IB TOK 2

The IB TOK Essay is a 1,600 word essay that asks IB Diploma candidates to reflect on the nature of knowledge itself and on how we know what we claim to know through different Areas of Knowledge, Ways of Knowing, Knowledge Questions, and Real Life Situations. The candidates individually pick a TOK Essay Title to analyze and write about from an annually created list and must also reflect on their process in the form of a paragraph at least three times during the assignment.

Over the course of a few days, our TOK teacher, Mr. Brewer, started the class with warm-ups. Unbeknownst to us, those warm-ups were this year's TOK Essay Titles. Each warm-up was a different title as the class was given a few minutes to reflect alone before coming together. Doing it this way made introducing the essay less intimidating as we took the titles for just everyday lessons. For my TOK Essay I chose the title: Present knowledge is wholly dependent on past knowledge. Discuss this claim with reference to two Areas of Knowledge. I then created a brainstorm paper in which I broke down the title using my personal/class notes and experiences, using Mathematics, History, Religious Knowledge Systems, and Art as my AoKs. Once I had enough to talk and write about, I brought my brainstorm paper to my TOK Essay conference with Mr. Brewer. I asked about counter-examples and how to structure my essay around the title, AoKs and their RLSs, and my connecting KQs; it went well as we discussed my personal/shared knowledge and how to make it come together within my stance and the title’s implications. After the conference, I completed my essay draft that Mr. Brewer reviewed and advised. I already knew I needed to cut some parts, for I was over the word count by about one hundred words. I also wanted to clean-up my paragraphs for more clarity and less redundancy. I wrote my IB reflections on the warm-ups, the brainstorming/conference, and the draft feedback.

With the TOK Essay, I found that my strengths were my powerful KQs, multiple perspectives, and TOK Essay Title navigation. My weaknesses were language and structure related. Overall, I am very proud of my TOK Essay, for in the past, I had struggled with the TOK Essay writing style. With this Title, I deepened and showcased my knowledge.