EE Criterion A: Focus and Method (6pts)

“Criterion A focuses on the topic, the research question and the methodology. It assesses the explanation of the focus of the research (this includes the topic and the research question), how the research will be undertaken, and how the focus is maintained throughout the essay” (IBO, 2016:101).

• Ensure your research question (RQ) is specific, sharply focused and stated clearly in the introduction of the essay. It should be formulated as a question, not a statement or proposition for discussion. Its purpose should be made clear to the reader and be related to the knowledge and understanding in context.

• Avoid an overly broad topic that cannot be dealt with adequately within the scope of the word limit. Similarly, a too-obvious a topic is unlikely to score highly in terms of criterion C.

• State briefly in your introduction why you have chosen that particular research question and what it has to offer. Your intro should also indicate clearly how your RQ relates to existing knowledge on that topic.

• Be sure in your planning and discussion focus to include analysis of your work(s) in the light of your research question. You may also include a critical perspective on secondary source material so that the views of critics are used to support your own arguments. The sources used must provide sufficient material to develop and support an argument and a conclusion relevant to the research question

• For categories 1 and 2 essays, appropriate sources include the literary text or texts that form the focus of the investigation and, where appropriate, secondary sources such as published criticism on those texts.  In both these categories, be aware that you may be limiting yourself by choosing texts that are not capable of sustaining a detailed in-depth literary analysis, e.g. some types of children’s literature or teenage fiction.  

• Category 2 essays should include a brief rationale for the pairing of the texts chosen, indicating what might be gained from the comparative study being undertaken. Avoid taking an approach where such texts are dealt with in two separate discussions.  

• Category 3 language essays based on a primary text or texts from the range indicated in the subject guide should also use secondary sources to provide a framework for a critical analysis of how language, culture and context shape meaning. 

• If the topic or research question is deemed inappropriate for the subject in which the essay is registered, no more than four marks can be awarded for this criterion. This applies to language A essays that are based on inappropriate texts.