The higher-level essay is a golden ticket to explore a topic of your liking. You can delve into the crux of the course's main concepts and continually develop your ideas in your learner portfolio throughout the course.

Think of it this way - you're on a quest, and your learner portfolio is your treasure map. It guides you, helps you track your ideas, and is the place where you store all your findings.

Real-world example: It's like your Instagram feed. You capture the important moments (or in this case, ideas), organize them in one place, and you can refer back to them whenever you need.

When it comes to the theme of "Time and Space", you have two main avenues to approach it:

• Direct Approach: You choose topics and texts for analysis that originate directly from the "Time and Space" area of study. Think of this as being a Sherlock Holmes, using the guiding conceptual questions as clues to develop your investigation. Your learner portfolio here acts like your casebook, documenting ideas that pop up while studying this section or related topics.

  Real-world example: Let's say you're a foodie and you want to explore the evolution of pizza across time and space. You could explore the transformation of pizza from its Neapolitan roots to the myriad of variations we see today - like Chicago deep-dish, New York thin crust, or Japanese sushi pizza!

• Refinement Approach: Topics covered in "Time and Space" can help you polish ideas you already have regarding your higher level essay topic. For instance, you may have a topic around the creative techniques in advertising, but by considering cultural values more closely, your view of advertisements and their effectiveness might evolve.

  Real-world example: Think about an ad for a soft drink. Initially, you may focus on the clever use of colors or catchy jingle. But as you consider cultural values more closely, you might realize that the advertisement is more than just its creative elements. It could be subtly promoting a lifestyle, like associating the drink with having fun at parties or achieving a 'cool' status among friends.