IB English A Lang & Lit HL Extended Essay Example

The student communicates a clear and sustained line of inquiry throughout the investigation.

The student's selected method of close scene analysis with film stills, timestamps, and textual references is appropriate and mostly well controlled.

The student's thematic structure helps the reader follow the argument from one motif to the next.

The student's research question could be narrower and more precise by naming the specific motifs and film techniques they examine.

The student does not explain enough about why particular sources were selected or how their reliability was judged.

Some introductory material is more summary than analytical, which slightly weakens the focus.

The student shows solid knowledge of the film’s plot, characters, and major visual motifs.

The student uses relevant subject-specific terminology such as symbolism, allusion, intertextuality, mise-en-scène, lighting, and foreshadowing.

The student often connects terminology to concrete visual evidence rather than leaving it abstract.

Some interpretive claims are stated too confidently and need more careful testing against the film evidence.

A few concepts are oversimplified or treated as fixed labels rather than ideas that need explanation in context.

The student's use of terminology is sometimes accurate in name but not fully precise in application.