I have chosen extension 1 next year for Year eleven, but I hadn't considered that it may involve a major. I know Extension 2 does, but what about extension 1?
English Extension 1 (EE1) and lower do not require a major project. I don't remember what we did in year 11 but for year 12 you have two hours to write one essay and one creative (generally 1.2-1.5k words each). That being said, it helps to do research to really understand the module and then be able to apply this understanding in your creative in a convincing way to set you apart from the rest of the state.