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May 2022 TOK essay titles

M22 prescribed essay titles

The M22 TOK prescribed essay titles are now being written by Northern Hemisphere schools, for a mid-March deadline. Check out the M22 TOK essay webinar, which models what an initial unpacking session would look like. Below you’ll find the key words to pin down in the essay introduction, links to the BQ framework, and other consideration points.

Prescribed title 1

The ideas you see here roughly correspond to the initial unpacking session you will have with your TOK teacher. You’ll then go on to have three face-to-face interactions with your teacher, in which you’ll discuss your progress in writing the essay, working through any difficulties and challenges you experience.

Make sure you pin down…
  • Independent of culture
relates to…
  • Perspectives (BQ4) – think about how knowledge is subject to interpretation, and whether that interpretation is culturally-driven.
  • Creativity (BQ5) – think about the development of knowledge, and the role culture plays in this.
BEAR IN MIND…
  • Knowledge itself will require a definition
  • Can knowledge be produced without a cultural background?
  • Mathematics – the assumption is that this is independent from culture – is that true?
  • See culture in our key concept resource

Prescribed title 2

The ideas you see here roughly correspond to the initial unpacking session you will have with your TOK teacher. You’ll then go on to have three face-to-face interactions with your teacher, in which you’ll discuss your progress in writing the essay, working through any difficulties and challenges you experience.

MAKE SURE YOU PIN DOWN…
  • World of difference
  • Truth
  • Facts
RELATES TO…
  • Foundations (BQ1) – think about the nature of truth, role of facts, etc. – and come up with your own definitions of these.
  • Spin (BQ3) – facts can be used to mislead us, by presenting half-truths (“A truth that’s told with bad intent / Beats all the lies you can invent.”- Blake)
BEAR IN MIND…
  • Angelou’s full quote also refers to ‘facts can obscure the truth’ – tricky to decide whether to include this section of the quote
  • Ensure it establishes (or refutes) world of difference – not just difference
  • A broad question in terms of which AOKs you can select
  • See truth in our key concept resource

Prescribed title 3

The ideas you see here roughly correspond to the initial unpacking session you will have with your TOK teacher. You’ll then go on to have three face-to-face interactions with your teacher, in which you’ll discuss your progress in writing the essay, working through any difficulties and challenges you experience.

MAKE SURE YOU PIN DOWN…
  • Solid justification 
  • Regarding
  • More highly
RELATES TO…
  • Values (BQ2) – this could be one of the bases for this essay, that highly regarded knowledge is synonymous with knowledge that helps us to improve our values
  • Perspectives (BQ4) – perhaps highly regarded knowledge is that which is the most objective (and therefore least vulnerable to interpretation)?
  • Experts (BQ6) – think about how do we regard knowledge with more discernment
BEAR IN MIND…
  • What does ‘solid’ justification mean (as opposed to just plain old ‘justification’)?
  • Regarding something highly is vague – needs pinning down very clearly
  • The purpose of knowledge needs to be considered
  • See justification in our key concept resource

Prescribed title 4

The ideas you see here roughly correspond to the initial unpacking session you will have with your TOK teacher. You’ll then go on to have three face-to-face interactions with your teacher, in which you’ll discuss your progress in writing the essay, working through any difficulties and challenges you experience.

MAKE SURE YOU PIN DOWN…
  • Meaning
  • Telling of stories
RELATES TO…
  • Spin (BQ3) – think about communicating ideas via means that aren’t always factually-based.
  • Creativity (BQ5) – think about how we create knowledge via our imagination.
BEAR IN MIND…
  • What does ‘give knowledge meaning’ mean – and how does this happen via ‘telling stories’?
  • The most prescriptive of the PTs
  • There is a lot of cross-over between history and the human sciences – it could be harder to craft a contrasting essay. 
  • It could also turn into a descriptive essay (it’s not “to what extent to historians and human scientists…”)
  • ‘Telling stories’ really needs to be nailed down.

Prescribed title 5

The ideas you see here roughly correspond to the initial unpacking session you will have with your TOK teacher. You’ll then go on to have three face-to-face interactions with your teacher, in which you’ll discuss your progress in writing the essay, working through any difficulties and challenges you experience.

MAKE SURE YOU PIN DOWN…
  • Good 
  • Bad
  • Interpretations
RELATES TO…
  • Perspectives (BQ4) – think about how our perspectives lead us to make different interpretations. When does this strengthen our claims (perhaps personal experiences)? When does this detract from our claims (perhaps when we seek to confirm our biases)?
  • Experts (BQ6) – think about how experts make discerning judgements on the world – in terms of humility, evidence, an agenda that doesn’t seek to be served, etc.
BEAR IN MIND…
  • There is quite a lot for students to do with this essay – interpretations within the arts will probably be evaluated in a completely different way to other AOKs
  • See interpretation in our key concept resource

Prescribed title 6

The ideas you see here roughly correspond to the initial unpacking session you will have with your TOK teacher. You’ll then go on to have three face-to-face interactions with your teacher, in which you’ll discuss your progress in writing the essay, working through any difficulties and challenges you experience.

MAKE SURE YOU PIN DOWN…
  • Ethical grounds 
  • Boundaries of acceptable investigation
RELATES TO…
  • Values (BQ2) – clear links with this BQ. Think about how and who should decide on the ethical boundaries of knowledge?
  • Creativity (BQ5) – this is about creating new knowledge, so it also links to this BQ
BEAR IN MIND…
  • “If we conclude”… but if we don’t? 
  • Who is the ‘we’? Not a bad thing – this is a great way of including a consideration of perspectives in this essay. The experts? The authorities? Ordinary knowers? Etc.

M22 essay webinar $24.99 / $49.99

This webinar discusses the M22 titles, and how to begin writing the TOK essay. We look at the key words of the titles, link them to the course, and run over possible approaches. This is a great starting point for writing the essay, and works similarly to the initial unpacking session that teachers run with their students.

  • Group ticket – $49.99
  • Individual ticket – $24.99