Have you been searching for that REAL ONE list of 100+ IB Extended Essay research questions for English A (Literature or Language & Literature)?

Our IB extended essay writers have thoughtfully divided them into:

• ✅ 25 simple but interesting
• ✅ 25 unique and not overused
• ✅ 25 complex and challenging
• ✅ 25 current and up-to-date
• ✅ 10 fun and unusual

All phrased to align with IB Extended Essay expectations (analytical, focused, and comparative where appropriate).

🟩 25 Simple but Interesting English A Extended Essay Topics

(accessible, focused on literary technique, theme, or character)

1. To what extent does Harper Lee use the perspective of Scout to highlight themes of innocence and justice in To Kill a Mockingbird?
2. How does George Orwell present the theme of surveillance through setting and language in 1984?
3. In what ways does Shakespeare explore the theme of ambition through the character of Macbeth?
4. How is the motif of time used to reflect regret in T.S. Eliot’s The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock?
5. How does F. Scott Fitzgerald use symbolism to portray the American Dream in The Great Gatsby?
6. To what extent does the narrative structure of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time reflect the protagonist’s mental state?
7. How does Khaled Hosseini portray redemption in The Kite Runner through the use of foreshadowing?
8. In what ways does Margaret Atwood critique patriarchy through characterization in The Handmaid’s Tale?
9. How is irony used to convey existential themes in Albert Camus’ The Stranger?
10. To what extent does Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie explore the loss of identity in Purple Hibiscus?
11. How does Tennessee Williams use stage directions to emphasize power dynamics in A Streetcar Named Desire?
12. How is magical realism used to reflect trauma in Isabel Allende’s The House of the Spirits?
13. To what extent is setting used symbolically in Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men?
14. How does Arthur Miller represent the conflict between societal expectations and personal integrity in The Crucible?
15. In what ways does Jane Austen use irony to critique social class in Pride and Prejudice?
16. How does the portrayal of war differ between Wilfred Owen’s and Siegfried Sassoon’s poetry?
17. How is the theme of alienation developed in Franz Kafka’s The Metamorphosis?
18. How does J.D. Salinger explore adolescence and disillusionment in The Catcher in the Rye?
19. In what ways does Zora Neale Hurston depict female independence in Their Eyes Were Watching God?
20. How does the unreliable narrator shape the reader’s perception in Edgar Allan Poe’s The Tell-Tale Heart?
21. To what extent is the theme of freedom explored through metaphor in Maya Angelou’s poetry?
22. How does William Golding use symbolism in Lord of the Flies to comment on human nature?
23. In what ways does Alice Walker use epistolary form to explore sisterhood in The Color Purple?
24. How is the theme of cultural conflict portrayed in Jhumpa Lahiri’s Interpreter of Maladies?
25. To what extent does personification in Emily Dickinson’s poetry contribute to her exploration of death?

🟦 25 Unique and Not Overused Questions English EE

(uncommon works or angles, fresh comparative or stylistic analysis)

26. To what extent does Kazuo Ishiguro use fragmented memory to portray guilt in A Pale View of Hills?
27. How does the use of dual timelines in Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi emphasize generational trauma?
28. To what extent do non-linear narrative techniques in Cloud Atlas highlight themes of interconnectedness?
29. How does David Mitchell portray the impact of colonialism through voice in The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet?
30. In what ways does Ali Smith use metafiction in How to Be Both to explore gender identity?
31. How does the motif of silence function as resistance in Maxine Hong Kingston’s The Woman Warrior?
32. To what extent is the postmodern style in White Noise by Don DeLillo effective in depicting media saturation?
33. How does Arundhati Roy utilize non-standard English syntax to reflect cultural hybridity in The God of Small Things?
34. In what ways does Jeanette Winterson blend myth and modernity in Weight to redefine female agency?
35. To what extent is the portrayal of fatherhood central to the emotional landscape of The Road by Cormac McCarthy?
36. How does Bernardine Evaristo use polyphonic narrative in Girl, Woman, Other to challenge literary norms?
37. In what ways do parallel narratives in The Poisonwood Bible highlight contrasting worldviews?
38. How does the motif of translation in Lost in Translation (Eva Hoffman) reflect the immigrant experience?
39. How does Han Kang depict bodily autonomy in The Vegetarian through surreal imagery?
40. To what extent does Mohsin Hamid use second-person narration to enhance intimacy in How to Get Filthy Rich in Rising Asia?
41. How do shifting perspectives in Everything I Never Told You reveal the complexities of family expectation?
42. In what ways does Ottessa Moshfegh use satire to portray millennial ennui in My Year of Rest and Relaxation?
43. How does intersectionality shape identity in the poetry of Warsan Shire?
44. To what extent do visual elements and text interact in Citizen: An American Lyric by Claudia Rankine?
45. How is food used symbolically to explore gender and identity in Monique Truong’s The Book of Salt?
46. How does Kindred by Octavia Butler use speculative fiction to interrogate historical trauma?
47. To what extent does nature imagery reflect transformation in Mary Oliver’s poetry?
48. How does polyphony in The Hours by Michael Cunningham reflect the influence of Virginia Woolf?
49. In what ways do death and memory intertwine through magical realism in Toni Morrison’s Beloved?
50. How does Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie use the short story form to deconstruct gender roles in The Thing Around Your Neck?

🟥 25 Complex and Challenging Questions for IB English Literature EE

(advanced literary theory, intertextuality, or deeply layered themes)

51. To what extent does postcolonial theory illuminate the identity crisis in Derek Walcott’s Omeros?
52. How is the concept of performativity explored through gender roles in Virginia Woolf’s Orlando?
53. To what extent does structuralist theory explain meaning-making in Italo Calvino’s If on a winter’s night a traveler?
54. How does narrative ambiguity support existentialist themes in Samuel Beckett’s Waiting for Godot?
55. In what ways does Wide Sargasso Sea reframe the colonial discourse of Jane Eyre through intertextuality?
56. To what extent is fragmentation of narrative voice used to convey trauma in Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close?
57. How does metafiction in Pale Fire by Nabokov challenge the authority of narrative?
58. To what extent is alienation portrayed through syntax and structure in Franz Kafka’s The Trial?
59. How does Jean Rhys’ use of unreliable narration complicate feminist critique in Good Morning, Midnight?
60. How do formal constraints in Oulipo literature (e.g. Georges Perec’s A Void) contribute to thematic depth?
61. In what ways does Slaughterhouse-Five destabilize linear time to reflect postmodern trauma theory?
62. How does Derrida’s concept of différance apply to the shifting meaning in Borges’ Labyrinths?
63. To what extent does The Master and Margarita engage with philosophical dualities through magical realism?
64. How does the narrative technique of free indirect discourse develop psychological depth in Mrs. Dalloway?
65. How is memory constructed and deconstructed through stream-of-consciousness in A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man?
66. To what extent does One Hundred Years of Solitude question historical determinism through cyclical narrative?
67. How does gothic imagery challenge Enlightenment rationality in The Turn of the Screw by Henry James?
68. How is modernist fragmentation employed to critique nationalism in T.S. Eliot’s The Waste Land?
69. In what ways do dreams and psychoanalysis intersect in The Interpretation of Dreams and its literary adaptations?
70. How does Lolita explore the ethics of aestheticization through poetic language?
71. To what extent is the grotesque used as a mode of social critique in Flannery O’Connor’s short stories?
72. How does silence operate as a metaphor for oppression in Elfriede Jelinek’s The Piano Teacher?
73. In what ways does ecriture féminine shape the voice of the protagonist in Marguerite Duras’ The Lover?
74. How is the uncanny used to explore fractured identities in Haruki Murakami’s Kafka on the Shore?
75. To what extent is metatextuality used to question authorship in Paul Auster’s City of Glass?

🟨 25 IB Language EE Current and Up-to-Date Questions

(newer works, relevant social issues, or trending topics)

76. How does Such a Fun Age by Kiley Reid challenge perceptions of performative allyship?
77. To what extent does Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow reflect the impact of video game culture on identity formation?
78. How is social media portrayed as a force of both connection and alienation in No One Is Talking About This?
79. How does Sally Rooney use minimalist dialogue to explore emotional intimacy in Normal People?
80. In what ways does Yellowface by R.F. Kuang deconstruct authorial authenticity and race?
81. How is cancel culture critiqued in So You’ve Been Publicly Shamed by Jon Ronson?
82. To what extent does The Midnight Library reflect the psychological cost of regret and choice?
83. How does Sea of Tranquility by Emily St. John Mandel explore time, memory, and pandemic trauma?
84. In what ways does Fake Accounts critique performative identity in online spaces?
85. How does Shuggie Bain portray addiction and poverty through narrative tone and perspective?
86. To what extent is climate anxiety explored symbolically in The Ministry for the Future?
87. How does On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous examine immigrant identity through poetic prose?
88. In what ways is grief aestheticized in Grief Is the Thing with Feathers?
89. How does Boy Parts explore the female gaze in digital-age femininity?
90. To what extent does Detransition, Baby deconstruct binary gender identities?
91. How is queer joy portrayed as resistance in Young Mungo by Douglas Stuart?
92. To what extent does Small Things Like These use minimalist narrative to explore postcolonial Catholic guilt?
93. How does Milk Blood Heat interrogate girlhood and race in the American South?
94. How does Trust by Hernan Diaz explore capitalism and truth through metafiction?
95. To what extent does The Trees by Percival Everett use satire to engage with historical violence?
96. How is memory shaped by digital dependence in The Every by Dave Eggers?
97. To what extent is neurodivergence explored in A Kind of Spark by Elle McNicoll?
98. How does The Candy House by Jennifer Egan reflect ethical concerns of data-sharing and identity?
99. To what extent does My Year of Rest and Relaxation reflect the post-9/11 American psyche?
100. How does Cleanness by Garth Greenwell depict queer vulnerability through lyrical fragmentation?

🟪 10 Fun and Unusual Questions for Your English A Extended Essay

(playful, imaginative, still academically valid)

101. To what extent is The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy a satire of modern bureaucracy and nihilism?
102. How does Good Omens blend parody and biblical mythology to critique moral dualism?
103. In what ways does Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing resemble a romantic sitcom?
104. How does Coraline by Neil Gaiman use children’s horror tropes to explore agency and courage?
105. To what extent do Lemony Snicket’s narrative interjections in A Series of Unfortunate Events disrupt traditional storytelling?
106. How is absurdity used to deconstruct meaning in Douglas Adams’ Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency?
107. How do fantasy maps and invented languages function as world-building tools in The Hobbit?
108. In what ways is Don Quixote an early metafictional critique of toxic fandom?
109. How does The Princess Bride explore storytelling as resistance through metafiction?
110. To what extent does the use of footnotes as a narrative device in House of Leaves challenge reader authority?