The Student Room Group

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Reply 1
I did, Soike, mine was 'Does Friendship have a history?'
<cringe>

good luck!:smile:
Reply 2
Same to you!
I have to ask, what on earth did you write about for that one? it sounded bizarre
Reply 3
yeah, everybody who I've told thinks I'm mad for picking it. I'm more of a philosopher/waffler which is why I thought it would suit me more. As far as the question itself is concerned, friendships history, if looking for a blunt answer, dates back to mankind's ability to interact, but if you examine history you can see that the approach to it throughout time has changed greatly. I discussed its development from religion to the ancient world, to the medieval world, to the industrial world, right up to the sociological world of today. As the world changed, its treatment of friendship did as well.
Reply 4
That sounds brilliant, but probably just about as waffly as mine :P
You'd be amazed how much rubbish I had to make up to answer Why was medieval europe so overwhelmingly monarchichal, I got told I was mad picking it too.
I bet the person who will win will have written the "How did the trans-atlantic slave trade benefit Africa?" essay.
Reply 5
Haven't the winners already been announced? It said on the letter I received that they'd write to individual people if they'd been succesful, so I suppose I must have failed. Mind you, they also said they'd announce the results on the website in late may, and they don't appear to have done that, so there might be hope yet (I'm assuming one of you would have mentioned if you knew you'd got somewhere).

It's a shame. I put in so much effort. I chose the title "Did the Twelfth-Century deserve the name?" having been, up until then, totally unaware that such a thing even existed. It's expanded my knowledge, if nothing else, and was quite fun to write.
Reply 6
I've been checking the website regularly. Nada so far. Also I think they actually write to the school, not you.
Reply 7
I think the question of whether friendship has a history is a facinating proposition although far too vast a subject to make an effective history essay. It's the sort of question Theodore Zeldin has spent most of his life studying. Unless, of course, your explanation of the project is taken to mean the following: does the act of friendship formation---with all its potential for sponteneity and irrationality of brotherly or sisterly love, effectively---have history, in the sense of being determined by rationally explicable forces? Or is it something from beyond rational explanation? Of course, you might argue that my definition of friendship exhibits a typically romantic or post-romantic outlook that can be easily historicised as belonging to a any period after, say, 1800---amonst social elites---and 1900 as an accepted norm of human interaction. Then again, I'm not so historical that I cannot still imagine some transcendental events that defy scientific analysis.


Love be upon you all....
Reply 8
I think I agree with what you've picked up in that penultimate sentence; 'friendship formation' is too vague, and certainly too anachronistic. I'd probably have explored the way in which friendship has evolved, and how views of what constitutes a companion has changed to reflect the (obviously sweepingly broad) social situations of the time.

It could potentially be a really engaging title, although I think it's a bit wishy-washy. I'd probably end up wandering off into vague historiographical nonsense about different movements and get caught up in one idea and end up with a totally structureless mess of (probably mildly interesting) wafle. Generally the judges appear to have gone for a rough alternation between the wacky-sounding and the mundane-sounding titles. I do think though that to be in with a chance, you'd have to come up with something fairly radical or at least mildly eyebrow raising. I doubt an essay that said Henry VIII controlled the English Reformation "to a moderate extent" or that "all the factors were equally important... we'll never know the truth" will make it past the binning-stage (which my History teacher was kind enough to describe, in detail, after I'd finished slaving away over my tome).

I think semantics would have been the way to do it before c.1100. I'd probably have explored the various translations available for words that are equated to 'friend' in modern English. The Greeks had lots of words for 'friend' or 'companion,' but each of them has a host of other meanings, sometimes including very strange (seemingly contradictory) alternative meanings. The Greek expectation of 'Xenia' for example means that the word for 'stranger' more often than not means 'guest.'

In Ancient Egyptian however, the word for 'friend' is simply the word for 'give delight to,' turned into a noun, and has the same determinative sign as the word for 'rejoice.' The word for 'good' is also the same as 'beauty,' which perhaps suggests that the Egyptians saw beauty in goodness (or perhaps even the other way around, if you want to be cynical). Randomly, the word for mother and vulture are identical.

I suppose language construction can only tell you so much about a society, but it's quite interesting for speculation nonetheless.
Reply 9
hey

i entered this too, don't think mine was very good BUT i was wondering if anyone had heard yet aka have the winners been announced? there is nothing on the website but I thought there could be a delay between..

thanks!
Reply 10
I seem to remember the last person to win it at our school mentioning 'being surprised to find the cheque in the letter' . . . so I think that implies it's done by home post, which would tally with the confirmation note they sent to all the participants.

I bet the admissions tutors will stumble upon this post and laugh cruelly. Well tried to everyone though. It'd be nice if someone here got a congratulatory letter in the next few days, or something from their school. . . and proved my theory that 'all is lost' wrong.
Reply 11
So is the consensus here that the results are sent home and not to schools? I'm really impatient! I mean, the chances of me winning are slim, I understand that - but it doesn't mean that I don't want to know who has won! And I've got friends that've entered ... it would be nice of Peterhouse to update their site, that's all I'm saying!
Reply 12
ok so noone here as heard? so we dont no if results are out yet but they mite not be?

it's so rubbish of them- i mean it wouldn't be hard to inform everyone would it? or just update their website!!!
Reply 13
I feel like e-mailing them and asking them, but I don't want to sound rude and impatient (the latter of which I most certainly am). Honestly. Even if I were to win now, the disorganisation of Peterhouse would certainly deter me for applying. . . . :wink:

It is a bit naff though. The last update on their news feed was in 2006. Maybe they just do it for dramatic effect? Or so that they can scower this webpage and laugh. I feel like such a pawn. They even have our e-mails! Grrrr.
Reply 14
i know how hard is it to send an emaiL?! i was gnna call or something but i wimped out lol..didnt want to embaress myself (which i definately would) or seem over optimistic about my entry! if u email pls post their response!!
i agree with ur earlier post tho- i found that it was a challenge but definately expanded my knowledge and a worth while exercise
Reply 15
I am now furious. Scowering the Vellacott Prize pages on the Peterhouse website, I've found yet another (more serious) inconsistency. One application form says that the upper word limit is 3,000 .... the other 4,000!

http://www.pet.cam.ac.uk/admissions/vellacott-2007.pdf
http://www.pet.cam.ac.uk/admissions/vellacott.html

Considering my essay was just under 4,000 words, I'll be hugely annoyed if the first page turns out to be correct.
Reply 16
yup i noticed that on the day i had to post my essay off and i d seen the word limit as 2,000-3,000 as on that poster "cheer up william haven't you heard". i was really annoyed cos i cut mine down to just under 3,000 and when i read that i was like what is the point? i think it was 4,000 as it would be consistent with the science prize that was 2,000-4,000. it made really annoyed me cos i cut stuff out and just thought why did i put so much effort into this essay?!

my opinion of peterhouse is rapidly lowering!!!
Reply 17
I never thought really thought of applying to Peterhouse because it's so small but the fact that there's been no word after a few days is making me even more reluctant, to be honest!

Can I ask if anyone did the question on whether the only thing worse than being dominated by the US is not being dominated by the US? I did, and reading back over my essay - which was exactly 4000 words, which worries me a bit if the entries were meant to be 3000 - it seems a bit odd! I've sort of dissected American foreign policy in terms of economic policy, and just done an analysis of the situation in post WWI Germany and post WWII Germany. Am just wondering if anyone else has done it, and what they've written. It'd be really interesting to hear the other essay summaries as well, because they were all really odd questions!
Reply 18
Well my essay was on the twelfth-century renaissance, and I essentially argued that to use the term in such a context constitues an unhelpful misappropriation. I basically went through the main arguments of the pro-renaissaincists, realised they were more than dubious, and it unravelled from there. If you're actually interested, PM me. It's quite well structured, so it shouldn't be too much of a battle to read.
Reply 19
As an undergraduate historian at Peterhouse, I believe the Vellacott anouncement is never on time, nor will it be this year as Scott Mandelbrote (Admissions Tutor, Vellacott) was in Rome for several weeks last month.

Indeed, I only found out the results on the day of the Open Day which was on the 7th of July back in 2005. I also know that the winners only found out several weeks before, so your wait will probably continue.

Peterhouse is a college of tradition and archane values, a 'website', like most technological advancements, are never seen as a priorities. Unfortunately, that means the website may suddenly be updated or may remain in '2006' for several more years.

Please don't be put off from applying. It is a superb college, unique within the university. If you are hoping to read history at Cambridge, then Peterhouse is undeniably the greatest. We have as many history fellows as undergraduates in a year, wine is served during seminars, and you will quickly become friends with some of Britain's most prestigious historians.

Though if you are put off by the sluggishness of electronic communication to the point where Peterhouse is simply no longer an option, then I wish you good luck in getting in to another college.