Extended Essay: The Abstract

Sources:
Druce, Elizabeth, and Hannah Tyson. IB English A1 Course Companion. Oxford University Press: !!". Print. #$%
&.
Tyson, Hannah and 'ar( )everley. IB Course Companion: English A Literature. Oxford University Press: !**. +*%
+,.
The norms for this feature are clearly stated by the IBO: The requirements for the abstract are for it to state
clearly the research question that was investigated how the investigation was underta!en and the
conclusion"s# of the essay$% This means that the &ur&ose of it is to allow your readers to understand quic!ly
the contents they will encounter in your Extended Essay$ It has only three requirements:
'$ A clear statement of your research question$ (ou can )ust write for exam&le: *+y research
consists of an investigation into the use of symbolism in ',-. by /eorge Orwell*$
0$ An account of the scope of the essay$ (ou need to ex&lain what the focus of the investigation as and
what your sources were$
1$ A brief summary of your conclusion$
It is important to remember that:
The abstract is not the same as the introduction$
(ou are not required to ex&lain why you have chosen your to&ic$
(ou are not ex&ected to summari2e the whole essay$
(ou must not exceed 300 words$
3ormally the abstract is written last so that it reflects what you have done rather than what you intended to
do$
Formatting:
(our abstract should be &rinted on one side of a se&arate &age and &laced immediately after the title &age$
The to& of the &age should be headed with Abstract% which should be centered$
It should follow the guidelines of whatever documentation style you have chosen to use for the rest of the
&a&er$ (ou should choose your &referred documentation style according to what you are very familiar with
and what style best fits the ty&e of &a&er you are writing$ The following is a list of ma)or documentation
styles acce&ted by IBO:
American 4olitical 5cience Association "A45A#
American 4sychological Association "A4A#
6hicago7Turabian
6ouncil of Biology Editors "6BE#
8arvard citation and referencing guide
+odern 9anguage Association "+9A#
3umbered references
The Abstract is worth 0 &oints scaled as follows:
: The abstract exceeds 1:: words or one or more of the following is7are missing: the research
question the sco&e of the investigation the conclusion reaches$
' ;ithin the abstract the research question the sco&e of the investigation and the conclusion
reached are all &resent but not all clearly stated$
0 ;ithin the abstract the research question the sco&e of the investigation and the conclusion
reached are all clearly stated$
Below are abstract exam&les for English A' EEs "both are around 0<:=0>: words#:
The Title of the Essay is: -The T.o E/ilies0.
The to1ic is: -The 1oetry of E/ily )ront2 and E/ily Dic(inson0.
The research 3uestion is: -Do E/ily )ront2 and E/ily Dic(inson exhibit si/ilar attitudes to nature and
death in their 1oetry40
Abstract
E/ily )ront2 and E/ily Dic(inson share /ore than 5ust a na/e. They .ere both fe/ale .riters in the
nineteenth century, a ti/e .hen it .as still not easy for .o/en to have their .ritin6 1ublished. They both
.rote extensively about nature and death. 'y research 3uestion is: Do E/ily )ront2 and E/ily Dic(inson
exhibit si/ilar attitudes to nature and death in their 1oetry4
7t it .ould be i/1ossible to discuss all of the 1oetry .ritten by the t.o E/ilies, 8 have concentrated on
co/1arin6 and analysin6 the follo.in6 1oe/s by E/ily )ront2: -8 said, 9o, 6entle sin6er0: -8;/ ha11iest
.hen /ost a.ay0: -8n the earth, the earth, thou shalt be laid0: -Shall earth no /ore ins1ire /e0: and by
E/ily Dic(inson: -<hat /ystery 1ervades a .ell=0: -8 felt a funeral in /y brain0: -7 6reat Ho1e fell0: -Death
is the su11le Suitor0: -Safe in their 7labaster >ha/bers%%0. 8 have consulted a ran6e of secondary sources,
so/e of .hich thre. li6ht on the inter.eavin6 of nature and death that can be found in both .riters.
The si/ilarities that 8 found in the .or(s of )ront2 and Dic(inson .ere sur1risin6. The i/1ortance of nature
in their lives, its /a6netic force as an ins1iration and the retreat it 1rovided the/ fro/ the isolation they
felt fro/ society .ere all too obvious. <hat .as /ore stri(in6 .as that 5ust as society had failed the/, so,
in the end, did nature. Only in death did they feel that they .ould ?nd both 1eace and the ans.ers they
sou6ht to .hat .as the /eanin6 of life.
"3ote: The above abstract is divided into three &aragra&hs to indicate clearly the different elements$ It is not
necessary to set it out in this manner$#
To what extent was Charlotte Bront successful in portraying a plain and small,
conventionally unattractive heroine, in ane !yre"
Abstract
>harlotte )ront2@s clai/ of creatin6 an unconventional heroine in Jane Eyre has been sub5ect to criticis/:
thus, this 1a1er ai/s to analyze the character of Aane Eyre, in order to deter/ine the extent to .hich
)ront2 .as successful in creatin6 a B1lain and s/allB, conventionally unattractive heroine, in Jane Eyre. 8n
order to thorou6hly analyze Aane@s character, various as1ects of the novel are exa/ined. Aane@s vie. of
herself to be very 1lain, s/all, and si/1le seldo/ chan6es: ho.ever, .hen she thin(s herself no lon6er
1lain, the criticis/ that )ront2 did not co/1letely defy convention is su11orted. Cevertheless, )ront2@s
foilin6 of Aane@s character .ith those of Eliza and 9eor6iana Deed, and her 1ortrayal of Aane@s /onotonous
life, overshado. Aane@s infre3uent vie. of herself as anythin6 but 1lain, s/all, and si/1le.
The 1hysical settin6 is exa/ined, .here )ront2@s insistence on creatin6 an unconventional heroine is seen
throu6h her descri1tion of the 1hysical settin6, .hich 1ortrays Aane@s isolation, at the very be6innin6 of the
novel. Aane@s nature is noted throu6h the analysis of her relationshi1 .ith Dochester and 'ary and Diana
Divers, .here she is found to be extre/ely i/1ressionable. The investi6ation of Aane@s character is further
carried out by exa/inin6 .hether or not she is a Bthreat to the literary tradition of /asculine herois/B,
analyzin6 the foil in character and 1erfor/ance bet.een Aane and )lanche, as .ell as the foil
7
bet.een
Dochester@s treat/ent of both .o/en. Des1ite the novel@s endin6 in a Eictorian conventional /arria6e, it is
inevitable to conclude that )ront2 .as to a 6reat extent successful in creatin6 a B1lain and s/allB,
conventionally unattractive heroine in Aane Eyre.
A
This needs to be ex&lained$ One character can be a foil for another but not in=between$%
The following pages are abstracts from 2009 exemplar! essays and were downloaded from the "nline
#urriculum #entre for I$"% &lease note the scores for each' as they are not all perfect%!
Extended Essay for 8istory 5core: 0 7 0
Extended Essay for 8istory 5core: ' 7 0
Extended Essay for English 5core: ' 7 0
Extended Essay for English 5core: 0 7 0
Extended Essay for 4sychology 5core: ' 7 0
Extended Essay for 4sychology 5core: : 7 0
Extended Essay for 4hiloso&hy 5core: 0 7 0
Extended Essay for Biology 5core: 0 7 0
Extended Essay for 4hysics 5core: 0 7 0
Extended Essay for +athematics 89 5core: 0 7 0