For historians and artists, do conventions limit or expand their ability to produce knowledge? Discuss with reference to history and the arts.

This IB Theory of Knowledge essay, based on the November 2025 prescribed title, examines whether conventions serve to limit or expand the production of knowledge in history and the arts. It explores how methodological norms in history, such as source verification and chronology, can support the objective construction of historical narratives while also recognizing how rigid adherence can exclude marginalized voices and unconventional evidence. In contrast, the essay investigates how artistic conventions in fields like music and film can constrain creativity through standardized forms, yet may also provide a foundation for innovation when artists choose to subvert or reimagine them. Drawing on examples such as historiographical approaches to the American Civil War and narrative experimentation in Quentin Tarantino’s ‘Pulp Fiction,’ the essay argues that conventions both enable and restrict knowledge production, depending on how they are applied within each Area of Knowledge.

* The sample essays are for browsing purposes only and are not to be submitted as original work to avoid issues with plagiarism.