Integrated essays on Method Acting & the Fight or Flight Syndrome

The TOEFL Preparation class practiced independent and integrating writing this past week. The following essays are examples of the two integrated essays we wrote in class within the prescribed time limit.

For the TOEFL integrated essay, students are given 3 minutes to read a passage; they then listen to a lecture on the same topic, and are given 20 minutes to plan, write, and edit their essays.

As the reading passage reappears on one side of the computer screen while they write on the other, students were reminded not to simply copy phrases from the passage into their essays. It's important to paraphrase and say everything in their own words to make it clear that they understood the passage and show that they can express their ideas well.

This integrated essay is from page 428 of the DELTA'S Key to the TOEFL iBT Advanced Skill Practice textbook.

The reading passage in this set of materials discusses Method Acting, which requires an actor to immerse himself in all aspects of the character he is playing. The professor in the listening passage, on the other hand, cites problems with this type of acting and says why he doesn’t agree with this method.

The professor first mentions that the playwright or the script writer is the person who creates the character. The actor’s job is merely to convey the writer’s message. According to the professor, it is not the writer’s job to interpret how a character feels as this has already been done by the writer. This is in contrast to the reading passage which mentions that the actor has to interpret a character when using Method acting.

A second feature of Method acting is the expectation that actors draw from their own experiences to produce the emotions of the characters they are playing. The professor disagrees with this concept as he thinks that actors who have never experienced certain emotions, such as those of a murderer, would not be able to accomplish this as they would have nothing in their past to draw from.

The professor also maintains that instead of spending time working on the emotions or “living the part” of the characters, as the reading discusses, actors should be trained in certain skills, instead, such as speaking clearly, projecting, and body language. Extra commitment is unnecessary for actors. In fact, the professor speaks of one actor who didn’t sleep or bathe for a whole week to practice Method acting. The professor said that this was definitely going too far.

The following integrated task is from page 426 of the DELTA'S Key to the TOEFL iBT Advanced Skill Practice textbook. Two other examples of this writing task can also be found here.

Both the reading and listening passages discuss the fight or flight response in human beings. However, the listening presents research that shows differences in how men and women face problems, while the reading presents the topic in general terms.

The listening begins by saying that 90 percent of research on the fight or flight syndrome has been done on men and that there is new research showing that women react differently to everyday challenges. This research shows that while men fight or flee when confronted with a problem, women actually tend and befriend, which is opposite to what men do in similar situations.

One example presented is a common situation in the lab when researchers get stressed. While the men argue and leave the room, the women tend to clean the lab, make coffee, and sit down and talk to their colleagues and the issue they are dealing with. Therefore, while men attack a person, women would attack the problem itself by discussing it with friends.

The listening also mentions that women have hormones that suppress those that trigger the fight or flight syndrome, which motivates them to try to diffuse the problem. This differs from the reading, which infers that fight or flight hormones are released in the same way in both sexes. According to the lecture, however, women don’t fight or flee, they turn to other people for help.

The above essays were written by the instructor during the 20 minute writing task in class. No changes have been made after time was up. Can you think of ways to improve these essays?

 

 

.. written by Joe Yu, ESL instructor