EXTENDED ESSAY

OUTLINE

WHERE ARE WE NOW?

By now you should have received feedback on
your revised prospectus
That is, you should have met with your supervisor
at least one time since returning from Easter
Break.
By the end of this week, if you havent already,
you should meet with supervisor to show your
progress and get help in preparing the outline
(due next Monday).

WRITING AN OUTLINE

OUTLINE
To prepare for writing your outline, lets look at
the structure your EE will eventually have:

STRUCTURE OF THE ESSAY

Title page
Abstract
Contents page
Introduction
Body (development/methods/results)
Conclusion
References and bibliography
Appendices

STRUCTURE OF THE ESSAY

Keep in mind that the final order of the EE may not
necessarily be the order in which it should be
written.
For example, the introduction is often written last.
You may write your introduction early but be
prepared to change it later on.

FROM STRUCTURE TO OUTLINE

For the outline, focus on the content of the
extended essay:
Introduction
Body (development/methods/results)
Conclusion

FROM STRUCTURE TO OUTLINE

The body of the essay should be presented in the
form of a reasoned argument.
The form of the argument may vary but, as the
argument develops, it should be clear to the reader:
what relevant evidence has been discovered
where/how it has been discovered
how it supports the argument.

In most subjects, sub-headings within the main body

of the essay will help the reader to understand the
argument

CREATING AN OUTLINE
Create sub-headings for the body of your essay.
This is the outline you are asked to do.
An outline may have the following sections:

OUTLINE:
SAMPLE STRUCTURE

Introduction
Background / Context / Literature review
Methodology
Theoretical framework
Presentation of data/case studies
Analysis
Evaluation
Conclusions / implications

OUTLINE
Introduction:
What is the topic?
What is the research question? (required)
How does the research question relate to
existing knowledge on the topic?
Why is the research question significant or
interesting?

OUTLINE
Background / Context / Literature
review:
Describe the context we need to understand your
research question.
What are some key ideas, events that help put the
research question in context?
What have other scholars said, or what have other
studies done, on the topic?

Make it specific to your topic.

 Methodology:
What methods will be used to answer the
research question? (Qualitative, quantitative,
textual analysis, data sampling, etc.)
Describe the case studies / data you will use.
Why have you chosen this methodology?
Why does this methodology work best for
answering your research question?

OUTLINE
Theoretical framework:
What theories, concepts, ideas, approaches are
relevant to the research question?

OUTLINE
Presentation of data/case studies:
Data: What are your findings or results?
Case study: Describe the case studies in depth.

OUTLINE
Analysis
Data: How do you interpret your data relative to
the theoretical framework?
Case study: How does the case study exemplify
or show an application of the theoretical
framework?
What are other, alternative, interpretations of
the data or case study?

OUTLINE
Evaluation
If problems or contradictions were found in the
analysis, how can these be resolved?
What are the strengths and weaknesses of the
arguments developed in the analysis?
What are the effects of the methodology on
your findings? In other words, what are the
strengthens and weaknesses of the
methodology for this investigation?

OUTLINE
Conclusions / implications
What can one learn from the answer you have
provided to your research question?
What are the implications of the answer you
provided?
How does the answer you have provided fit in
the larger context of the topic or subject area?
Does your answer lead to particular
prescriptions or predictions? If so, what are
they? (Need justification)

OUTLINE
Important:
The outline should be specific to your topic.
While you can use the same headings as
presented today, you should have sub-headings
that are specific to your topic.
Your outline is a detailed plan of the structure of
the essay.
You will use this outline to write your partial-draft
(and full draft).

CREATING AN OUTLINE
Tip: use outline view on Word for creating the
outline of your EE.
Ms. Shein demonstrated this during project week.

WHAT DOES AN OUTLINE LOOK LIKE?

Look at the table of content of past EEs.
You can find many EE examples on-line.
Here are a couple of examples from last years
students:

Advisor: Giles Whiteley

January 23, 2014

Extended Essay Outline

Title: The Functionality of Nonsense in English Literature: A study and comparison of
literary nonsense found in the works of Lewis Carroll, Roald Dahl and Harold Pinter)

Research Question: What is the semantic function of literary nonsense (in English literature)
and how does it differ from the popular belief of nonsense being meaningless?
I. Introduction:
a. Overview of topic: brief introduction
b. Research Question: What is the semantic function of literary nonsense (in
English literature) and how does it differ from the popular belief of nonsense being
meaningless?
c. Thesis (not fnal): Literary nonsense found in different works of literature does
not imply the complete lack of meaning and function; but rather, as can be seen in
various ways in works by Lewis Carroll, Roald Dahl and Harold Pinter, is relevant
to overall context as it has meaning (semantically, phonetically and syntactically).
i. Consider: function of nonsense: similar role in different contexts?
ii. Three different figures, with different profiles and different audience and
purpose
d. Discussion of importanceof topic
i. Its importance in interpreting literature: philosophical significance
ii. Personal interest/ significance of topic
e. Overview of structureof essay content (brief sentence):
i. Mention comparative structure of essay: 3 authors, 3 paragraphs each: one
on background/context, one on theories and studies on the works, one own
analysis and applied theories
II. Background/ Context:
a. What is literary nonsense?
i. Mention different definitions/ interpretations of literary nonsense
1. Etymology
2. Philosophical examination of etymology: Plato, Saussure
ii. Combine different definition to formulate an own, relevant definition
b. Brief history of literary nonsense
c. Forms of literary nonsense
III. Body:
a. Lewis Carroll: Nonsense as an exaggeration of sense- too logical logic:
i. Background information
ii. Theories/ data from studies on Lewis Carroll and the relationship between
logic and nonsense

DEADLINES

DEADLINES
Monday, Week 16, at 10:00 due:
Outline

SUBMITTING OUTLINE
To submit outline:
In ManageBac, find class named Extended
Essay DP1
Under this class, youll find assignment for
outline.
Upload your outline to the relevant assignments
on MB.

DEADLINES
Recall:
The quality of the feedback you get from your
advisor depends on your meeting the deadlines
properly.

MISSING DEADLINES
DONT DO IT

DEADLINES? WHAT? WHERE?

All deadlines for the EE will be on the ManageBac.
Keep in mind that meeting with your supervisor is
an integral part of the process.
Dont forget to write minutes of your meetings!
Just like all deadlines, be sure to contact your
advisor, and meet with him or her, during the
scheduled weeks.

MISSED ANYTHING?
All EE presentations, such as the one we had
today, are available in MB. You can find them
under the files tab.