TOK IA ESSAY - Main Body... help?

[familyjewels]

Essay question: "To gain an understanding of the world we need to make use of stereotypes."

Areas of Knowledge: Ethics & Human Sciences

I have finished my introduction, I think it's alright (hopefully the teacher will like it as well), although, I really have no clue how to start my main body... I have a full vacation week and I want to use it to finish all the internal assessments and essays ASAP. Like now. Anyway, I don't know if its allowed in this forum, but here's my introduction so far (vvv link uploaded vvv).

All help/advice/guidance will be appreciated

TOK ASSESSMENT ESSAY.docx

[bex]

I'm working on a practice TOK essay this week and one thing my teacher always makes clear is that personal engagement is necessary in your essay (the math exploration requires this too). The TOK essay should reflect your personality, experiences and journey through the IB programme. Since TOK is interdisciplinary, you could talk about experiences/lectures from other IB classes you've taken. You could talk about stereotypes as an issue within historiography (if that is even a thing lol). You could talk about stereotypes in your visual arts course--since art is one of the most subjective subjects, to what extent do stereotypes affect how one looks at/judges art? You could look at societal problems in cultures where certain stereotypes are deeply ingrained into peoples' daily lives.

Last thing I want to mention is from your introduction:

it has been scientifically and psychologically proved that we all make use of stereotypes

I think you should stay away from things that are 'certain' and 'proven' within TOK. A lot of times the prescribed titles will try to sucker you into choosing a specific side to an argument. Most good TOK essays recognize that it is difficult to be certain about the validity/truth of a statement, especially when dealing with ethics. If you want to keep it, provide a source for the claim, and you're good to go.

Edited May 6, 2014 by bex

[familyjewels]

I'm working on a practice TOK essay this week and one thing my teacher always makes clear is that personal engagement is necessary in your essay (the math exploration requires this too). The TOK essay should reflect your personality, experiences and journey through the IB programme. Since TOK is interdisciplinary, you could talk about experiences/lectures from other IB classes you've taken. You could talk about stereotypes as an issue within historiography (if that is even a thing lol). You could talk about stereotypes in your visual arts course--since art is one of the most subjective subjects, to what extent do stereotypes affect how one looks at/judges art? You could look at societal problems in cultures where certain stereotypes are deeply ingrained into peoples' daily lives.

Last thing I want to mention is from your introduction:

it has been scientifically and psychologically proved that we all make use of stereotypes

I think you should stay away from things that are 'certain' and 'proven' within TOK. A lot of times the prescribed titles will try to sucker you into choosing a specific side to an argument. Most good TOK essays recognize that it is difficult to be certain about the validity/truth of a statement, especially when dealing with ethics. If you want to keep it, provide a source for the claim, and you're good to go.

Your response made me realise and think a lot, thank you so much! Yeah, I really thought my introduction was crap, but I really needed some advice. Yours is really helpful (for someone who is practicing their TOK essay)