The periodic integrative essays, mentioned briefly in various program documents, are a central part of your work in the Intimate Nature program. Integrative essays are to be 1) comprehensive, 2) comparative and 3) coherent with the source of the coherence generated by you yourself, by the images/things/issues/problems/ideas that are most important to you. Much of what you write will arise from your journal work in the program. This handout attempts to explain what each of those means.
Integrative essays are creative efforts that we attempt to explain in terms of an activity that many of us did as children, namely “connecting the dots.” The major difference between that childhood activity and these integrative essays is twofold:
1.
The dots are not
numbered. The figures or patterns are
not built into the dots. The figures or
patterns that emerge are what we construct, more or less creatively, more or less
haltingly, more or less strained, more or less intelligible/credible/attractive
to others working with the same set of dots.
2.
An essential part of
this dot-connecting activity, in recognition of the fact that the order or
meaning of the dots is not pre-given or pre-ordained, is to enter into dialogue
with those who order the dots differently than do we. The object of that dialogue, obviously, cannot be to convince the
other person that there is only one way to order the dots. The object is to learn from the different
ways the dots can be ordered from this or that perspective.
This
handout is organized around the three dimensions of the integrative essay: the
comprehensive, the comparative, and the coherent.
In preparation to write, make a list
of the “dots” of the current segment in the program that stick out for you in
your notes. You can’t list all the dots
– it would be impossible. But begin by
focusing in on the things that seemed important to you, to the instructors and
to your seminar-mates.
In the second step of preparation,
turn your attention to the darker or larger dots, those ones that have been
most impressive or shocking or gripping or upsetting to you. If you have been keeping the “Personal
Reflections” section of your Portfolio as required, many or most of these
larger dots should already have elicited a small paragraph from you after
class. If you do not get into the
practice of writing and reflecting after each day of class, this assignment
will likely be more academic and more difficult than it should be. Please note: it should be clear that in
moving to these darker or larger dots, you are already drawing upon the third
dimension of the integrative essay, viz. the personal as the source of
meaningful coherence. But to narrow in
on just one or just a few things that interested you is not in the spirit of
this first or comprehensive dimension of this assignment. Rather, you must attempt to connect as many
of the dots as possible in a way that is meaningful to you. Your instructors
will be looking for evidence of your attention to all the dimensions of the
program (i.e., texts, lectures, seminars, videos, and seminar discussions). The opposite of comprehensive is narrow, single-minded,
or overly focused.
The opposite of comparative and more so of integrative is fragmented or sequential listings. Avoid at all costs an essay that sounds anything like this: “First we read this (and I found that interesting) and then we looked at that (and I was disappointed with the acting) and then we had a seminar on the fascinating issues in the book, and then we had a potluck (but the anchovies were stale!).” What the comparative dimension demands is that you compare and contrast and relate the numerous images, concepts, facts, stories, impressions, parking-lot conversations and revelations that you have meaningfully encountered.
The first word of your integrative essay could be “I.” Use the word “I” frequently. We are not looking in these papers for conclusions or strongly researched arguments in favor of one position or another. A well-articulated doubt or lingering question that is sensitive to the complexity of the material presented and the diversity of perspectives is much better than an artificial or forced conclusion. The point of the essay is how YOU, at this point in the quarter, are processing into your life and worldview what you are encountering in this section of the program. Objectivity here is neither useful nor desirable.
Length: 3-4 pages