Theory of Knowledge Essay (answer the question: Are we too quick to assume that the most recent evidence is inevitably the strongest? Discuss with reference to the natural sciences and one other area of knowledge.)

  i will also attach two other files that can help you understand the jist of what a Theory of Knowledge essay, and the criteria for it.

The structure of this essay should be:

First, write your introduction. (100-150 words)

Paragraph 1

–Say one or two interesting things about the prescribed title question. This shows us, right away that you know what the question is asking. 

–Define one or two of the key terms in the title. Get definitions for all of the main words in your title. You don’t need to include all of them in your essay, but it’s useful to see how different people think about the words. Sometimes these definitions can also give you some hints for claims, counterclaims or evidence. 

–Give the reader a roadmap. Clarify for the reader how you’re going to explore the essay question–which AOKs you’re using, for example. This will make it easy for the marker to know what to look for.

Next write your first development. (2 paragraphs totalling 600 words)

Paragraph 2

-In this paragraph you’ll explore your claim for AOK 1. 

–State your claim. A claim is a topic sen­tence that outlines your argument about the prescribed title. For example you could claim that, “Mathematics can be relied on because it is a purely logical system. It is axiomatic and independent of subjective experience.”

–Example. Your examples can be from your life, like something that you noticed doing your Biology IA, or something from research, like how CRISPR was discovered. The example needs to be specific, precise and real though. And it needs to clar­ify and sup­port the claim. So you could talk about how, “In mathematics we learned that the inside angles of a triangle, in Euclidian space, sum up to 180 degrees.”

–Explain. Clarify (and explore) how your example supports your claim. Notice what is interesting about your example and what it says about the title. 

Paragraph 3

–Counter-claim. Argue against your claim above. “However, it is possible to come to different conclusions using different systems of mathematics.”

–Example. Provide an example that supports your counter claim. “It is not possible to demonstrate that the interior angles of a triangle equal 180 degrees in Euclidian space, this cannot be proven within other systems, such as spherical geometry or hyperbolic geometry.”

–Explain. Clarify (and explore) how your example supports your counterclaim. Notice what is interesting about your example and what it says about the title. 

–Sum up the development section. Linking to the prescribed title, highlight the insights you’ve had about this AOK and the prescribed title. “It is therefore clear that mathematics is reliable to an extent, but often it can only show something to be true within one fixed system or approach.”

Now, write another two body paragraphs, for your second AOK. (600 words)

Paragraph 4

-State your claim.

-Provide an example, which supports the claim.

-Carefully explain how the example supports the claim.  

Paragraph 5

-State your counter-claim.

-Provide an example, which supports the counter-claim.

-Carefully explain how the example supports the counter-claim.  

–Sum up the insights you’ve had about this AOK and the prescribed title.

Finally, write your conclusion. (200-250 words)

Paragraph 6

–Your conclusion. Explain what insights you’ve made, related to the prescribed title question. Take some time to synthesize the major insights you had about your two AOKs.  

Implications and significance. Also tell us why it’s important that we know this. Clarify when and how it’s matters that we understand these insights.

–Perspectives and extensions. If you can, try to pull in a different perspective, on your conclusion. Perhaps you can recognize a different way of approaching the question, which could have resulted in quite different insights than those you included in your essay. Or you could also mention an unresolved question or a limitation that your exploration revealed. 

Obviously there is a lot more depth that we can go into about what makes a really great TOK essay, but this structure will get you started. And we can meet and talk about your essay, if you’d like.