tok essay about history

How To Write A ToK Essay - Updated 2023

Ace your ToK Essay with our expert tips & tricks! Get the latest and greatest techniques on "How To Write A ToK Essay" and impress the IB examiners.📝💡

Table of content

• Introduction

Purpose Of ToK

Assessment of tok, the game plan, execution of the gameplan, planning for tok essay, structure of tok essay, conclusions, bibliography.

Introduce your topic accurately and state your thesis statement for the essay carefully.  A thesis statement is like a teaser to your entire essay wherein you define your key terms and introduce your interpretation of the question. Make sure that you do not reword the prescribed title in your thesis. Instead, it needs to, as the word says, INTRODUCE your readers to what your essay is about. A strong introduction allows the reader to deduce what knowledge question(s) you are trying to answer.

So, in a nutshell

• Write interesting things about the given TOK essay title .
• Define key terms
• Narrow in on the particularly interesting aspect
• State your thesis statement . This will be your short answer to your given title if you don't know how to write a killer thesis statement check out this blog from SparkNotes .
• State your Roadmap. This will help the readers in understanding the direction of your essay.

How to write a TOK Essay? 

To answer that, you must familiarise yourself with what a TOK Essay is about.

Before you start reading this article,  Amanda  has some excellent TOK tips for you!

Theory of Knowledge is one of the most meta subjects that IB offers. Despite its complexity, TOK helps in providing a base for holistic learning and allows students to have a multidisciplinary experience. 

To understand TOK is to understand the essence of IB, a task that most people consider unattainable.

But not for you! 

Thank your lucky stars who made you land on Nail IB. How exactly will Nail IB help you? 

Well, nailing International Baccalaureate is something we will discuss later. 

Let's focus on cracking your TOK essay, shall we?

TOK demonstrates how students  can apply their knowledge  with  greater awareness  and  credibility .

Big words, huh? 

Now that we know that we cannot just slide through the Theory of Knowledge, let's understand how we can conquer this battle all guns blazing.

ToK essay’s primary objective is to answer the  why  behind our studies. 

It makes one aware of the real-life implications of their subjects. The students gain greater awareness of their personal and ideological assumptions and appreciate the diversity of different perspectives. It helps the students find their unique perception, a prerequisite for excelling in the IB TOK essays.

Before we dive into our gameplan, let’s overview the rules of the game.

There are two assessment tasks in the TOK: an essay and a presentation . While a presentation encourages students to explore a real-life situation through the lens of TOK, an essay is written on the basis of the various questions provided by the International Baccalaureate Organisation.

• The presentation is to assess a student’s ability to apply TOK thinking to a real-life situation whereas IB TOK essay is more conceptual.
• The essay is externally assessed by IB and must be on any one of the prescribed TOK essay titles issued by the IB for each examination session.
• Word limit of a TOK essay is 1600 words ( excludes extended notes, footnotes, bibliography).

Now that we have unleashed the game, let’s move ahead towards the gameplan of acing both, your presentation and your essay.

One of the fundamental tasks of TOK is to examine different areas of knowledge and find out their similarities and differences.

The TOK essay requires the students to investigate two Areas of Knowledge (AOK)  and two Ways of Knowing   (WOK) . AOKs and WOKs are investigated via questions such as:

• How do we know what we know? (WOK)
• What counts as evidence for X? (AOK)
• How do we judge which is the best model of Y? (WOK)
• What does theory Z mean in the real world? (AOK + WOK)

The aforementioned are  Knowledge Questions  which help combine the Areas of Knowledge and the Ways of Knowing that they are using. This eliminates the superficial way of learning and makes an individual sensitive to the nature of the information.   Our acquisition of Knowledge can be broadly divided into Shared Knowledge and Personal Knowledge.

Shared knowledge: What WE know It is the product of more than one individual. Although individuals contribute to it, shared knowledge does not solely depend upon the contributions of a particular individual—there are possibilities for others to check and amend individual contributions and add to the body of knowledge that already exists.

Personal knowledge: What I know It is essentially dependent on the experiences of a particular individual. Also known as procedural knowledge, it is gained through experience, practice and personal involvement and is intimately bound up with the particular local circumstances of the individual such as biography, interests, values, and so on.

The best hack to ace TOK essay is to develop a habit of making connections between the construction of knowledge, its acquisition and its relevance in the real world. 

After that one needs to develop an interest in understanding the difference between diversity and cultural perspectives and personal assumptions.

One also needs to critically reflect on their own beliefs and assumptions, leading to more thoughtful, responsible and purposeful lives.

Yes, this is what you signed up for. It may sound a little intimidating but once you get the hang of it you will be able to see the matrix and understand this beautiful world a little better.

Understand that to provide the best version of your writing, it will take you more than one or two drafts. First and foremost, you need to pick your essay topic diligently. Try to choose an essay topic that best interests you. The topic should also allow you to explore the Areas of Knowledge towards which you are naturally inclined. Here are a few sample questions:

a) 'Ways of knowing are a check on our instinctive judgments.' To what extend do you agree with this statement?

b) With reference to two areas of knowledge discuss the way in which shared knowledge can shape their personal knowledge.

c) How can we know if knowledge is produced more through 'Passive Observation' or 'Active-Experiment' within the Human and Natural-sciences under a Mathematical-Perspective?

d) "The whole point of knowledge is to produce both meaning and purpose in our personal lives". Assess the validity of this statement.

Great things take time. It took me more than a couple of weeks to finalize this TOK essay guide. It is completely okay if the first few drafts may not look pleasing or award-winning to you. You will require sharpening your perspective towards the topic each time you polish your draft. Your writing journey from a dull draft to a masterpiece will be a whole process that you will have to be patient with. Have faith in yourself and proceed stepwise.

You need to consider the opinions of others who have devoted hours of research and a lifetime of dedicated studying the topic that surrounds your writing. Unravelling the realms of your mind palace is so Sherlock but let’s not deny the fact that at times, Watson is the one whose expertise helps Sherlock through pretty difficult times. I mean even Batman needs a Robin. In support of my awesome sauce examples, the point I am trying to make is that  finding support for our claims and counterclaims through research is a good thing .

Use real-life examples to support your claims and counterclaims. These examples need to be documented researched examples like studies, experiments, articles, presentations by well-known people, etc. Examples that stem from your diploma subjects are highly encouraged, but those will need to be supported by research as well.   

It is suggested that you choose a title, stick to it, tackle it and not be afraid. Do not change your mind unless there is a good reason. Also, try choosing Areas of knowledge that you truly enjoy. You know slaying a known devil is much easier than an unknown one. Allot a TIMELINE to your essay. Start with creating an outline of your essay. This will help you to track your progress and accomplish your goals

You can use tools like  Trello  to organize your ideas and plan your TOK essay.

Areas of Knowledge (AOKs): TOK distinguishes between eight areas of knowledge. They are mathematics, the natural sciences, the human sciences, the arts, history, ethics, religious knowledge systems, and indigenous knowledge systems. It is suggested that students study and explore six of these eight.

Ways of knowing (WOKs): TOK identifies eight specific WOKs- language, sense perception, emotion, reason, imagination, faith, intuition, and memory. It is suggested that studying four of these eight in-depth would be appropriate. WOKs underlie the methodology of the areas of knowledge and provide a basis for personal knowledge.

Moving ahead, let us discuss the structure of your TOK essay.

Your essay will consist of 4 broad segregations

Before breaking down further on the pillars, keep the following in mind

• Please note what the TOK essay title is asking you. (Read it a couple of times. We highly recommend that you brainstorm ideas with your TOK coordinator)
• Make sure you understand the command term and the question it is asking.
• What kind of knowledge is being elicited?
• When choosing your areas of knowledge (AoK) and ways of knowing (WoK) make sure that you are able to draw contrasts and comparisons, that is, you are able to find evidence that supports as well as challenges your claims.
• Identify key terms in your TOK essay title. Make sure you define them. Your essay will gravitate around them. Key terms/words in your titles are your essay anchors. Your response should be built around them.
• Your writing skills come in handy while you work on your IB TOK essay. Like any other essay make sure you have proper thesis statements and topic sentences to guide the evaluator through your work.
• Respect the TOK essay title. Rephrasing the topic is not encouraged . Your main job is to address the title.

The body can be mainly divided into 3 segments.

Body (1st Segment)

• AoK Claim:  Here you investigate your first Area of Knowledge and draw parallels between your AoK and the question. This is done by stating your claim. Claims can be general in nature and need not reference a particular area of knowledge. They help you shape your essay and investigate the question further. 
• Evidence: Example of a real-life situation, describe thoroughly and accurately, which supports your stated claim. (AoK)
• Counter-Claim: State your counter-claim: like claims, those can be general and need not reference a particular area of knowledge. Counterclaim helps you show the other side the coin and gives your essay a holistic nature. 
• Evidence: A referenced real-life situation/example. Describe thoroughly and accurately, show how this supports your counterclaim (AoK ).
• Don’t forget to weave in your WoKs:  You need to take into account the source of your knowledge. Here you can also investigate if your nature of acquiring the knowledge has, in any way, affected it. It is good practice to question if your knowledge would be different had it been acquired through a different source/method
• Mini-conclusion: Here you analyze your examples in reference to your claims and counterclaims. You must connect to your thesis statement and the prescribed title. How does your proposed argument, in this particular part of the body, connect to the prescribed title and the knowledge questions you are trying to answer?

Body (2): Follow the above process for your second AOK.

• Use this part of your essay to compare and contrast your varying AoKs. You need to connect them to your thesis and your prescribed title clearly showing how your arguments respond to the PT.

Your conclusion section will make your essay come together. It is the glue that will make your essay stick together. Herein, you need to

• Reiterate your thesis (initial response).
• Use your mini conclusions to write a final conclusion.
• Tell the reader what the significance is for knowing what we know in this particular PT.
• Discuss implications as well.
• Offer another perspective, how will the perspective of a different person affect the claims/counterclaims you make in the essay?
• Don’t forget to make the end strong.

We recommend all the ib students use the  citation machine  (It's FREE) to organize or generate a bibliography for your TOK essay. Please go through this extensive guide provided by the IB before you start working on your citations.

If you are still struggling heaps with your TOK essay feel free to subscribe to our tok notes bundles or get access to more than 500+ IBDP notes and past papers here .

Nail IB is your virtual companion that helps you hustle through your diploma and provide you with the right resources at the right time. To know more about acing IB, click  here .

I hope this article will become the foundation for figuring out how to write a TOK Essay.

Remember to have faith in yourself.

I hope you NAIL your TOK essay!

Quoting the great Napolean Hill

"Whatever the mind of a man can conceive and believe, it can achieve."

IB Resources you will love!

HS Theory of Knowledge: TOK Essay

• General Information
• TOK Exhibition
• ISZL Online Subscription Sources
• TOK Books in the Library
• Open Access Resources
• NoodleTools
• Citation Assistance
• Annotated Bibliography
• Academic Honesty
• Understanding Turnitin
• Understanding Source Types
• HS Library Homepage This link opens in a new window

TOK Essay titles May 2024

1. Is subjectivity overly celebrated in the arts but unfairly condemned in history? Discuss with reference to the arts and history.

2. How can we reconcile the opposing demands for specialization and generalization in the production of knowledge? Discuss with reference to mathematics and one other area of knowledge.

3. Nothing is more exciting than fresh ideas, so why are areas of knowledge often so slow to adopt them? Discuss with reference to the human sciences and one other area of knowledge.

4. Do we underestimate the challenges of taking knowledge out of its original context and transferring it to a different context? Discuss with reference to two areas of knowledge.

5. Do we need custodians of knowledge? Discuss with reference to two areas of knowledge.

6. Are we too quick to assume that the most recent evidence is inevitably the strongest? Discuss with reference to the natural sciences and one other area of knowledge.

An essay outline writing guide

Essay example

• Example Final TOK Essay.pdf

Essay Guidelines - Word Count

The TOK Essay must be written in standard 12 type size and be double spaced.

The maximum length of the essay is 1,600 words . Extended footnotes or appendices are not appropriate for the TOK essay.

The word count includes: • the main part of the essay • any quotations.

The word count does not include: • any acknowledgments • the references (whether given in footnotes, endnotes or in-text) and bibliography • any maps, charts, diagrams, annotated illustrations or tables.

If an essay exceeds the word limit, then examiners are instructed to stop reading after 1,600 words and to base their assessment on just the first 1,600 words. Students are required to indicate the number of words when the essay is uploaded during the submission process.

TOK Talk Podcast (Essay titles)

1. Is subjectivity overly celebrated in the arts but unfairly condemned in history?

2. How can we reconcile the opposing demands for specialization     and generalization in the production of knowledge?

3. Nothing is more exciting than fresh ideas,  so why are areas of     knowledge often so slow to adopt them?

5. Do we need custodians of knowledge?

6. Are we too quick to assume that the most recent evidence is inevitably the strongest?

What is the TOK essay?

Essay unpacking tools

• Essay Unpacking_Outline Tool.docx

• Prescribed Titles Unpacking and Essay structure form.docx

Essay Rubric

The assessment instrument provided describes five levels of performance in response to this driving question. These levels are to be seen as holistic descriptors rather than as a checklist of characteristics.

Refer to the offical IB guide P. 48 for more information

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• Last Updated: Apr 24, 2024 5:30 AM
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TOK - Essay: History

• Natural Science
• Human Science
• Mathematics
• Class of 2024 Essay Topics

Interdisciplinary

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• Last Updated: May 24, 2024 3:51 PM
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IB History EE examples

Filter exemplars, to what extent were queer people liberated in weimar germany, 1919-1933, to what extent were the nuremberg trials defendants afforded a fair due process, want to get full marks for your ee allow us to review it for you 🎯, to what extent was the popular violence of the cultural revolution driven by mao’s need to eliminate opposition, to what extent was german defeat in the battle of stalingrad a result of german failures, to what extent were legal measures responsible for the exclusion of jews from german society from 1933-1938, fast track your coursework with mark schemes moderated by ib examiners. upgrade now 🚀, to what extent did logistical and environmental implications hinder napoleon’s victory in the russian campaign of 1812, to what extent was the british government responsible for the collapse of the sunningdale agreement of 1973, to what extent was josef mengele’s experimentation on ethnical minorities in the auschwitz-birkenau extermination camp in the years 1943-1945 based on nazi ideology over actual scientific investigation, to what extent were the foreign parties involved insrebrenica, bosnia & herzegovina responsible for the collapse andsubsequent genocide of srebrenica, how did the tactics used in the fight for racial equality, in the united states, change in the 20th century, ¿hasta qué punto el franquismo utilizó el deporte español como herramienta de adoctrinamiento nacionalista, to what extent was nationalism the most significant cause of the dissolution of yugoslavia, what was the role of i̇smet i̇nönü's personal efforts in the transition to the multi-party political system in turkey 1945-50, how accurate is erich eyck in claiming that the great depression was the most significant reason for hitler’s rise to power in january 1933, to what extent can the failure of the comprehensive agrarian reforms programme (carp) during corazon aquino’s administration be attributed to her leadership from 1986-1992, 第42および45議会下での憲政会の普通選挙法に対する姿勢の変化は、どの程度1919〜22年の一般民衆による普選運動が要因だったか (29/34), to what extent was the 1948 arab-israeli war a result of whitehall intervention, to what extent were german reinforcements responsible for the victory of the finnish whites in the finnish civil war of 1918, to what extent was ‘ambitio’ a major factor in bringing about the end of the roman republic, how did the lavender scare impact united states domestic policy (1947-1959), to what extent did the guomindang fight less effectively than the chinese communist party during the second sino-japanese war, how significant was the aftermath of the black death in the transition from gothic architecture to renaissance architecture in early 15th century florence, why was the post war trial in japan (1946-48) treated in a less significant manner than the one in germany (1945-46), what was the significance of diseases and the role of doctors and hospitals in nazi german concentration camps of auschwitz and majdanek and to what extent it contributed to the extermination of prisoners, to what extent did the decline of the ottoman empire lead to british support for the creation of the zionist homeland, to what extent were the german population unaware of the existence of exterminationist policies between 1941-1945, modernization challenges in the middle east, to what extent did germany's failure to defeat britain cost them the war, what are the similarities and differences between germany’s foreign policy towards russia and ussr before the two world wars, to what extent did the french revolution change the role of women in society between 1789 and 1815, to what extent did britsh west africa contribute to britain's success in the second world war, ee checklist, what was the most significant reason that slavery was legal in brazil and took until 1888 to be fully abolished, who killed kirov, to what extent did the weakness of his opponents contribute to the rise to power of hitler.

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History has been defined as a study of the recorded past. This area of knowledge has continuously raised knowledge questions like whether it is possible to speak with certainty concerning an event that took place in the past. 

Despite such complexities, studying history has been essential in deepening our understanding of the present through reflections of the past.

Due to the fact that historical knowledge can never be absolute, documentary evidence has played a fundamental role when it comes to this area of knowledge.

As shown by various history knowledge questions, the reliability of evidence is dependent on the judgment of the historian. One of the main objectives of historical study is making sense of past events.

Ways of knowing such as sense perception and memory are therefore vital to this process. In addition, based on the fact that history cannot be revisited as it is not present anymore, makes it unique when compared to other IB areas of knowledge.

Additionally, while most historians base their assertions on tangible evidence, the interpretation of this information is critical to the production of historical knowledge.

As pointed out earlier, experts within this area of knowledge cannot conduct experiments to ascertain the validity of knowledge issues or claims. However, historians have developed alternative methods that they use to gather information.

Despite the fact these methods differ significantly when compared to areas of knowledge such as the sciences, they are still considered credible methods of inquiry.

In some cases, these methods do not apply as the overwhelming amount of evidence can be used to confidently claim that a historical fact is completely accurate.

Examples and Explanations

• Claim - During the generation of a resolution there is a fruitful exchange of knowledge, opinions, and views. Example – Integration of feminist points of view in sociological history
• Counterclaim - Dissenting opinions in history can result in the development of confirmation bias. Example – Contention on the definition of the Industrial Revolution. 

This area of knowledge is celebrated because it is composed of intellectual communities that are governed by aspects such as constructive criticism and mutual respect.

As shown in many theory of knowledge essay formats , the preeminent value of history is based on the presence of reasoned discourse.

During the pursuit of topics of mutual interest, historians often assess diverse points of view in order to learn from the knowledge claims by the different experts.

By integrating aspects such as impartiality and ways of knowing such as sense perception, experts are able to develop commitments to such discourse which ensure that equal attention is provided to both sides. 

Such factors help guarantee that during the generation of a resolution there is a fruitful exchange of knowledge, opinions, and views. A TOK essay real-life example that highlights this fact is the integration of feminist points of view in sociological history.

Before the 1920s, there existed a consensus on the perspectives present in sociological history. However, after this period, disagreements arose when the feminist movement argued that their points of view needed to be integrated.

The evaluation of the different points of view resulted in the discovery and emergence of fundamental historical information that in the past had not been studied.

This aspect shows that the presence of disagreements in the primary levels of research can result in resolutions that lead to the development of new conclusions.

On the counterclaim, one can also argue that dissenting opinions in history can result in the development of confirmation bias. By prompting researchers to examine each of the conflicting knowledge claims, it can lead to a lack of agreement when it comes to a specific hypothesis.

For instance, up to the 1970s and 1980s, historians acknowledged that the industrial revolution was a period that consisted of dramatic growth, especially in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. This information was validated by evidence produced during the 1950s by researchers such as Phelps-Brown and Hopkins.

However, this idea was soon challenged by economists such as Maxine Berg and Pat Hudson who contested that the methodologies used were invalid.

Instead of resulting in the production of more accurate knowledge, this disagreement has in the recent past continuously hindered the perception of the industrial revolution.

The analysis of both sides in this case did not result in the resolution of the disagreements but resulted in the development of disputes. As shown in most tok essay samples, history is based on written and oral accounts which cannot be comprehensively verified.

This aspect makes the presence of disagreements detrimental to the production of knowledge because some of the knowledge can be lost, altered, or omitted.

“Reliable knowledge can lack certainty.” Explore this claim with reference to two areas of knowledge.

In comparison to other areas of knowledge such as the natural sciences, history is considered significantly different. This is with respect to its methods of data collection and the manner in which new knowledge is validated.

Therefore, historians cannot apply techniques used in knowledge inquiry such as experimentation to prove the validity of historical knowledge.

Various tok essay structures have also shown how technology also affects inquiry in this area of knowledge. The methods of documentation present in the past are not the same as that is used today. This presents a lot of uncertainty when it comes to the justification of knowledge claims because they are based on an expert’s interpretation.

Regardless of this fact, the proof presented for certain events in history is not necessarily questioned. Historical knowledge can be considered reliable despite the lack of certainty.

For instance, historians do not doubt the death of Napoleon on the isle of St. Helena because they cannot access photographic evidence that documented the event.

Alternatively, based on the tok essay rubric attached to this prescribed title, it is important to establish how historians can be certain of their perceptions and in extension, the evidence they possess?

Historical knowledge based on facts should include the idea of certainty as a necessary consequence. Over the years, experts with this area of knowledge have come up with methodologies that guarantee the certainty of specific pieces of knowledge.

Through aspects such as net of available independent evidence is tight enough, historians determine whether a point of absolute certainty has been reached.

For example, based on photographic and video evidence that shows the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr., historians are certain of his death. This shows that reliable knowledge does not have to possess uncertainty.

What’s the problem with history in ToK ?

• July 13, 2023
• Real Life Examples (RLS) , Student Support , ToK Essay , ToK Exhibition

In my experience AoK History is the AoK that students find hardest to use in ToK. 

Let me explain why. Most students understand that there can be bias in historical knowledge. They understand that bias can derive from the interpretation of historical evidence, and the production of historical knowledge.

However, not many students understand that the very concept of historical knowledge is highly contested. We can start by roughly identifying 2 broad approaches on what historical knowledge is. These are the Relativist Approach, and the Absolutist Approach.

An example of the problem of historical knowledge.

Let’s start with a concrete example: When did the second world war start ? It seems like a fairly straight forward question. If we google it we are told that WW2 started on 1st september 1939, when Germany invaded Poland. However, France & the UK didn’t declare war on Germany until 3rd September 1939, so did it actually start on 3rd September ? Further, Germany, Poland, UK & France at war isn’t “world war”, it’s European war. Maybe we have to look at the US entry to the war in December 1941 after the bombing of Pearl Harbor. However, the US were supporting UK & France’s war effort from September 1940, so maybe they entered the war then ? Talking of Japan – they invaded Manchuria on 19th September 1931, so maybe that was the start of the second world war, maybe it was the Italian invasion of Abyssinia in Oct 1935, or maybe the Spanish Civil war in 1936 ? Obviously it comes down to definitions, how are we defining the second world war – definitions are all important in ToK, and this is just as evident in AoK History as in any other AoK.

One of the main problems with the treatment of AoK History in ToK is that students often engage in the historical record (as I did above), rather than in the production of historical knowledge. ToK studies how historical knowledge is made rather than the historical knowledge itself. Sure there’s an overlap, but the focus needs to be on the construction of the knowledge. This is where relativist and absolutist approaches to historical knowledge come in.

Relativist & Absolutist Approaches to History

Relativist and absolutist approaches to historical knowledge represent two distinct viewpoints concerning our understanding of history. The fundamental difference between the two lies in their beliefs about the nature of truth, objectivity, and the role of perspectives in interpreting historical events.

Absolutists (sometimes grouped with objectivists) believe in the existence of a single, unalterable, and objective truth. They argue that historical events are absolute facts that exist independently of the individuals or societies that perceive them. In other words, absolutists believe that there is a factual truth, or single truth version of history. Or as one student put it recently : an actualité. Absolutist historians aspire to portray history as it “truly” happened, asserting that there is a definitive account of historical events. This truth can be known through meticulous research and comprehensive evidence. They contend that the historian’s role is similar to that of a scientist. They’re trying to develop an unbiased, detached, and unequivocal understanding of the past. Bias, they believe, can and should be removed through rigorous methodology. Most students that I meet have an absolutist view of history, but in ToK we need to look at more than one perspective. Very few students look at the relativist view of history.

Relativists, often called constructivists, propose that our understanding of history is inherently subjective and multiple truths can coexist. They contend that historical knowledge is not independent of our interpretation but is constructed through the lenses of culture, time, place, and personal perspective. They posit that it’s impossible to separate historical facts from the context in which they are understood, implying that historical “truth” is relative to the observer’s viewpoint. Relativist historians view their role more as interpreters, giving voice to different perspectives and narratives. They believe bias is inevitable and consider it a part of the narrative that can enrich our understanding of the past.

Evaluation of relativist and absolutist approaches to History

The absolutist approach has been praised for its dedication to objectivity and commitment to the truth. Critics point out that it may oversimplify complex historical events by seeking a singular, definitive narrative and ignoring differing viewpoints. The relativist approach is praised for embracing complexity and multiple perspectives. However it is criticised for its potential to lead to a form of historical relativism where any interpretation could be seen as equally valid, regardless of evidence or logical consistency.

In practice, many historians tend to use a blend of both approaches. They strive for objectivity and rigour while acknowledging that their understanding of the past is inevitably shaped by their perspectives and the context in which they work. This approach helps to create a nuanced, richly textured understanding of history. This makes room for both the pursuit of objective facts and the recognition of subjective interpretations.

So, if you’re considering using AoK History in ToK Essay or Exhibition, consider the different approaches to historical knowledge. Doing so will help you to have a more sophisticated discussion, and to get higher marks !

If you’re looking for extra help with your ToK Essay or Exhibition check out the links below. You can also look at the other resources on TokToday.com. If you’re writing your ToK Exhibition Commentary check out the ever popular e-book Every ToK Exhibition Prompt explained .

I also offer ToK Coaching and Written Feedback: details on the Student Support Pages

I hope that this post helps you if you are writing about history, stay tok-tastic my friends.

Daniel, Lisbon, July 2023

Help with ToK Essay:

How to write the ToK Essay in 6 Easy Steps (ebook) .

Why do the best ToK Essays get mediocre grades ? (teachers)

Choosing your ToK Essay Question

Help with ToK Exhibition

Basic ToK Exhibition Mistakes

What can Taylor Swift teach us about ToK ?

How do I structure my ToK Exhibition Commentary ?

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Feasting, drinking and blowing things up: The history of US Independence Day

Nice weather, family barbeques, parades, fireworks and red, white and blue everything ­­­– Americans are preparing to celebrate Independence Day this weekend with time-honored and beloved traditions.

Known now as a day of patriotism and enjoying time off from work, the Fourth of July began the journey to becoming a quintessential American holiday in 1776, when the Second Continental Congress adopted the Declaration of Independence. Though 12 of the 13 American colonies had already approved the resolution by July 2, 1776, even prompting John Adams to write his daughter with predictions of future July Second festivities, the document declaring independence from Britain wasn’t officially adopted until July 4.

Some Americans began celebrating the very same year, though the practice wouldn’t become widespread until the aftermath of the War of 1812.

Congress finally passed a bill making Independence Day a federal holiday on June 28, 1870. In 1941, the law was amended to make it a paid holiday for federal employees.

Though some traditions associated with the Fourth of July have changed or disappeared over time – hosting mock funerals for the king of England, for example – many have remained true to their roots in the almost 250 years since the declaration was signed.

If you’ve ever wondered why we associate exploding colors in the sky and feasting on outdoor meals with celebrating America’s independence, read on to learn about the origins of our favorite July Fourth festivities.  

Ultimate Fourth of July playlist: Your guide to the ultimate Fourth of July music playlist, from 'God Bless America' to 'Firework'

Fireworks displays are perhaps the most iconic of all Fourth of July revelries. The first celebration came in earnest on July 4, 1777, described on July 5 in the Pennsylvania Evening Post as a demonstration of “joy and festivities.”

Ships “dressed in the gayest manner, with the colors of the United States and streamers displayed” approached the city and fired off 13 cannon shots, one for each colony-turned-state. Later in the evening, 13 fireworks were set off in the city commons in Philadelphia and Boston, which the Evening Post described as a “grand exhibition of fireworks … and the city was beautifully illuminated.”

According to Dr. Tyler Putman , senior manager of gallery interpretation at the Museum of the American Revolution , fireworks had been used in the colonies before 1776, but not in such grand fashion.

“You would have seen fireworks at a lot of festivities, celebrations, anniversaries, you know, things like the king's birthday or big events, but they often were not enormous, launched-in-the-sky fireworks,” he told USA TODAY.

“People would build these kind of structures and frameworks that would then catch on fire, or parts of them would launch off, and often they would be in certain shapes, like a bunch of stars or a dancing person … kind of like a Burning Man sort of thing.”

It wasn’t until the 18 th century, said Putman, that fireworks were perfected and began to resemble the explosive rockets we know today.

Fireworks divide Americans: America's right to bear fireworks continues to make American Independence Day divisive

Visit any city or town on the U.S. map on the Fourth of July and you could find a parade of some sort making its way through Main Street. Mentions of parades, another tradition that harks closely back to Revolution-era origins, can be found in the earliest correspondences about the newly minted but still unofficial holiday.

In a letter John Adams wrote to his daughter , Abigail Adams, on July 2, 1776, he described what would later be known as Independence Day, predicting it would become “the most memorable Epocha, in the History of America. − I am apt to believe that it will be celebrated, by succeeding Generations, as the great anniversary Festival.”

Though Adams mistakenly asserted the holiday would be commemorated on the second of the month as opposed to the fourth, he was correct in his predictions of the merrymaking to follow.

“It ought to be solemnized with Pomp and Parade, with Shews, Games, Sports, Guns, Bells, Bonfires and Illuminations from one End of this Continent to the other from this Time forward forever more,” he wrote.

What's open on July 4th? Starbucks, McDonald's, Target, Walmart open; Costco closed

Back then, parades looked markedly different from the ones we attend today.

During the Revolutionary War, parades were generally reserved for the military, with armies marching the streets to reach their destinations. It wasn’t until years after the war, in the late 1700s to early 1800s, said Putman, that parades began to look more like what we would recognize today.

When parades began to appear as part of annual celebrations as opposed to one-off events, they didn’t yet feature the marching bands and firetrucks we’re familiar with but instead were full of groups of normal people from town. The city’s butchers, for example, would walk together as one group, and shipbuilders would construct massive floats to be pulled down the street by horses.

“Sometimes you read about parades where, like, in Philadelphia, tens of thousands of people are in the parade and you kind of wonder who is left to watch the parade,” Putman said. “There are so many people, if all the shipwright and the shoemakers and the grocers are all already marching the parade, it's mostly just kids, probably, who are like, ‘Well, I guess I'll wait as this 10,000-person parade goes by.’”

Barbeques and picnics

Independence Day falling in early July is probably reason enough to enjoy a meal outside to take advantage of the warm summer weather. The urge to fire up the grill and lay a picnic blanket out on the grass, however, can also be tied back to original holiday celebrations.

“The really interesting thing about the Fourth of July is that it then spawned all of these semi-public or private celebrations," Putman said. "So, you might go watch the parade and then you have your family barbecue. In the late 1700s, 1800s, people might go out for a big public event, like a giant picnic or parade, but then they'll go back to taverns or family homes.”

Drinking was certainly a prominent component for many Americans, some of whom would go to the local pub and propose toasts in the name of things like independence, the Constitution and the president. George Washington himself even issued double rations of rum to his soldiers on the 1778 and 1781 anniversaries in observation of the day.

Grilling tips: Grilling your burgers wrong could be risky. Here's how to do it right

Because what we now know as barbeque food began as a form of cooking brought to the Americas by enslaved Africans, it had not yet become a staple of the national diet. Instead, revelers of the day probably would have attended a pig roast or seafood boil. It wasn’t until about 100 years after independence that barbeque went from being a food for poor, enslaved people to being popularized on a national scale, Putman said.

Feasting and drinking "was true of really elite people but also really poor, common, even enslaved people, not just on the Fourth of July, but other holidays would use this as a chance to kind of build community and think about what it meant to be an American.” 

Red, white and blue everything

Walk into a grocery store in July today and you will be bombarded by red, white and blue plastered on everything from cocktail napkins to beach towels. In the early days of American independence, however, the colors were not yet representative of a flag that was recognized as universally and uniquely American. In fact, it wasn't until June 1777 that Congress even approved the first official iteration of the flag , which changed many times between inception and the final design created in 1960.

“During the Revolutionary War, flags were something that had kind of a functional purpose: They fly above a fort or they're on the top mast of a ship,” Putman said. “It's really not until the American Civil War, the 1860s, that most people started to use the flag in more personal ways.”

Before then, you would never see the average person, for example, hanging a flag in front of their house, he said. The tensions of the Civil War prompted people to begin adopting iconography of flags, which not only delineated opposing sides of the war but stood as a symbol of different things for individual Americans, like emancipation for Black Americans. During this era, the flag began to appear in places other than flying in front of government buildings, such as on shirts.

This use of the flag’s colors on everyday items grew in popularity in the 1900s, said Putman, and has become even more common in the past few decades. The 50-star flag we now recognize was not unveiled until 1960, after Hawaii and Alaska joined the union in 1959.

More on the Fourth

Looking for more ways to celebrate the Fourth? Check out our guides on some of the best holiday deals , tips for keeping everyone in the family safe and tricks to make the most of the day .

Understanding the TOK essay rubric

TOK Home > Free TOK notes > TOK essay guidance > Understanding the TOK essay rubric

After understanding the of the basics of the essay, your next step is to grasp how it is evaluated and marked, which is outlined in the ‘assessment instrument’. Your TOK teacher will give you a copy of this, or you can find it online in the 2022 TOK Guide.

The overall assessment objective of the TOK essay is to answer the prescribed essay title in a clear, coherent, and critical way. In order to do this, the assessment ‘instrument’ looks for five different skills.

STEP 1: Understand the TOK essay rubric

1. making links to tok.

The discussion within your TOK essay should be linked very effectively to the  areas of knowledge . Most, TOK essays expect you to discuss two AOKs, which will provide you with the context to explore and answer the prescribed title you’ve chosen.

2. Understanding perspectives

Your TOK essay should show a clear awareness of different points of view, and should offer an evaluation of them. This means considering how different perspective might approach the question in different ways.

3. Offering an effective argument

The arguments within your TOK essay are clear and coherent, and are supported by strong examples.

This means expressing your opinions clearly, and supporting them with original and meaningful real-life situations.

4. Keeping discussions relevant

Your essay’s discussions should offer a ‘sustained focus’ on the title. This means that you should be able to pick out any section of your essay, and be able to identify what question it is answering.

5. Considering implications

Your essay needs to not just present and evaluate arguments, it also needs to say why these arguments are significant, and what their implications are.

After you have grasped the rubric strands, you are ready to move on to choosing your prescribed title from the choice of six that are published in March or November – which we provide guidance on here .

Creating a TOK essay: our four-step guide

Click on the buttons below to take you to the four steps of creating a great TOK essay. Don’t forget that we have plenty of videos on this and other aspects of the course, and members of the site have access to a huge amount of other resources to help you master the course and assessment tasks.

How to write a TOK essay: webinar

This 80-minute webinar video and presentation gives you a clear, engaging, step-by-step guide to the task, helping you to understand the assessment rubric, choose the right PT, and produce an essay that hits all the assessment targets.

The video is supported by a presentation, and a Q&A debrief answering some of the most common questions asked about writing a TOK essay. Purchase your ticket here .

More support for the TOK essay

Make sure that your TOK teacher has given you access to all the documents and online material that support the essay. These include the TOK Subject Guide, the TOK essay rubric, and exemplar TOK essays (found in ‘MyIB’, which is accessible to teachers).   Make sure you go through our other pages on writing the TOK essay. You’ll find help on understanding what the is looking for, that works for you, what each of the should focus on, how to an effective TOK essay, and how to fill in your .   If your school is a  member  of theoryofknowledge.net, we have designed a series of lessons on the essay, with two formative assessment tasks. These will familiarize you with the essay rubric, knowledge questions, real-life situations, how to deal with perspectives and implications, and structuring an essay. If you are signed into the site, you can access these lessons  here .   You can also find out our thoughts on the TOK essay (and the TOK exhibition) in several webinars that we have delivered. The main one is the TOK Assessment 2022 webinar, but we also consider this form of assessment in our free webinars on the 2022 course. You can see these webinars on  this page  of the site.

Subscribe to the free TOK newsletter!

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• Meet the incels and anti-feminists of Asia

They threaten to make the region’s demographic decline even worse

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K IM WOO-SeoK , a 31-year-old chef in Seoul, grew up questioning the way society treats women. He felt sorry for his stay-at-home mother. He considered himself a feminist. But over the past few years, his opinions have shifted. When he came across women activists online, he was shocked to see some of them were making demeaning comments about men, including making fun of small penises. “I felt like my masculinity was under attack,” says Mr Kim. He believes that, since the 2010s, Korean society has become more discriminatory against men than women. Although he has a girlfriend, many of those who share his beliefs in the region do not.

In advanced countries the gap between the sexes has widened, with young men tending to be more conservative and young women tending to be more liberal. The trend is particularly striking in East Asia. Men are not adapting well to a society where women are better educated, compete with them for jobs and do not want to have babies with them. According to one survey in 2021, 79% of South Korean men in their 20s believe they are victims of “reverse discrimination”. In neighbouring Japan, a survey the same year found that 43% of men aged 18 to 30 “hate feminism”.

At first glance, this may not seem that unusual. Much of East Asia has tended to be rather patriarchal. Japan and South Korea are the worst performers in The Economist ’s glass-ceiling index, a measure of how women-friendly the working environment is in 29 well-off countries. In the OECD , a club of mostly rich countries, South Korea has the biggest gender pay gap. Women earn 31% less than men. In Japan that gap is 21%. In a survey in 2023 by IPSOS , a pollster, 72% of South Koreans agreed that “a man who stays home to look after his children is less of a man,” the highest rate in the 30 countries surveyed.

Even so, women’s lives in much of the region have improved. East Asia’s “son preference” is fading, with boys and girls alike expected to do well in school. The college enrolment rate for girls is now higher than that of boys in South Korea, China and Taiwan. In Japan it is still higher for boys, but only by three percentage points. Women are increasingly entering the workforce: in Japan the employment rate for women aged 25-39 surpassed 80% for the first time in 2022. In South Korea 74% of women aged 25-29 are employed.

This success is the first cause of the backlash. Young men are “surrounded by women who do better in school or excel in work”, says Lee Hyun-jae of the University of Seoul. Many men feel that “gender equality has already been achieved,” says Ms Lee. In a world they believe is already egalitarian, many young men feel that extra policies to uplift women are unfair. Most do not wish to confine women to the home. But they are frustrated all the same.

Another factor is that East Asian men are living in less optimistic economic times than their fathers. Japan witnessed the burst of its “bubble economy”, an end to decades of remarkable growth, in 1991. South Korea was hit hard by an economic crisis in 1997. Young people born since then have lived in an era marked by slow growth. The full-time “salarymen” work model has eroded, with more precarious or part-time jobs on the rise. Last year in Japan, inflation hit a four-decade high (of around 3%, so still low by current rich-world standards). Real wages have fallen for the past two years. In South Korea the share of young men not in education, employment or training ( NEET ) has surged from 8% in 2000 to 21%. By contrast the share of female NEET s has fallen from 44% to 21% over the same period.

Meanwhile, the dating market is becoming more brutal. Fewer people are getting married: more than 60% of Japanese women in their late twenties are unmarried, double the rate in the mid-1980s. In Japan the age at which men lose their virginity has always been high. It has remained so: in 2022, 42% of men in their 20s said they had never had sex, while 17% of those in their 30s were virgins, too. A government report from 2022 found that 40% of men had never been on a date.

Marriage trends are similar in South Korea and Taiwan, while childbirth outside of wedlock remains rare. This means that the countries are ageing, and not enough babies are being born to support the population. South Korea’s fertility rate is the lowest in the world, at 0.72. Taiwan’s is 0.87, while Japan’s is 1.2. In South Korea some women have sworn off heterosexual relationships altogether. In 2019 a fringe “4 B ” movement emerged there. It involves women abstaining not just from marriage and childbirth, but also dating and sex with men. They believe a life with a man is a life without freedom. “I’m not even fighting the patriarchy—I’ve decided to walk out of it,” says Kim Jina, a 4 B practitioner.

Another factor is that anger towards women is being stoked online. Mr Kim, the chef, follows Bae In-gyu, an influencer on YouTube who leads “New Men on Solidarity”, a men’s-rights group. Mr Bae claims that “feminism is a mental illness.” In South Korea, a popular online slur among men is kimchinyeo or “kimchi bitch”, a term that implies young Korean women are materialistic, controlling and willing to live parasitically off men. In Japan tsui-femi , which is short for “Twitter feminists”, has become a derogatory term.

Similar to incels (or involuntary celibates) in the West, a group of Japanese men known as jakusha-dansei or “weak men” have emerged. “When it comes to dating, women overwhelmingly have decision-making power,” says Horike Takeshi, a 25-year-old Japanese man who has never had a girlfriend. He identifies as a “weak man” because of his low income and lack of sex appeal to women.

South Korea’s politicians are pandering to these young angry male voters. Yoon Suk Yeol, the current president, campaigned two years ago on a pledge to abolish the gender-equality ministry. He claimed feminism is hurting “healthy relationships between men and women”. The country’s gruelling, 18-month mandatory military service is a particular flashpoint. Unlike their fathers who served in the military without question, young Korean men are increasingly disenchanted. According to a survey in 2021 by Hankook Research, a market research outfit, 62% of Korean men aged 18-29, the prime age for conscription, feel military service is a “waste of time”.

Neighbouring Taiwan faces similar challenges. Its men must also serve in the military, though for a much shorter stint. But an organised anti-feminist movement is notably absent there, says Huang Chang-ling of the National Taiwan University. Young Taiwanese men’s frustration, unlike South Koreans’, “hasn’t become strong enough for any politician to want to exploit”, says Ms Huang. Similarly, in Japan, where there is no mandatory military service, politicians have not yet decided to stoke up the incel vote.

The rise in anti-feminist sentiment bodes badly for the region’s birth rates. In South Korea, a government survey showed that over 60% of Korean men in their late 20s believe getting married and having children is “necessary” in their lives. Only 34% of women in the same age group agreed. But can East Asian men and women find common ground? A survey by a dating app last year found that, among divorced singles, 37% of Korean women said that a “patriarchal” man would be their least favourite date. A similar share of men said they didn’t want to date feminists. ■

This article appeared in the Asia section of the print edition under the headline “Meet Asia’s incels and anti-feminists”

Asia June 29th 2024

Casinos are booming in south-east asia.

• Narendra Modi needs to win over low-income Indians
• Takashima Ryosuke is Japan’s youngest ever mayor
• Ancient artistic loot will finally make its way back to Cambodia

From the June 29th 2024 edition

Discover stories from this section and more in the list of contents

More from Asia

Demand for uranium is booming. Who is benefiting?

One Central Asian country stands out above the rest

Why is Thai health care so good?

The country could become a model for the region

Why many young Asians are no longer studying history

One city-state is bucking the regional trend

Indians have grown used to getting nice things from politicians

But it’s no longer enough to win votes

Japan’s mind-bending bento-box economics

The paradox of red-hot labour markets, falling demand and rising prices

Thailand could soon become the latest country to jump on the bandwagon

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What’s a ‘Black Job’? Trump’s Anti-Immigration Remarks Are Met With Derision

Donald J. Trump accused immigrants of stealing “Black jobs” and “Hispanic jobs” during Thursday’s debate, prompting criticism from Democrats and other social media users.

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By Maya King

• June 28, 2024

Former President Donald J. Trump claimed during the presidential debate on Thursday that immigrants entering the United States illegally were taking “Black jobs” and “Hispanic jobs,” a claim with little basis that Democrats immediately seized on as evidence that Mr. Trump and Republicans were not serious about cultivating support from voters of color.

It also touched off a host of internet jokes and memes over what, exactly, a “Black job” is.

“They’re taking Black jobs and they’re taking Hispanic jobs and you haven’t seen it yet but you’re going to see something that’s going to be the worst in our history,” Mr. Trump said on Thursday, speaking of migrants crossing the southern U.S. border. He then repeated the reference during a campaign rally in Virginia on Friday, adding that Black Americans who have had jobs “for a long time” are losing employment to immigrants.

Black political strategists, elected officials and heads of organizations quickly joined hundreds of social media users to post photos of themselves at their workplaces and to crack jokes about the reductive and racist nature of the former president’s comments.

Among them was, Stacey Plaskett, the Democratic House delegate from the U.S. Virgin Islands, who posted a photo on X alongside two women in her congressional office on Friday that was captioned, “Another day in Congress doing our ‘Black jobs.’”

Malcolm Kenyatta, a Black Pennsylvania Democrat and surrogate for Mr. Biden’s campaign, quipped : “Did we ever figure out what a ‘Black job’ is? Asking for me.”

And Derrick Johnson, the president of the N.A.A.C.P., also criticized Mr. Trump’s remarks, writing on X that Black Americans “are not confined to any one #BlackJob.”

Republicans, who have sought to take advantage of President Biden’s softening support among Black voters, have made the issue of immigration a cornerstone of their appeals to the bloc, whose turnout in November could decide the election. Mr. Trump has said migrants are “poisoning the blood” of the country, and has repeatedly claimed that the migrants crossing the U.S.-Mexico border are escapees from prisons and mental institutions, something the evidence does not support.

Immigrants have made up an increasingly large portion of the American labor force in recent years, but economic experts say their presence has been healthy for the nation’s economy . And while Mr. Trump claims that migrant workers are taking jobs from American citizens, the population of foreign-born workers in the country is not large enough to offset the job creation of the last three years .

Democrats have increasingly gone on the offensive. In a statement, Mr. Biden’s communications director Michael Tyler pointed to the online fray of responses to Mr. Trump’s comments, saying Black voters “dragged Trump throughout the night for his racist rant.”

“They know Trump has done nothing for Black communities, so he tries to pit communities of color against one another as a distraction,” he said. “We aren’t distracted. We see Trump’s racism clearly, and it’s why Black voters will reject him this November.”

Maya King is a politics reporter covering the Southeast, based in Atlanta. She covers campaigns, elections and movements in the American South, as well as national trends relating to Black voters and young people. More about Maya King