CORE 1000 – Diagnostic Essay – Soderstrom
Due: Thursday, August 28 at the start of class.
Format: Typed, double spaced, 1 in. margins, Title and author’s name on single line at top.
Prompt:
1. Find a quiet place to be: one where you are neither distracted nor self-conscious of being
quiet or talking out-loud to yourself.
2. Sit and reflect on several (at least two) embodied practices that you particularly enjoy or are
good at. (e.g. running, cooking, meditating, healing, fishing, drawing, building, exercising,
playing an instrument, caring for kids, etc.) After some time thinking of these, choose one of
these practices to consider in more depth.
3. Meditate without interruption for 5 minutes on the EXPERIENCE you undergo when you
engage in this activity and it is going well. Be concrete as you bring the memories or visions
before your mind. Afterward, take 5 minutes and jot down some notes on words, phrases,
images, and feelings that came to mind.
4. Meditate for 5 minutes how you would articulate the distractions that come up that get in the
way of your being attentive and absorbed in the activity. Consider what is the distinctive and
consistent thing that defines this activity, and how that is lost when distractions arise. Take 5
minutes and jot down notes on phrases, ideas, or descriptions that came to mind.
5. Meditate for 5 minutes why this activity is GOOD FOR YOU to engage in. Expand beyond
merely – “I like it” or “Its fun” – go deeper. Take 5 minutes and jot down some notes on
words, phrases, ideas, and reasons that came to mind.
6. Without interruption, read Edmundson’s essay “Pay Attention” and when your mind takes
you there, reflect on what it would mean to “really see” (i.e. experience) the practice you are
trying to describe. Take notes on what seems important.
7. Take a break and do something else for a while.
8. With your notes available to you from your earlier meditation and from your reading of
Pieper’s essay, draft THREE paragraphs according to these three prompts:
a. DESCRIBE as best you can YOUR EXPERIENCE of engaging the activity when it is
going well.
b. ANALYZE AND DEFINE as best you can the ESSENCE of the activity that makes it
what it is when it is being performed well. Describe why the DEFINING ESSENSE you
name fits, while other descriptions do not.
c. ARGUE as best you can why this activity is GOOD FOR A PERSON to engage.
9. Revise your draft as needed for clarity, proper grammar/spelling, and focus. Do not exceed 2
full pages; do not write less than 1 full page.
10. Print up one copy of your paper (double sided if possible), and bring it to class.