polopipo Posted December 10, 2014 Report Share Posted December 10, 2014 Hello IBSurvival! So I just started to think about my EE and I was hoping you guys could help me out ! In order to help me, I would like you to please think about one or to two topics (the more the better) that really interest you in History. I don't need anything too specific nor want you to write my research question or anything, just suggestions about what part of History I could write my essay on. For instance, "Modern Egyptian History" would be an example. Simply a topic that you specially like, and from there I will look into it and keep researching. PLEASE try to narrow it down to events or periods of history from the 17th-18th century onwards, mainly because (as you all probably already know) it is really hard to find primary resources related to events that happened before that, and this kind of sources are required in the EE. As I already mentioned, I am Spanish, and my EE Coordinator told me that it would be good to do something related to Spain in some way, to show personal engagement. I've thought about writing something related to the Americas or the Spanish hegemony in general as it is really interesting and I could have access to a ton of primary resources when I go back to Spain in the summer, but even though my Supervisor doesn't completely discard that option she suggested to write about something more recent, but to be honest, Spanish modern History (Spanish Civil War and such) is not near as interesting as other topics I have thought of. If any of you guys has written (or is planning on writing) their EE on History, could you please tell me if writing about something that happened in the 16th is not a good idea? Because every teacher seems to be against in my school, but I have seen really good History EE's about really old topics. Anyways, any suggestions or ideas are much appreciated and helpful! Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
alefal Posted December 10, 2014 Report Share Posted December 10, 2014 Hey there! First of all, this forum is not here to give you topic to write on. Rather, the ideal use of this forum is to query whether or not the topic you have come up with is suitable and how it can be improved. If you use a topic mentioned here, you're neither showing originality nor independent thinking, which are two key aspects that the IBO values a lot (especially in terms of the EE). As for your wish to show personal engagement - choosing a topic from the country you're from is not enough to demonstrate that you're personally engaged with the topic. That is only demonstrated if you are actually interested in the history itself. If you choose a topic on Spanish history, but you lack basic enthusiasm for that topic, you're definitely not showing personal engagement in any way. It is therefore imperative that you choose a topic you're interested in personally if you want to show personal engagement (and it'll make your life much easier as well). On the possibility on writing your EE on old history, that's certainly possible and many have done it in the past with good results. Although I would like to stress that using first-person sources is a very good thing, it is not always possible and some high-scoring EEs have based themselves entirely on second-hand sources. After all, it is better to have an excellent analysis of a second-hand source than a terrible one of a first-hand source. Whether or not writing about anything from the 16th century specifically is a good idea or not depends entirely on what topic you choose and how you decide to frame it. I suggest you do the exercise yourself - write down general topics (or even time periods or historical concepts) on a piece of paper, regardless of whether or not you actually like the topic. Then narrow it down to topics you are interested in (even vaguely), and do some basic reading. Narrow it down even further based on the availability of sources and how interested you're in the topic itself. Continue, until you end up with one topic. If you need to, just go through some general history before you start the exercise itself. I suggest you have a look at my answer in this thread as well: http://www.ibsurvival.com/topic/27373-ee-film-rq/?p=206632 Good luck! 3 Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
polopipo Posted December 11, 2014 Author Report Share Posted December 11, 2014 Hey there! First of all, this forum is not here to give you topic to write on. Rather, the ideal use of this forum is to query whether or not the topic you have come up with is suitable and how it can be improved. If you use a topic mentioned here, you're neither showing originality nor independent thinking, which are two key aspects that the IBO values a lot (especially in terms of the EE). As for your wish to show personal engagement - choosing a topic from the country you're from is not enough to demonstrate that you're personally engaged with the topic. That is only demonstrated if you are actually interested in the history itself. If you choose a topic on Spanish history, but you lack basic enthusiasm for that topic, you're definitely not showing personal engagement in any way. It is therefore imperative that you choose a topic you're interested in personally if you want to show personal engagement (and it'll make your life much easier as well). On the possibility on writing your EE on old history, that's certainly possible and many have done it in the past with good results. Although I would like to stress that using first-person sources is a very good thing, it is not always possible and some high-scoring EEs have based themselves entirely on second-hand sources. After all, it is better to have an excellent analysis of a second-hand source than a terrible one of a first-hand source. Whether or not writing about anything from the 16th century specifically is a good idea or not depends entirely on what topic you choose and how you decide to frame it. I suggest you do the exercise yourself - write down general topics (or even time periods or historical concepts) on a piece of paper, regardless of whether or not you actually like the topic. Then narrow it down to topics you are interested in (even vaguely), and do some basic reading. Narrow it down even further based on the availability of sources and how interested you're in the topic itself. Continue, until you end up with one topic. If you need to, just go through some general history before you start the exercise itself. I suggest you have a look at my answer in this thread as well: http://www.ibsurvival.com/topic/27373-ee-film-rq/?p=206632 Good luck! Thank you so much for your advice! I will try to keep looking for topics until I find one that really interests me. And regarding the personal engagement, I know writing about your own country is not enough and that in order to demonstrate personal engagement you have to show that you are passionate about what you are writing, but I was citing what I was told. Anyways, thank you! Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sceptyczka Posted December 11, 2014 Report Share Posted December 11, 2014 (edited) Well, I'm interested in the history of education (or maybe just education) so I wrote my history IA (not EE) about the differences between the educational systems in Soviet Union and in Nazi Germany in 1930s, if that helps. I would suggest you to write about a history of a certain aspect of life that interests you most instead of looking for a particularly interesting period in history. Do you have any passion? Any hobbies? If yes, could maybe try to connect your passion/hobby with a historical event and write an EE about it? Hope I helped, at least a bit. Good luck! Edited December 11, 2014 by Sceptyczka Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.