Arriving at a Line of Inquiry for the HL Essay

The Higher Level Essay asks students to pursue a line of inquiry around a literary or linguistic
perspective. It is no easy task to come up with your line of inquiry (LOI) so we’d like to offer you a
strategy to use to help you zero in on an interesting topic and connect to a richer idea. It’s all about
asking questions and brainstorming possibilities.

Components of a Line of Inquiry

We like to offer several components of successful lines of inquiry. There are other ways of doing
this, of course, but many students find these components helpful to include. Here are the
components:

1. Question word
2. Author
3. Text
4. Genre
5. Literary/linguistic aspect
6. Rich idea
7. Precise context

Two Sample Lines of Inquiry

How does Constantine Cavafy utilize spatial proximity in his poetry to illustrate the oppression of
homoesexual men in late 19th and early 20th century Egypt?

How and to what effect does Ariel Dorfman’s characterization of Paulina in the play Death and the
Maiden illustrate the struggle for freedom in a post-dictatorship?

Narrowing Down your Line of Inquiry

One way to find your line of inquiry is to answer a series of questions. These questions can help
you narrow down what text to write about, what is interesting to you, the salient ideas of the text
and the moments in the text that support certain ideas. This process can be done on your own or
even better with a friend or classmate. Try it out!

The Questions Starting with Ideas:

1. What is one text from the course which you enjoyed or which you loved?
2. What are several rich ideas which are explored in this text? (Aim for at least 3-4)
3. What is the idea that most resonates with you?
4. What are some moments in this text where you see this specific idea?
 5. What moment in the novel or text best encapsulates this idea?
6. Can you summarize this moment? What happens? What is it about?
7. Going to the text itself, what are some signature moves made by the author in this
moment?
8. How do these signature moves or choices help to emphasize this idea?
9. How can you now link the rich idea that you have chosen with a literary or linguistic
perspective? In other words, how does this idea link up with the author’s signature moves
or choices?

The Questions Starting with Authorial Choices or Signature Moves:

1. What is one text from the course which you enjoyed or which you loved?
2. What are some signature moves made by the author in the text? Aim for 4-5 significant
features of the text. Think big here.
3. What is the signature move that most resonates with you and has the most impact on the
reader?
4. What are several rich ideas which are explored using this move? (Aim for at least 3-4)
5. What is the most impactful of these ideas?
6. What are some moments in this text where you see this specific authorial choice or move?
7. What moment in the novel or text best encapsulates this idea?
8. Can you summarize this moment? What happens? What is it about?
9. How can you now link this signature move to a rich idea?

Putting it all together

Now that you have some written answers for these questions, it’s time to put it together and write
a clear line of inquiry. Try the components and work with a clear literary or linguistic perspective
and link to a main idea like the examples above.

Watch, Learn, Master

If you want to learn more and watch us arrive at two lines of inquiry using both of these strategies,
please watch our two videos: Higher Level Essay: Arriving at a Line of Inquiry! Share and
subscribe!