Extended Essay

[Phamalam22]

(I am doing English EE Literature and Language HL)

 

Hello IBers,

I have contemplated what novels should I write about for my EE and I came to a final idea that I will compare and contrast two texts which are: "Purple Hibiscus- Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie" and "A Thousand Splendid Suns- Khaled Hosseini." I will be talking to my supervisor tomorrow (Friday) about what I am going to do for my EE so I haven't got a questions yet.

(Please bare in mind that I am currently reading "A Thousand Splendid Suns" so I can not understand the novel fully yet.) 

Anyway, I was wondering if anyone would be so kind to answer a few questions for me?

1. Are these two texts okay to compare and contrast as I have chose them myself? By this, I mean, I haven't come across anyone writing an EE about these two texts together.

2. Currently we are doing "Purple Hibiscus" in class and I thought by doing my EE about it, I would understand the novel much more in depth. Is there a rule about writing your EE about one of the novels that we have been doing in class?

3. I have researched in many other IB forums for students doing their EEs in either of the novels which I have found no one has done an EE in "Purple Hibiscus" and students that have done "A Thousand Splendid Suns" has compared and contrasted it to Hosseini's other work, "The Kite Runner".

I don't want to go down the route of analysing two of Hosseini's work as I have seen comments about "The Kite Runner", a novel that is being overdone for English EEs. I'm not saying I will get a better grade by using my originality but I think that by choosing two novels that haven't been written about a lot will not bore the examiner. 

If I were the examiner and I received EEs about Harry Potter, The Hobbit, LOTR, The Maze Runner (Trilogy), Divergent (Trilogy), Twilight, The Hunger Games (Trilogy), TFIOS, etc (They're all great books though! But you get my point), I will probably be feeling very blasé...Examiners are people like us too...haha

4. I have been thinking of similar themes between the novels to base the research question on e.g.
-the abusive husbands
-historical and cultural context
-women
- men dominance

Thank you to anyone who has taken the time to read my English EE enquiries and answered them. Enjoy your day! 

Edited July 9, 2015 by Phamalam22

[BMW]

I think ill get working on: To what extent does consistency have a greater influence on the productivity of a workforce than conformity? 

Title* Consistency over Conformity in Business

[Growl]

So im planning to write EE for my English HL subject, but im not quite sure about how im gonna plan it.

I wanted to ask is "Impact of CCTV" a good topic to write my EE?

[Hanadai]

First of all - I came here to complain. I feel like I want to just f*ck this all because I'm awful at writing this kind of stuffs. I never went through a trouble with writing any of my IAs. It's just the EE that makes me go insane. Why? Because I am NOT CREATIVE. I didn't even know what I wanted to write about in the first place. Everyone else already decided on their topic and I was literary the only one that didn't even know what subject I'm interested in. I don't really like anything. You could say "just pick up something you're good at". I'm good at every subject, my grades are all nice (I'm not talking large, this is just what the reality is). Eventually, I decided to write my EE from psychology. But the real nightmare was about to start. My teacher would yell at me countless times because according to her I was clueless about my EE and didn't even try to figure out a topic. I REALLY thought about it! I just couldn't... come up with anything, I swear... I'd rather get a topic in advance than coming up on my own what I want to write about...

 

 

Well, when I finally picked a topic (conformity rates across cultures), I wasn't quite sure how to even get started. I did read a lot of literature and got everything written in two weeks, then I gave it to my teacher as a first draught. Of course I expected her to give me some pieces of advice, but you know what? She crossed out almost everything I wrote in my EE saying that it was irrelevamt to my research question and that my assignment is just a piece of sh*t (okay, she didn't say the last one, but I know she thinks, lol). 

 

I don't know what to do. I am really willing to get a good grade but this whole EE thing already made me exhausted. 

[harihrrnn]

My EE is on Economics and my RQ is "To what extent has the government's stipulated cap on the film market lead the rise in demand in south India?.

In  south India especially in tamilnadu governments has intervened the theaters to fix their ticket price at Rs.120 ($2) maximum, no theater can exceed it. So due to that the black market for films has come down and the people whose goes to theater and watch the film has increased drastically because of it being cheap, in other states of India it would cost you more than 200 bucks ($3.5). 

Any suggestion on how to go about it ?(im doing on micro only)

Edited July 24, 2015 by harihrrnn

[راكان]

Hey all, I'm having trouble with my extended essay in Chemistry, and I have initially started off with the transesterification of biofuel, but the experiment isn't working out and so I'm bouncing to alloys. I'm trying to do something on corrosion resistance for certain alloys, and I was thinking of maybe something along the lines of the relation between percentage impurity and corrosion resistance? Is this somewhere near the right track?

Edited July 25, 2015 by راكان

[Kyreo]

Hi everyone,

I started an English Lang&Lit EE with my research question being: How has Nike built a unique brand identity through their "Just Do It" campaign?

or something along those lines

[rayncloudy]

My essay is in Mathematics

 

My proposed question: What was the role of mathematics, and geometry in particular, in navigation when we relied on the stars, and does it still have an important role in the navigational satellites of today?

Edited August 15, 2015 by rayncloudy

[Cassandre Bouchard]

I'm doing mine in French, so it's: Quel est l’influence de la déportation acadienne sur la langue et la culture francophone en Amérique du Nord?

(what is the influence of the acadian deportation on the french language and culture in north america?) 

 

I feel like it's too broad but my mentor approved it so whatever. I might tweak it once i'm done writing it.

[Romulus1408]

Hey guys,

Is it possible to conduct an extended essay on Homestuck in the topic of Literature? specifically, the characterization and certain symbology within the plot and story, reflecting that of certain literary concepts. 

 

the question itself i cannot say in fear of people taking away the idea. 

Edited August 17, 2015 by Romulus1408

[UncleChopChop]

Hey guys,

Is it possible to conduct an extended essay on Homestuck in the topic of Literature? specifically, the characterization and certain symbology within the plot and story, reflecting that of certain literary concepts. 

 

the question itself i cannot say in fear of people taking away the idea. 

 

I really don't think that would work very well considering:

 

a) it relies heavily on visual medium, which is difficult and inefficient to analyse in a word-limited essay

b) the examiners have probably never heard of it and would likely be quite overwhelmed when trying to get a fundamental grasp on it before reading your essay (if you're that lucky - they may just give up and mark you poorly for their own misunderstanding)

c) it's not a well-respected piece of literature - a web comic would be considered quite trite in all likelihood

 

Perhaps somebody could pull it off - but trust me, when you're diving into the bulk of your EE you'll be dealing with loads of IAs and exam prep - you don't want to waste time proving a point when you could get a better mark working more efficiently with traditional literature.

[Romulus1408]

 

Hey guys,

Is it possible to conduct an extended essay on Homestuck in the topic of Literature? specifically, the characterization and certain symbology within the plot and story, reflecting that of certain literary concepts. 

 

the question itself i cannot say in fear of people taking away the idea. 

 

I really don't think that would work very well considering:

 

a) it relies heavily on visual medium, which is difficult and inefficient to analyse in a word-limited essay

b) the examiners have probably never heard of it and would likely be quite overwhelmed when trying to get a fundamental grasp on it before reading your essay (if you're that lucky - they may just give up and mark you poorly for their own misunderstanding)

c) it's not a well-respected piece of literature - a web comic would be considered quite trite in all likelihood

 

Perhaps somebody could pull it off - but trust me, when you're diving into the bulk of your EE you'll be dealing with loads of IAs and exam prep - you don't want to waste time proving a point when you could get a better mark working more efficiently with traditional literature.

 

homestuck is heavily based on prose and characterization though, with only a single image per page with an entire page of words below it. I have also heard of some people operating with an EE without anyone really reading it, obscure literature typically. I admit it is not well respected but i have also read an EE done on the novel of the Hunger Games, how well respected is YA literature? this point has been proven multiple times by many others and apparently they have done well. Has anyone here actually read Homestuck? it's primarily words.  

[harihrrnn]

hey people,

               I'm doing my EE on economics and my RQ is

"To what extent has the government's "stipulated cap on the film market" led to the rise in demand in South India?"

in chennai, India. The government has made rule that no theater should fix their price more than Rs120($2).

so basically im gonna speak about taxes, externalities, black market (fully micro).

so any suggestion on how to go about it.?

 

[UncleChopChop]

 

 

Hey guys,

Is it possible to conduct an extended essay on Homestuck in the topic of Literature? specifically, the characterization and certain symbology within the plot and story, reflecting that of certain literary concepts. 

 

the question itself i cannot say in fear of people taking away the idea. 

 

I really don't think that would work very well considering:

 

a) it relies heavily on visual medium, which is difficult and inefficient to analyse in a word-limited essay

b) the examiners have probably never heard of it and would likely be quite overwhelmed when trying to get a fundamental grasp on it before reading your essay (if you're that lucky - they may just give up and mark you poorly for their own misunderstanding)

c) it's not a well-respected piece of literature - a web comic would be considered quite trite in all likelihood

 

Perhaps somebody could pull it off - but trust me, when you're diving into the bulk of your EE you'll be dealing with loads of IAs and exam prep - you don't want to waste time proving a point when you could get a better mark working more efficiently with traditional literature.

 

homestuck is heavily based on prose and characterization though, with only a single image per page with an entire page of words below it. I have also heard of some people operating with an EE without anyone really reading it, obscure literature typically. I admit it is not well respected but i have also read an EE done on the novel of the Hunger Games, how well respected is YA literature? this point has been proven multiple times by many others and apparently they have done well. Has anyone here actually read Homestuck? it's primarily words.  

 

 

I take your point - but many of the past examiners' reports have expressed dismay at the overuse of YA literature as it is typically regarded as trite and low-level. It can be done well - but it's much harder to and you would get a better grade with less difficulty taking the boring but consistently successful path of "real" literature.

 

One of the criteria for the introduction is "demonstrates why the topic is worthy of investigation". You may be able to successfully present this argument here successfully to a younger crowd - but what guarantees do you have about your marker? It is quite a risk, and typically the demonstration of worth takes only a handful of sentences - your justification may take more words than you can afford.

 

It -could- work, but you're taking a huge risk as to what the marker thinks as you don't get to have this conversation with them - and I don't think the odds are great there.

Edited August 21, 2015 by UncleChopChop

[B-Teng-H]

Hi,

 

I have chosen Business and Management as my subject but I am not sure if the research question is narrow enough...

 

My research question is:

How has peer pressure affected the way people purchase products?

 

The topic was on peer pressure's relationship with people's buying habits.

 

I would very much appreciate some feedback...

 

Tks!!!!

[nathancullum]

Hey guys

 

For my EE, I am studying the motion of parachutes. Is the research question "what factor decreases the time of descent the most" a good research question?

 

Thanks 

[ShootingStar16]

Hi,

 

I have chosen Business and Management as my subject but I am not sure if the research question is narrow enough...

 

My research question is:

How has peer pressure affected the way people purchase products?

 

The topic was on peer pressure's relationship with people's buying habits.

 

I would very much appreciate some feedback...

 

Tks!!!!

It's too broad, I believe. Focusing on a specific type of product may help. Also maybe specify the type of peer pressure? 

[UncleChopChop]

Hey guys

 

For my EE, I am studying the motion of parachutes. Is the research question "what factor decreases the time of descent the most" a good research question?

 

Thanks 

 

From a purely theoretical perspective it sounds like a decent enough topic - you can go into depth with the physical theory by analysing the differential equation describing a parachute's motion, the nature of air resistance, etc.

 

From an experimental perspective it sounds somewhat problematic - are you going to be conducting 5 different experiment types each measuring the behaviour of a different factor? Will you be able to fit this into 4000 words with all the analysis it needs? Also, in my own experience, experiments with parachutes tend to produce poor quality data - though this could be a consideration of your CE.

 

It has potential - just think about what the finished product might look like as you hone in on the question.

[farouk]

Hello

 

My extended essay is in History. My research question is, "to what extent was the success of Germany's "Blitzkrieg" strategy in Western Europe due to the incompetence and unpreparedness of its enemies?"

 

I can narrow it to one country, nevertheless it remains pretty straightforwards but reading other topics most seem much more intricate/ interesting / focused.

 

Any suggestions/help would be much appreciated

 

[molang_]

Hey guys! I'm having a lot of trouble with my EE topic and trying to narrow the focus of my paper. My question is: How did Westernization in 19th Century Meiji Japan Change the Path of the Country's Development?

 

I wrote a rough draft that mostly had background information (within it, I discussed the political, cultural, and social changes that occurred and I only got to about 2,000. Granted I had less information back then.) but I'm afraid I won't be able to hit 4,000 words. I've been trying to get info for the paper but I don't even know where to go at this point. I have another rough draft due in 3 weeks and I could really appreciate any feedback as to how I could go about the paper so I can finish my rough draft.

 

Thank you