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Tok essay 2015
Essential guidelines
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Tok essay…preparing with 8
seminar papers…due day 9
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History
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Ethics
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The Arts
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Human Science
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Natural Science
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Math
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Indigenous Religious Systems
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Religious knowledge systems
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My role…according to the diploma
guide.
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The role of the teacher
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In relation to the student’s essay on a prescribed title, the teacher
has three principal responsibilities:
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• to encourage and support the student in the writing of the essay
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• to provide the student with advice on and guidance about the
skills needed
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• to ensure that the essay is the student’s own work.
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My role…according to the ib
guide.
These responsibilities should be met through the following interactions.
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Meeting 1
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1. The student should discuss the prescribed titles with the teacher, although the final choice remains with the student who should be
encouraged wherever possible to develop his or her own ideas.
Meeting 2
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2. After choosing the title and unpacking/developing ideas in relation to it, the student may present his or her work (an exploration) to
the teacher in some written form. For example, this might resemble a set of notes and ideas, with tentative connections drawn between
them, spread over a large piece of paper. Discussion with the teacher should subsequently allow the student to create a plan in which
the structure of the essay can be laid out by paragraph.
Meeting 3
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3. After this, the student is permitted (and should be encouraged) to present to the teacher one full draft of the
essay. The teacher is permitted to provide written comments of a global nature, but is not permitted to mark or
edit this draft.
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4. While the student may seek further advice, for instance, on the appropriateness of a particular example, or on
the degree of clarity if writing in a second or third language, no further written advice on drafts is permitted. It is
the student’s responsibility to correct mistakes and make improvements.
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The procedure for uploading the TOK essay can be found in the Handbook of procedures for the Diploma
Programme.
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General points-tok essay …
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Challenging + difficult!
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Coursework = develop, refine, test and maybe even refute your ideas. (p.442)
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No definite answer!
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Think of the essay “..as a conversation with the ideas you are writing about; it is not
a research essay where you passively recount the opinions of others but a personal
account of your interaction with the ideas…So while it is an academic piece of
writing, it should hold your opinions, and your judgements and be shaped by your
interests.” (pp.442-3)
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Write a draft of the essay and through this develop your ideas as you go along. (see
below re essay structure/ writing plan/mind map)
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“Most students struggle with the ideas at one point or another, but afterwards many
feel pleased and even proud that they have managed to shape their ideas and say
what they wanted to say. After all it is not often that we get the chance to take
genuinely profound issues, compare, contrast and mould them as we want, and
then try to persuade someone else that we are right.” (p. 443)
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13 specific tok essay tips…!
(1) Know the assessment criteria (posted on our tok
website)
 Read
and mark quality Tok essays
 Examples should show a variety of sources and
perspectives addressing a variety of AOKs +
WOKs
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13 specific tok essay tips…
(2) Do not get bogged down in definitions.
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Avoid using word for word dictionary explanations! E.g.
your essay needs to consider the ‘truth’.
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Example:
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‘I (This essay) will take truth to mean those statements
which have been thoroughly tested and not falsified
(though of course this scientific definition may not be
applicable to other areas of knowledge such as the arts).
Using this (limited) definition…’
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13 specific tok essay tips…
(3) Make distinctions between different areas of
knowledge and different ways of knowing.
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Avoid making claims of a general nature that apply to all
aspects of knowledge. Remember that different areas of
knowledge and different ways of knowing ‘work’
differently.
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Knowledge for a historian and archaeologist researching
ancient Greece (Efes) will rely heavily on imagination to
interpret the past. The mathematician will may also rely
on imagination but less significantly
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13 specific tok essay tips…
(4) Do not make grandiose but rather meaningless claims.
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Avoid sensationalist statements!
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E.g. ‘Since the dawn of the universe, truth has haunted
mankind’ are not recommended. The statement itself is
untrue!
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Instead use this approach ‘ Humans are a curious
species, always seeking the truth’. It is still exaggerated
but it is more accurate and more believable.
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13 specific tok essay tips…
(5) In your introduction spend a few lines explaining the question,
perhaps giving some concrete examples, and clarifying how you are
going to interpret it.
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Essay title based on the following quote from Lewis Carroll: “ What
I tell you three times is true.” Consider the following introduction
for this essay:
“Carroll’s quote seems, at first sight to be ridiculous. If I tell
you three times that I am an alien, or that 1+1 =5, you are
unlikely to believe me. Mere repetition is not enough.
However, if I ask you how you know that Canberra is the
capital of Australia, it may well be that you know it simply
because you have heard it several times. In other words in
this case, repetition is enough. So perhaps there is some
merit in the claim, depending on the particular area of
knowledge in question.” (History would seem to benefit from
such repetition in primary source documents).
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13 specific tok essay tips…
(6) In your introduction try and provide some ‘signposts’ that
indicate what you will be trying to do in your essay.
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It is much easier to follow your line of thinking if you outline
the direction of your essay (without conclusions as in the EE
abstract). This is a feature of good academic writing!
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Use ‘transitional sentences’. The key sentences in any
paragraph are the first + last sentences. The last sentence of
a paragraph leads the reader to a new idea or component of
your essay. The first sentence establishes clearly the focus of
the paragraph in more detail than was mentioned in the last
sentence of the previous paragraph.
Useful source for transitional
sentences:
http://tinyurl.com/38cjbb4
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specific
tok
essay
tips…
(7) Use your own original examples to make your points concisely- remember
that the essay should be largely analytical rather than descriptive.
Note: examples can be taken from your ib subjects, your everyday life, newspapers and so on
but be sure that they relate to the title of you tok essay.
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Examples should connect with the WOKs and AOKs in the context of the essay title (shared
knowledge more than personal knowledge)
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Avoid tired examples e.g. Hitler was an immoral person.
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Avoid use of over description in your examples e.g. providing unnecessary background
information to the event
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In scientific theory it is often the case that the new theory recognizes some key
concepts/findings in an earlier theory. E.g. Newton’s theories vs Einstein’s theories. You
should not elaborate on the differences and precious words can be spared for your word count
if you take an approach similar to that copied below.
When a scientific theory is ‘refuted’, a new theory will sometimes include the old
theory. For example, Einstein’s General Relativity did not so much replace Newton’s theories as
expand them- and so the model of one theory being found to be ‘wrong’ and another
one found to be ‘right’ is misleading. In fact in order to understand the way science
progresses we need to revisit ‘obvious’ assumptions about the distinction
between true and false- because, for example, neither Einstein’s nor Newton’s
theories are purely true of purely false.
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Your examples must be varied and show that you are able to build an argument and a counter
argument
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13 specific tok essay tips…
(8) Remember that analysing a statement can mean both
looking ‘behind’ it, at its underlying assumptions, and
‘beyond it’, at its implication.
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Is it justifiable to kill 1000 to save 1001 or indeed look at the
story of the Thai Babies:
http://www.independent.ie/world-news/asia-pacific/australian-couple-abandon-surrogate-twin-withdowns-syndrome-but-keep-his-sister-30477034.html#sthash.q4StxJ15
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When analysing remember to look beyond the obvious. If
you are considering Ethics and ‘utilitarianism’ it will be
obvious from the outset that reason plays a major role in
determining the outcome from a utilitarian perspective.
However there are ethical alternatives that recommend that
emotion and intuition play a role in decision making.
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13 specific tok essay tips…
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(9) Remember that your essy is an extended argument
– not a collection of several loosely related points.
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Essay must be focused on a knowledge question(s) and therefore you will
be commenting “…how we make knowledge in different contexts.” (p446)
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The tok essay question you will answer is very likely to be itself a
“knowledge question”. One KQ will suffice but more may be introduced
during the course of the question but they must arise “…naturally and
necessarily from the original prompt or question so that you do not wander
off task.” (and take the reader with you). Use KQ’s sparingly and most of all
appropriately.
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Find a narrative or theme around which you can build your essay from
paragraph to paragraph. “ Find your own theme and address the issues in a
manner that interests you and means something to you.
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One excellent way to develop a theme is to begin your writing process by
considering a wide variety of examples relevant to the prescribed title and
analyse them to see what they suggest an an answer to the question.” (p446)
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Be patient! The theme may take some time to develop and you may be well
into the process of writing your essay before you identify a relevant theme.
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13 specific tok essay tips…
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(10) Try not to use rhetorical questions in your
essay.
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Rhetorical questions confuse the analysis!
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Don’t: “ So to summarise; what is right and what is wrong? How can
we know? Are there absolute truths or does it all just come down to
personal beliefs? What role does culture play? And is religion a
good guide to right and wrong? One thing is for sure –there are lost
of different opinions to contend with.
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Do: So we have seen that determining ethical behaviour is highly
problematic. Religious traditions interpret their Holy Books
differently, different cultures have conflicting traditions and there
are logical and practical problems with both absolute and relativist
approaches.
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13 specific tok essay tips…
 (11)
In your conclusion try to summarise (very
briefly- in 1 or 2 sentences) what you have said,
and try to end with a forward looking view.
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You might want to mention why you are not able to find a definitive
answer to the Tok question or what you would need to know to answer
the question.
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Do not restate your arguments (1600 words)
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Example of essay considering the value of empirical evidence:
It seems then, that the nature of our senses implies that we will
never have access to the ‘real’ world (though as we have seen ‘real’ is a
debatable term). Some people may feel that this is a great disappointment,
while others may not care, but it is certainly humbling to note that even in
our apparently advanced age, for all our scientific expertise and high tech
machines, we will never completely know reality. (p447)
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13 specific tok essay tips…
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(12) If you have a bibliography or a works cited page then make
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Use the EE guidelines here
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But as the tok essay is not a research essay you can get top marks
without using any references
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Remember that references are usually only relevant for
documenting the accuracy of the facts and that you present in
support of your claims.
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If you use the web you must give the date accessed as well as the
url.
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If you use a text source you must include the page number to which
you referred
sure it consistently follows a standard style.
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13 specific tok essay tips…
 (13) before starting to write your first draft be sure to
make a detailed outline of the course of your essay and
the arguments/counter arguments that you will use
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Outline can be in any format (consider a mind map
which allows you to build your argument graphically)
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Outline should help you to establish the theme referred
to in item 9 above
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Consider using theoryofknowledge.net to help you to get
organized. Links are available on my website to useful
pages.
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Your writing style….
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Avoid excessive use of “I, me, my and mine”. But be sure that the essay puts
forward your ideas as a ‘knower’
Oranize your ideas effectively (note that there are no points for writing style
or fluency). The key issue is that the reader must be able to understand your
ideas.
Avoid excessive use of “I, me, my and mine”. Stylistic issue but allow for other
ideas to filter in also! But be sure that the essay puts forward your ideas as a
‘knower’
Use ‘conjunctive adverbs expertly:
Therefore,…
Short sentences are powerful. Long,
However,…
punctuated sentences (4-5 lines in
Thus,…
length) are complex and difficult to
Because,…
write with coherence and impact. This
Moreover,…
is another good reason to use
Aditionally,…
conjunctive adverbs!
Accordingly
Likewise
Meanwhile
Firstly… Secondly… Finally..
On one hand…. On the other hand….