German A subject report · May 2010

May 2010 extended essay reports Page 1 © International Baccalaureate Organization 2010 GERMAN A1 This is a supplementary report following the May 2010 session and should be read in conjunction with the May 2009 extended essay report. Overall grade boundaries Grade: E D C B A Mark range: 0 - 7 8 - 15 16 - 22 23 - 28 29 - 36 The range and suitability of the work submitted This year the selection of works - predominantly twentieth -century fiction and drama - displayed a remarkable lack of imagination. In fact, most works were taken from the PBL and in some cases were part of the candidate’s reading list. This choice is not in the spirit of the IB regulations and not even to the advantage of the candidate as s/he will hardly be able to produce ideas independently. Examiners observed that schools served their candidates badly by guiding them towards tackling similar works and questions from a narrow range of texts which had clearly been studied in class. It is, of course, desirable that candidates approach their EE with enthusiasm and motivation. This may, though, lead to a few pitfalls that can easily be avoided by the teacher’s supervision (within 5 hours maximum). Some of these are: at least one of the texts must have originally been written in German the text(s) need s to be suitable for academic/literary analysis (not for psychological, sociological, historical or political scrutiny). Candidate performance against each criterion A: research question The need for a clear RQ cannot be often enough repeated. Supervisors should make sure the question is not changed or altered between abstract , introduction and main part. The RQ should be guiding the essay and the investigation, therefore is of utmost importance that there is clarity and focus. Some schools choose RQ, whic h put the focus of the