Extended Essays
A worldwide requirement of the IB Diploma is the completion of the Extended Essay (EE). Early in second semester of their junior year, diploma candidates receive a copy of the EE guidelines with specific deadline dates and copies of the forms to be submitted.
The EE is a 4,000-word research paper completed by a diploma candidate in one of the IB subject areas. Students may select the IB subject area for research. A subject faculty member will be selected as the student's EE supervisor.
This research project is a scholarly pursuit done by the student under the supervision of a faculty expert, working with the student four to five hours maximum over the course of the year. The EE must meet the guidelines established by IB and the guidelines established by the faculty expert. Extended Essays cannot include the same topics completed for internal assessments in IB classes, and two or more diploma candidates can not submit essays on the same topic.
Should a diploma candidate not submit an EE, they will not receive an IB diploma.
Tips for a successful EE experience:
- Begin early.
- Spend time considering subject area and topic by reading subject-area overviews, talking with subject-area teachers and choosing a topic of interest.
- Develop and maintain a good working relationship with a supervisor.
- Create deadlines and stick to them.
- Use the spring and summer months to get most of the EE completed.
- Work in large chunks of time with no distractions (this is not a project to be done a half-hour at a time).
- Be proud of this work! It is college-level research and students will become somewhat of an “expert” in their topic.
Subject areas
See EE subject-area handbooks. These will tell you what's required for an EE in a particular subject. Below are some titles of former students’ EEs (Mrs. Morgan has copies of sample EEs in the IB office; students are welcome to see them.)
English Language (Category 3)
- “A Rhetorical Analysis of Harvey Milk's ‘You've Got to Have Hope’ Speech”
- “An Exploration of the Ethicality and Effectiveness of Language Present in Health Product Commercials”
English Literature
- “Margaret Atwood's ‘A Handmaid's Tale’ as a Commentary on Gender and Society”
- “The Portrayal of Gender in Ibbotson's ‘Which Witch?’“
World Language: Spanish
- “El Lazarillo de Tormes y lost pecados capitales de la sociedad espanola en 1554”
- “Como utiliza Isabel Allende a Eliza Sommers, y lost personaljes secundarios fameninos en su novela, Hija de la Fortuna, para transmitir ideas feministas?”
History
- “The Dropping of the Atomic Bombs and What it Reveals about American Culture”
- “How did WWII affect American women's place in the workforce and government perceptions on the roles of women in the workforce, and how did mass media reflect or contribute to these effects during WWII?”
Business
- “A Classier McDonald’s: The Importance of Marketing Mix and Customer Satisfaction”
Psychology
- “The Efficacy of Electroconvulsive Therapy in the 21st Century”
- “Evaluation of Pediatric Autoimmune Neuropsychiatric Disorders Associated with Streptococcal Infections (PANDAS) as an Independent Diagnosis”
Biology
- “Differences in Protein Concentration in Various Types of Milk as Measured by Bradford Protein Assay Kit”
- “The Effects of Triarylmethane Textile Dye on Aquatic Plant Photosynthesis as Measured by the Change in Oxygen Concentration”
Chemistry
- “The Correlation Between the Bonding Within Biomasses and the Durability of Bioplastics”
- “Investigating the Preservation Effect of Salt Water on Apples Undergoing Oxidation”
Math
- “Modeling Fluid Flow around a Rotating Circular Body”
- “The Mathematical Relationship Between the Fibonacci Sequence and the Beauty of the Milky Way Galaxy”
Music
- “The Use of LIght Motifs to Accurately Display Instrumental Programmatic Storytelling”
- “An Evaluation of Interpretative Performance of Claude Debussy's Music as a Result of Influence from Frederic Chopin”
Note: For physics and ESS, check with Mr. Gray and Mrs. Yagow