From the guide
News & guidance
Notes on choosing a prompt, meeting the rubric, and preparing for Defense Day.
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Steelman the Objection: How to Write the Counterargument Paragraph in an HIR Essay
A concession does not weaken your HIR essay - it is where analysis marks live. The four-move counterargument paragraph, where to place it, and the Defense Day payoff.
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Every Number Has a Denominator: Using Statistics in an HIR Essay Without Losing Evidence Points
Ten of the 60 marks turn on evidence. Five questions every statistic must survive before it enters your HIR draft, plus four ways a number quietly misleads.
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Which Sources Actually Count: Building a Clickable Evidence List for an HIR Essay From China
HIR requires every factual claim to carry a hyperlink to a reliable source. What counts, what quietly weakens an essay, and how to build a clickable list behind a paywall.
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Is Your Grade 7-8 Writer Ready for the HIR Junior Division? A Five-Signal Readiness Check
The Junior division opens grades 7-8 to a contest built on cited analysis. Five tests that show whether a middle-school writer is ready, and what to build first if not.
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The Off-Season Is Where the Points Are: What to Build Between HIR Contest Cycles
The summer window is shut and the next deadline is months out. Here is what to build in the gap, and which rubric dimensions three weeks of drafting can never fix.
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You Cannot Read the Winning Essays: What HIR's Published Medal Lists Actually Tell You
There is no public archive of winning HIR entries - only names, schools and titles. What those lists still teach about scope, and the reverse-outline method to use instead.
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Ten of the 60 Points Are in the Joins: Transitions and Coherence in an HIR Essay
Structure-and-transitions and coherence are two rubric lines worth ten points together. Three tests and a given-new rule that make five paragraphs read as one argument.
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The First 100 Words: Writing an HIR Headline and Lede That Earn the Introduction Points
Introduction is its own five-point rubric line, and a judge forms a view before word 100. A word budget for the headline and opening paragraph, plus four openings to delete.
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AP Style for International Affairs: The Rules That Actually Cost HIR Points
Style is 30 of the 60 points. A working reference to the AP conventions that decide them in a global-affairs essay: numbers, dates, names, second reference and punctuation.