Fall of senior year for International Baccalaureate (IB) Diploma Candidates means beginning work on the Extended Essay (EE). The EE is an approximately 4,000-word essay on a subject of the writer’s choice, as long as it falls within IB’s areas of learning, including science, English, history and psychology, to name a few options. While the EE can be enjoyable because diploma candidates choose their topics, it is also a very lengthy and grueling process. Students are assigned a staff adviser who is an expert in their EE subject. 

The Wolf interviewed IB Diploma seniors Olivia Saldanha, Helayna Sy, Amy Kang and Ashlyn Rusk about their EEs and the ups and downs of the process thus far. 

What are you doing your Extended Essay on? 

Saldanha: My EE is a comparative study using the novels All My Rage by Sabaa Tahir and Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck, focusing on the American Dream and its inherent contradiction for marginalized people, as it is advertised to many and attained by few. 

Sy: My Extended Essay is a literary analysis of the novel Tomorrow, Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin. I will explore how the art (video games) mimics life and allows people to make sense of transient lifetimes. The fastidious creation of this art is also reflective and reliant on the evolution of the relationships in the novel. 

Kang: I’m doing a literary analysis of the book Tender is the Flesh by Agustina Bazterrica. [It’s a] super lovely, epic and grotesque book about cannibalism.

Rusk: I’m doing a comparative literature study between Persuasion and Pride and Prejudice, both by Jane Austen, exploring the perpetuation of internalized misogyny between mothers and daughters. 

What has been the most challenging part of the Extended Essay thus far?

Saldanha: The most challenging part has been defining my argument and choosing a specific aspect to investigate, especially because I feel like I could talk about my topic for hours.

Rusk: The most challenging part was narrowing down the lens I wanted to explore the novels through, and I finally landed on exploring how the different approaches Austen takes between the novels demonstrates the ability for the issue to evolve into different shapes and forms.

What are you most looking forward to with the Extended Essay? 

Rusk: I’m most excited to uncover details in the books I hadn’t realized on my first read, examining different aspects in new ways, gaining a new appreciation for the novels.

Sy: Having initially read this book for pleasure, I am excited to analyze it, now, through an academic lens.