Under the Hammer

On Monday 10 June, twenty-three Year 12 IB students presented to staff, parents and other students, their proposals for their Extended Essays. The audience listened intently to the students’ plans for their essays on topics which ranged from retail activity in the Seef District to a study on the themes of grief and loss in Lovely Bones and The Catcher in the Rye.  Presentations lasted approximately ten minutes after which there was some intense grilling by the audience on the students’ proposals. Some very mollified students will now begin the essay writing process. The students’ abilities to research, to synthesise and to evaluate will all be tested in the next few months as the essays move from this early planning stage to  conclusion.  By December 2013, a 4000 word essay will be completed ready for submission to the IB Examining Board. All that will remain will be a Viva Voce carried out by each student’s supervisor in early January. This essay writing process is ideal preparation for the challenges that students will face when they reach university in a year’s time!