Join us as we kick off our upcoming Little Women season
and celebrate the author’s 190th birthday.
Sunday, November 27, 2022, 4:30-6:00 PM
At 51 Walden Street, Concord, MA
Louisa Alcott Yamartino will offer some thoughts on her illustrious relative;
we’ll have a few words from the director of our show; and a special guest or two.
Light hors d’oeuvres, apple-inspired treats, and cake will be served.
Middle Schoolers: choose one of the following for your essay topic:
Many readers uncover Little Women’s promotion of women’s rights,
yet the book characters assume clear gender roles, particularly
as husbands and wives. Do the March women demonstrate equality
with the men/husbands in their lives?
Explain how Jo challenges the gender
stereotypes and expectations for women during the time period.
Identify at least three ways she does this and explain the impact
of her choices.
Explain how the conflict between
fulfilling familial duties verses attaining personal growth is
presented in the novel. How do each of the sisters navigate this
conflict and what is the outcome of their actions?
High Schoolers: choose one of the following for your essay topic:
Many readers uncover Little Women’s promotion of women’s rights,
yet the book characters assume clear gender roles, particularly
as husbands and wives. Do the March women demonstrate equality
with the men/husbands in their lives?
Explain the ways Alcott presents the ideas of
transcendentalism within her novel. How does she show the importance
of valuing one’s inner self (goals, desires, and spiritual happiness)
rather than prioritizing materialistic things such as wealth and
appearance? Discuss the decisions and actions of one or more of
the sisters within the novel and explain how their choices and actions
exemplify the ideas of transcendentalism.
Explain how Jo challenges the gender
stereotypes and expectations for women during the time period.
Identify at least three ways she does this and explain the impact
of her choices.
Explain how the conflict between
fulfilling familial duties verses attaining personal growth is
presented in the novel. How do each of the sisters navigate this
conflict and what is the outcome of their actions?
Contest Rules
Topic: All essays should specifically address one of the Essay Topics
listed above.
Eligibility: The contest is open to writers in
grades 6-12.
No more than one submission will be accepted for each essay writer.
Writers must be located in North America, Hawaii, or a U.S. military
address, and all submissions should be in English.
Essay Length: Essays must be
no more than 1500 words
in length. Submissions that exceed this length will be disqualified.
Format: The essay should be double-spaced;
we prefer that it be submitted in PDF format, but any common
word processing format is acceptable.
Deadline: Essays must be submitted
no later than 11:59pm Eastern Time, January 16, 2023.
Plagiarism: All essays must be the original work
of the student whose name is listed on the submission form.
Plagiarism will result in immediate disqualification.
Taxes: Winners will be solely responsible for any federal,
state, or local taxes on winnings.
Judges: Essays will be judged on their ability to answer
the topic question in an articulate, clear, and organized manner.
The Concord Players will evaluate essay submissions in a fair and
unbiased two-round judging system, in which judges all use the same
criteria. Judges will be selected by the Concord Players based on
their backgrounds and expertise in education, writing,
and the subject matter. Decisions of the judges are final.
Ownership and Use: The ownership of any submission remains the
property of the writer, but entry into the competition constitutes
the entrant's permission and consent, without compensation, with or
without attribution, for Concord Players to use, reproduce, transmit,
post, distribute, adapt, edit, and/or display the submission.
Contest Judges
It would be rather cool to have Gregory Maguire as judge, as he is the
author of Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West
and numerous other cool books for adults and children. And he lives in Concord!
(well, sometimes)
It would be even cooler to have Louisa May Alcott as judge,
but despite rumors that she has been seen around town, she is no longer on
the same plane of existence as the rest of us. But she did live in Concord!
(and a bunch of other places)
Arrie the Ninja Cat would be pretty useless as an essay contest judge,
but you have to admit he looks pretty cute in his glamour shot. Arrie is a resident of Sudbury,
where he is a tiny furry overlord.
Contest Prizes
Prizes will be awarded in both the middle school and high school
categories. First-place winners will receive:
$250 cash
Tickets to the Concord Players' production of
Little Women — the musical
(which runs April-May 2023)
a basket full of wonderful themed gifts
They will also have their essay printed in several local publications.
