The Fountainhead

To find true academic articles, please use the OCDSB's search engine in the Virtual Learning Environment. Contact me if you need help figuring out how to do this.

These lesson plans (designed for teachers, but accessible and useful for you) offer a series of interesting questions for consideration, an explanation of the "relevant philosophical terms", some information on themes, and more.

A short interesting article from an economist

The 2017 winner of the contest over there =>

Every year the Ayn Rand Institute runs an essay contest for students in Grade 11 and 12. This year the deadline is May 28. You could win up to $10,000! (Or as little as $50, but hey.) You know me: I *honestly* think you should enter.

SELECT ONE OF THE FOLLOWING THREE TOPICS:

• With which character in The Fountainhead do you most empathize or identify? Explain your answer. What does the author seem to think of the character you’ve chosen? What do you think about the author’s view of the character, especially in relation to the novel’s theme. Explain your answer.

• When Howard Roark refuses the Manhattan Bank Building contract he says that this is “the most selfish thing you’ve ever seen a man do.” And in his courtroom speech, he argues for selfishness and egoism and against the conventional morality of altruism. Do you think he is correct to praise selfishness and denounce altruism? Why or why not? Explain.

• Why does Toohey support Keating’s career early on? What is Toohey’s purpose in promoting the careers of people like Keating, Gordon Prescott, Lois Cook, Ike the Genius, and Gus Webb? In what way does his purpose relate to his campaign against Roark? How does this issue relate to the wider themes in the novel?

ADVICE ON YOUR ESSAY SUBMISSION

Other than endorsing perfect punctuation and grammar in English, the Ayn Rand Institute offers no advice or feedback on contest essays.

The following links are recommended to improve your essay content:

• The Fountainhead discussion series

• The Fountainhead ARI Campus Course

• The Art of Nonfiction by Ayn Rand

• Objective Communication and Principles of Grammar by Leonard Peikoff

• Writing Objectively by Keith Lockitch

• The Writing Skills section of the Ayn Rand eStore

• FreeObjectivistBooks.org