LANGUAGE A
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 language A analyses one or more texts to explore both the effects that the text(s) achieve and the devices the text(s) use to create these effects. It invites you to:
Note: An extended essay in language A must be written in the language for which it is registered. You are not allowed to submit a Language A extended essay in the language of your Language B subject.
Also, extended essays submitted in language A cannot be based on a text studied as part of your studies in the language and literature course. However, you can base your essay on a different text(s) by an author you have studied during the course.
- produce an in-depth study of a topic in language and/or literature
- undertake independent literary criticism
- engage with established critical commentary on the text(s) and/or literary theory through textual analysis.
- a study of a single literary or language text
- a comparative study of more than one literary or language text
- a comparative study of a literary and a language text.
Note: An extended essay in language A must be written in the language for which it is registered. You are not allowed to submit a Language A extended essay in the language of your Language B subject.
Also, extended essays submitted in language A cannot be based on a text studied as part of your studies in the language and literature course. However, you can base your essay on a different text(s) by an author you have studied during the course.
Key requirements
Texts can include one or more of the following: novels; poems; stories; plays; pieces of non-fiction; images (like print advertisements or photojournalism); extracts; media texts such as newspaper articles, advertising campaigns, radio and television programmes and their scripts; films; songs; electronic texts such as video-sharing websites and apps, web pages, SMS messages, blogs, wikis and tweets; and oral texts such as readings, speeches, broadcasts and transcripts of recorded conversation. The text(s) must be clearly defined, with temporal boundaries when appropriate, e.g. an individual’s tweets on a specific topic from January to March 2021.
- The topic of an extended essay in language A must be related to the target literature and/or language, and be based on one or more texts.
- You may choose as your topic a social, political or philosophical issue arising from the text(s): the focus must be a literary analysis of how the text(s) treat the issue.
- The text(s) should not be used as documentary evidence to support the issue; rather, the issue must be discussed within a literary context.
- Choosing a topic that simply applies a generic or theoretical convention to a text is self-limiting, and will not yield the kind of in-depth, critical, literary analysis expected. An example of such a self-limiting topic might be “How does the Harry Potter series reveal the Hero’s Journey?”.
- The texts you choose for your topic must have sufficient literary merit. They should be of sufficient stylistic originality and complexity to sustain in-depth analysis of content, themes, genre and literary devices, using subject-specific methods and terminology.
Texts can include one or more of the following: novels; poems; stories; plays; pieces of non-fiction; images (like print advertisements or photojournalism); extracts; media texts such as newspaper articles, advertising campaigns, radio and television programmes and their scripts; films; songs; electronic texts such as video-sharing websites and apps, web pages, SMS messages, blogs, wikis and tweets; and oral texts such as readings, speeches, broadcasts and transcripts of recorded conversation. The text(s) must be clearly defined, with temporal boundaries when appropriate, e.g. an individual’s tweets on a specific topic from January to March 2021.
- If you are planning an extended essay that focuses on short stories or poetry, ensure that your selection of texts—your body of work—is robust enough to sustain an in-depth 4,000-word essay. There is no precise number of stories or poems that will work best. But remember that the texts should enable you to consider not only what they say but also how they say it, through both the authors’ language and literary devices. The texts should contain enough substance that you can continue to raise and discuss points without overexplaining them or repeating yourself. Determining the best number of stories or poems for your essay will take some effort; rather than focusing on the amount of texts, you might look for complementary texts first—three to four short stories by the same author or three to four poems by the same poet on a particular theme. As you begin to read them analytically, you may realize that three stories yield enough material for an effective comparison and contrast; you may also realize that four poems enable you to deepen your analysis.
- If the text is a film, the focus must be clearly on the screenplay (the written or spoken word), its delivery and effect.
- You should try to avoid biographical, historical, psychological or sociological topics as they tend to focus away from a literary or language analysis and result in narrative or descriptive essays.
Literature-based scholarly research is an essential part of your language A extended essay and should include both primary and secondary sources. Primary sources refer to the novels, poems, stories, plays, or essays by the author(s) whose work is the focus of your research. Secondary sources are materials written about the work of the author(s), including books (e.g., studies and biographies), individual chapters, journal articles, essays about the work of the author(s), reviews of the work(s), studies of the genre you are writing about, and literary theory. You must include in your essay a review of the existing literature on your topic, thereby demonstrating knowledge and understanding.
Be aware that a recently published work may not yet have much critical material written about it, so it may be an unsuitable choice. Also, some “young adult” novels may lack sufficient depth and complexity to allow for a detailed analysis.
When writing your extended essay, take care not to use the essay solely as a vehicle for your personal thoughts and opinions. Instead, first focus your analysis on the ideas within the text(s) as presented by the author(s). Then you can present your considered views of how the author(s) have treated the subject, being careful to ground your analysis in the text(s) and to support it using textual evidence, such as examples and quotes. Writing an essay that simply offers a general overview of the topic or repeats the views of established literary critics will not score well.
Secondary sources provide a framework for a critical analysis of how language, culture, and context shape meaning. Summarizing the sources or presenting them without engaging with them critically will not help you to produce a good essay.
Comparative essays need to state clearly what their purpose is, beyond simply identifying similarities and differences between texts. Literary comparisons need to state a compelling and supportable reason for why the texts were selected. Language comparisons need to justify the selection of texts, for example, why certain speeches, advertising campaigns, or electronic texts were chosen. The comparative essay also needs to state the temporal boundaries of the texts, that is, which months or years they were published. The essay can briefly discuss how the choice of texts was limited, but should not describe the different options considered.
EE Guide pg 43-47
Be aware that a recently published work may not yet have much critical material written about it, so it may be an unsuitable choice. Also, some “young adult” novels may lack sufficient depth and complexity to allow for a detailed analysis.
When writing your extended essay, take care not to use the essay solely as a vehicle for your personal thoughts and opinions. Instead, first focus your analysis on the ideas within the text(s) as presented by the author(s). Then you can present your considered views of how the author(s) have treated the subject, being careful to ground your analysis in the text(s) and to support it using textual evidence, such as examples and quotes. Writing an essay that simply offers a general overview of the topic or repeats the views of established literary critics will not score well.
Secondary sources provide a framework for a critical analysis of how language, culture, and context shape meaning. Summarizing the sources or presenting them without engaging with them critically will not help you to produce a good essay.
Comparative essays need to state clearly what their purpose is, beyond simply identifying similarities and differences between texts. Literary comparisons need to state a compelling and supportable reason for why the texts were selected. Language comparisons need to justify the selection of texts, for example, why certain speeches, advertising campaigns, or electronic texts were chosen. The comparative essay also needs to state the temporal boundaries of the texts, that is, which months or years they were published. The essay can briefly discuss how the choice of texts was limited, but should not describe the different options considered.
EE Guide pg 43-47
Writing About Literature
- LitWeb
- What Makes a Good Lit Paper?
- Analyzing Literature: A Guide for Students PDF
- Critical Reading/Effective Writing
- Research Question in Literature
- Writing in Literature
- Elements of Literature