The Atlantic Monthly | March 2004
 
 Writing Contest
 
 Rewrite Shakespeare

Try your hand at rewriting Shakespeare's "All the world's a stage" speech from As You Like It. A sidebar to "Would Shakespeare Get Into Swarthmore?"

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New! Read this week's graded revisions. Posted March 9.

t's unsettling to think that Shakespeare wouldn't be able to get into Swarthmore College these days, what with the new SAT's essay section that rewards form over creativity and insight. When we applied the College Board's essay-grading rubric to Jacques' beloved "All the world's a stage" speech from As You Like It, Shakespeare didn't do so well, scoring only a 2 out of a possible 6. If he had known what the College Board was looking for, we're sure that Shakespeare could have given them what they wanted. But since he isn't around to defend himself, we're asking Atlantic readers to do it for him.

From the archives:

"Would Shakespeare Get Into Swarthmore?" (March 2004)
How several well-known writers (and the Unabomber) would fare on the new SAT. By John Katzman, Andy Lutz, and Erik Olson But just what are SAT essay graders looking for?

1) Organization. Topic and concluding sentences, as well as some examples from literature, history, and current events to support your ideas.

2) Paragraph breaks and length. One long, unbroken paragraph just doesn't cut it. It doesn't look like an essay. At least three paragraphs and you're on the right track.

3) SAT words. Don't you know that grownups are supposed to use long words whenever they can?

4) Sentence structure. Don't use too many simple sentences. Complex people think complex thoughts, and must often, therefore, write complex sentences.

(For the College Board's explanation of how the new SAT essay will be scored, click here.)

Beginning February 17, 2004, The Princeton Review will accept revisions of the "All the world's a stage" speech from As You Like It. The revision should be in response to the same assignment given to "Shakespeare" in the article "Would Shakespeare Get Into Swarthmore?":
Directions: Consider carefully the following quotation and the assignment below it. Then plan and write an essay that explains your ideas as persuasively as possible. Keep in mind that the support you provide—both reasons and examples—will help make your view convincing to the reader.

"The four stages of life are infancy, childhood, adolescence, and obsolescence." —Art Linkletter

Assignment: In an essay, discuss your opinion of the quotation above. Support your view with one or more examples from literature, the arts, science, politics, current events, or your personal experience or observations.
Members of our staff will score selected revisions according to the College Board's rubric, and post them, along with grader comments, on The Atlantic Online. New postings will go up each Tuesday. The number of graded and posted revisions will depend upon the volume of revisions submitted. The deadline for entries is March 10, 2004. On March 16, 2004, we will announce up to ten winners on The Atlantic Online. The winning revisions are those judged by The Princeton Review staff as best according to the College Board's essay grading rubric.

Each winner will receive one paperback copy of The Best American Essays of the Century, edited by Joyce Carol Oates and Robert Atwan, and The Best American Short Stories of the Century, edited by John Updike and Katrina Kenison.

The writers of revisions selected for posting on The Atlantic Online will be notified before such postings are made. All scores as determined by the decision of The Princeton Review judging staff are final. Selection of winners is solely at the discretion of The Princeton Review. The Princeton Review makes no guarantees that all revisions will be scored, or that all scored revisions will be posted on The Atlantic Online.

For the complete official rules of the Rewrite Shakespeare contest, click here.

Submit your revision of Shakespeare's "All the world's a stage" speech.

Submissions must include the revision of the speech, and the writer's full name, mailing and e-mail addresses, and daytime and evening phone numbers.

[email protected]

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