At HL, you are required to write a 1,200 –1,500 word formal essay which develops a particular line of inquiry of your own choice in connection with a non-literary body of work or a literary work studied during the course. The task requires you to construct a focused, analytical argument examining the work from a broad literary or linguistic perspective. It also requires you to adhere to the formal framework of an academic essay, using citations and references.
Explanation of the task Decide which work or body of work studied in class you want to focus on for further investigation, and which topic to write about in connection with it. In choosing the topic, you can consult the course’s seven central concepts. Any work or body of work previously studied in class may be selected, with the exception of the texts used for the internal assessment and the works the student plans to use in paper 2.
Selection of work or body of work Candidates must select the texts and topic for their essay independently; however, consultation with the teacher is essential in this process. Care must be taken to make sure that the chosen work or body of work are rich enough to support a developed, focused, and analytical argument. In the case of literary texts, it is possible for a student to also explore texts from the author of the work that were not studied in class, provided at least one of the texts was covered in class, to ensure the assignment is a broad literary investigation rather than a narrowly-focused stylistic commentary task. In the case of short non-literary texts, it may be necessary for the candidate to use more than one from the same body of work by the same authorship; at least one of the texts must be studied in class.
Determining the topic The chosen topic should enable a broad literary or linguistic focus for the essay. In achieving this, the course’s seven central concepts may be a helpful starting point for students in generating or determining a topic for the essay. While students do not have to trace their essay back to one of the seven concepts and the assessment criteria do not require it, working with one of the seven concepts will allow students to begin thinking about their topic as they refine their ideas and arguments. The seven concepts are briefly discussed here in relation to the assignment. The TSM has more specific examples for further guidance. Another way to develop the line of inquiry is to explore the literary schools of criticism (formalist, feminist, psychoanalist, marxist, etc.) or rely on the guiding questions of the three Areas of Exploration provided by the course guide.
Higher Level Essay - Response to Pygmalion (Task Sheet)