Every DP class should have links to both TOK (Theory of Knowledge) and CAS (Creativity, Activity, and Service).
In-depth TOK resources
For in-depth information about TOK please visit www.toktips.com. This DP Language A website and www.toktips.com are authored by the same individual. TOK TIPS has a broad range of resources including frequent postings on the current set of TOK essay Prescribed Titles.
Links between TOK and DP Lang A Lang and Lit
The type of analysis done in DP Language A Language and Literature and in TOK complement each other. The study of Samuel Taylor Coleridge’s “The Rime of the Ancient Mariner” in DP Language A Language and Literature may include the following:
- Studying the author’s use of language and stylistic features in “The Rime of the Ancient Mariner” and how this evolved over different versions of the poem.
- Exploring the role of the poem in the English romantic literature.
- Discussing the historical, social, and cultural context of the poem.
- Analyzing academic research on the author, the poem, romantic literature, etc. and using this research to get a deeper understanding of the text.
- Viewing the poem through different schools of criticism (e.g. reader-response, psychoanalysis, formalism).
The “Rime of the Ancient Mariner” could be studied (fairly briefly) as an example of a piece of art in TOK class. The focus isn’t quite the same as in DP Language A Language and Literature class; in TOK the focus of the study of the poem would be squarely on knowledge. Here are some TOK-style approaches to “The Rime of the Ancient Mariner”:
- How knowledge is gained by the reader of “Rime” through the author’s use of language and stylistic features.
- The ways in which the ethical ideas in “Rime” are shared with readers. Comparisons could be made with other ways of communicating ethical ideas in different Real Life Examples and different AOKs.
- How elements of the arts (AOK) Knowledge Framework are relevant to “Rime.”
- The class could compare how “Rime” shares knowledge with the reader in ways that compare and contrast to a science experiment, a history textbook, etc.
- How a reader’s background affects what is learned from the poem.
- Whether or not “Rime” in translation conveys the same ideas and knowledge as the original text.
- The poem’s use of WOKs such as language and emotion.
- How the shared knowledge of “Rime” compares and contrasts with other examples of shared knowledge.
- How the teaching / classroom style affects what knowledge a student acquires from the poem.
- How a student’s personal knowledge of “Rime” compares and contrasts with other examples of personal knowledge.
- The poet’s use of mathematics in terms of stanza length and meter and how this contributes to the knowledge a reader gains from the text.
- The different perspectives that different readers and academics have on elements of the poem.
- What knowledge can be gained from a psychoanalytical (or other) approach to the poem.
Students in DP Language A Language and Literature should considering using texts from their class as Real Life Examples in a TOK essay or TOK presentation. Since there is quite a bit of overlap between the two classes, using texts from DP Language A Language and Literature in a TOK assessment can be very beneficial.
Links between CAS and DP Lang A Lang and Lit
This section is quite bit shorter than the TOK link section above. That does not mean that TOK links are more important than CAS links; it is simply a reflection of the fact that the author of this website has a background in TOK and in DP Language A Language and Literature and is currently focusing on those areas. As a result, the CAS links section below isn’t full fleshed-out yet.
The DP Language A Language and Literature subject guide provides a rough outline of links between CAS and DP subjects (pg. 3). This outline is generic though and doesn’t offer specifics. Pages 8 and 9 offer subject-specific links and does give some examples of activities that students in DP Language A Language and Literature could partake it.
One way for you to create meaningful links between CAS and DP Language A Language and Literature is to connect CAS to an author and text you study. For example, consider the different goals Margaret Atwood had when she set out to write The Handmaid’s Tale. The novel raises a number of issues such as gender, totalitarian governments, religion, violence, passivity, and authoritarianism. You could link one of these topics to CAS quite easily. In this case there are a number of options for the Creativity and Service strands although Activity is a bit of a stretch.