Extended Essays in Literature and Performance
A literature and performance extended essay (EE) gives students an opportunity to explore in detail the relationship between a written text and its performance. Students are able to focus on the transformation from one form to another and examine the creative and critical relationship that exists between both.
The adaptation may take many forms: theatre, film, dance, opera and even video games.
Choosing a Topic in Literature and Performance
A literature and performance essay must include:
Students should provide those materials that give a good account of both the text and its transformation into any of the genres mentioned in “Overview” above. These materials may include, for example, diagrams and photographs, but students should be aware that the heart of the essay is their written discussion of both forms.
Crucially, the topic should be susceptible to critical analysis. The EE’s central purpose is one of research and analysis. Students must present their perceptions in a reasoned argument well supported by evidence.
Students should make clear the temporal and spatial contexts of both elements: text and transformed production. This will involve a consideration as far as is necessary of the work’s:
Examples
| Broad Topics | Focused Topics |
|---|---|
| Identity in The Color Purple | A study of the evolution of identity in a theatrical adaptation of The Color Purple |
| Narrative motifs in the musical Cabaret | The way narrative motifs in The Berlin Stories present themselves theatrically in the musical Cabaret |
| A study of Christopher in The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time | A study of the portrayal of Christopher Boone in the stage adaptation of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time in comparison with the original literary characterization |
Approaches to Research
Because Environmental Systems and Societies essays are interdisciplinary in nature, students will most likely draw on methods from the different subject areas they are using. Depending on the topic and the location of the focus, students may need to look for primary data in secondary sources. Like in other subjects, this is acceptable as long as students apply the data in an original way.
Students can refer to the research and source guidance in other subjects that may be helpful in their process.
| Dance | Theatre | Visual Arts | |
| Language Acquisition | Language and Literature | ||
| Mathematics | Biology | Chemistry | Sport, Health, and Exercise Science |
Examples
| Topic | Jerome Robbins’ choreography of West Side Story and William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet |
|---|---|
| Research question | The question could be phrased as: “How does the Jerome Robbins choreography of West Side Story transform the original meaning and effect of Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet?” |
| Approach | The student will need to identify some central aspects of Shakespeare’s play and point out their presence in West Side Story. Then the choreography will need to be closely examined to discern and evaluate how dance has been used to transform and heighten the meanings and emotional effects of the original play. Presumably the student will possess the appropriate vocabulary for discussing choreography. |
| Topic | Benjamin’s Britten’s transformation of The Turn of the Screw into an opera |
|---|---|
| Research question | What elements of the original James story has Britten successfully delivered in the operatic version? |
| Approach | The student will need to select some elements of the original story that Britten has chosen as his focus, analyse how the opera has presented these, and with what degree of success, judged in terms of such elements as suspense and atmosphere. |
| Topic | Costuming in Flaubert’s portrayal of Emma in Madame Bovary |
|---|---|
| Research question | How is Flaubert’s portrayal of Emma in Madame Bovary delivered and affected by the costuming in the film version by Claude Chabrol (1991) or that of Vincente Minnelli (2014)? |
| Approach | The question asks the student to look carefully first at Emma in the novel and how the details of her dress contribute to her overall portrayal in tandem with her actions, words and gestures. Then, choosing a film, the student will need to cite particular instances of costuming, critiquing the comparative outcomes as they are viewed by modern audiences. Presumably, some evaluative comments might well ensue from this study. |
| Topic | Sherlock Holmes and Watson as they are depicted in the current television production of Elementary |
|---|---|
| Research question | How have the changes in Watson in the television production Elementary affected the portrayal of both Holmes and Watson? |
| Approach | The student will need to consider Conan Doyle’s delivery of the relationship between Holmes and Watson, exploring some of the critical work that has been written on this aspect of the fiction. The treatment of Elementary will then need to analyse the quality of this new dynamic, critiquing how it affects the partnership. |
Writing the Essay
The focus of the EE must be on the research and critique of an existing adaptation. Students are not permitted to adapt a text themselves.
The student will first need to identify a situation where a text has been adapted to some form of performance, whether this be theatre, film, opera, dance, music or other contemporary forms of transformation.
The text must be fully available to the student and referenced as such. It must be of sufficient depth and complexity to enable the student to apply critical thinking skills.
Genres for the text may range widely, with poetry, fiction and non-fiction as the most likely starting point. Appropriate literary works may be chosen from any source including the Diploma Programme prescribed list of authors.
Forms such as flash fiction, fan fiction, interactive digital texts and the like may also be viable. Their suitability to this research task must be explored by the student in order to fully satisfy the criteria of the EE. The student should do this in consultation with their supervisor.
Students may choose to use two or more texts, but should always aim for depth rather than breadth.
There needs to be some form of adaptation that can be identified as having its roots in a particular text or even a set of short texts. Such adaptations may take many forms.
Students need to work with both the primary text and the adaptation. They will explore the decisions that have been made for the performance, both generally and in the specific details. The process and the outcomes will form the basis of the student’s research question to be explored in the essay.
The focus of discussion in the essay must be:
A narrative approach—retelling the content and sequence of either form—will not meet the demands of the essay.
The student is permitted to include visual material to convey the nature of the transformation, insofar as it is needed to support the argument. All visual material should be clearly annotated to explain its relevance.
Secondary sources, both print and digital, relating to both text and performance, will have a “secondary” role, as the focus of the discussion must be the student’s own exploration and evaluation of the two elements. The purpose of the research undertaken is for students to deliver a critical argument based on their perceptions of the transformation and how meaning and experience are shaped by establishing a relationship between the two forms.