Dear All,

Now that we have had some experience with preparing and delivering TOK presentations, it is time for us to turn our attention to essay work.

We are going to provide you with a procedure that we recommend for the essay writing process. In the mean time, here are the instructions and titles. Please think about how you could use your experiences with TOK and beyond in order to respond to each of these questions. Don't make a snap judgement about which one you think you would like to answer - in this task, often the snap judgements are the worst judgements.

Instructions
Your theory of knowledge essay for this semester must be written on one of the three titles (questions) provided below. You may choose any title, but are recommended to consult with your teacher. Your essay will be marked for proficiency in the four domains that are described in the assessment criteria published in the Theory of Knowledge guide. Remember to centre your essay on knowledge issues and, where appropriate, refer to other parts of your IB programme and to your experiences as a knower. Always justify your statements and provide relevant examples to illustrate your arguments. Pay attention to the implications of your arguments, and remember to consider what can be said against them. If you use external sources, cite them according to a recognized convention.

Note that statements in quotations in these titles are not necessarily authentic: they present a real point of view but may not have been spoken or written by an actual person. It is appropriate to analyze them but it is unnecessary, even unwise, to spend time on researching a context for them.

Respond to the title exactly as given; do not alter it in any way.

Your essay must be between 1200 and 1600 words in length.

Your essay must be submitted to your class teacher by TUESDAY 3rd MAY 2011.


TITLES

1. "For it is in the long run that, somehow, truth may survive - through the decay of untruth." (John Lukacs) To what extent is this the case in different areas of knowledge and in your own experience?

2. "We are more likely to be mistaken in our generalizations than in our particular observations." Do you agree?

3. “To know is to be able to predict.” How accurate is this claim in different areas of knowledge?