You have a sheet of paper to write on that already has your name on it.
If you need more, get up and get one (or more) from the stack.
Clear your space except for pen/pencil/paper/TOK textbook.
Start by copying down the title:
“To what extent is interpretation a reliable tool in the production of knowledge? Answer with reference to the area of knowledge of history.”
Rubric
1. “Clear, coherent, and critical”
Clear: arguments make sense and the essay is easy to follow
Coherent: the essay makes sense as a whole and is free of self-contradiction
Critical: the essay evaluates claims and supports arguments
2. Focus on the title
All the key terms in the title are addressed throughout the essay
interpretation
reliable
The essay does not veer into discussion of other topics (most often seen by development of a connected argument or over-explanation of an example)
The essay focuses on Knowledge
3. Effective links to the AOK
show awareness of the key features of the AOK
“why and how” over “what”
avoid prehistory or disciplines that are related but not actually history (e.g. archaeology, philology)
4. Effectively supported by specific examples
Arguments require evidence from examples (or else a “unsupported assertions”)
Avoid hypotheticals – tell the reader exactly what real thing you’re talking about
Examples need to be typical of the AOK. Avoid talking about some obscure edge-case in the work of historians.
While you might want to discuss laypeople, it is important to discuss the work of experts in the AOK.
5. Different points of view
Not “counterargument”
Think: why might a person disagree with the perspective I’ve discussed so far? Might they have a nuanced disagreement, or be completely opposite? If you spend most of the essay arguing that interpretation is reliable in the AOK of History, when would sometwo find it isn’t reliable?
Evaluate: what are the strengths and limitations of each point of view?
6. Consider implications:
Why should we care?
How does this impact the AOK?
How does this impact knowledge?
What advice do you have for laypeople or experts?
Recommendations
Examples
Two examples would probably be the ideal number to help you discuss different points of view with sufficient analytical depth.
Implications
Discussing implications is great if you have time – plan something you could write in your conclusion.
If you run out of time, this part really is the least crucial.
Vocabulary
There are no requirements for using any particular terms.
If you implicitly discuss a concept without naming it specifically, I can still award marks just like if you had.
However, dropping TOK terms in without making meaningful connections gets you nothing.
Procedure
No phones, iPads, or computers the whole period.
Use the whole time to outline/draft. I’ll collect papers at the end. If you have all your thoughts already down on the page, read some more, and maybe more ideas will come.
At the end of class, fill out page __ of __ at the bottom of each page you’ve used and put them in order.
If you used three pages (pages, not sheets), you’d mark them: