Writing TOK essays or preparing for the presentation is not a fun process, but we can help make it better by showing you how to choose the most suitable TOK topics for the assignment.
In general, theory of knowledge in IB is one of the key pillars through which students learn critical thinking, open-mindedness, and how to explore the world and themselves. These noble goals are achieved in a two-part assessment consisting of an essay and presentation.
Choosing the right topics for your theory of knowledge presentation is the foundation of passing the IB TOK part of the assessment.
Help for Assessment IB experts have composed this useful step by step guide to help you choose the best topic for your IB TOK, but we also do more than that. If you need a reliable, expert, and experienced TOK specialist to write your essay for you, then you can simply skip the tedium of explanations ahead and order our TOK essay writing service.
Of course, that doesn’t mean you can’t do it yourself if you put in the many hours of work and refinement required. Let’s get started on how to choose the most relevant topics for your theory of knowledge essay and/or presentation.
How to Choose a TOK Essay Topic
Each year, IB provides a list of 6 topics called prescribed titles, or PTs, from which candidates have to choose one to base their essay. The prescribed title should be used as-is, with no changes in wording or format.
Prescribed titles cover various topics and are multi-disciplinary. They are quite general and open-ended, as befits a good title. When you first read the six titles, you will notice that they sound abstract. That is a result of generalization, so you need to make them more real and transform them into something people can understand.
These steps will help you choose good TOK topics for your essay and presentation.
These are simple guidelines designed to help you pick the right TOK essay titles. They are only meant to help the student with the process rather than being cut-and-dry rules.
With that, it's time to have a peek at the prescribed titles for the May 2020 and November 2019 TOK essays.
TOK Prescribed Titles November 2019
IB Prescribed Titles May 2020
The student must thoroughly understand the prescribed topic and break it down into parts that are easier to digest. This is called unpacking the prescribed title.
How to Unpack TOK Essay Title in 9 Steps
Step 1
Underline the terms that you’ll need to define or explain. You must never assume that the reader/person marking your essay knows what you mean, because definitions can be subjective. For example, in the title do explanations have to be true question, what is the definition of “explanation” and “true”?
Step 2
List and note the assumptions made in the title, if any. For example, the assumptions are clear in this title given in the November 2019 session.
Decide whether you will need to challenge the assumption made. In this case, you will not as the title commands you to assume it to be true.
Step 3
Pick out any explicit requirements in the title and list them out. For example, in the following May 2020 title, can you pick out any explicit requirements?
From preliminary investigation, we can see we will need to explore Picasso as a person and his art to understand not so much what he saw, but how. Then we will be able to make a case for or against his claim.
Step 4
Underline or list the action words in the title. These are words that direct or command you to do something. Such action words include analyze, compare, explore, and many others.
Step 5
Identify alternative angles and approaches to the title. You will already have a few ideas from when you were choosing the title. Each unique approach is a new opportunity to explore the title afresh.
Step 6
Create and write down your thesis, clearly identifying your position in relation to the essay title. If you don’t know how to do this, explore our definitive guide on how to write a TOK essay.
Step 7
With your perspective of choice, select the relevant AOKs and WOKs, which you will base your essay on.
Step 8
Pick out claims and counterclaims, and write them down in general terms. At this point, you are essentially writing down an outline for your essay, which gives you the chance to back off a particular title if it doesn't provide enough reference material.
Step 9
Finally, come up with germane examples you will use. They must have a strong correlation to the title with clear links. The best places to draw them would be your coursework, global events, or personal experiences.
That is how you select and deconstruct IB TOK essay titles. However, that is only 67% of the work. You will also have to come up with a TOK presentation.
The fact that you also have to tie a chosen topic with real-life situations as well as AOKs and WOKs is not fun at all, at least for most non-nerdy students.
How to Choose TOK Presentation Topics, With Examples
The TOK presentation does not give you the luxury of having 6 titles to choose. Without some inspiration, you will be flying blind. Here is what you can do to make sure you come up with the perfect TOK topics.
The topic has to be something you are interested in or passionate about. Remember, you will be presenting it for at least 10 minutes to a room packed with people, so you had better have enough motivation. You need to be knowledgeable, confident, and autonomous with it.
Make it a topic that you can relate to some part of your life. This will give you plenty of real-life situations (RLS) with which to support it. At the very least, make sure to have a wealth of global events or historical evidence to run with.
The topic should be presented as a question that is not easily answered with a Yes/No statement. In other words, the goal is not to find answers but to evoke more questions before you can get the answer. They usually start with "to what extent …" and invoke one or more WOK or AOK.
The topic should be a debatable one. That means it should have at least two compelling arguments or facets, and will naturally raise questions about the knowledge question you will be exploring.
It also has to be specific and concise. You will only have 10 minutes to present your case, and a wide-angled approach will not give you enough time to conclude or explore in-depth. Your theory of knowledge presentation topic needs to be relevant. Ultimately, it needs to be applicable to a wide range of situations in real life within the same context.
Examples of Topics for IB TOK Presentation
To help you understand what is meant by these steps, here are 10 examples with relevant RLS. They are given here as inspiration, not to be copied word-for-word. If you do that, you won't have the required organic thinking required to defend your presentation.
Help With TOK Titles and Essays
Having chosen the right TOK topic is only the beginning of a long and intensive process. It is meant to be highly rewarding and revealing to the student, but in the end, it's the marks you get that matter.
The net effect of that in education is a topic you can discuss in your presentation. In the meantime, let Help for Assessment get you top marks in your TOK essay.
Our IB TOK experts are highly experienced in both the essay and presentation sections of the IBDP assessments.
If you need help with writing your IB essay, order the TOK writing service now and get huge discounts of up to 25% on your first order. As always, you can trust us to deliver top quality, reliability, and 100% unique and well-researched work.