Fitzwilliam College Ancient World Essay Competition Report 2011-2012
The essay competition this year received a very pleasing 78 entries. It was a pleasant task to read through the work submitted this year. The standard was extremely high, and a large proportion of the entrants were producing work which in previous years would have gained recognition. Only a small proportion of the essays, however, could be acknowledged and given prizes, and it is an indication of the high standard that this year, we decided to send out eleven certificates of Commendation as well as the eight ‘Highly Commended’ certificates which were presented at the prize giving. It was a pleasure to be able to meet the prize-winners and some of those awarded certificates of Commendation.
All questions were approached. Most popular was the question on women, which received a massive 47 entries. These essays varied widely in the periods they chose to concentrate upon, and in the material they used to make their points. There was a more or less even spread amongst the other essays, showing a pleasing breadth to Classical and Ancient World interests in schools. It was also pleasing to see the diverse periods chosen for discussion. Some essays drew on only material studied within the A level syllabus. Others were clearly researched independently of schoolwork. This latter category contained some of the most impressive work.
It was pleasing to note that almost all entrants observed the need for referencing. There was also very little sign of reliance upon unreliable material from the internet. The strongest entries showed evidence of wide reading of secondary material as well as good deployment of original sources in order to back up their arguments, and good referencing of data and ideas.
This was another very successful year for the essay competition. We will be holding the competition again next year. We hope that the entrants enjoyed researching, reading for and writing their essays as much as we enjoyed reading them.
The essay titles were as follows (with numbers of entrants in square brackets):
1) How important is the historical context of production to understanding and appreciating ancient literature? [6]
2) "We see women in the ancient world only through the eyes of men". Do you agree? How does this affect the study of women in the ancient world? [47]
3) Did racism exist in the ancient world? [8]
4) Why did Plato write dialogues? [4]
5) "In the ancient world, the sea always linked rather than divided people."
Discuss. [13]
Prize winners:
First prize (£200) Frances Myatt, Strathallen School [essay 2]
Highly Commended
(in alphabetical order) Oliver Linehan, The Perse School [essay 2]
Daniel Mullens, New Hall School [essay 1]
Katherine New, Maynard School [essay 2]
Madeleine Norman, Loreto Grammar School [essay 4]
Sarah Stacey, Tiffin Girls’ School [essay 2]
William Starr, King Edward VI Grammar School [essay 3]
Lucy Valsamidis, City of London School for Girls [essay 2]
Jack West-Sherring, Sir Roger Manwood’s School [essay 5]