The Department of History is proud to sponsor a Y12/L6 History essay prize competition (LINK). The competition is open to Year 12 or Lower Sixth students from schools and colleges anywhere in the UK.
There is a prize of £50 for the winning essay, and two runner-up essays will receive commendations.
The essays, of up to 1,500 words, must be on topics from the list provided below.
Please note that we are unable to provide feedback on unsuccessful entries. Entrants must be in Y12 or Lower 6th, and be studying A-level History or equivalent. Essays must be received by Wednesday 10 April 2019, and must be accompanied by a coversheet which can be downloaded from our website. Essays should be no more than 1500 words in length, including footnotes but excluding any bibliography.
Assessment
The assessors will be looking for essays that:
• provide a broad historical context
• show awareness of the changes in historiography
• use a range of sources (primary and/or secondary)
• are analytical, not descriptive
• are written in clear, continuous prose, correctly spelled and punctuated
• demonstrate an understanding of differing interpretations of history and reach a substantiated conclusion.
4. How religious was politics in the Middle Ages?
8. What was the impact of the British Empire on British society?
12. Did women have a political voice in Britain before 1918?
15. Should historians extend the chronological boundaries of the American Civil Rights Movement beyond the 1950s and the 60s?
16. Did Mao Zedong lay the foundation for China’s rapid development?
17. What changed in Britain in the 1960s?
18. 'South African apartheid was ended not by the decisions of a few great men, but by the actions of ordinary people.' Do you agree with this interpretation?
19. ‘All revolutions are in some respects civil wars’. Discuss with reference to at least three revolutions.