IB English Extended Essay
The IB English Extended Essay is a 4,000-word piece of literary criticism: an argument about how one or two texts work, marked out of 34 against the five Extended Essay criteria. The most common way to lose marks in this subject is to write something else instead — a plot summary with quotations, an author biography, or a general essay about a theme. Most students analyse literature originally written in English, and success comes from a technique-anchored research question and sustained close reading of the primary text.
A strong English research question names a formal feature — narration, structure, imagery, stage directions — and makes an arguable claim answerable from the text itself. One text analysed deeply, or two in genuine dialogue, beats a survey of four every time. Descriptive questions (“what is the theme of love in Romeo and Juliet?”) produce catalogues of scenes, and relevance questions (“why is 1984 still relevant today?”) invite social commentary that cannot be evidenced from the text.
Examples of Strong Research Questions
- How does Kazuo Ishiguro use unreliable narration in The Remains of the Day to reveal what Stevens cannot admit to himself?
- To what extent does the epistolary structure of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein direct the reader’s sympathy between Victor and the creature?
- How does Tennessee Williams use stage directions in A Streetcar Named Desire to dramatise the gap between Blanche’s illusions and her circumstances?
Assessment Criteria and Common Mistakes
Criterion A — Focus and method (6 marks) rewards a precise literary question and a visible analytical approach: which texts, which passages, which lens. Criterion B — Knowledge and understanding (6 marks) rewards understanding of the work shown through purposeful literary terminology. Criterion C — Critical thinking (12 marks), the highest-weighted, rewards interpretation built from close reading: quotations analysed for their effect, alternative readings considered, an argument that develops rather than repeats. Criterion D — Presentation (4 marks) covers structure, quotation formatting and referencing. Criterion E — Engagement (6 marks) is assessed through the RPPF reflections. Secondary criticism should sharpen your own argument, never replace it.
The mark-losing classics in English EEs: plot summary between quotations; device-spotting without analysing effect; explaining the text through the author’s life; too many texts covered thinly; study-guide readings reproduced secondhand; and ignoring form entirely in favour of theme talk.