by Sunidhi Jain
It is inevitable. You have to write your extended essay (EE). Along with writing the EE comes many tasks and tribulations, but before you can get to writing it, you will need to choose what you need to write it about. So, the biggest thing to keep in mind is this key question: Is it something you can stand writing about for an entire year?
Now, this may be too broad for there is not really anything that you can stand writing about in 1,000 words, much less 4,000. However, this guide should be a helpful tool in leading you to a decent topic for your EE.
Step #1: Choose a subject area (or areas) that interest you.
The subjects you can choose from are...
Biology
Chemistry
Classical Languages
Dance
Film
Geography
Global Politics
History
Language Acquisition
Mathematics
Music
Philosophy
Physics
Sports, Exercise and Health Science
Studies in Language and Literature
Theatre
Visual Arts
In picking these topics, think to yourself: “Which subject out of these do I usually get good grades in? Can I see myself writing about this? Which of these subjects do I find interesting?” It is alright if you can pick only one, or if none of these subject areas don’t interest you that much. The point of this exercise is to pick the BETTER subject area rather than the best subject for yourself personally.
Things to keep in mind are that a) historically, most people tend to choose a history extended essay (no pun intended), but that does not mean that the other topics are necessarily more difficult and b) most science EEs (Biology, Chemistry, Physics) require you to conduct your own experiment.
Step #2: Pick a topic.
Not to be confused with a subject, a topic is a certain category within a subject. For example, a topic in History is the Cold War, a topic in Psychology is criminal psychology, a topic in Physics is kinematics, and a topic in Mathematics is statistics. Good places to look for a topic include, but are not limited to: the internet, your teachers, your textbooks, etc.
Additionally, within your subject area, consider whether there are enough sources for you to write your paper on. IB wants you to have various sources to use so that you can contrast different viewpoints. So, a topic about an ancient civilization that was wiped away without a trace may not have many sources; therefore, consider doing your EE on a different yet similar topic (i.e. a different civilization).
Step #3: Draft a RQ
Your research question (RQ) is what drives your EE. Throughout the essay, you should always loop back to this one question. So, it is important that the RQ is not too broad nor too specific.
There are various ways in which you can start your RQ. The most common method is to start off saying "to what extent ...". However, you can always branch off. Look at other successful RQs to get inspiration.
If you are completely lost, look at your topic and think of what you can argue about in this topic. Generally, a good structure to follow is...
To what extent is ___________ caused/related to/affected by/etc. by __________?
Go on this exercise with me. Say someone wants to write about the question:
To what extent is war affected by the government?
This is an overly broad RQ. To help make it more narrow, look at keywords and try to make them more focused.
In this case, the keywords are war and the government. For "war", specify which war or which conflict you are talking about. It can be the Cold War, World War II, the Crimean War, etc. This conflict can be from any time period or any place. Additionally, do not fret if you know very little about the thing you are trying to write. After all, that is the point of the EE - to learn more about a certain topic in your subject area.
For the word “government”, specify what aspect of the government you would like to focus on. For example, in the US, there are three branches of government. So, focus on one of those three branches.
A modified, better RQ is:
To what extent was World War II affected by the president?
To make it more IB friendly, rewrite your RQ to be more professional. Such as...
How was World War II affected by the actions of President Franklin D. Roosevelt?
These may require more research. So do not worry if you have no idea how to focus your topic just yet. Look for help online and within your teachers.
Frankly, the EE is not the best thing ever; but, it is definitely not the worst thing you will do at IB. So to make the experience better than it already is, stick to deadlines (do not write 1,300 words in one night then think that you will finish it later because you will not) and work, work, work! You can do this!
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