglas, R. H. (2014). Seeing and doing: how vision shapes animal behaviour. Philosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological sciences , 369 (1636), 20130030. https://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2013.0030

[8] Landgren, E, Fritsches, K, Brill, R and Warrant, E. (2014). The visual ecology of a deep-sea fish, the escolar Lepidocybium flavobrunneum (Smith, 1843). † Phil. Trans. R. Soc. B 36920130039. http://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2013.0039

[9] MacIver, M.A., Schmitz, L., Mugan, U., Murphey, T.D. and Mobley, C.D. (2017). Leap in visual range preceded the leap to land. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 114 (12) E2375-E2384. doi: 10.1073/pnas.1615563114

[10] Mass, M.A. and Supin, A.Y. (2007). Adaptive features of aquatic mammals’ eye. Anat Rec (Hoboken) . 290(6):701‐715. doi:10.1002/ar.20529

[11] Schmidt, M., Giessl, A., Laufs, T., Hankelnt, T., Wolfrum, U. and Burmester, T.. (2003). How does the eye breathe? Evidence for neuroglobin-mediated oxygen supply in the mammalian retina., J. Biol. Chem . 278 1932–5. doi: 10.1074/jbc.M209909200

[12] Medrano, C.J and Fox, D.A. (1995) Oxygen consumption in the rat outer and inner retina: light- and pharmacologically-induced inhibition. Exp. Eye Res., 61

[13] Schmidtko, S., Stramma, L. & Visbeck, M. (2017). Decline in global oceanic oxygen content during the past five decades. Nature 542, 335–339. https://doi.org/10.1038/nature21399

[14] McCormick, L.R., Levin, L.A. and Oesch, N.W. (2019). Vision is highly sensitive to oxygen availability in marine invertebrate larvae. Journal of Experimental Biology 222 : jeb200899 doi: 10.1242/jeb.200899

[15] Laffoley, D. and Baxter, J. (2019). Ocean deoxygenation: everyone’s problem: causes, impacts, consequences and solutions, IUCN Report, Gland, Switzerland, https://doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.CH.2019.13.en

DUKES PLUS ESSAY COMPETITION

DUKES EDUCATION

Sponsoring Institution : Dukes Education

Type: Essay Contest

Eligibility: Students aged 15-17 years old Open to students from anywhere

Application Deadline: Mid August

Highlight: Are you ready to showcase your academic talent and critical thinking skills? Enter the Dukes Plus Essay Competition! This prestigious competition, open to students aged 15-17, offers a unique platform to demonstrate your prowess in fields such as education, law, healthcare, and more.  Questions are supercool and will likely be used by students in applications or in other situations… here are 2024’s question options:

1. Describe and justify what the ideal schools, existing in the year 2100, would be like

2.“Essays no longer demonstrate a student’s academic potential.” Discuss.

3. To what extent is there a legal justification for extreme climate change protest?

4. Identify the world’s best healthcare system and justify your choice.

With prizes including £300, a consultation with an education advisor, and publication in Insight magazine, this is an opportunity not to be missed. This year, Dukes Plus are running four essay competitions aligned with their university consultancy brands, encouraging entries from students interested in higher education in these fields. Choose your topic, submit your essay by the deadline, and stand a chance to win and be recognized for your academic excellence. Detailed submission guidelines are available on their website . Don’t miss this chance to enhance your educational journey. Apply now and let your critical thinking shine!

It is our anual free funding event for high schoolers from all over the world

• May 2, 2022

Now open: The Dukes Essay Prize Competition

The Essay Prize is open to all students in Years 11 and 12. It is inspired by the famous entrance test for All Souls College, Oxford, where students write an essay in response to a single word, from the perspective of a specific academic subject.

The Prize rewards creativity, lateral approaches, and engagement with a subject beyond the curriculum. It is a fantastic opportunity to practice university-style assignments, and a prize is a great achievement to discuss on a personal statement.

The titles students can choose from this year are:

Transformational

Reliability

Perspective

Students should pick one word as the title of their essay. They can then explore the title from the perspective of one or more academic subjects.

How it works:

1. Choose a title from the seven options above

2. Write an essay of up to 1,500 words on that title

3. Submit by 4pm, 1st June 2022

Only one essay per student is permitted

Prizes to Win:

1st Place : £500

2nd Place : £200

3rd Place : £100

The winners and all shortlisted essays will be published on the Dukes Education website.

If you have any other questions, you can always email us at [email protected] .

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The GSAL Journal

Passion, Curiosity & Creativity

Tag: Dukes Essay Prize

Our generational duty to science with a focus on biomedical engineering.

Aashmi - Year 11 Student Editor's Note: Year 11 student Aashmi elected to write this extended essay on the chosen word ‘duty’ in response to The Dukes Essay Prize organised by Dukes Education. This competition is inspired by the famous entrance test for All Souls College, Oxford, where students write an essay in response to a single word, from the perspective of … Continue reading Our Generational Duty to Science with a focus on Biomedical Engineering

Movement: the evolution of the French language

Thomas - Year 12 Student Editor's Note: This well-crafted and expertly argued essay on the chosen word ‘movement’ was originally written for The Dukes Essay Prize by Thomas in Year 12. Thomas embarks on a detailed exploration of the evolution of the French language and linguistics, and examines its decline in the face of increasing … Continue reading Movement: the evolution of the French language

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• Past Winners

Past winners are listed contest year below.

The English Department is honored to announce the winners of its 2023 writing contests. The department administers writing contests to recognize fiction, creative nonfiction, poetry and critical writing by English majors and non-major undergraduates.  

Anne Flexner Memorial Award for Fiction Camden Chin ’26 “Value of a Dollar”   and   “Harold" Family members and friends of former English student Anne Flexner (1945) established the Anne Flexner Memorial Award for Creative Writing to recognize undergraduates for their work in fiction and poetry. 

Reynolds Price Award for Fiction Emma Huang ’25 “Equivalence”  The Reynolds Price Fiction Award was established in memory of the distinguished novelist, essayist, poet, and public intellectual Reynolds Price, a graduate of Duke and professor in the English Department for over 50 years. 

CREATIVE NONFICTION

George P. Lucaci Award for Creative NonFiction First prize: Maggie Wolfe ’24 “The Rise and Fall” Second prize (co-winners): Nima Babajani-Feremi ’24 “After Rebirth”  Haoning Jiang ’ 23 “That Time I Pirated a Pixar Movie and Cried Like a Baby” This award was created to encourage creative nonfiction writing and honor George P. Lucaci, a former Duke student who has actively supported undergraduate creative writing in the English Department for many years. 

Academy of American Poets Prize Tyler King ’25 “Texan Gospel” 

Laura Boyle ’24  (Honorable Mention)   “Zoo of Self”   Founded in 1934 in New York City, the Academy of American Poets is the largest membership-based nonprofit organization advocating for American poets and poetry.  Its mission is to support American poets at all stages of their careers and foster contemporary poetry appreciation. 

Anne Flexner Memorial Award for Poetry   (co-winners) Dylan Haston ’23  “The Will She Had: Grail Quest” 

Lauren Garbett   ’23   “bright futures, brighter pasts” Family members and friends of former English student Anne Flexner (1945) established the Anne Flexner Memorial Award for Creative Writing to recognize undergraduates for their work in fiction and poetry. 

Terry Welby Tyler, Jr. Award for Poetry   (co-winners) Tina Xia ’23 “Love for Sale” 

Marina Chen ’24 “/&&*” (“stick and poke”)  This award was established by the family of Terry Welby Tyler, Jr., who would have graduated with the class of 1997 to recognize and honor outstanding undergraduate poetry. 

Creative Writing Scholarship Winners

William M. Blackburn Scholarship Edgar Salas ’23  Created in 1962 by students and friends of Professor William Blackburn (1899-1969), who established the creative writing initiative at Duke, this scholarship recognizes outstanding achievement in the field of creative writing. 

Francis Pemberton Scholarship Mina Jang ’23  This scholarship is awarded to a junior or senior pursuing creative writing studies. It was created by the Trustees of The Mary Duke Biddle Foundation in memory and honor of Francis Pemberton's service to the Biddle Foundation. 

Margaret Rose Knight Sanford Scholarship Miranda Gershoni ’23   Given annually to a female student who demonstrates a particular promise in creative writing, this scholarship was established to recognize the untiring efforts of Margaret Rose Knight Sanford on behalf of Duke University.

Critical Essay & Department Award Winners 

Critical Essay Award:   Shourya Agarwal, ‘24 -  “A Common Tongue” Zachary Partnoy, 26 -   “To Wit, To Woo”   (Honorable Mention)

Stanley E. Fish Award for Outstanding Work in British Literature:   Anneke Zegers This award recognizes outstanding work by an undergraduate enrolled in an English course in British Literature.

Louis J. Budd Award for Outstanding Work in American Literature  (co-winners) Aiyana Villanueva and Ali Rothberg This award recognizes outstanding work by an undergraduate enrolled in an English course in American Literature.

Barbara Herrnstein Smith Award for Outstanding Work in Literary Theory or Criticism Akshaj Turebylu This award recognizes outstanding work by an undergraduate enrolled in an English course in literary theory or criticism.

Award for Most Original Honors Thesis:  K.B. Denis This award recognizes a senior student for writing the most original honors thesis.

The English Department is honored to announce the winners of its 2022 writing contests. The department administers writing contests to recognize fiction, creative nonfiction, poetry and critical works by English majors and non-major undergraduates.  

Anne Flexner Memorial Award for Fiction Sascha Seinfeld, '23

Family members and friends of former English student Anne Flexner (1945) established the Anne Flexner Memorial Award for Creative Writing to recognize undergraduates for their work in fiction and poetry. 

Reynolds Price Award for Fiction Thalia Halloran, '22 Download Thalia Halloran’s “What I Done To You"  (docx - 25.31 KB) The Reynolds Price Fiction Award was established in memory of the distinguished novelist, essayist, poet, and public intellectual Reynolds Price, a graduate of Duke and professor in the English Department for over 50 years. 

George P. Lucaci Award for Creative NonFiction Haoning Jiang, ’23  (1st place)   Download Haoning Jiang’s “Snowmen"  (docx - 27.36 KB) Francisco Angel Banda, ’23  (2nd place) Download Franciso Angel Banda’s “Travelling"  (docx - 25.17 MB) This award was created to encourage creative nonfiction writing and to honor George P. Lucaci, a former Duke student who has been an active supporter of undergraduate creative writing in the English Department for many years. 

Academy of American Poets Prize Marina Chen, ’24 (1st Prize) Download Marina Chen’s “Dreams About Blood"  (docx - 20.92 KB)

Spencer Chang, ’25  (Honorable Mention) Download Spencer Chang’s “Ghost Stories"  (docx - 20.53 KB) Founded in 1934 in New York City, the Academy of American Poets is the largest membership-based nonprofit organization advocating for American poets and poetry.  Its mission is to support American poets at all stages of their careers and foster contemporary poetry appreciation. 

Anne Flexner Memorial Award  for Poetry:   (co-winners) Margot Armbruster, ‘22 Download Margot Armbruster’s “clean suite"  (docx - 24.77 KB) Tina Xia, ‘23 Download Tina Xia’s “Waiting for the rain to fall"  (docx - 18.96 KB) Family members and friends of former English student Anne Flexner (1945) established the Anne Flexner Memorial Award for Creative Writing to recognize undergraduates for their work in fiction and poetry. 

Terry Welby Tyler, Jr. and Lee Emerson Tyler Award for Poetry  (co-winners) Lauren Garbett, '23  Download Lauren Garbett’s “From the Other"  (docx - 16.27 KB)

Rebecca Schneid, ‘23 Download Rebecca Schneid’s “Meditations on February"  (docx - 15.24 KB) The Terry Welby Tyler, Jr. & Lee Emerson Tyler Award for Poetry was established by the family of Terry Welby Tyler, Jr., who would have graduated with the class of 1997, and his brother Lee Emerson Tyler, to recognize and honor outstanding undergraduate poetry.  This award is made possible through the generosity of Kathy and Hank Thompson.

William M. Blackburn Scholarship Lily Neusaenger   - ’25 Rodricka Robinson   - '24 Created in 1962 by students and friends of Professor William Blackburn (1899-1969), who established the creative writing initiative at Duke, this scholarship recognizes outstanding achievement in the field of creative writing. 

Francis Pemberton Scholarship Thalia Halloran - '22 This scholarship is awarded to a junior or senior pursuing study in creative writing. It was created by the Trustees of The Mary Duke Biddle Foundation in memory and in honor of Francis Pemberton's service to the Biddle Foundation. 

Margaret Rose Knight Sanford Scholarship Milla Surjadi - '24 Given annually to a female student who demonstrates a particular promise in creative writing, this scholarship was established to recognize the untiring efforts of Margaret Rose Knight Sanford on behalf of Duke University.

Stanley E. Fish Award for Outstanding Work in British Literature:   Kari Tora Larsen, ‘22 This award recognizes outstanding work by an undergraduate enrolled in an English course in British Literature.

Award for Most Original Honors Thesis:  Taylor Madison Plett, ‘22 This award recognizes a senior student for writing the most original honors thesis.

Anne Flexner Award for Fiction Thalia Halloran, '22 - "Red Tide" Family members and friends of former English student Anne Flexner (1945) established the Anne Flexner Memorial Award for Creative Writing to recognize undergraduates for their work in fiction and poetry. 

Reynolds Price Award for Fiction Mina Jang, '23 - "Twenty" The Reynolds Price Fiction Award was established in memory of the distinguished novelist, essayist, poet, and public intellectual Reynolds Price, a graduate of Duke and professor in the English Department for over 50 years. 

George P. Lucaci Award for Creative NonFiction Abby Flyer, '21- "Self-Portrait, 2020" Irene Qiao, '22 - "My Pitaya" This award was created to encourage creative nonfiction writing and to honor George P. Lucaci, a former Duke student who has been an active supporter of undergraduate creative writing in the English Department for many years. 

Academy of American Poets Prize Rebecca Schneid, '23 - "The Long Haul"   Tina Xia -'23 - "sinking" (Honorable Mention) Founded in 1934 in New York City, the Academy of American Poets is the largest membership-based nonprofit organization advocating for American poets and poetry.  Its mission is to support American poets at all stages of their careers and foster contemporary poetry appreciation. 

Anne Flexner Award for Poetry Theo Cai, '21 - "Filaments" Family members and friends of former English student Anne Flexner (1945) established the Anne Flexner Memorial Award for Creative Writing to recognize undergraduates for their work in fiction and poetry. 

Terry Welby Tyler, Jr Award for Poetry Lauren Garbett, '23 - "Year in Reverse" The family of Terry Welby Tyler, Jr. established this award in his memory to recognize and encourage outstanding undergraduate poets. Welby, an English major who loved poetry, would have graduated with the class of 1997 had he not passed away in 1996.  

William M. Blackburn Scholarship Pippa Lother   - '23 Madison Griffin   - '23 Created in 1962 by students and friends of Professor William Blackburn (1899-1969), who established the creative writing initiative at Duke, this scholarship recognizes outstanding achievement in the field of creative writing. 

Francis Pemberton Scholarship Thomas Pratt - '22 This scholarship is awarded to a junior or senior pursuing study in creative writing. It was created by the Trustees of The Mary Duke Biddle Foundation in memory and in honor of Francis Pemberton's service to the Biddle Foundation. 

Margaret Rose Knight Sanford Scholarship Rae Recinos - '23 Given annually to a female student who demonstrates a particular promise in creative writing, this scholarship was established to recognize the untiring efforts of Margaret Rose Knight Sanford on behalf of Duke University. 

Critical Essay Award Milla Surjadi “Redefining the Sad Girl in Phoebe Bridgers’ ‘Punisher'" Each year Duke English sponsors a critical essay competition that is open for essays written by any Duke undergraduate enrolled in an English department course.  Submissions must be critical essays of nonfiction produced for a class during the current academic year in which the student is enrolled.

Stanley E. Fish Award for Outstanding Work in British Literature:   Anthony Cardellini “Nabokov through the Sebaldian mist: Memory in The Emigrants and Speak, Memory” This award recognizes outstanding work by an undergraduate enrolled in an English course in British Literature.

Louis J. Budd Award for Outstanding Work in American Literature:    Genevieve Beske “The Way Back Up: Narratives of Downfall and Restoration in Fiction of the American South” This award recognizes outstanding work by an undergraduate enrolled in an English course in American Literature.

Barbara Herrnstein Smith Award for Outstanding Work in Literary Theory or Criticism:  Lizzie Bond “ A Man and a Woman”: The Artist’s Double-sided Existence in Willa Cather’s “Coming, Aphrodite!” This award recognizes outstanding work by an undergraduate enrolled in an English course in literary theory or criticism.

Award for Most Original Honors Thesis:  Charlotte Tellefsen “The Convergence of Nature and Culture: Illegitimacy in Adam Bede and Daniel Deronda” This award recognizes a senior student for writing the most original honors thesis.

Anne Flexner Award for Fiction Thalia Halloran   - Blonde (Winner of 2019 Reynolds Price Award for Fiction and took second place for the George P. Luccaci Award for Creative Non-Fiction) The Anne Flexner Memorial Award for Creative Writing was established by the family and friends of Anne Flexner, who graduated from Duke in 1945.

Reynolds Price Award for Fiction Caroline Waring -   The Roof (2019 Critical Essay Winner) The Reynolds Price Fiction Award was established in memory of the distinguished novelist, essayist, story-writer, poet and public intellectual, Reynolds Price, who was a graduate of Duke and taught in the English Department for over 50 years.

George P. Lucaci Award for Creative Non-Fiction Leah Abrams  - Dad Funeral Rayan Tofique  - Of Suitors and the Unsuited Julia Wang  - Lions The Lucaci Award for Creative nonfiction is funded by the Lucaci Endowment. It was established to encourage creative nonfiction writing and to honor George P. Lucaci, a former Duke student, who has been an active supporter of undergraduate creative writing in the English Department for many years.

Academy of American Poets Prize 1 st Place - Daniela Stephanou -   Maria Honorable Mention -  Thalia Halloran – animal instincts Founded in 1934 in New York City, the Academy of American Poets is the largest membership-based nonprofit organization advocating for American poets and poetry.  Its mission is to support American poets at all stages of their careers and to foster the appreciation of contemporary poetry.

Anne Flexner Award for Poetry Margot Armbruster  - Triptych The Anne Flexner Memorial Award for Poetry was established by the family and friends of Anne Flexner, who graduated from Duke in 1945.

Terry Welby Tyler, Jr Award for Poetry Sophie Laettner  - A Southern Element This award was established by the family of Terry Welby Tyler, Jr., an English major that loved poetry.  He would have graduated with the class of 1997 had he not passed away in 1996.  This award recognizes and honors outstanding undergraduate poetry.

William Blackburn Scholarship Anna Kasradze, 2021 Omoloa Sanusi, 2021 William M. Blackburn Scholarship:  Recognizes outstanding achievement in the field of creative writing.  Established in 1962 by students and friends of Professor William Blackburn (1899-1969) who first began teaching creative writing at Duke.

Francis Pemberton Scholarship Anthony Cardellini, 2021 Francis Pemberton Scholarship:  Awarded to a junior or senior pursuing the study of creative writing.  This scholarship was created by the Trustees of The Mary Duke Biddle Foundation in memory and in honor of Francis Pemberton's service to the Biddle Foundation.

Margaret Rose Knight Sanford Scholarship Catherine Gong, 2022 Margaret Rose Knight Sanford Scholarship:  Awarded to a female student who demonstrates particular promise in creative writing.  This scholarship was established in recognition of the untiring efforts of Margaret Rose Knight Sanford on behalf of Duke University.

Anna Kasradze , '21 -  Discontents and their Civilization: Epic Melancholy in T.S. Eliot’s “The Waste Land" Honorable Mention : Gretchen Wright,  ' 20  –  “Brontë before Darwin: The Weakening of the Human-Animal Divide” Each year Duke English sponsors a critical essay competition that is open for essays written by any Duke undergraduate enrolled in an English department course.  Submissions must be critical essays of nonfiction produced for a class during the current academic year in which the student is enrolled.

Stanley E. Fish Award for Outstanding Work in British Literature:   Joel Mire,  ‘ 20  -  “Narrative as Search: Computational Forms of Knowledge in the Novels of Tom McCarthy”  This award recognizes outstanding work by an undergraduate enrolled in an English course in British Literature.

Louis J. Budd Award for Outstanding Work in American Literature:    Jay Arora , ‘20  -  “Protein Binds: Decoding Factory-Farmed Meat in the American South” This award recognizes outstanding work by an undergraduate enrolled in an English course in American Literature.

Barbara Herrnstein Smith Award for Outstanding Work in Literary Theory or Criticism:  ( Co-winners )   Meg Hancock , ‘20  -  “‘Bullets in the Dining Room Table’: Reckoning with the South and its Burdens in Faulkner, O’Connor, and Morrison” Brenn e n Neeley , ‘20  -  “Conceits of Imagined Silence: Reconciling Recognition and Acknowledgment in Fiction”  This award recognizes outstanding work by an undergraduate enrolled in an English course in literary theory or criticism.

Award for Most Original Honors Thesis:  (Co-winners)   Alice Dai, ‘20  - “Long Way Home” Valerie Muensterman, ‘20  - “The Roadkill Club” This award recognizes a senior student for writing the most original honors thesis.

Anne Flexner Award for Fiction Caroline Armstrong   - “Friday” The Anne Flexner Memorial Award for Creative Writing was established by the family and friends of Anne Flexner, who graduated from Duke in 1945.

Reynolds Price Award for Fiction Thalia Halloran -  “Chesire” The Reynolds Price Fiction Award was established in memory of the distinguished novelist, essayist, story-writer, poet and public intellectual, Reynolds Price, who was a graduate of Duke and taught in the English Department for over 50 years.

George P. Lucaci Award for Creative Non-Fiction 1st Place   - Annie Delmedico  - “My Stranger” 2 nd Place -  Thalia Halloran  - “Excuse Me” The Lucaci Award for Creative nonfiction is funded by the Lucaci Endowment. It was established to encourage creative nonfiction writing and to honor George P. Lucaci, a former Duke student, who has been an active supporter of undergraduate creative writing in the English Department for many years.

Academy of American Poets Prize 1 st Place  -  Valerie Muensterman -  “Prophet Syndrome” Honorable Mention -  Carrie Wang – “Along the Curves of Cities” Founded in 1934 in New York City, the Academy of American Poets is the largest membership-based nonprofit organization advocating for American poets and poetry.  Its mission is to support American poets at all stages of their careers and to foster the appreciation of contemporary poetry.

Anne Flexner Award for Poetry Aaron VanSteinberg  - “Arrivals” The Anne Flexner Memorial Award for Poetry was established by the family and friends of Anne Flexner, who graduated from Duke in 1945.

Terry Welby Tyler, Jr Award for Poetry Nadia Kirmani  - “Before It’s Forgotten” This award was established by the family of Terry Welby Tyler, Jr., an English major that loved poetry.  He would have graduated with the class of 1997 had he not passed away in 1996.  This award recognizes and honors outstanding undergraduate poetry.

• Critical Essay Contest

Caroline Waring -   "(In)distinct Sensation and Money that Loves You: Affect, Subjectification, and Machines in Nathanael West’s The Day of the Locust" 

Awards for English Students

Each Spring Semester the English Department awards undergraduate students for work done in one or more courses.  Nominations are made by English faculty.  

• Robin Wang - 2019 Stanley E. Fish Award for Outstanding Work in British Literature:  This award recognizes outstanding work by an undergraduate enrolled in an English course in British Literature.
• Alex Sim - 2019 Barbara Herrnstein Smith Award for Outstanding Work in Literary Theory or Criticism:  This award recognizes outstanding work by an undergraduate enrolled in an English course in literary theory or criticism.
• Cullen Tyndall - 2019 Louis J. Budd Award for Outstanding Work in American Literature:  This award recognizes outstanding work by an undergraduate enrolled in an English course in American Literature.
• Jack Bradford - 2019 Award for Most Original Honors Thesis:  This award recognizes a senior student for writing the most original honors thesis.

2018 Fiction Award Winners (There are two awards in the category of fiction)

Anne Flexner Memorial Award for Fiction  Winner Vivian Lu - Meltwater (Ms. Lu also won this award in 2017) The Anne Flexner Memorial Award for Creative Writing was established by the family and friends of Anne Flexner, who graduated from Duke in 1945.

Reynolds Price Fiction Award  Winner Caroline Waring –  Jumping Frog The Reynolds Price Fiction Award was established in memory of the distinguished novelist, essayist, story-writer, poet and public intellectual, Reynolds Price, who was a graduate of Duke and taught in the English Department for over 50 years.

2018 Creative Nonfiction Winners

George Lucaci Award for Creative Nonfiction  Jackie Xu -  Welcome 2 nd - Liddy Grantland – I’m Here 3 rd (tie) Caroline Fernelius -  Crashbox 3 rd (tie) Emily Brockman –  Auntie Mock The Lucaci Award for Creative nonfiction is funded by the Lucaci Endowment. It was established to encourage creative nonfiction writing and to honor George P. Lucaci, a former Duke student, who has been an active supporter of undergraduate creative writing in the English Department for many years.

2018 Poetry Award Winners (There are three awards in the category of poetry)

Academy of American Poets Prize Caroline Fernelius -   “Collude” Honorable Mention - Zoe Abedon –  “I grow cautious of the cinema” Founded in 1934 in New York City, the Academy of American Poets is the largest membership-based nonprofit organization advocating for American poets and poetry.  Its mission is to support American poets at all stages of their careers and to foster the appreciation of contemporary poetry.

Anne Flexner Memorial Award for creative writing in Poetry Chloe Hooks –  Solitaire The Anne Flexner Memorial Award for Poetry was established by the family and friends of Anne Flexner, who graduated from Duke in 1945.

Terry Welby Tyler, Jr. Award for Poetry Nadia Kirmani  – “If the Sutures Hold” This award was established by the family of Terry Welby Tyler, Jr., an English major that loved poetry.  He would have graduated with the class of 1997 had he not passed away in 1996.  This award recognizes and honors outstanding undergraduate poetry.

Critical Essay Prize Catherine Anne Ward  –  “If the Sutures Hold”

• Valerie Muensterman - 2018 Stanley E. Fish Award for Outstanding Work in British Literature:  This award recognizes outstanding work by an undergraduate enrolled in an English course in British Literature.
• Lauren Kelly Bunce - 2018 Barbara Herrnstein Smith Award for Outstanding Work in Literary Theory or Criticism:  This award recognizes outstanding work by an undergraduate enrolled in an English course in literary theory or criticism.
• Emery Hawkins Jenson - 2018 Louis J. Budd Award for Outstanding Work in American Literature:  This award recognizes outstanding work by an undergraduate enrolled in an English course in American Literature.
• Chloe Hollowell Hooks - 2018 Award for Most Original Honors Thesis:  This award recognizes a senior student for writing the most original honors thesis.

Fiction ( The department offers two awards in the fiction category)

2017 Anne Flexner Memorial Award for Fiction Winner Vivian Lu  The Anne Flexner Memorial Award for Creative Writing was established by the family and friends of Anne Flexner, who graduated from Duke in 1945.

2017 Reynolds Price Fiction Award Winner Grace Li  The Reynolds Price Fiction Award was established in memory of the distinguished novelist, essayist, story-writer, poet and public intellectual, Reynolds Price, who was a graduate of Duke and taught in the English Department for over 50 years.

Creative Non-fiction 2017 Lucaci Award for Creative Nonfiction  (Co-winners) Haley Enos Aaron Baum The Lucaci Award for Creative Nonfiction is funded by the Lucaci Endowment.  It was established to encourage creative nonfiction writing and to honor George P. Lucaci, a former Duke student, who has been an active supporter of undergraduate creative writing in the English Department for many years.  

Poetry (The department offers three prizes to recognize a poem or group of poems )

2017 Anne Flexner Memorial Award for Poetry Winner Andrew Tan-Delli Cicchi  The Anne Flexner Memorial Award for Poetry was established by the family and friends of Anne Flexner, who graduated from Duke in 1945.

2017 Academy of American Poets Prize Winner Chloe Hooks  Emily Otero  ​(Honorable Mention)

2017 Terry Welby Tyler Jr. Award for Poetry Winner Elise Nelson  This award was established by the family of Terry Welby Tyler, Jr., an English Major, that loved poetry.  He would have graduated with the class of 1997 had he not passed away in 1996.  This award recognizes and honors outstanding undergraduate poetry.

Critical Essay Prize Lauren Kelly Bunce  –  “The Malice of Woman:  Pornotropes and Sexual Specificity in Paradise"

• Sean Patrick McCroskey - 2017 Stanley E. Fish Award for Outstanding Work in British Literature:  This award recognizes outstanding work by an undergraduate enrolled in an English course in British Literature.
• Lauren Kelly Bunce - 2017 Barbara Herrnstein Smith Award for Outstanding Work in Literary Theory or Criticism:  This award recognizes outstanding work by an undergraduate enrolled in an English course in literary theory or criticism.
• Molly Olivia Sullivan - 2017 Louis J. Budd Award for Outstanding Work in American Literature:  This award recognizes outstanding work by an undergraduate enrolled in an English course in American Literature.
• Anna Elizabeth Mukamal - 2017 Award for Most Original Honors Thesis:  This award recognizes a senior student for writing the most original honors thesis.

NON-FICTION George Lucaci Award for Creative Nonfiction  (co-winners) Andrew Tan-Delli Cicchi, “A Summer of Eggplant” Rosa Yang, “Telling Time”

POETRY Academy of American Poets Prize   1st: Sarah Darwiche, “little party” 2nd: Natasha Derenzinski-Choo, “The Day Earth Was Born”

Anne Flexner Memorial Award for creative writing in Poetry   1st: Andrew Tan-Delli Cicchi, “ Knife” 2nd: Jazlyn Williams, “the anxiety poems”

Terry Welby Tyler, Jr. Award for Creative Writing (Poetry)    Georgia Parke, “Saltwater, Australia, Did You Forget, Mornings in other countries”

FICTION Reynolds Price Award :   Louis Garza, "Off-Duty"  

Ann Flexner Award  (co-winners): Lily Zerihun, "The Queen of Sheba"   Abigail Lawrence, "Son of the Guides, King of the Forest"   Grace Li, “The Island” 

Critical Essay Prize Christopher J. Lee  –  “ Subversion through Speech: Desdemona and Emilia as Female Agents of Verbal Triumph in Shakespeare’s Othello"

• Matthew T. King - 2016 Stanley E. Fish Award for Outstanding Work in British Literature:  This award recognizes outstanding work by an undergraduate enrolled in an English course in British Literature.
• Shae Van Wagoner - 2016 Barbara Herrnstein Smith Award for Outstanding Work in Literary Theory or Criticism:  This award recognizes outstanding work by an undergraduate enrolled in an English course in literary theory or criticism.
• Micaela Unda - 2016 Louis J. Budd Award for Outstanding Work in American Literature:  This award recognizes outstanding work by an undergraduate enrolled in an English course in American Literature.
• Katherine Coric and John Peter Lucaci - 2016 Award for Most Original Honors Thesis:  This award recognizes a senior student for writing the most original honors thesis.
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Duke's Education Essay Prize

We were delighted to hear this week that Jasneet D, Year 12, has been shortlisted for the Duke's Education Essay Prize. The prize is inspired by the famous past entrance exam for fellows at All Souls College, Oxford — students write an essay in response to a one word title—and encourages academic exploration, creativity, and lateral thinking in students in Yrs 11-12.  Jasneet's is one of only seven shortlisted entries, with her essay entitled ‘Infinity in Physics’. The essay looked at the mind bending notion of infinity from spherical shapes to the Universe.

12 June 2019

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Essay  COMPETITION

2024 global essay prize, the short list for the 2024 global essay prize was released on wednesday, 31 july..

The John Locke Institute encourages young people to cultivate the characteristics that turn good students into great writers: independent thought, depth of knowledge, clear reasoning, critical analysis and persuasive style. Our 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 our competition can build knowledge, and refine skills of argumentation. It also gives students the chance to have their work assessed by experts. All of our essay prizes are judged by a panel of senior academics drawn from leading universities including Oxford and Princeton, under the leadership of the Chairman of Examiners, former Cambridge philosopher, Dr Jamie Whyte.

The judges will choose their favourite essay from each of seven subject categories - Philosophy, Politics, Economics, History, Psychology, Theology and Law - and then select the winner of the Grand Prize for the best entry in any subject. There is also a separate prize awarded for the best essay in the junior category, for under 15s.

Q1. Do we have any good reasons to trust our moral intuition?

Q2. Do girls have a (moral) right to compete in sporting contests that exclude boys?

Q3. Should I be held responsible for what I believe?

Q1. Is there such a thing as too much democracy?

Q2. Is peace in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip possible?

Q3. When is compliance complicity?

Q1. What is the optimal global population?  

Q2. Accurate news reporting is a public good. Does it follow that news agencies should be funded from taxation?

Q3. Do successful business people benefit others when making their money, when spending it, both, or neither?

Q1. Why was sustained economic growth so rare before the later 18th century and why did this change?

Q2. Has music ever significantly changed the course of history?

Q3. Why do civilisations collapse? Is our civilisation in danger?

Q1. When, if ever, should a company be permitted to refuse to do business with a person because of that person’s public statements?

Q2. In the last five years British police have arrested several thousand people for things they posted on social media. Is the UK becoming a police state?

Q3. Your parents say that 11pm is your bedtime. But they don’t punish you if you don’t go to bed by 11pm. Is 11pm really your bedtime?

Q1. According to a study by researchers at four British universities, for each 15-point increase in IQ, the likelihood of getting married increases by around 35% for a man but decreases by around 58% for a woman. Why?

In the original version of this question we misstated a statistic. This was caused by reproducing an error that appeared in several media summaries of the study. We are grateful to one of our contestants, Xinyi Zhang, who helped us to see (with humility and courtesy) why we should take more care to check our sources. We corrected the text on 4 April. Happily, the correction does not in any way alter the thrust of the question.

Q2. There is an unprecedented epidemic of depression and anxiety among young people. Can we fix this? How?

Q3. What is the difference between a psychiatric illness and a character flaw?

Q1. “I am not religious, but I am spiritual.” What could the speaker mean by “spiritual”?

Q2. Is it reasonable to thank God for protection from some natural harm if He is responsible for causing the harm?

Q3. Does God reward those who believe in him? If so, why?

JUNIOR prize

Q1. Does winning a free and fair election automatically confer a mandate for governing?

Q2. Has the anti-racism movement reduced racism?

Q3. Is there life after death?

Q4. How did it happen that governments came to own and run most high schools, while leaving food production to private enterprise? 

Q5. When will advancing technology make most of us unemployable? What should we do about this?

Q6. Should we trust fourteen-year-olds to make decisions about their own bodies? 

ENTRY REQUIREMENTS & FURTHER DETAILS

Please read the following carefully.

Entry to the John Locke Institute Essay Competition 2024 is open to students from any country.

Registration  

Only candidates who registered before the registration deadline of Friday, 31 May 2024 may enter this year's competition.

All entries must be submitted by 11.59 pm BST on  the submission deadline: Sunday, 30 June 2024 .  Candidates must be eighteen years old, or younger, on that date. (Candidates for the Junior Prize must be fourteen years old, or younger, on that date.)

Entry is free.

Each essay must address only one of the questions in your chosen subject category, and must not exceed 2000 words (not counting diagrams, tables of data, endnotes, bibliography or authorship declaration). 

The filename of your pdf must be in this format: FirstName-LastName-Category-QuestionNumber.pdf; so, for instance, Alexander Popham would submit his answer to question 2 in the Psychology category with the following file name:

Alexander-Popham-Psychology-2.pdf

Essays with filenames which are not in this format will be rejected.

The candidate's name should NOT appear within the document itself. 

Candidates should NOT add footnotes. They may, however, add endnotes and/or a Bibliography that is clearly titled as such.

Each candidate will be required to provide the email address of an academic referee who is familiar with the candidate's written academic work. This should be a school teacher, if possible, or another responsible adult who is not a relation of the candidate. The John Locke Institute will email referees to verify that the essays submitted are indeed the original work of the candidates.

Submissions may be made as soon as registration opens in April. We recommend that you submit your essay well in advance of the deadline to avoid any last-minute complications.  To submit your essay, click here .  

Acceptance of your essay depends on your granting us permission to use your data for the purposes of receiving and processing your entry as well as communicating with you about the Awards Ceremony Dinner, the academic conference, and other events and programmes of the John Locke Institute and its associated entities.  

Late entries

If for any reason you miss the 30 June deadline you will have an opportunity to make a late entry, under two conditions:

a) A late entry fee of 20.00 USD must be paid by credit card within twenty-four hours of the original deadline; and

b) Your essay must be submitted  before 11.59 pm BST on Wednesday, 10 July 2024.

To pay for late entry, a registrant need only log into his or her account, select the relevant option and provide the requested payment information.

Our grading system is proprietary. Essayists may be asked to discuss their entry with a member of the John Locke Institute’s faculty. We use various means to identify plagiarism, contract cheating, the use of AI and other forms of fraud . Our determinations in all such matters are final.

Essays will be judged on knowledge and understanding of the relevant material, the competent use of evidence, quality of argumentation, originality, structure, writing style and persuasive force. The very best essays are likely to be those which would be capable of changing somebody's mind. Essays which ignore or fail to address the strongest objections and counter-arguments are unlikely to be successful .

Candidates are advised to answer the question as precisely and directly as possible.

The writers of the best essays will receive a commendation and be shortlisted for a prize. Writers of shortlisted essays will be notified by 11.59 pm BST on Wednesday, 31 July. They will also be invited to London for an invitation-only academic conference and awards dinner in September, where the prize-winners will be announced. Unlike the competition itself, the academic conference and awards dinner are not free. Please be aware that n obody is required to attend either the academic conference or the prize ceremony. You can win a prize without travelling to London.

All short-listed candidates, including prize-winners, will be able to download eCertificates that acknowledge their achievement. If you win First, Second or Third Prize, and you travel to London for the ceremony, you will receive a signed certificate. 

There is a prize for the best essay in each category. The prize for each winner of a subject category, and the winner of the Junior category, is a scholarship worth US$2000 towards the cost of attending any John Locke Institute programme, and the essays will be published on the Institute's website. Prize-giving ceremonies will take place in London, at which winners and runners-up will be able to meet some of the judges and other faculty members of the John Locke Institute. Family, friends, and teachers are also welcome.

The candidate who submits the best essay overall will be awarded an honorary John Locke Institute Junior Fellowship, which comes with a US$10,000 scholarship to attend one or more of our summer schools and/or visiting scholars programmes. 

The judges' decisions are final, and no correspondence will be entered into.

R egistration opens: 1 April, 2024.

Registration deadline: 31 May, 2024. (Registration is required by this date for subsequent submission.)

Submission deadline: 30 June, 2024.

Late entry deadline: 10 July, 2024. (Late entries are subject to a 20.00 USD charge, payable by 1 July.)

Notification of short-listed essayists: 31 July, 2024.

Academic conference: 20 - 22 September, 2024.

Awards dinner: 21 September, 2024.

Any queries regarding the essay competition should be sent to [email protected] . Please be aware that, due to the large volume of correspondence we receive, we cannot guarantee to answer every query. In particular, regrettably, we are unable to respond to questions whose answers can be found on our website.

If you would like to receive helpful tips  from our examiners about what makes for a winning essay or reminders of upcoming key dates for the 2024  essay competition, please provide your email here to be added to our contact list. .

Thanks for subscribing!

The John Locke Institute's Global Essay Prize is acknowledged as the world's most prestigious essay competition. 

We welcome tens of thousands of submissions from ambitious students in more than 150 countries, and our examiners - including distinguished philosophers, political scientists, economists, historians, psychologists, theologians, and legal scholars - read and carefully assess every entry. 

I encourage you to register for this competition, not only for the hope of winning a prize or commendation, and not only for the chance to join the very best contestants at our academic conference and gala ceremony in London, but equally for the opportunity to engage in the serious scholarly enterprise of researching, reflecting on, writing about, and editing an answer to one of the important and provocative questions in this year's Global Essay Prize. 

We believe that the skills you will acquire in the process will make you a better thinker and a more effective advocate for the ideas that matter most to you.

I hope to see you in September!

Best wishes,

Jamie Whyte, Ph.D. (C ANTAB ) 

Chairman of Examiners

Q. I missed the registration deadline. May I still register or submit an essay?

A. No. Only candidates who registered before 31 May will be able to submit an essay. 

Q. Are footnote s, endnotes, a bibliography or references counted towards the word limit?

A. No. Only the body of the essay is counted. 

Q. Are in-text citations counted towards the word limit? ​

A. If you are using an in-text based referencing format, such as APA, your in-text citations are included in the word limit.

Q. Is it necessary to include foo tnotes or endnotes in an essay? ​

A. You  may not  include footnotes, but you may include in-text citations or endnotes. You should give your sources of any factual claims you make, and you should ackn owledge any other authors on whom you rely.​

Q. I am interested in a question that seems ambiguous. How should I interpret it?

A. You may interpret a question as you deem appropriate, clarifying your interpretation if necessary. Having done so, you must answer the question as directly as possible.

Q. How strict are  the age eligibility criteria?

A. Only students whose nineteenth birthday falls after 30 June 2024 will be eligible for a prize or a commendation. In the case of the Junior category, only students whose fifteenth birthday falls after 30 June 2024 will be eligible for a prize or a commendation. 

Q. May I submit more than one essay?

A. Yes, you may submit as many essays as you please in any or all categories.

Q. If I am eligible to compete in the Junior category, may I also (or instead) compete in another category?

A. Yes, you may.

Q. May I team up with someone else to write an essay?  

A. No. Each submitted essay must be entirely the work of a single individual.

Q. May I use AI, such as ChatGPT or the like, in writing my essay?

A. All essays will be checked for the use of AI. If we find that any content is generated by AI, your essay will be disqualified. We will also ask you, upon submission of your essay, whether you used AI for  any  purpose related to the writing of your essay, and if so, you will be required to provide details. In that case, if, in our judgement, you have not provided full and accurate details of your use of AI, your essay will be disqualified. 

Since any use of AI (that does not result in disqualification) can only negatively affect our assessment of your work relative to that of work that is done without using AI, your safest course of action is simply not to use it at all. If, however, you choose to use it for any purpose, we reserve the right to make relevant judgements on a case-by-case basis and we will not enter into any correspondence. 

Q. May I have someone else edit, or otherwise help me with, my essay?

A. You may of course discuss your essay with others, and it is perfectly acceptable for them to offer general advice and point out errors or weaknesses in your writing or content, leaving you to address them.

However, no part of your essay may be written by anyone else. This means that you must edit your own work and that while a proofreader may point out errors, you as the essayist must be the one to correct them. 

Q. Do I have to attend the awards ceremony to win a prize? ​

A. Nobody is required to attend the prize ceremony. You can win a prize without travelling to London. But if we invite you to London it is because your essay was good enough - in the opinion of the First Round judges - to be at least a contender for First, Second or Third Prize. Normally the Second Round judges will agree that the short-listed essays are worth at least a commendation.

Q. Is there an entry fee?

A. No. There is no charge to enter our global essay competition unless you submit your essay after the normal deadline, in which case there is a fee of 20.00 USD .

Q. Can I receive a certificate for my participation in your essay competition if I wasn't shortlisted? 

A. No. Certificates are awarded only for shortlisted essays. Short-listed contestants who attend the award ceremony in London will receive a paper certificate. If you cannot travel to London, you will be able to download your eCertificate.

Q. Can I receive feedba ck on my essay? 

A. We would love to be able to give individual feedback on essays but, unfortunately, we receive too many entries to be able to comment on particular essays.

Q. The deadline for publishing the names of short-listed essayists has passed but I did not receive an email to tell me whether I was short-listed.

A. Log into your account and check "Shortlist Status" for (each of) your essay(s).

Q. Why isn't the awards ceremony in Oxford this year?

A. Last year, many shortlisted finalists who applied to join our invitation-only academic conference missed the opportunity because of capacity constraints at Oxford's largest venues. This year, the conference will be held in central London and the gala awards dinner will take place in an iconic London ballroom. 

TECHNICAL FAQ s

Q. The system will not accept my essay. I have checked the filename and it has the correct format. What should I do?  

A. You have almost certainly added a space before or after one of your names in your profile. Edit it accordingly and try to submit again.

Q. The profile page shows my birth date to be wrong by a day, even after I edit it. What should I do?

A. Ignore it. The date that you typed has been correctly input to our database. ​ ​

Q. How can I be sure that my registration for the essay competition was successful? Will I receive a confirmation email?

A. You will not receive a confirmation email. Rather, you can at any time log in to the account that you created and see that your registration details are present and correct.

TROUBLESHOOTING YOUR SUBMISSION

If you are unable to submit your essay to the John Locke Institute’s global essay competition, your problem is almost certainly one of the following.

If so, please proceed as indicated.

1) PROBLEM: I receive the ‘registrations are now closed’ message when I enter my email and verification code. SOLUTION. You did not register for the essay competition and create your account. If you think you did, you probably only provided us with your email to receive updates from us about the competition or otherwise. You may not enter the competition this year.

2) PROBLEM I do not receive a login code after I enter my email to enter my account. SOLUTION. Enter your email address again, checking that you do so correctly. If this fails, restart your browser using an incognito window; clear your cache, and try again. Wait for a few minutes for the code. If this still fails, restart your machine and try one more time. If this still fails, send an email to [email protected] with “No verification code – [your name]” in the subject line.

SUBMITTING AN ESSAY

3) PROBLEM: The filename of my essay is in the correct format but it is rejected. SOLUTION: Use “Edit Profile” to check that you did not add a space before or after either of your names. If you did, delete it. Whether you did or did not, try again to submit your essay. If submission fails again, email [email protected] with “Filename format – [your name]” in the subject line.

4) PROBLEM: When trying to view my submitted essay, a .txt file is downloaded – not the .pdf file that I submitted. SOLUTION: Delete the essay. Logout of your account; log back in, and resubmit. If resubmission fails, email [email protected] with “File extension problem – [your name]” in the subject line.

5) PROBLEM: When I try to submit, the submission form just reloads without giving me an error message. SOLUTION. Log out of your account. Open a new browser; clear the cache; log back in, and resubmit. If resubmission fails, email [email protected] with “Submission form problem – [your name]” in the subject line.

6) PROBLEM: I receive an “Unexpected Error” when trying to submit. SOLUTION. Logout of your account; log back in, and resubmit. If this resubmission fails, email [email protected] with “Unexpected error – [your name]” in thesubject line. Your email must tell us e xactly where in the submission process you received this error.

7) PROBLEM: I have a problem with submitting and it is not addressed above on this list. SOLUTION: Restart your machine. Clear your browser’s cache. Try to submit again. If this fails, email [email protected] with “Unlisted problem – [your name]” in the subject line. Your email must tell us exactly the nature of your problem with relevant screen caps.

READ THIS BEFORE YOU EMAIL US.

Do not email us before you have tried the specified solutions to your problem.

Do not email us more than once about a single problem. We will respond to your email within 72 hours. Only if you have not heard from us in that time may you contact us again to ask for an update.

If you email us regarding a problem, you must include relevant screen-shots and information on both your operating system and your browser. You must also declare that you have tried the solutions presented above and had a good connection to the internet when you did so.

If you have tried the relevant solution to your problem outlined above, have emailed us, and are still unable to submit before the 30 June deadline on account of any fault of the John Locke Institute or our systems, please do not worry: we will have a way to accept your essay in that case. However, if there is no fault on our side, we will not accept your essay if it is not submitted on time – whatever your reason: we will not make exceptions for IT issues for which we are not responsible.

We reserve the right to disqualify the entries of essayists who do not follow all provided instructions, including those concerning technical matters.

Secondary Menu

For Documentarians

Over the last quarter century, the Center for Documentary Studies has given awards to more than 350 emerging and established documentarians to recognize excellence and extend monetary support.

Featured Awards

• CDS Filmmaker Award for artists in competition at the Full Frame Documentary Film Festival
• Dorothea Lange–Paul Taylor Prize for projects that rely on the interplay of words and images
• Curators’ Award for Insight and Innovation for curators who contribute to the development and appreciation of the documentary arts across media

Additional Awards

From 2013 to 2020, the CDS Documentary Essay Prize honored the best in short-form documentary photography and writing in alternating years: one year, photos; one year, writing. The focus was on current or recently completed work (within the last two years) from a long-term project — 15 images; 15 to 20 pages of writing. The winner of the competition received $3,000 and was featured in CDS’s digital publications and placed in the Archive of Documentary Arts at the Rubenstein Library, Duke University.

• 2020: Amanda Russhell Wallace
• 2019: Beaudelaine Pierre
• 2018: Nastassia Kantorowicz Torres
• 2017: Carrie Laben
• 2016: Jessica Eve Rattner
• 2015: Abbie Gascho Landis
• 2014: Iveta Vaivode
• 2013: Rachel Andrews

The Tifft Initiative at CDS explores the meaningful ways in which documentary approaches and methods can inform, and be informed by, journalism’s evolution in the digital era. Part of CDS’s DocX Lab, it brings together documentary artists, journalists, media professionals, independent publishers and others working in text, photography, radio and film. The DeWitt Wallace Center for Media & Democracy at Duke’s Sanford School of Public Policy is a partner on the project.

The project was initiated by a lead gift from CDS board member Diane Britz Lotti, and is named after a friend whose devotion to the power and importance of journalism guided her life’s work. Susan Tifft was a member of the CDS board for five years until her passing in 2010, and was the Eugene C. Patterson Professor of the Practice of Journalism at the Sanford School from 1998 to 2009. A graduate of Duke, Tifft worked as a press secretary, a political speechwriter, and a prizewinning reporter and editor at Time magazine; she was coauthor of two biographies of newspaper dynasty families, the Binghams (Louisville Courier-Journal) and the Ochs-Sulzbergers (New York Times).

The Susan Tifft Fellows, the inaugural program of the initiative, are selected from an international pool of women media artists, journalists, and documentarians for a one-week creative residency at CDS.

• 2019: Daphne McWilliams
• 2018: Ruxandra Guidi
• 2017: Nina Berman

CDS and the Honickman Foundation, based in Philadelphia, concluded their mutually enriching and successful collaboration on the CDS/Honickman First Book Prize in Photography in 2017. The biennial prize, first conceived in 2000 by Lynne Honickman and CDS’s founding director, Iris Tillman Hill, was awarded to a total of eight photographers.

The only prize of its kind, the CDS/Honickman First Book Prize in Photography competition was open to North American photographers of any age who had yet to publish a book-length work of their photographs. The eight winners received a grant of $3,000, publication of a book of photography, and inclusion in a website devoted to presenting the work of the prizewinners. The winner was also given a solo exhibition at the photography gallery at Duke University’s Rubenstein Library; the photographs are now housed in the library’s Archive of Documentary Arts.

The Honickman Foundation’s belief that the arts are powerful tools for enlightenment, equity, and empowerment, in concert with CDS’ commitment to the presentation of experiences that heighten our historical and cultural awareness, made the collaboration on this important prize celebrating contemporary photography and the lasting power of the book a singular and significant one.

The CDS/Honickman First Book Prize in Photography had a profound impact on its winners, the photographic community, and the culture at large, and it was a great pleasure and honor for both institutions to be involved in creating and administering this prestigious award. We are proud of all of the winners of the prize and their books, published by Duke University Press.

• 2016: Lauren Pond, "Test of Faith"
• 2014: Nadia Sablin, "Aunties"
• 2012: Gerard H. Gaskin, "Legendary"
• 2010: Benjamin Lowy, "Iraq | Perspectives"
• 2008: Jennette Williams, "The Bathers"
• 2006: Danny Wilcox Frazier, "Driftless"
• 2004: Steven B. Smith, "The Weather and a Place to Live"
• 2002: Larry Schwarm, "On Fire"

For Undergraduates

CDS encourages student involvement beyond the classroom and offers resources and learning opportunities that include awards, fellowships and related experiences.

• Julia Harper Day Award for Documentary Studies for graduating Duke seniors who have demonstrated excellence in documentary studies
• Jo hn Hope Franklin Student Documentary Awards for undergraduates at Duke, NC Central, NC State or UNC–Chapel Hill
• Full Frame Fellowships are available to undergraduates at Duke and other schools to participate in the Full Frame Documentary Film Festival , a program of CDS. See the 2024 Duke Full Frame Fellows .
• Instructors
• E-Newsletter
• Undergraduate Education
• Certificate in Documentary Studies
• Graduate Education
• Continuing Education
• Full Frame Documentary Film Festival
• Literacy Through Photography
• Lehman Brady Professorship
• Opportunities
• Filmmaker Award
• Dorothea Lange–Paul Taylor Prize
• Curators’ Award for Insight and Innovation
• Julia Harper Day Award for Documentary Studies
• John Hope Franklin Student Documentary Awards

What are your chances of acceptance?

Calculate for all schools, your chance of acceptance.

Your chancing factors

Extracurriculars.

How to Write the Duke University Essays 2024-2025

Duke is consistently ranked within the top 10 colleges in the country, making it an incredibly selective school. With tens of thousands of applicants vying for a spot to be a Blue Devil, each and every aspect of your application will have to be unique and impressive—especially your essays.

For this application cycle, Duke is requiring all prospective students to answer one standard prompt and offering up to two additional submissions from a choice of five prompts for a possible total of three essays. Each of the options for the second prompt names a specific theme it is targeting, making it easier to select between them if you choose to. In this post, we will go over all of Duke’s prompts and break down how to write the essays so that you can maximize your chances of admission.

Read these Duke essay examples to inspire your writing.

Duke University Supplemental Essay Prompts

All applicants.

Prompt 1 (required): What is your sense of Duke as a university and a community, and why do you consider it a good match for you? If there’s something in particular about our offerings that attracts you, feel free to share that as well. (250 words)

Prompt 2 (optional): We want to emphasize that the following questions are optional. Feel free to answer one or two if you believe that doing so will add something meaningful that is not already shared elsewhere in your application. Five optional questions are available – a maximum of 2 can be selected . (250 words for all)

• Option 1: Perspective response: We believe a wide range of viewpoints, beliefs, and lived experiences are essential to making Duke a vibrant and meaningful living and learning community. Feel free to share with us anything in this context that might help us better understand you and what you might bring to our community.
• Option 2: Intellectual experience: Tell us about an experience in the past year or two that reflects your imagination, creativity, or intellect.
• Option 3: Beliefs & values: We believe there is benefit in sharing and sometimes questioning our beliefs or values; who do you agree with on the big important things, or who do you have your most interesting disagreements with? What are you agreeing or disagreeing about?
• Option 4: Orientation, identity, expression: Duke’s commitment to inclusion and belonging includes sexual orientation, gender identity, and gender expression. Feel free to share with us more about how your identity in this context has meaning for you as an individual or as a member of a community.
• Option 5: Being different: We recognize that not fully “fitting in” a community or place can sometimes be difficult. Duke values the effort, resilience, and independence that may require. Feel free to share with us circumstances where something about you is different and how that’s influenced your experiences or identity.

Duke Kunshan Applicants

Why do you think duke kunshan university is a good match for you and what special qualities do you feel you could bring to duke kunshan university (200 words), gap year prompt, please describe your gap year plans as you currently are considering them. you are not making a commitment to these plans. (250 words), all applicants—prompt 1, what is your sense of duke as a university and a community, and why do you consider it a good match for you if there’s something in particular about our offerings that attracts you, feel free to share that as well. (250 words)..

Every student applying to Duke will be submitting this “ Why This College? ” essay, so you really need to make yours stand out. Before we talk about what you should do, let’s cover common mistakes to avoid so your essay isn’t generic.

Don’t talk about factors outside of the school’s control like the location, weather, or surrounding city. You might be attracted to Duke because you want to go to a school in the South, but there are hundreds of other schools nearby. This doesn’t tell us anything about Duke in particular.

Don’t make emotional appeals like “ It feels like home ” or “ The campus is so beautiful ”. Contrary to popular belief, statements like these don’t flatter admissions officers because they read them so frequently. Saying something like this is too vague and your limited space would be better served describing resources that make you feel connected to the school.

Don’t regurgitate fun facts and statistics from a campus tour, brochure, or website. Duke doesn’t need to be told how many Nobel prize winners or cabinet secretaries attended, nor do they need to be told about the infamous Duke vs UNC game. Admissions officers especially don’t care about the student-to-faculty ratio or class sizes. Listing these as reasons for attending signals to the admissions committee you didn’t research specific offerings at the school and you might not be as dedicated.

Don’t talk badly about the school. This one should be pretty self-explanatory, but when they ask about your sense of Duke, don’t call it stuffy and pretentious! You are trying to prove your love and devotion to the school, so if you have a negative impression, maybe reconsider why you are applying.

Don’t list out a dozen reasons why you want to go to Duke. We recommend including specific offerings and resources at Duke that excite you, but it’s all about quality over quantity. Spend time explaining why each reason resonates with you or what you hope to get out of the resource or experience. If that means you only have space to include three or four, then that’s okay!

Now that you know what not to do, we’ll share some tips on what you should do in your essay to make it stand out.

Make it personal . Like any other college essay, you need to share information about yourself and your interests to demonstrate to the admissions committee why you belong at Duke. Include anecdotes or details about your experiences to highlight your personal connection to the offerings at Duke.

Include specific resources and opportunities you want to take advantage of. The prompt makes it seem like it is more optional to include offerings that speak to you, but we strongly urge you to include them! Not only does including specific offerings demonstrate the research you’ve done, it also allows you to talk more about your interests and goals through the resources you are attracted to.

Balance academic and extracurricular reasons for wanting to attend. In order to show the admissions committee you are well-rounded, you’ll need to discuss both academic and extracurricular offerings that excite you. Your extracurriculars could be related to the academic topic you’re studying, but make sure to include clubs or communities you want to join so Duke knows you will be active both in class and out.

Draw parallels between yourself and Duke to emphasize why it’s a good fit for you. This might be a little harder to conceptualize and implement in your essay, but you could go about this by finding a club on campus that aligns with one of your extracurriculars, a professor who conducts research on a topic you want to learn more about, or values the school exemplifies that you prioritize.

Have a strong narrative that still reads like a story. Just because this essay might not be as creative or story-based as other college essays doesn’t mean it can’t have a narrative style. Make sure you have an exciting hook at the beginning and a conclusion that ties everything together.

Have some fun! Your essay should still have a voice that is uniquely yours, so if that means you like to use humor, go for it. Also, you can mention fun aspects of the college experience at Duke—basketball is a huge part of the Duke experience. Just be sure that you frame it as an additional bonus of attending Duke and not the primary reason for choosing the school.

Putting all of that together, take a look at what a sample student might write:

“You’d be surprised by the power 1080px by 1920px can wield. Within those 3×6 inches, violence has been incited, hate crimes have been encouraged, and a democracy was nearly toppled. Behold, the 21st century’s mega-weapon: Instagram stories.

Media and politics are intrinsically linked, especially in the USA. My generation is faced with the burden of freeing democracy from the tight grip of the Instagram story, Twitter thread, and Facebook group. Luckily, with Duke’s commitment to forging positive change, I won’t have to go at it alone. At the Sanford School of Public Policy, I’ll join a community of people dedicated to saving our democracy. 

Through the Dewitt Wallace Center for Media and Democracy, I’ll delve into the complicated relationship between media and politics to better equip myself to one day shape federal policy surrounding media practices. Courses like Can Journalism Save Democracy? and Intro to Digital Culture: Media Theory, Politics, and Aesthetics signal that I’ll find a community of students and faculty equally passionate about this field. By my junior year, I’ll take the knowledge I’ve gathered in class and apply it on the Hill with Duke in DC.

Duke is a place where I’ll learn how to fight most effectively for media that promotes healthy political discourse. In between my Instagram stories of the blue devils crushing UNC and the picturesque Chapel, expect many posts on the latest article from the Sanford Journal of Public Policy, announcements for upcoming guest speakers, and information on how to protect American democracy.”

All Applicants—Prompt 2 (Optional)

We want to emphasize that the following questions are optional. feel free to answer them if you believe that doing so will add something meaningful that is not already shared elsewhere in your application. five optional questions are available – a maximum of 2 can be selected..

Before getting started with the optional prompts, be sure to carefully read the instructions. You can respond to none of these, one prompt, or a maximum of two prompts.

While it may be tempting to only complete the one required essay, we always recommend completing all the prompts available to you, as it only gives you another chance to make a lasting impression on your application. It also shows admissions counselors that you are truly invested in Duke, and may even be the deciding factor of your application.

Since these prompts are optional though, you want to take special care to not repeat anything in your application, especially since Duke said so themselves. For example, if you already talked about Model UN in your Common App essay, there’s no need to write another essay about it. If only one of the optional prompts speaks to you, that’s fine as well. 

All Applicants—Prompt 2, Option 1

Perspective response: we believe a wide range of personal perspectives, beliefs, and lived experiences are essential to making duke a vibrant and meaningful living and learning community. feel free to share with us anything in this context that might help us better understand you and what you might bring to our community. (250 words).

This is one instance of the very common diversity prompt . When colleges have a diversity prompt, they want to know about your own personal background and how it has influenced your worldview and perspectives.

A quick note if you intend to write about your racial background: In June 2023, the United States Supreme Court  struck down the use of affirmative action in college admissions. The ruling, however, still allows colleges to consider race on an individual basis, which is one reason many schools are now including diversity prompts as one of their supplemental essay prompts. If you feel that your racial background has impacted you significantly, this is the place to discuss that.

In general, such a common prompt can be approached with a traditional answer. You might consider answering this prompt with what you think is the most important part of your identity, then a small discussion about how that aspect of diversity is relevant to you and your general life experiences.

Such a response might be written about one of the following scenarios:

• Using your fluency in another language to help members of a specific community.
• Interpreting a text in class differently from your classmates because of your ethnic culture.
• Having a friend of a different background who has changed your perspective on something important.
• Having an illness or disability that helps you view accessibility through a different lens than your peers.
• Being part of a niche interest group/fandom and trying to represent the group faithfully when talking to people who aren’t members of it.

Simply listing things that generate diversity should be avoided. Sure, diversity includes different ethnicities/races, gender identities, sexual orientations, countries of origin, and languages, but writing that laundry list out doesn’t contribute much to your application.

Also, bear in mind that the traditional markers of diversity aren’t the only ones you can discuss. There are other aspects of identity that contribute to a diverse campus, including socioeconomic classes, hometowns, illnesses/disabilities, and even interests or hobbies.

This being said, let’s look at a potential example response:

“Growing up as the daughter of Mexican immigrants, I often found myself translating for my parents at parent-teacher conferences, doctor’s appointments, and even grocery stores. These early experiences made me acutely aware of the barriers faced by non-English speaking communities. This awareness fueled my passion for educational equity, leading me to start a tutoring program for ESL students at my high school. Every Saturday, I helped students navigate their schoolwork while also bridging cultural gaps through shared stories and experiences.

At Duke, I hope to continue advocating for underrepresented communities by joining the Center for Multicultural Affairs and collaborating with organizations like Duke LIFE (Low-Income, First-Generation Engagement). I am excited to contribute my unique perspective and learn from a community that values diverse experiences as much as I do. By sharing my background and listening to others, I aim to foster a more inclusive environment where everyone feels heard and valued.”

Diversity encompasses all the aforementioned attributes, but you should strive for individuality and specificity in your response. This prompt, like all the others, is an opportunity to showcase your unique life perspective. You don’t want to waste this opportunity by writing down some bland dictionary definitions. Think of what diversity means to you and what you consider to be a particularly significant aspect of diversity. From there, think of personal anecdotes or stories about how that aspect of diversity has contributed to your growth or development as a person.

All Applicants—Prompt 2, Option 2

Intellectual experience: tell us about an intellectual experience in the past two years that you found absolutely fascinating. (250 words).

For this prompt, Duke is looking to hear about your intellectual interests and your approach to learning. You could choose anything; for example, a particular class you took that sparked your interest in a topic, an individual research project you conducted, a book you read that made a strong impression, or an experiment you performed in a science class.

The key for this essay is to really highlight your passion for learning, and the way to accomplish that is to tell the reader everything about the experience so they feel like they are living it besides you. The phrase “ show, don’t tell ” is thrown around a lot when it comes to college essays—this essay will be no exception.

But what does it mean to successfully show your intellectual experience? Let’s dissect an example.

“Debates were my favorite part of my AP US History class. At the end of every unit, each person in the class would be assigned a historical figure and we would debate a prevalent issue for the period. The best one, hands down, was the debate about the ratification of the Constitution. Representing James Madison, I advocated for a separation of powers. I also pushed for the inclusion of unalienable rights. The fast-paced environment of kids in my class engaging in productive debate was so exciting to see.”

While the excerpt above does technically check the box of describing an intellectual experience this student enjoyed, this is far from what you should submit if you want to be a competitive applicant. How can we make this better? Starting with the hook, never restate the prompt. The first line of your essay shouldn’t be used to tell us what the experience was, rather it should set the scene so the reader is prepared to immerse themselves in the experience, for example:

“Accusations flew across the circle of desks haphazardly gathered in the center of the room; she was an elitist forgetting about the yeomen while he was as backwards as King George.”

This hook immediately brings action and excitement, causing the reader to ask questions which makes them more interested to keep reading. Not only that, by including details relevant to the academic topic (yeomen farmers and King George) it further demonstrates the student’s knowledge and interest of this subject. 

The next two sentences can be improved by making them more concise to cut down on the amount of background needed. You want to keep the essay focused in the moment as much as possible, so rather than zooming out to provide the reader with context, stay in the present:

“With the strike of my US History teacher’s gavel, our debate on the ratification of the Constitution had begun.”

The student then goes on to talk about their contribution to the debate, which is important to include, but we can make it stronger. Again, the key is to stay in the story and tell it in present tense with an active voice. Focus on how you viewed and approached the situation rather than what actions you took. Not only will this make the writing more engaging, it will also make it naturally easier to express your fascination with the experience—which is the whole purpose of this essay at the end of the day.

“Donning the tricorn hat of James Madison, I turned to Federalist friends on my right—including Hamilton and Adams—and sized up my foes: the Democratic-Republicans. Coming out of the gate strong, Jefferson insisted a document that enumerates rights, limits rights. How wrong he was! Before another member of my group could speak, I was on my feet conjuring a picture of the society we just escaped that lacked documentation of unalienable rights. Quoting Locke and Voltaire from memory, I watched as my opponents scrambled for a rebuttal.”

Notice the difference between the imagery and flow of these sentences compared to the original example? Each line moves the story along, while continuing to provide details for imagery and to highlight the student’s passion for the topic. There’s no need for them to tell the reader they found the experience enjoyable or exciting, because details like the student embodying the historical figure (ie “Federalist friends…and foes”), their inner monologue (“How wrong he was!”), their excitement (“I was on my feet”), and their dedication (“Quoting Locke and Voltaire from memory”) show the reader why they loved this intellectual experience.

As you go about writing, follow these tips to beef up your writing and take it from basic and boring to engaging and informative.

All Applicants—Prompt 2, Option 3

Beliefs & values: we believe there is benefit in sharing and sometimes questioning our beliefs or values; who do you agree with on the big important things, or who do you have your most interesting disagreements with what are you agreeing or disagreeing about (250 words).

This prompt is all about internal beliefs and values. Whether you choose to write about an agreement or disagreement, at the heart of your essay, you need to share one of your important values with the admissions committee. Naturally then, an integral piece in choosing this essay is having a core belief or value that is central to your personality. If nothing jumps out at you, then maybe this isn’t the prompt for you.

If religion is important to you, this prompt would be a good opportunity to delve into your religious beliefs. Similarly, you could choose to go into philosophical or ethical debates that you have with people. As you pick a belief or value, keep your audience in mind. You never know who will read your essay, and the last thing you want to do is offend them. It’s generally a good idea to stay away from any beliefs that might be highly controversial or politicized.

Not only do you need a belief or value, you also need to pick a discussion partner that either shares your ideals or challenges them. Luckily for you, because the prompt already asks for you to pick a person, it opens the door for the natural inclusion of dialogue—a great way to spice up your essay and show,  not tell !

This essay also provides you with a chance to delve deeper into your personality. You can demonstrate character traits you possess in the way you describe your conversation. If you are a detail-oriented person, include the statistics you use to convince someone of your belief. Perhaps you are extremely energetic—in that case, describe how you jump with excitement and your voice gets higher when you agree with someone on an obscure belief.

Maybe you and your best friend get into arguments about whether life exists on other planets when you are going on night-time drives around town. Take the reader into your car—what music is playing in the background, are you cruising down the highway or leisurely rolling through residential neighborhoods? Do you and your friend raise your voices as the argument goes on? Showing what it is like to be there with you during these conversations will make your essay infinitely more engaging to read. Take a look at the example below:

“ Every week, my high school art class transforms into a battleground of ideas between my teacher and me. Mrs. Thompson, a staunch advocate of classical art, believes in the timeless value of techniques perfected by the Renaissance masters. I, on the other hand, am captivated by the boldness and innovation of modern art. Our most heated debate was over the value of Jackson Pollock’s work. While Mrs. Thompson saw it as chaotic and lacking technique, I argued that Pollock’s method captured the raw energy and emotion of the human experience. These discussions have pushed me to explore a wide range of artistic styles and techniques, blending the structured precision of classical art with the free-spirited experimentation of modern art. This fusion has become a signature of my own artwork, challenging viewers to find harmony in apparent chaos. Engaging with Mrs. Thompson has not only expanded my artistic repertoire but also taught me the importance of balancing respect for tradition with a passion for innovation.”

A common misconception is that admissions officers want to see astute, academic conversations, but that couldn’t be further from the truth. You could write about how you and your sibling get into disagreements about the most powerful superhero or you and your grandma agree your uncle’s cooking is better than your dad’s. Don’t be scared by the prompt asking about the “big important things,” because as long as you provide reasoning as to why your discussion is important to you and your discussion partner, it can make for a good essay.

All Applicants—Prompt 2, Option 4

Orientation, identity, expression: duke’s commitment to inclusion and belonging includes sexual orientation, gender identity, and gender expression. feel free to share with us more about how your identity in this context has meaning for you as an individual or as a member of a community. (250 words).

If you want to write about an aspect of your identity or a way you are different and it relates to your gender, sexuality, or sexual orientation, you should choose this option over Options 1 and 5.

In the same vein as the other two options dealing with an aspect of your personality that you want to share with the admissions committee, you want to make sure that you go deeper than simply explaining your gender or sexual identity. The essay needs to go into the personal significance and the way it has shaped you as a person who will join the Duke community.

A good story always needs some conflict, whether it be internal or external, so you might want to start brainstorming by thinking about a moment of conflict that arose related to your gender or sexual identity. Maybe you choose the moment you came out to your family, or you could write about the internal battle to try and fit into societal gender expectations, or possibly you experienced discrimination or harassment as a result of your sexual orientation which emotionally affected you. There are many different ways to approach this prompt, so pick whatever stands out to you as the most consequential for you personally.

For an essay like this, it’s important to share a lot of detail with the admissions committee to ensure your unique perspective and life experiences are fully communicated, but when discussing highly personal and possibly uncomfortable topics, this might be a little difficult. There’s a delicate balance between including enough information to write a strong essay and protecting personal details. To try and address this, focus on actions you took and the emotions that motivated them, without getting too deep into the intricacies of your thoughts.

However, at the end of the day, your college essay has to reveal to the admissions officers what makes you special. If you feel that this aspect of your identity is critical to understanding you, this is the prompt for you. But if you are hesitant to share information on a delicate subject, there is no problem in choosing a different prompt option that would allow you to write more freely.

All Applicants—Prompt 2, Option 5

Being different: we recognize that not fully “fitting in” a community or place can sometimes be difficult. duke values the effort, resilience, and independence that may require. feel free to share with us circumstances where something about you is different and how that’s influenced your experiences or identity. (250 words).

Similar to the first option for Prompt 2, this option is purposefully open-ended to give students the freedom to identify any difference and discuss it. Again, in light of the Supreme Court striking down the use of affirmative action in college admissions, students of color might want to use this prompt to discuss their racial background in their application.

However, since this prompt is very similar to the first, we’d recommend choosing one or the other. There’s no right one to pick—go with whichever you want—but don’t spend both essays (if you choose to submit the maximum of two optional essays for Prompt 2) discussing an aspect of your identity that makes you different or unique. We’d recommend pairing either Option 1 or 4 with either Option 2 or 3.

While this prompt provides students with the opportunity to discuss racial differences they aren’t able to disclose elsewhere, it isn’t limited to discussions of race. Differences can be measured in a variety of dimensions, including:

• Race or ethnicity
• Socioeconomic status
• Family structure
• Gender or sexuality (look at Option 4 if you want to write about this)
• Physical abilities

Regardless of what you choose, your essay must express how you are different, the emotional, mental, and physical effect that has had on you, and the way your difference will make you a valuable member of the Duke community.

An essay where a student describes her family’s low income and the lack of luxuries she’s able to afford as a result doesn’t tell us much about the student. The essay would have more depth if it discussed the embarrassment and isolation she felt when she couldn’t afford the latest trends and wasn’t welcomed by her peers. But the essay shouldn’t stop there. Now that we know about her mental response to her difference, we want to hear about how she views her difference as a source of strength and personal value. So, maybe her classmates’ focus on fashion inspired her to start a thrifting collective at her school where students can donate old clothes and find new ones without spending a lot of money. This experience taught her the value in creating community and compassion.

This prompt is required for students who are applying to Duke Kunshan University through the Duke University application. Duke Kunshan is a partnership between Duke and Wuhan University in China that allows students to receive an education that marries two exceptional universities.

You are asked to submit a pretty straightforward “ Why This College? ” essay for Duke Kunshan, and we would refer you to Prompt 1 in this post to learn more about the tips and common pitfalls to avoid when writing this type of essay.

A key factor to keep in mind when submitting this essay is although Duke will be reading it, it will also be sent to Duke Kunshan who will review it. For that reason, you want to make sure the college you are discussing is specifically Duke Kunshan and not regular Duke. Along those lines, you need to speak highly of Kunshan as its own entity—don’t say you want to attend because you think it will be an easier way to achieve a Duke degree.

While we normally advise against listing a school’s location as a reason for wanting to attend, in the case of an international university, it is okay to discuss your interest in Duke Kunshan because it’s in another country. However, frame it within the context of an interest in experiencing new cultures or an appreciation for Chinese history, culture, or society. Make sure your motivation for attending an international institution is clear in your essay.

The second part of the prompt asks you to consider what you can bring to the school. Just as you would for any other “Why This College?” essay, highlight ways your interests and experiences align with resources and offerings at the university. Your contribution to the campus community can also lie outside of academics. Perhaps you will bring your favorite comfort food recipe with you to support your fellow homesick American students or maybe you will share your adventurous spirit with your more reserved classmates to encourage them to explore a new environment with you.

If you indicate on the Common App that you are considering taking a gap year before enrolling at Duke, you will be required to answer this question. It’s important to note that this isn’t an official declaration of your plans; Duke is using this question to gauge what type of individual you are and how you will use your time productively.

But at the same time, don’t make up fanciful gap year plans like traveling to all seven continents if realistically you know you will spend the majority of your time working at home. You aren’t being judged on how exciting your gap year plans may sound, so be genuine about the plans you are considering.

There are many reasons you might be considering a gap year—from wanting to gain more real-world experience, to financial reasons, to unique opportunities you don’t want to miss, to family commitments—and there are an infinite number of ways to spend your year, whether it’s traveling, getting an internship, working on a campaign, supporting your family, etc.

When it comes to this essay though, there are two primary things you want to convey:

• What you consider to be valuable.
• How you will grow and be enriched from the gap year.

Starting with the first point, the way you choose to spend your gap year is a reflection of the values you find important. Students who want to travel value broadening their perspectives and embracing new experiences, while students who are staying home to help out their parents value family, loyalty, and devotion. Unless you are spending your time in the basement playing video games all day long, you will be doing something that, in your mind, is considered a productive use of time.

When you are discussing your plans, your values should come through. For example, if you are planning to spend the first semester backpacking South America, you wouldn’t just say, “ I will spend the first four months backpacking in China. ” You would instead show the admissions committee why you are driven to take that action: “ During my four months exploring the mountains, valleys, cities, and ancient civilizations of China, I will immerse myself in the culture I’ve felt so distant from as a Chinese adoptee. ”

The second thing your essay needs to discuss is how this experience will enrich you. Or, from Duke’s perspective, how will taking a gap year make you a more valuable member of the campus community? To answer this question, you’ll need to place yourself in a year-from-now you’s shoes and ask how you’ve changed and grown.

Are you more independent? Are you confident? Did you learn a new skill? Have you become a stronger leader? Do you have a new appreciation for learning? 

However you think you will grow from this experience, make sure to convey that in your essay. You might also want to explicitly mention what you will bring back to the Duke community, just to reiterate your commitment to attending Duke after your gap year.

Some Final Thoughts

If you choose to respond to the optional Duke supplements, you’ll need to keep a few key strategies in mind. As you draft and revise your responses, remember the following tips, which will help you to optimize your application efforts to Duke as well as any other schools to which you might apply. 

Give yourself time. Writing a short essay can often seem like a straightforward and deceptively quick process. Remember, however, that even though the Duke only wants 250 words, you’ll need to achieve the same level of impact in this response as you would with a 650 word essay. Clumsily jumbling together broad and lofty ideas won’t get you far with a 250 word prompt, so leave yourself enough time to plan, draft and redraft your response until it’s ready for submission.

Be specific. Specificity is the not-so-secret ingredient when it comes to writing a successful response. Include anecdotes and examples that tie directly to what you know and value about the Duke campus community. Don’t simply say that you love research or that you want to change the world. Think about the specific experiences you have which exemplify your interests and your academic and professional aspirations. 

Be true to yourself. It’s counterproductive to spend hours and hours writing about things that don’t truly matter to you. Be honest! Highlight the things that you care about most and reflect on why they matter to you. 

Ultimately, the purpose of any supplemental essay is to give you the opportunity to present yourself, your experiences and achievements from your own perspective using your own words. So have fun with this process. After all, no one could ever be better equipped to showcase you than you.

Where to Get Your Duke Essays Edited

Do you want feedback on your Duke essays? After rereading your essays countless times, it can be difficult to evaluate your writing objectively. That’s why we created our free Peer Essay Review tool , where you can get a free review of your essay from another student. You can also improve your own writing skills by reviewing other students’ essays. 

Need feedback faster? Get a  free, nearly-instantaneous essay review  from Sage, our AI tutor and advisor. Sage will rate your essay, give you suggestions for improvement, and summarize what admissions officers would take away from your writing. Use these tools to improve your chances of acceptance to your dream school!

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