IA IB History Internal Asessment

[Juliet]

Hello! I still don't know what topic to pick for the internal assessment in history. It is very difficult for me to look for an appropriate question as each time I propose one, my teacher says it's too wide. The topics that I wanted to do are the berlin wall and propaganda during Hitler's rule. But I still don't know how to make a coherent question.

[Emmi]

To narrow down a broader topic, think about what sub-areas of the topic you'd like to focus on. You cannot cover everything about the Berlin Wall in an IA, you probably couldn't even cover all of it in an EE, so pick some small facet of it. Things like causes, its effect on something (like a later event, international relations, etc), a person's role in the event, and how well it achieved its goals are common things to focus in on. Do a little research on the Berlin Wall and Hitler propaganda, and see what interests you the most. Then do it!

[Thrashmaster]

Besides what Emmi said, remember that the History IA is pretty short: It is only 2000 words, and a lot of that is not accessible for investigation (A and C, and kind of E, are not going to allow you to write a whole lot in your evidence in analysis sections). Make sure you have a topic you can talk about in about 600 words for evidence and about 600 for analysis.

To make a coherent question, remember: This isn't about making something interesting. The goal is to answer the question you make. To what extent did ____ influence ____? To a large extent, because _____. You'll get higher marks for a simple question with a simple answer than choosing a question you should save for your doctoral thesis.