Themes of Olympiad Papers from a Genological and Didactic Perspective

Abstract

The research problem addressed in this article is to identify the structure of essay topics proposed to participants in the Polish Language and Literature Olympiad from a pragmatic, linguistic, and genological perspective, taking into account their educational function. The article presents conclusions from the analysis of 312 essay topics from the regional and national stages of the Olympiad from 1970 to 2022. The two analytical perspectives proposed here, linguistic and educational, lend the study an interdisciplinary character. A significant diversity of variations within the genre pattern of the topic was observed. This diversity concerns the components of the topic and the degree to which the pattern is filled. These transformations are directed toward personalization and the specification of implementing directives. The text also outlines research proposals regarding the topics of Olympiad essays.