History IA quesion/answer feedback

[AkelaS]

So I have a question that I'm kind of forced to commit to more or less (because of deadlines), but I'm struggling a lot with finding a definitive answer to the question. I wanted to focus on the personification of death during and following the plagues of the Middle Ages, but due to the nature of my question  I can't nail down a point I feel is defensible through any of the evidence I've found (I mostly use JSTOR which isn't always helpful and I can't find many reliable sources otherwise that aren't books that cost like $70). I would love feedback and maybe an insight as to where to go from here. I'm super stressed (again, because of deadlines) and I really can't afford to modify my question much other than getting more or less specific.

The question I've been playing with:

To what extent did the plagues of Europe in the 14th century influence religious artistic expression during the early Renaissance (1400s -)?

[Nomenclature]

Welcome to IB Survival.

Don't worry. I know that might not seem helpful, but it's honestly the best advice I can give you in terms of your whole EE. You've got loads of time, no matter the arbitrary deadline that your school is imposing on you. I–and thousands of other kids in the past and countless more in the future–panicked a ton at the start of my EE process. It was an extremely stressful event in my life. For many, it's our first time dealing with stress to this degree in an academic/professional setting. I felt pretty stressed academically the last part of Grade 11, over the summer, and then the first week of Grade 12 because of it. What helped was talking to a close friend who had done it the year before. What he told me was a revelation: 75% (and that's a very conservative estimate) of kids leave to the last week anyway, so don't feel so guilty for not getting everything done over summer. That doesn't mean I don't urge you to start early; I started early (particularly important is securing an interview and for history doing readings; also it goes without saying but it's vital to take notes and use a system of classification for quotations or passages that could be used in your paper). But it took me a long time to get an interview (extremely difficult), and I read quite a bit and to sift through a lot of information to actually write the essay that I did. If you don't have to spend much time researching, more power to you.

I'm getting away from my point though, and that's to take everything in stride. I see that you have the American flag so I'm guessing you attend high school. If you apply to an American university your EE score is pretty much guaranteed to be irrelevant. The most important thing the EE will teach you is how to manage stress. The emphasis is on manage. Stress never goes away. As I write to you, I have an assignment that is due in 24 hours for university that is difficult and that has required and will require a significant amount of time. It is stressful. A little. But I've done some work. I've finished for tonight. I'm going to go to bed soon. But I'm not going to let if engulf me. And one we get jobs there will be more stressful things. But you do what you can, and you accept it. 

In regards to your actual question of whether your question is good or not, personally my experience would tell me to rework it. But my experience also tells me EE grading is a crapshoot. It's really good that you have realized that it'll be tough to defend a standpoint. In my experience, IB doesn't like much analysis of art in history essays (this is something they are very clear about) and they also don't historical surveys (something they're not as specific about but generally they like essays about specific events, movements, etc. That's not to say you can't do really well with this essay. It all depends on your marker. If you put a minimum amount of effort in and follow your mentor's advice you should have no trouble not failing, so don't worry about that.