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Past IB TOK Prescribed Essay Titles — Analysis & Patterns
Understanding how past titles are structured helps you approach any new title with confidence.
6 Titles Per Session
IB releases six titles per May and November session. Learning how they are structured helps you decode any new title quickly.
Recurring Themes
Certain knowledge questions recur across sessions: certainty, expert authority, cultural context, technology.
Four Title Types
Quotation+evaluate, to-what-extent, comparative, open question — each requires a different approach.
Understanding Title Structure
Before looking at specific past titles, understanding the structural types the IB uses tells you what kind of argument each requires.
Type 1: Quotation + Evaluation
A quotation from a thinker or public figure, followed by “discuss with reference to two AOKs”. These invite you to evaluate the claim — identify conditions under which it holds and fails, not simply agree or disagree.
Type 2: “To What Extent” Proposition
A knowledge claim followed by “to what extent do you agree?” These reward nuanced, conditional arguments — not flat agreement or disagreement, but a qualified position specifying conditions under which the claim holds or fails.
Type 3: Comparative Across AOKs
Titles asking you to compare how a knowledge process works across two AOKs. The comparison must produce an insight that neither AOK alone provides.
Type 4: Open Knowledge Question
A direct question about knowledge. Their openness invites unfocused essays — strong responses impose structure by identifying specific conditions that govern the answer.
Selected Past Titles with Commentary
| Session | Title (paraphrased) | Key TOK move required |
|---|---|---|
| M2024 | Does language contribute to, or limit, our acquisition of knowledge? | Show language doing both — Sapir-Whorf for “contributes”, untranslatability for “limits” |
| M2024 | Is it important to consider the ethics of how knowledge is produced? | Connect ethics to production process itself, not just to application |
| N2023 | How do we know if our knowledge is based on fact or fiction? | Challenge the binary; show how this distinction works differently across AOKs |
| N2023 | “All knowledge involves some form of storytelling.” Discuss. | Use narrative in History and Human Sciences; contrast with Mathematics as limiting case |
| M2023 | To what extent is knowledge we produce determined by tools we use? | Technology theme central — show tools constitute what is observable, not just gather data |
| M2023 | “Knowledge is nothing more than the systematic organisation of facts.” Discuss. | Challenge “nothing more than” — theory, interpretation, and judgment are irreducible |
Recurring Patterns Across Sessions
- Certainty and its limits — appears in approximately one title per session
- The role of experts and authority — recurring concern with who has the right to make knowledge claims
- Cultural context and knowledge — whether knowledge is universal or culturally specific
- Technology and knowledge change — how new tools alter what can be known
- The value/ethics of knowledge — whether knowledge can be neutral
- Past vs current knowledge — the revision of established knowledge claims
Using past title model essays as sources of examples or arguments. Examiners recognise recycled examples from popular model essays and mark them down. Your examples should come from genuine knowledge you have encountered in your subjects, reading, or experience.
- I can identify whether a past title is Type 1, 2, 3, or 4
- I have practised unpacking at least 5 past titles using a systematic protocol
- I know the 6 most common knowledge themes in past titles
- All my examples come from genuine knowledge, not borrowed from model essays