ARTS
Note: Before reading the following guidance, read the “General guidance for the extended essay” section in this guide.
Note: Before reading the following guidance, read the “General guidance for the extended essay” section in this guide.
An extended essay in the arts allows you to explore a topic of particular interest to you in dance, film, music, theater, or visual arts. It can include a wide range of dynamic creative practices through which human beings convey ideas, communicate experiences, values, and impressions, and develop identity. Any essay in this area should integrate the analysis of primary sources—such as artworks, films, live performances, music concerts, play texts, screenplays, scripts, and scores—with disciplined research informed by scholarly methods, and provide a critical evaluation of the results. Secondary sources, such as books, critiques and magazine articles, interviews, subject journals, and websites, must be used as evidential support for your argument.
Ensure that your selection of primary sources—your body of work—is robust enough to sustain an in-depth 4,000-word essay. There is no precise number of sources that will work best, but remember that the sources should enable you to consider not only what they say but also how they say it. The sources should contain enough substance that you can continue to raise and discuss points without overanalyzing them or repeating yourself. Determining the best number of sources for your essay will take some effort; rather than focusing on the amount, you might look for complementary sources first—for example, three to four by the same author, artist, or musician. As you begin to analyse them, you may realize that three sources yield enough material for effective comparison and contrast; you may also realize that four sources enable you to deepen your analysis.
Each subject poses its own unique set of challenges. Therefore, the approach to the investigation should reflect the research methods most appropriate to the arts subject and topic being studied. These approaches could include the study of aesthetic concepts, historical, social and cultural aspects, and gender-based or post-colonialist readings. In the arts, qualitative research methods that seek to understand the chosen art form within a context are more likely to be used.
Your extended essay presents an opportunity to study art in an international context, broadening your horizons in terms of artistic culture and exploring both the familiar and the new, in the spirit of intercultural understanding.
Ensure that your selection of primary sources—your body of work—is robust enough to sustain an in-depth 4,000-word essay. There is no precise number of sources that will work best, but remember that the sources should enable you to consider not only what they say but also how they say it. The sources should contain enough substance that you can continue to raise and discuss points without overanalyzing them or repeating yourself. Determining the best number of sources for your essay will take some effort; rather than focusing on the amount, you might look for complementary sources first—for example, three to four by the same author, artist, or musician. As you begin to analyse them, you may realize that three sources yield enough material for effective comparison and contrast; you may also realize that four sources enable you to deepen your analysis.
Each subject poses its own unique set of challenges. Therefore, the approach to the investigation should reflect the research methods most appropriate to the arts subject and topic being studied. These approaches could include the study of aesthetic concepts, historical, social and cultural aspects, and gender-based or post-colonialist readings. In the arts, qualitative research methods that seek to understand the chosen art form within a context are more likely to be used.
Your extended essay presents an opportunity to study art in an international context, broadening your horizons in terms of artistic culture and exploring both the familiar and the new, in the spirit of intercultural understanding.
The arts present strong links to other disciplines, and their richness may tempt students to select topics that are peripheral to the actual arts subject—this is not recommended. It is essential that students answer the question using artistic and contextual analysis and that the work does not diverge into other areas like psychology, history, or sociology. To illustrate this, consider a music research question: “How did the Beatles change the music industry in the 1960s?” While the Beatles are musicians, the focus of the research question is the “changes in the music industry”. Therefore, the focus is not on music but on the industry that relates to it.
Students may choose to discuss, for example, a social, political, or gender issue arising from an artwork, film or play text. Nevertheless, they must not treat artwork merely as documentary evidence in the discussion of the issue and should focus instead on the artistic meaning and significance of the chosen artwork.
Some topics may attempt to demonstrate the influence of one artist, performer, or composer over another or one artistic style over another, but undertaking a comparative essay like this should be considered carefully. While finding similarities between the work of artists is relatively easy, demonstrating an actual influence is complex. For this approach to be successful, a student would need to undertake a rigorous formal analysis and provide supporting documents, such as letters, diaries or interviews, or media articles, to evidence the perceived “influence” clearly. The visual arts example below that explores the influence of Japanese prints on Claude Monet’s artistic practice describes a good approach to such a topic.
Students may choose to discuss, for example, a social, political, or gender issue arising from an artwork, film or play text. Nevertheless, they must not treat artwork merely as documentary evidence in the discussion of the issue and should focus instead on the artistic meaning and significance of the chosen artwork.
Some topics may attempt to demonstrate the influence of one artist, performer, or composer over another or one artistic style over another, but undertaking a comparative essay like this should be considered carefully. While finding similarities between the work of artists is relatively easy, demonstrating an actual influence is complex. For this approach to be successful, a student would need to undertake a rigorous formal analysis and provide supporting documents, such as letters, diaries or interviews, or media articles, to evidence the perceived “influence” clearly. The visual arts example below that explores the influence of Japanese prints on Claude Monet’s artistic practice describes a good approach to such a topic.
To substantiate ideas in the arts, you must critically examine primary and secondary sources. In instances where you are unable to view primary sources in person—such as paintings, performances, concerts, buildings—you must rely on high-quality reproductions, videos and images instead. Images must be used selectively to support the reading and understanding of your essay.
Secondary sources can be used to provide context. They support the points raised in the analysis and illuminate the circumstances that led the artist to make certain artistic decisions. The opinions of specialists, practitioners and professionals, such as artists, curators, historians and critics, may provide different perspectives that will help create a robust line of argument.
When building a compelling academic argument, it is important to select an appropriate strategy. Quoting or summarizing secondary sources is likely to result in limited argumentation. Making use of a good selection of analysed and explained primary sources would be more effective. Ideally, a combination of both helps to develop a more convincing and solid argument.
EE Guide pg 71-77
Secondary sources can be used to provide context. They support the points raised in the analysis and illuminate the circumstances that led the artist to make certain artistic decisions. The opinions of specialists, practitioners and professionals, such as artists, curators, historians and critics, may provide different perspectives that will help create a robust line of argument.
When building a compelling academic argument, it is important to select an appropriate strategy. Quoting or summarizing secondary sources is likely to result in limited argumentation. Making use of a good selection of analysed and explained primary sources would be more effective. Ideally, a combination of both helps to develop a more convincing and solid argument.
EE Guide pg 71-77