Directions:

Review the following extracts from exemplar TOK essays and fill in the corresponding
tables with your thoughts and observations about which writing techniques were used
effectively.

Extract #1:

PT: Does it matter if our acquisition of knowledge happens in “bubbles” where some
information and voices are excluded? Discuss with reference to two areas of knowledge.

Effective Writing Techniques Key Words or Phrases Used

Re-phrases the knowledge question in
their own words.
Recycles the language of the KQ
Defines key terms from the KQ
Makes a clear claim
“can relate to entirely different terms like…”
“...they are all variants of the same idea”
“This tenet is reflected in the areas of
knowledge such as History or the Natural
Sciences…”

Extract #2:
PT: Does it matter if our acquisition of knowledge happens in “bubbles” where some
information and voices are excluded? Discuss with reference to two areas of knowledge.

Effective Writing Techniques Key Words or Phrases Used

Extract #3:
PT: For artists and natural scientists, which is more important: what can be explained or
what cannot be explained? Discuss with reference to the arts and the natural sciences.

Effective Writing Techniques Key Words or Phrases Used

Effective Claim Writing Techniques

● Clearly and concisely define the TERMS that you are going to be exploring
(take these from the knowledge prompts)

● Can be multiple sentences long

● Sample:

○ Concepts such as absolute truth do not apply to a field in which knowledge is

derived from nuanced analysis, much less the Natural Sciences which depend on a
shifting system of changing truths. The only difference in determining truth between
History and the Natural Sciences is the justification or methods with which truth is
obtained and believed. Because the two areas of knowledge have different purposes,
the justification for something to be considered truthful also differs. This does not
discredit the knowledge obtained in either area of knowledge. Thus, neither can be
regarded more highly than another.

● Keep it SIMPLE!

● Define key terms, take a position, make an assertion.

● Sample:

○ When disseminating knowledge, historians give it meaning through constructing a

coherent narrative of events by picking sources that fit best within the "story"; the
significance oftentimes derives from emotive aspects of information. However,
within the field of psychology stories are not only forms of communication, but are
the basis on which discovery and exploration function. Thus, within the field, stories
provide meaning as evidence for psychological phenomena, but also through
allowing a general reader to acknowledge the universal nature of observation and
hence, its significance.