Turn subject interests into extended essay possibilities
Use disciplinary lenses to create original starting points without treating a topic bank as a ready-made question.
Start with a phenomenon you want to understand
List a few things that have made you curious during lessons, reading or daily life. Beside each, write the puzzle rather than a broad label. 'Public transport' is a topic; uncertainty about why two nearby routes have different reliability is a puzzle. Next, identify the kind of evidence that might resolve it. This process generates possibilities grounded in your interests and accessible material. Treat every example in this guide as an invitation to investigate, not a question approved for assessment.
Give the idea a disciplinary home
Ask what your chosen subject would do with the puzzle. A literary essay might analyse how a narrator constructs uncertainty. A historical essay might examine competing explanations using sources from a bounded period. A scientific essay might test or model a relationship through an appropriate method. The topic alone does not establish the subject. Speak with your supervisor about the relevant subject guidance before investing heavily. An appealing mixture of disciplines also needs an eligible pathway; subject names cannot simply be combined at will.
Generate several forms of the same interest
Try changing the evidence, comparison or mechanism. An interest in urban heat could lead toward a bounded environmental investigation, an analysis of spatial variation or a question about a specific policy's effects, depending on the subject and permitted approach. An interest in translation could become a close comparison of particular passages rather than a survey of every difference between two languages. Producing several forms reveals choices. Choose the form in which you can make a defensible judgment with evidence you can actually access.
Work through one literary starter
Suppose you notice that two editions of a translated novel treat an important recurring image differently. Begin with three passages where the image matters. Ask whether the differences change characterization, tone or a broader pattern. A provisional question might focus on how a particular translation choice shapes a character's isolation. Then test it against the texts: if the passages are too few or the proposed effect is inconsistent, revise the focus. The researchable idea emerges from close reading, not from decorating a general topic with sophisticated terminology.
Keep options that reward analysis
An idea has analytical potential when evidence could support more than one reasonable interpretation and you can explain how you would decide between them. Avoid making controversy the sole measure of quality. A small question may support deeper analysis than an enormous debate. Equally, avoid a question whose answer is already contained in a definition. Write a provisional answer and the evidence that would challenge it. If you cannot imagine any challenge, examine whether the question is too obvious or your research is too narrow.
Choose a next experiment, not a final identity
For each promising option, choose one short exploratory action: inspect a dataset, locate two substantive sources, test a procedure or analyse a passage. Record what you learned about scope and access. Discuss the strongest options with your supervisor and consult the existing feasibility guide before committing. You are choosing a workable research direction, not proving lifelong expertise. Keeping a rejected option and the reason you set it aside can also help you understand the research decisions that shaped your final essay.
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Official references
This is an original practical guide from IBvia. The examples are illustrative; your subject guide, assessment year and school instructions determine the requirements.
Keep working on your next step
Check your extended essay idea before committing
Test scope, source access and research methods so your EE question has a realistic route to an answer.
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Follow an extended essay from question to submission
Build a sequence of research decisions, useful drafts and final checks for an independent essay.
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