Extended EssaySample Questions

Group 1 Studies in Language and Literature

“How is the subject of death treated in selected poems by Emily Brontë and Emily Dickinson?”

What is the literary function of the dialogue between language and nature in David Malouf's An Imaginary Life?

In what different ways do Shaw and Anouilh present Joan of Arc in their plays?

•How far does the use of rhetoric in Barack Obama’s speeches increase their effectiveness?

•How does the use of startling visual imagery in a public health campaign (on smoking for example) function, and what does it reveal about existing cultural ideas of the body and health?

Group 2Language Acquisition

•“To what extent have differences between formal and informal usage disappeared from the language used in the Rio de la Plata region?”

•“What is the nature of MC Solaar’s rap critique of modern French society?”

Group 3Individuals and Societies

•Economics: “Will the recent policy of cutting bakery prices lead to increased revenue for the Safeway supermarket in Ryde, Sydney?”

•Economics: “Has the Kenyan central bank’s policy of interest rate cuts led to a rise in new car sales in Nairobi?”

•History: “To what extent were Hitler’s educational aims fulfilled in the Uhland Gymnasium, 1937-1939?”

•History: “How and why have explanations of the Cuban Missile Crisis changed since 1962?”

•Human Rights: “How could the UN intervention in the Rwandan genocide be justified?”

•Human Rights: “To what extent can the limited political rights of women in Saudi Arabia be justified?”

•Politics: “Which social and political values should a modern British Conservative party seek to conserve?”

•Politics: “Is it politically possible for the US government to win the war on drugs?”

GrouP 4Experimental Sciences

•Biology:“Are commercially available antibacterial cleaning agents effective in controlling the growth of E. coli on nutrient agar under laboratory conditions?”

•Biology: “Can a program of training at high altitude have an impact on the fitness of an athlete?”

•ESS: “To what extent does the length of time after an exotic plant has been introduced to an area, and the latitude from which it originates, affect the diversity of herbivores found feeding on it?”

•ESS: “From major inputs and outputs of the school canteen, what overall estimate of its environmental impact can be made in terms of an ecological footprint?”

•Chemistry: “Does the time it takes to brew a cup of tea using a specific commercial brand of tea leaves significantly alter the amount of caffeine that is dissolved in the drink?”

•Chemistry: “Do strawberry jellies in different countries contain the same red dyes?”

•Physics: “Do wine bottles of different shapes behave as Helmholtz resonators?”

•Physics: “Is the efficiency of electromagnetic damping of a moving glider a function of the initial kinetic energy of the glider?”

Group 5Mathematics and Computer Science

•Mathematics: “How many square numbers are also triangular numbers, where are they, and what other problems lead to Pell’s equation?”

•Mathematics: “What was the role of mathematics, and geometry in particular, in navigation when we relied on the stars?”

•Information Technology in a Global Society: “To what extent is it likely that natural language interfaces will replace the keyboard in the production of office documents?”

•Information Technology in a Global Society: “Does the addition of e-learning systems improve the performance of students in mathematics?”

Group 6The Arts

•Visual Arts: “Picasso: individual genius or cultural thief?”

•Visual Arts: “What is the impact of transcultural experience on the art of Gu Xiong?”

World StudiesSample Questions

•An interdisciplinary essay on an issue of global importance

•Example Topics: global food crisis, climate change, terrorism, energy security, migration, global health

•An essay that draws on theories, findings and methods from 2 or more IBD subjects and then integrates them to produce a coherent and insightful analysis of the issue

•What do members of 3 religions (Hindu, Muslim and Christian) in my city ……. believe or know about the causes, transmission and cures of HIV-AIDS, and how do religious beliefs inform these views?

•How and why have two Japanese graffiti artists used American hip hop art for the purposes of self-expression and community organization in their country?

•What is the impact of non-native aquatic plants on marine and inland environments?

•How does baby formula affect the health of infants, and why is it such a popular alternative to mother’s milk in the Philippines and Canada?