Higher Level Essay

Weighting: 20%

The nature of the task

At HL, students are required to write a 1,200 –1,500 word formal essay which develops a particular line of inquiry of their own choice in connection with a non-literary body of work or a literary work studied during the course.

The HL essay offers students an opportunity to develop as independent, critical and creative readers, thinkers and writers by exploring a literary or language line of inquiry over an extended period of time, refining their ideas by means of a process of planning, drafting and re-drafting. The essay requires students to construct a focused, analytical argument examining the work from a broad literary or linguistic perspective.  It also requires them to adhere to the formal framework of an academic essay, using citations and references.

Explanation of the task

The HL essay is based on the exploration the student has carried out in the learner portfolio. During this exploration process, the student will have investigated a number of texts from a variety of different perspectives. In the lead-up to the drafting of the essay, the student must decide which work or body of work to focus on for further investigation, and which line of inquiry to write about in connection with it.  In choosing the line of inquiry, the student 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.