Planning Your TOK Essay
Before planning and writing your TOK essay, you will of course need to choose one of the prescribed titles.
Ideally you want to pick one which interests you and allows you to explore the Areas of Knowledge which suit you best.
It is absolutely crucial that you understand what the title is asking you. For this reason, when looking at a particular question, you need to take into account a number of points:
- What type of knowledge is the question referring too (such as: knowledge from direct experience, knowledge from authority etc…)?
- What is the command word/term in the question itself (for example: ‘discuss’, ‘to what extent’ etc...)?
- Identify the key terms in the question and think about how you could define them in the context of your essay. Avoid dictionary definitions.
- What are some ways you can connect different AOK’s, WOK’s and other TOK concepts with the title? It is important to identify some potential manners in which you can compare and contrast the different AOK’s you choose in the context of the question.
I would highly recommend assessing a few different questions in this manner rather than just immediately settling for one.