TOK Grade 11 Second Performance Task

You should put the ideas under each bullet … that will not only help you see what you are
writing, but also help the person reading it as well. Each TASK response should be about 1 –
2 pages

TASK 1

TASK 1 (10 points)

Find an artifact / object and write a brief explanation for each, why / how …

Each one of these should be different objects / artifacts

● What is a tool that shapes your Personal Knowledge why / how
● In 100 words This is for personal K, so what is something that you know about
yourself, something that most others don’t know, how do you know about it, what
object represents how you know about yourself
● What is a tool that shapes your Shared Knowledge why / how
● In 100 words This is for shared K … so what represents the knowledge in a
community, not a “newspaper” but a tool or an object that represents your family,
our community
● What is a tool that limits / mitigates your knowledge why / how
● In 100 words specificaly what is something that stops you from gaining knowledge?
● What is a tool that impacted an Area of Knowing (science, history, math, art) why / how)
● In 100 words
● What is a tool that created a paradigm shift (move from one era to another why/how)
● In 100 words
● The object I choose for my exhibition is the newspaper because it represents the
valuable information. We can learn and gain knowledge by the newspaper. The experts
prepare the information to teach people. It can be considered as second-hand
knowledge because we gain knowledge by sources (newspaper). The facts inside the
newspaper shape my personal knowledge because we gained fact through reliable
second-hand sources. The objectivity shapes my shared knowledge. Because it is
objective, we can communicate the knowledge to one another. Power distortions limits
my knowledge because in newspapers the news, the truth, can be manipulated by
powerful authorities. It impacted the history because newspapers are concrete, easy to
 collect. By collecting these, we can store the history. The way that the newspaper is
concrete, it creates a paradigm shift because it can be moved from one era to another.

Task 2 (10 points)

- What shapes my perspective as a knower? In 100 words

- Select the top three, why and how do they shape your perspective? In 100 words

- Select the bottom three, why and how do they NOT shape your perspective? In 100 words

- Select an object which represents ONE high influencer (In 100 words) and ONE low influencer (In
100 words) and write a brief explanation as to why it represents that aspect of you as a knower and
how it shapes your perspective.

-How do three of the cognitive biases shape your decision on ranking the different aspects? In 100
words

TASK 2
There are various things that shapes our perspective. In my point of view major factor is
family which can be considered as values. Since we spend most of our time with our family,
our parent’s perspectives are also reflected to us. (so how has your family changed the way
you think, if you were from a different family, what would change and what wouldn’t)
Second factor is education. The education system you receive, the quality of the teachers are
other factors that affect our perspective. For example, I am an IB student, and I am receiving
different lessons from national classes such as Theory of Knowledge, Environmental Systems
and Societies. These lessons I have taken contribute a lot to me and my perspective on the
world. (how? Be specific, how has taking TOK changed the way you think) The place we live
and grow also shapes our perspective in a cultural way. (so how has living in Ankara changed
the way you think?) Our thoughts do not shape our perspective because the reality shapes our
perspective.
What are the bottom three?
What is an object that represents either – family / education OR Ankara …
What is an object that represents one of the factors which has low impact on you?
Bias do not shape our perspective and should not shape our perspective because we
shouldn’t accept one thing without experiencing it. My diary represents my past experiences,
values, and my thoughts. It represents aspect of me as a knower because I use it every day to
convey my experiences. It shapes my perspective because I convey my past experiences
which shapes my perspective. Confirmation bias shapes my decisions on ranking the different
aspects because noticing things that confirms your beliefs and prejudices creates different
aspects. (explain this … be specific) Framing Effect because interpreting information
differently depending on the framework it presented allows us to see different variety of
aspects. (explain this … be specific) The Halo Effect because desirable and undesirable traits
cluster together means seeing the differences of the opposite poles and adjust their perspective
accordingly. (explain this … be specific)

Task 3 (10 points)

• What type of ethics do you follow? Deontological OR utilitarianism OR virtue … which?
• Why do you follow it?
• How do you know that is your ethical framework? What evidence, what experience, what
examples?
• How does your culture contribute to your ethical framework?
• How does technology impact ethics?
• Find an ethical dilemma and decide how and why you would do what you would do 

TASK 3
I follow values which consists of my ethical morals. I follow these because my values
represent my thoughts about a single thing. My thoughts convey my ethics. (explain this … be
specific) I know that it is my ethical framework because ethical frameworks are perspectives
useful for reasoning your action and my values shapes my perspective through the culture
(explain this … be specific) in which we live. I use my ethical morals in decision-making
process while I am taking an action. My values shape my knowledge through the culture in
which we live. (explain this … be specific) The technology impact ethics in a bad way. The
technology consists of lots of different ideas, information. These can confuse us and our
ethics. (explain this … be specific) While walking down the Street, you see a man attacking a
woman. If you don’t go, you won’t be able to help the woman, you will be unscrupulous, but
you will protect yourself however if you go to help, the man may kill you too. This is not an
ethical dilemma, research it I would first call the police if they don’t come early, I would help
because if I don’t, I would feel guilty for the rest of my life. This can be considered as ethical
dilemma.
Task 4 (10 points)
● If a language dies, does knowledge die with it?
● What knowledge might be lost if the whole world shared one common language?
● How do our values and assumptions influence the language in which we express our ideas?
● To what extent do you agree with the Sapphire-Whorf hypothesis?
● What assumptions are made about people based on how they speak?
● What is the link between language and power?
● TASK 4

If a language dies knowledge die with it because language is the storage of knowledge.
Shared knowledge might be lost if the whole world shared one common language. The
options we can communicate would be decreased. (explain this … be specific) By the
linguistic diversity, epistemic diversity is provided. (explain this … be specific) Our
values and assumptions influence the way we use the language. (explain this … be
specific) Cultural experiences that shaped our values and assumptions can be better
conveyed with the features of our mother tongue like idioms. (explain this … be specific)
I agree with the Sapphire-Whorf hypothesis. (explain this … be specific) I also think that
language as power and can control how you see the world. (explain this … be specific)
The language limits our thought processes because the language represents the culture and
values, and culture and values also limit and maintains our thoughts. (explain this … be
specific) If he is using a British accent, we can understand that he is British. (explain this
… be specific) Powerful authorities use language as to construct their power and to
maintain it. (explain this … be specific)
Task 5 (10 points)
● To what extent do the names and labels that we use help or hinder the acquisition of
knowledge?
● If language works according to sets of rules and conventions, how much scope do we have as
individuals to break the rules or challenge these conventions?
● In what ways can language be used to influence, persuade or manipulate people’s emotions?
● For three of the Shared Knowledge issues, give a real world example.
● Does ethical language differ in any significant way from other types of language? (explain
this … be specific)
● Do ethical statements simply convey our feelings/emotions rather than making claims?
(explain this … be specific)

TASK 5
The names and labels that we use help the acquisition of knowledge because they are
memorable. Some people understand and gain knowledge by labels. They memorize the
information by labels. If language works according to sets of rules and conventions to break
the rules, we should have a great language. (explain this … be specific) We should know how
to use the language professionally. (explain this … be specific) Language can be used to
influence, persuade, or manipulate people’s emotions in a way that it affects our tastes and
norms. (explain this … be specific) Because it affects the social life it also affects emotions.
The people believing that the world is blue without questioning and researching is an example
of authority worship. NO I think that just reading the book before the exam is not enough, but
my friends force me to do is an example of groupthink. NO The governments pressure against
the townspeople and manipulating them is an example of power distortions. NO Ethical
language differs from other types of language because ethical language uses different,
variable meanings of words. NO Ethical statements simply convey our feelings because our
ethics consists of our emotions. Check the book and think about this more … these are not
quality examples