Skip to Main Content

OGC Extended Essay: Lang & Lit

 Lang & Lit: Overview 

When planning a Lang & Lit essay, it's IMPERATIVE to get the category right! 

  • Category 1 - one or more works in the same original language as the essay (English, probably) - NOT works translated into English
  • Category 2 - Two or more works with at least one in the original language of the essay (probably English) and at least one in ANOTHER original language (a work that's been translated into English)
  • Category 3 - Essays about the use of language

 

Requirements for a Lang & Lit EE

SUBJECT-Specific Guidance pages explain the requirements. Print, highlight, annotated this document and pin it above your desk!

Use Command Terms in your essay to indicate a strong background in your subject

Read the Subject Reports to know what examiners are looking for

 

Research Questions: Language & Literature 

Review the questions below

  • Which ones will be most successful?
  • What ideas do the questions spark for you?

Sample Questions, score unknown

English A, Category 1

  • To what extent does William Shakespeare employ Elizabethan elements in Romeo and Juliet to build towards the eventual tragedy?
  • How do aspects of real-life societies inform and shape A Clockwork Orange and The Handmaid’s Tale?

English A, Category 3

  • How are skincare companies like: Neutrogena, Nivea, and Dove promoting white supremacy?
  • To what extent did news media outlets, specifically CNN and Fox News, use different reporting methods to portray the candidates in the 2016 United States presidential election?
  • How were African Americans portrayed in American sitcoms from 1980 to 2000?

Past Papers: Why Read Them?

  • See common structures, methodologies, use of command terms and other subject-specific vocabulary
  • Notice the difference between successful papers AND papers that were less successful
  • Read the examiner comments on scored papers and their reflections to note what worked and what didn't

 

Lang & Lit Papers