Competitions · Humanities and writing · JASNA Jane Austen Essay Contest
The Jane Austen Essay Contest.
One author, a new question every year, and MLA formatting enforced to the margin. First place gets $1,000, a place at the society’s annual meeting with two nights paid for, and a set of Norton Critical Editions.
What it asks for
Read Austen properly, then argue with her.
The contest is narrow in subject and wide in approach. The theme changes each year but the demand does not.
A new theme every year
The organisers set a different question annually, always centred on reading Austen’s work closely and drawing something from it.
It wants engagement, not admiration
The stated aim is encouraging students to engage with Austen’s work and to develop critical thinking. An essay that only praises the novels is not doing the exercise.
Open to students worldwide
There is no country restriction. You need student status during the school year in which the contest runs, but you need not be studying full time.
A mentor may be named, and it is optional
Entrants may name the person who most influenced their study - usually whoever taught them to appreciate literature, improved their writing, or introduced them to Austen. It is not required.
At a glance
The essentials.
The contest is run by the Jane Austen Society of North America. Submission is online, and the formatting requirement is the rule most worth attention.
- Who can enter
- Students worldwide, with student status during the contest year. Full-time study is not required
- Format
- MLA, strictly. Double spaced, 12 point throughout, with one-inch margins on all four sides of every page
- Consequence of getting it wrong
- Essays not meeting the format requirements are disqualified
- How you submit
- Through the society’s website, which opens for submissions in mid-February. Every submission is confirmed by email
- Society membership
- Not required in order to submit
- First prize
- $1,000, plus free registration and two nights’ accommodation at the society’s annual general meeting
- Second prize
- $500
- Third prize
- $250
- All winners also receive
- A year’s society membership and a set of the Norton Critical Editions of Austen’s novels
- Mentors
- The mentor named by a winner also receives a year’s membership
- Publication
- Winning essays are published on the society’s website
- Payment
- Prize money is paid by cheque or bank transfer
The formatting rule
MLA, and it is checked before it is read.
Several competitions on this site ask for a citation style. This one makes compliance a condition of entry.
Non-compliance is disqualifying
The organisers state that an essay not meeting the format requirements will be disqualified from the contest. It is not a deduction.
The requirements are specific
MLA style, double spaced, 12 point throughout the whole document, and one-inch margins on all sides of every page. Nothing here is ambiguous.
Which is a fair thing to ask
MLA is the standard for literary study. A student entering a literature contest is being asked to write the way the field writes.
Set it before writing
Configuring the document correctly at the start costs a minute. Reformatting a finished essay the night before the deadline is where mistakes happen.
What winning brings
More than the money.
The prize package is unusually thoughtful for a competition of this size, and two parts of it are not cash.
A place at the annual general meeting
First place carries free registration and two nights’ accommodation at the society’s annual meeting - a real literary conference, attended by scholars.
The Norton Critical Editions
Winners receive a set of the Norton editions of Austen’s novels - the scholarly texts, with the apparatus. For a student who reads Austen seriously, that is a useful object rather than a token.
Membership for you and your mentor
Winners receive a year’s society membership, and so does the mentor they named. That is a nice acknowledgement of the person who taught them.
And publication
Winning essays are published on the society’s website.
Preparation
How Hanlin prepares an entry.
A single author and an annual question makes this the most focused literature competition here.
Reading more than one novel
The themes usually reward a student who can move between books. Reading two or three Austen novels properly beats reading one and a great deal about it.
Quoting closely
Literary criticism at this level lives on the text. An argument built from specific passages, cited properly, reads entirely differently from one built on plot summary.
Answering this year’s question
The theme changes annually and it is the question, not the author, that has to be answered. Checking the current theme before starting is the first step.
And formatting before writing
MLA, double spaced, 12 point, one-inch margins. Non-compliance ends the entry, and it is entirely preventable.
Why Hanlin
Preparation for JASNA Jane Austen Essay Contest at Hanlin is taught by full-time subject tutors, on a course tier chosen by placement paper rather than by year group.
Programme formats
Five ways this is taught.
Group size is the whole difference between these. It decides how much of the tutor's attention a student gets and how far the course can bend to them, so it is worth choosing rather than accepting.
| Format | Group size | What it suits |
|---|---|---|
| One-to-one | One student | Content, pace and emphasis set by what this student actually needs rather than by a syllabus. The only format that can be rebuilt mid-course. |
| Small group | Three to eight | Opens at three. Frequent discussion, and the tutor can slow down or move on according to what the group has absorbed. Most students chasing a higher award are taught in this one. |
| Class | Eight to twelve | Taught by the subject lead or a medal coach. Less back-and-forth, so it suits a student who will say when something is unclear. |
| Large class | Ten to twenty | For students in the middle of the placement range, and a way to try a competition before committing. Students often move to a small group or to one-to-one afterwards. |
| Past-paper class | No cap | Past papers worked through in sequence in the weeks before the sitting. Free to students already enrolled. |
Course length for JASNA Jane Austen Essay Contest is set after a placement paper. The gap between where a student is and what the paper asks for is what the course has to close, and that gap is not the same for two students in the same year group.
How it runs
Six steps, four people on your side.
The same process for every student, so that nothing depends on one tutor remembering to do it.
Step 1Pre-course assessment
A placement paper before anything is booked, so the course tier is chosen on evidence rather than on a year group.
Step 2Tutor matching
A subject tutor is matched to the result, and their full background is provided before you agree to it.
Step 3Plan and group
A study group opens with four people on one student: the tutor, a planner, a supervisor and an academic manager.
Step 4Scheduled teaching
The teaching office sets the timetable around the competition date and school term, and teaching begins.
Step 5After-class reports
What was covered, and how the student handled it, reported after every lesson.
Step 6Homework follow-up
The teaching assistant and the form teacher both check that homework is done, which is where most preparation quietly fails.
Free resource pack
Past questions and writing pack
The same material our own JASNA Jane Austen Essay Contest students work from. Scan the code, say what you need, and an advisor sends it.
Tell an advisor which competition and year group, and the material comes back the same day. Free, and you do not have to enrol in anything. If we do not already hold what you need, we will go and find it.
- PDFEvery past question the competition has set
- PDFShortlisted and published essays, to calibrate the standard
- PDFStructure, referencing and word-count guide
- PDFEntry checklist and the dates for the current cycle
Teaching team
Who would teach it.
Three of the twenty-two tutors on the published Hanlin roster - the ones whose subject this is.
Lu
Master's in education from the University of Pennsylvania and a double major in psychology and philosophy at Mount Holyoke. Cross-cultural teaching experience across China and the US, with research work in child and adolescent development, cognition, and international students' identity.
Yang
Educated at American Heritage School, then English literature and philosophy at the University of British Columbia and a master's in language education at Toronto. Eleven years in North America, with a close working knowledge of the international curricula and overseas admissions.
Zhang
Master's in cognitive science at UC San Diego on full scholarship, after double honours in neurobiology and behaviour and in cognitive science at UC Davis. Ten years overseas, a perfect TOEFL speaking score, and named an outstanding education scholar at UCSD.
Where it is taught
Hanlin learning centres.
Teaching runs from Hanlin's own centres in Shanghai, Shenzhen, Chengdu and Hangzhou, and online for students elsewhere.
Talk to an advisor
Everything Hanlin does for JASNA Jane Austen Essay Contest, in one conversation.
Entry, planning, coaching and the past papers. An advisor will tell you which of these a student actually needs, including when the answer is none of them.
Competition entry and planning
Which competitions suit this student, in what order, and by when - then we handle the registration, including the ones that can only be entered through a school or a centre.
Competition coaching
Taught by full-time subject tutors, on a course tier chosen by placement paper rather than by year group.
International curriculum tutoring
IB, AP, A-Level, IGCSE and the US high school curriculum, taught alongside school and timed around the exam calendar.
Competition past papers, free
A large library of past papers, mark schemes and syllabus breakdowns across every competition on this site. No charge and no enrolment.
Scan to add an advisor
Say which competition or course you are asking about. Replies in Chinese or English.
Or call +86 21 6352 6630FAQ
The Jane Austen Essay Contest, briefly answered.
What students and families ask before entering.
Who can enter?
Students worldwide who hold student status during the school year in which the contest runs. Full-time study is not required.
Do I need to be a society member?
No. Membership is not required in order to submit.
What is the theme?
It changes each year, but always centres on reading Austen’s work closely and drawing something from it. Check the current theme before starting.
What formatting is required?
MLA style, double spaced, 12 point throughout, with one-inch margins on all sides of every page. Essays that do not meet these requirements are disqualified.
How do I submit?
Through the society’s website, which opens for submissions in mid-February. Each submission is confirmed by email.
Do I have to name a mentor?
No, it is optional. Most entrants name whoever taught them to appreciate literature, helped their writing, or introduced them to Austen. A named mentor of a winner also receives a year’s society membership.
What are the prizes?
$1,000 for first place, $500 for second and $250 for third. First place also receives free registration and two nights’ accommodation at the society’s annual general meeting.
What else do winners receive?
A year’s society membership and a set of the Norton Critical Editions of Austen’s novels. Winning essays are published on the society’s website.
How is prize money paid?
By cheque or bank transfer.
Related
Other literature and writing competitions.
What students enter alongside this one.
Austen essay enquiries
One author, one question, and MLA to the margin.
This is the most focused literature competition on the site, and the formatting rule disqualifies more entries than the writing does. Tell us which novels the student has read and an advisor will help build the argument.