This slideshow consists of Sample Extended Essay Questions arranged by group. These questions were pulled from publicly available IB documents.

1. Extended Essay
Sample Questions

2. Group 1
Studies in Language and Literature

3. “How is the subject of
death treated in selected
poems by Emily Brontë and
Emily Dickinson?”

4. What is the literary function
of the dialogue between
language and nature in David
Malouf's An Imaginary Life?

5. In what different ways do
Shaw and Anouilh present
Joan of Arc in their plays?

6. • How far does the use of
rhetoric in Barack Obama’s
speeches increase their
effectiveness?

7. • How does the use of startling visual
imagery in a public health campaign
(on smoking for example) function,
and what does it reveal about
existing cultural ideas of the body
and health?

8. Group 2
Language Acquisition

9. • “To what extent have
differences between formal
and informal usage
disappeared from the
language used in the Rio de la
Plata region?”

10. • “What is the nature of
MC Solaar’s rap critique of
modern French society?”

11. Group 3
Individuals and Societies

12. • Economics: “Will the
recent policy of cutting
bakery prices lead to
increased revenue for the
Safeway supermarket in
Ryde, Sydney?”

13. • Economics: “Has the
Kenyan central bank’s
policy of interest rate cuts
led to a rise in new car
sales in Nairobi?”

14. • History: “To what extent
were Hitler’s educational
aims fulfilled in the Uhland
Gymnasium, 1937-1939?”

15. • History: “How and why
have explanations of the
Cuban Missile Crisis
changed since 1962?”

16. • Human Rights: “How
could the UN intervention
in the Rwandan genocide
be justified?”

17. • Human Rights: “To what
extent can the limited
political rights of women
in Saudi Arabia be
justified?”

18. • Politics: “Which social and
political values should a
modern British
Conservative party seek
to conserve?”

19. • Politics: “Is it politically
possible for the US
government to win the
war on drugs?”

20. GrouP 4
Experimental Sciences

21. • Biology:“Are commercially
available antibacterial cleaning
agents effective in controlling
the growth of E. coli on
nutrient agar under
laboratory conditions?”

22. • Biology: “Can a program
of training at high altitude
have an impact on the
fitness of an athlete?”

23. • ESS: “To what extent does the
length of time after an exotic
plant has been introduced to
an area, and the latitude from
which it originates, affect the
diversity of herbivores found
feeding on it?”

24. • ESS: “From major inputs
and outputs of the school
canteen, what overall
estimate of its
environmental impact can
be made in terms of an
ecological footprint?”

25. •it takes to brew a cup of tea
Chemistry: “Does the time
using a specific commercial
brand of tea leaves
significantly alter the amount
of caffeine that is dissolved in
the drink?”

26. • Chemistry: “Do
strawberry jellies in
different countries contain
the same red dyes?”

27. • Physics: “Do wine bottles
of different shapes behave
as Helmholtz resonators?”

28. • Physics: “Is the efficiency
of electromagnetic
damping of a moving
glider a function of the
initial kinetic energy of the
glider?”

29. Group 5
Mathematics and Computer Science

30. • Mathematics: “How many
square numbers are also
triangular numbers, where
are they, and what other
problems lead to Pell’s
equation?”

31. • Mathematics: “What was
the role of mathematics,
and geometry in particular,
in navigation when we
relied on the stars?”

32. • Information Technology in
a Global Society: “To what
extent is it likely that
natural language interfaces
will replace the keyboard
in the production of office
documents?”

33. • Information Technology in
a Global Society: “Does
the addition of e-learning
systems improve the
performance of students
in mathematics?”

34. Group 6
The Arts

35. • Visual Arts: “Picasso:
individual genius or
cultural thief?”

36. • Visual Arts: “What is the
impact of transcultural
experience on the art of
Gu Xiong?”

37. World Studies
Sample Questions

38. • An interdisciplinary essay on an issue of
global importance
• Example Topics: global food crisis, climate
change, terrorism, energy security, migration,
global health
• An essay that draws on theories, findings and
methods from 2 or more IBD subjects and
then integrates them to produce a coherent
and insightful analysis of the issue

39. • What do members of 3
religions (Hindu, Muslim and
Christian) in my city …….
believe or know about the
causes, transmission and cures
of HIV-AIDS, and how do
religious beliefs inform these
views?

40. • How and why have two
Japanese graffiti artists used
American hip hop art for the
purposes of self-expression and
community organization in their
country?

41. • What is the impact of non-
native aquatic plants on marine
and inland environments?

42. • How does baby formula affect
the health of infants, and why is
it such a popular alternative to
mother’s milk in the Philippines
and Canada?