The purpose of this unit is to assess candidates’ ability to research an individual area of theatre and drama of their own choice, taking care to ensure that the focus of their work is on the practicalities of theatre-making and performance as opposed to, for example the socio-historical context of a given work. Practical theatre making should form the core of the essay.
The essay should emulate the structure of an undergraduate research essay. Hence, the candidate should form a research question and attempt to answer it using either secondary or primary research or a combination of both. It is expected that although the teacher will not contribute in any way to the content of the essay, they should advise the candidate on areas such as the structure of an academic essay and how a succinct research question may be formulated, correct citation methods, formulating a bibliography and the avoidance of plagiarism.
At this level it would be inappropriate for Cambridge to recommend an ’appropriate’ question. To do so would radically limit the freedom available to candidates in making their selection. The key thing is for candidates to choose a question/statement that is unambiguous and which can be answered/proven/refuted within the 3000 word limit using cited sources in keeping with university methodology and utilising one of the style guides widely available.
The examples on page 20 of the syllabus should be considered as a guide to the form, structure or wording that a clearly defined research question might take. Each candidate should feel free to choose an area of study which appeals to them. All avenues which are open to them are clearly set out in the syllabus.
The Assessment Objectives AO1 A and AO1 B (Knowledge and Understanding) carry the greatest weight but it is important that AO4 C (Analysis) and AO4 D (Evaluation) receive due attention since it is often the case that these are neglected to the detriment of the overall mark attained by the candidate.
On page 20 of the syllabus there is a list of 12 suggested essay titles. These along with the indicative content of the component should give clear guidance on what makes a suitable essay title. On page 46 of the syllabus it states that: Essay titles should take the form of a question or statement followed by a prompt for further exploration. The title must have sufficient range and scope to warrant an in-depth academic investigation. There is also more guidance on the school support hub on developing suitable titles for essays, coursework or projects which you may find useful. www.cambridgeinternational.org/support
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