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EE Guide: Finding a Topic in Literature: EE Guide: Finding a Topic

Choosing a Topic

  1. Pick a text to write your EE on. It should be:
    1. a text of literary merit.  YA literature can be tricky for this.
    2. preferably be within the past 5 years. Books that are very well known or staples of high school curricula are fine, of course, but you may have to combat particularly strong pre-held notions on the part of your examiner or deal with a lot of external research.
    3. not very short. 2-300 pages is a good start. Collections of works are also a good source.
    4. written in ENGLISH in the original language.
  2. Determine the type of essay (character, conflict, setting, theme, symbol, language, critical theory, etc…). Also, is it a category 1-2 or 3 essay? (see the guide for more on this).
  3. Define a falsifiable argument. This is your starting point for an essay and should be carefully agreed on with your advisor. If the argument is vague or unsuitable, your essay is not going to be focused and academically appropriate.  

Extended Essay Home Page

Encyclopedias, Dictionaries, Glossaries

Book Award Winners

To find a book, look at these lists of book awards. Anything you find here will have substantial literary depth.

  1. National Book Award

  2. Man Booker Prize

  3. Pulitzer Prize for Fiction

  4. Lists of Other English Literature Awards

Ebooks from Enoch Pratt

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Literary Genres