The Fountainhead Essay Contest

The original stated purpose of the contest was to encourage high-school students to read The Fountainhead. The essential task is still unusually concentrated: read a long novel, choose an official prompt and construct an analytical argument about characters whose actions carry explicit philosophical weight. The entry process asks students to read The Fountainhead carefully before responding to one of the contest prompts. ARI’s official published essay collection includes Christina Jeong’s response to a Fountainhead prompt about Howard Roark and value creation. That example shows why plot knowledge alone is insufficient. The essay has to connect events in the novel with an abstract question and maintain a clear chain of reasoning across both. CompeteMap would recommend this competition to students who already enjoy sustained literary analysis and are prepared to reread selectively. Open international access removes a preliminary barrier, but the novel itself creates a serious workload. A good preparation plan separates comprehension, prompt analysis, evidence gathering and revision. Students who begin drafting immediately after a first reading are likely to spend most of their essay explaining the plot; students who map the prompt first can use the same space to make an argument.