∫ Jorge δx Posted December 4, 2010 Report Share Posted December 4, 2010 Hello there fellow IBers,I have a question that's keeping me wondering on whether or not I should re-write and restructure my essay or not. I'm doing my extended essay on Stalin's Russia, specifically on how the Great Purges of the 30's were a signifier of his political victory, also by tying in with an analysis of ideological changes he did to the Marxist-Leninist doctrine and the viewing of the events from the scope of a grand narrative and referencing power-knowledge relationships a la Foucault every now and then.I've managed to fit it all into 4000 words (+ about 1500 worth of footnotes) for my first draft. My supervisor told me I might be trying to do too much, but that I'm doing it in a classy way, and that the only issue the IB might have is source analysis. I do make mention of some source criticisms in my footnotes, but I'm not sure if that's enough. So, should I cut down on the historiography and event analysis and do a bit more of source analysis? Also, before you start wondering, the two sources I use primarily are an oral interview I had with my grandmother, who lived during the time in the Soviet Union, and a big book on Stalinism written by a major Soviet historian, Roy Medvedev, along with other minor sources and stuff that influences the theoretical framework (grand narratives and whatnot) through which I analyze the events. Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cynthia Posted December 4, 2010 Report Share Posted December 4, 2010 If you feel there's something you can cut from the body that's unimportant and replace it with source analysis then you can do that. Source analysis (with the regular origin, purpose, value and limitations) in footnotes appears to be enough to get full points from the criteria in question judging from the 36/36 History EEs I've read. Personally I found that I'd have ran out of words very quickly if I'd actually done source analysis in the body; I had 2500 words in footnotes... Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
∫ Jorge δx Posted December 4, 2010 Author Report Share Posted December 4, 2010 Do you think you could read over my essay please? Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cynthia Posted December 4, 2010 Report Share Posted December 4, 2010 Sure, it actually sounds really interesting! I'll PM you my e-mail. Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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