Writing a TOK essay - Dirk Solies

1 Writing a TOK essayby Richard van de LagemaatTheory of Knowledge for the IB DiplomaRichard van de Lagemaat978 0 521542 98 information on the author s education consultancy service: information on the International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme: Cambridge University Press 2007 Writing a TOK essay Most people would rather die than think; in fact they do so. BERTRANDRUSSELL, 1872 19701 You aren t going to have good ideas, unless you have lots of ideas andsome principle of selection. LINUSPAULING, 1901 1994 It is dangerous to read about a subject before we have thought aboutit ourselves .. When we read, another person thinks for us; we merelyrepeat his mental process. ARTHURSCHOPENHAUER, 1788 1860 I write because I don t know what I think until I read what I say. WILLIAMFAULKNER, 1897 1962 What is written without pain is read without pleasure. SAMUELJOHNSON,1709 1784 Just as the sentence contains one idea in all its fullness, so theparagraph should embrace a distinct episode; and as sentences shouldfollow one another in harmonious sequence, so paragraphs must fitinto one another like the automatic couplings of railway carriages.

2 SIRWINSTONCHURCHILL, 1874 1965 Have something to say, and say it as clearly as you can. That is theonly secret of style. MATTHEWARNOLD, 1822 1888 Deep people strive for clarity; those who wish to appear deep strivefor obscurity. FRIEDRICHNIETZSCHE, 1844 1900 Thoughts obey the law of gravity to this extent, that they travelmuch more easily from head down to paper than they do from paperup to head, so that for the latter journey they require all theassistance we can give them. ARTHURSCHOPENHAUER, 1788 1860 Everything should be made as simple as possible, but not simpler. ALBERTEINSTEIN, 1879 1955 Let no one say that I have said nothing new; the arrangement of thesubject is new. When we play tennis, we both play with the same ball,but one of us places it better. BLAISEPASCAL, 1623 1662 Cambridge University Press 2007 IntroductionThe word essay comes from the French verb essayermeaning to try or toattempt . (A French philosopher called Michel de Montaigne, who lived from 1533to 1592, was the first person to use the word in its modern sense.)

3 The origin of theword is of more than passing interest. Theory of Knowledge (TOK) is concernedwith questions that do not have definite answers. This does not make suchquestions redundant. On the contrary, many of the most important questions in lifedo not have definite answers. When Writing a TOK essay , it is best to think not somuch in terms of answering a question as of illuminating a is whatyou are tryingto do. A certain amount of humility is in order here. You are unlikelyto come up with the definitive solution to the problem!To illuminate a problem is to do such things as: explain what the problem is andwhy it matters; clarify the meaning of key words; consider different ways ofthinking about the problem; construct arguments and counter-arguments; giveexamples; assess supporting evidence; explore implications; make relevantconnections; and uncover hidden assumptions. Since it deals with open-ended questions, an essay is essentially personalinnature. Other people may have come this way before, and you can doubtless learn agreat deal from their explorations.

4 But your essay should be more than a summaryof other people s opinions or a loose paraphrase of some textbook or other. Youneed to have the courage at least occasionally to strike out on your own; for thisis your attempt to illuminate the IB requirementPrescribed titlesYou have to choose one essay from a list of ten prescribed titles which are set bythe IBO (International Baccalaureate Organization). These essays are usuallycomparativein nature: you are expected to compare and contrast different ways ofknowing (perception, language, reason, emotion) and/or different areas ofknowledge (mathematics, natural sciences, human sciences, history, ethics, the arts).Here are two prescribed titles from 2007:1 Compare the roles played by reason and imagination in at least two Areas mathematicians, historians and scientists say that they have explainedsomething, are they using the word explain in the same way?Assessment criteriaYour essay will be graded in accordance with four criteria laid down by the IBO,each of which carries equal weight.

5 Make sure that you have your own copy ofthese criteria and keep them clearly in mind when Writing your essay . You mightfind it helpful to reduce them to a list of key points on a single sheet of paper alongthe following lines:2 Writing a TOK essay Cambridge University Press 2007As a rough approximation and aide memoire you might think of the abovecriteria in terms of four Cs:CONTENT (criterion A): Think: knowledge issuesCREATIVITY (criterion B): Think: personal thoughtCRITICAL THINKING (criterion C): Think: arguments and counter-argumentsCLARITY (criterion D): Think: well-structured essayAlthough there is more to it than this, if your essay is focused on knowledge issues,shows personal thought, develops arguments and counter-arguments, and is clearlywritten and well-structured, then you will at least be on the right startedTOK notesThroughout the TOK course, try to keep a good set of class notes. These will provean invaluable resource when it comes to Writing your essay . You should be clearabout what it means to take notes.

6 Simply going through handouts with ahighlighter pen or cutting and pasting things from the Internet is not enough. Yo uneed to express things in your own will help you to digest the ideas youcome across and is a good test of whether you really understand them. Here are twoother pieces of advice:1As well as contributing to class discussions, try to keep track of them in yournotes. The range of ideas and points of view that naturally come up in suchdiscussions will help you to see how many different positions andperspectives can be taken on a to supplement your class notes with examples taken from your ownexperience, the subjects that you study and the media. You will be able to usesome of these examples when it comes to Writing your of questionYou will need to think carefully about which title to choose from the IBO prescribedlist. To avoid falling at the first hurdle, make sure that: Writing a TOK essay3 Cambridge University Press 2007A Understanding knowledge issues Focused on knowledge issues Links and comparisons Relevant Sophisticated understandingC Analysis of knowledge issues Insight and depth Main points justified Arguments and counter-arguments Assumptions and implicationsB Knower s perspective Independent thinking Self-awareness Different perspectives Varied examplesD Organisation of ideas Well-structured Key concepts explained Factual accuracy References You understand the questionYou should be clear about what the questionmeans, what knowledge issues it raises and what is and is not relevant to it.

7 You are interested in the questionIf you are not interested in thequestion, then you will find it difficult to get the reader excited about it.(However, if you feel too passionately about a topic, you may find it difficult tobe objective.) You have something to say about the questionYou should be confidentthat you can relate the question to the ideas you have covered in TOK, thesubjects you study and your own might want to use standard brainstorming techniques to come up with ideas onyour chosen question. Begin by scribbling down everything that comes to mindwhen you think about the question without passing judgement on the quality of theideas. Then evaluate the ideas and discard those which are weak or , think about how your ideas are related to one another and organise theminto about six main points with related sub-points clustered around them. (Youmight find it useful to visualise the relationships between your ideas by making amind map.)Since a TOK essay is primarily a reflectiveessay, do not start by consulting atextbook as you may be over-influenced by what you read and be inhibited fromcoming up with your own ideas.

8 As the philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer(1788 1860) observed: It is dangerous to read about a subject before we havethought about it ourselves .. When we read, another person thinks for us; wemerely repeat his mental process. So have the courage to think for yourself and tryto map out your own response to the question before looking at what other peoplehave said about you can develop and improve your essay - Writing skills only through practice,you will need to write at least one practice essayand look carefully at the feedbackyou get from your teacher. You should also read an exemplar essayand make sureyou understand why it received the grade it did. Quick tipWhenever you are working on your essay , have in front of you: (a) a copyof the TOK diagram; (b) a brief key words summary of the assessment criteria. Thiswill help to keep you focused on what needs to be to write an essayA necessary but not sufficient condition for a good TOK essay is that it is a goodessay. An essay is more than a series of statements loosely connected to the good essay in any subject should minimally be (a) well structured; (b) a TOK essay Cambridge University Press 2007 StructureAn essay s structure is what holds it together and gives it a sense of direction.

9 Youwill need to think carefully about how to order your key points so that they flownaturally and help the reader to follow your argument. Here are some points youshould keep in mind:1 IntroductionAn introduction can be thought of as a contract between writer and reader. You tellthe reader what you are going to do and then in the body of your essay you deliverthe goods. There are three things you should try to do in your introduction: get thereader s attention; explain what you understand by the question; briefly outlinehow you plan to tackle way of arousing the reader s interest is to begin with something surprising orpuzzling. Take, for example, the question Compare the roles played by reason andimagination in at least two Areas of Knowledge. You might begin with thefollowing anecdote: When the German mathematician David Hilbert (1862 1943)was told that one of his students had given up mathematics to become a novelist,he said, It is just as well he did not have any imagination!

10 This is surprisingbecause we usually identify mathematics with reason, and literature withimagination. So we begin to wonder what Hilbert meant by this comment and how,if at all, it could be justified. When it comes to explaining what you understand by the question, you mightwant to: formulate it in your own words (but be careful not to change its meaning) indicate key terms that are unclear or ambiguous (what is meant by reason ?) say why the question is interesting or important (perhaps it challenges anentrenched stereotype). You might also need to impose your own limits on the question. For example, ifyou tackle the question on reason and imagination, you might limit yourself tocomparing the roles they play in mathematics and introduction usually includes a thesis statement. This is the fundamentalclaim you are making in your essay and is the thread which runs through it andholds everything together. With reference to the above essay , your thesis might bethat reason and imagination play an important role in both mathematics andliterature but, while the imaginative insights of mathematicians must ultimately beprovable, those of novelists need only be reasonable.