Use this early checklist to test whether a TOK example has a concrete case, a real knowledge issue, and a clear paragraph role.
The TOK Example Checklist I Wish Students Used Earlier
Use the Checklist Early
Most TOK example problems appear before the first draft, not after it. Students often start writing with an example that feels interesting but has not been tested. This checklist helps you catch weak examples before they waste a whole paragraph.
Check the Source
Check one: exact case. Can you name the specific event, study, artwork, source, public claim, decision, or dispute? If your example is still a broad theme, pause. You need something concrete enough to control.
Check the Knowledge Issue
Check two: knowledge issue. What does the example reveal about knowledge? Do not answer with the subject topic. Answer with TOK language: evidence, interpretation, certainty, bias, model, method, perspective, language, values, or reliability. If you cannot name the knowledge issue, the example will become descriptive.
Check the Claim Fit
Check three: claim fit. What claim could this example support? Write it as: 'This example suggests that...' If the sentence only summarizes the case, it is not ready. A TOK claim should say something about how knowledge works.
Check the Limitation
Check four: AOK fit. Which area of knowledge does the example really belong to, and why? Do not force it into history, natural sciences, human sciences, or arts just because your essay needs balance. The AOK should affect the analysis.
Check five: limit or counterpoint. What does the example not prove? What would make the claim less universal? This is where nuance begins.
Check six: paragraph role. Is this example the main support, a contrast, a counterclaim, or a limitation? If you do not know the role, you will over-explain it.
Check seven: academic integrity. Did you find the example through reliable sources, and can you explain it without copying another essay's wording? If not, go back to research.
A strong example does not need to pass perfectly, but it should pass most of these checks before you draft. The checklist is not about making writing slower. It makes writing faster because the paragraph has a job before you start.
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