from "Writing and Multiple Intelligences," A Working Paper
- by Gerald Grow, Ph.D.
- School of Journalism, Media & Graphic Arts
- Florida A&M University, Tallahassee FL 32307 USA
- Available at: http://www.longleaf.net/ggrow
The two personal intelligences are inextricably interconnected, for it is
only through a sensitivity to other people (the interpersonal intelligence)
that one can come to know oneself; and it is only through sensitivity to
one's self (the intrapersonal intelligence) that one can come to relate
deeply to other people. The personal intelligences are inextricably bound
up with the symbol systems supplied by one's culture--"including rituals,
religious codes, mythic and totemic systems" (and surely the arts as
well)--which provide a way to make sense of the experience of self and others.
Indeed, "without a community to provide the relevant categories, individuals...
would never discover that they are 'persons.'" It is at the interface
of society and the individual, of the interpersonal and the intrapersonal,
that one's sense of self is formed (251). Or, in the view Gardner prefers,
one's "set of selves" is formed.
The personal intelligences are often found in strongly developed form among
political and religious leaders, "skilled" parents, teachers,
therapists, wise elders, and (Gardner adds) shamans. "These forms of
knowledge are of tremendous importance in many, if not all, societies in
the world," yet they have "tended to be ignored or minimized by
nearly all students of cognition" (241).
In his list of those with strong interpersonal intelligence, Gardner did
not mention writers--but they should rank highly. In order to write about
another person, an author must have in abundance the most fundamental interpersonal
skill: the ability "to notice and make distinctions among other individuals"
(239). Good writers can project themselves deeply into another person's
situation -- another mark of the interpersonal intelligence. More subtly,
any good interviewer must have another trait Gardner describes here: sensitivity
to others' hidden intentions and desires (239).
As recent articles have emphasized, writing is a social act. Even a beginning
author knows to write differently about pollution for Audubon than for Ranger
Rick. Gardner's concept of the interpersonal intelligence invites attention
to the way people are described in and addressed by a piece of writing.
Interpersonal intelligence has its complement in intrapersonal intelligence--the
essence of which is "access to one's own feeling life" (239),
the capacity to discriminate among feelings, to find symbols for them, and
to draw upon them to understand and guide one's life. Gardner finds this
ability highly developed in therapists and patients, in wise elders, and
in a novelist like Proust. Letters, diaries, poems, personal essays, autobiography,
and autobiographical fiction have taught us much of what we know of other
selves. Gardner's approach invites consideration of the way one uses cultural
codes and invented symbols to make sense of the full range of inner experience,
such as through keeping a journal. Approaches inspired by Vygotsky and Freire
(e.g., Elsasser & John-Steiner) have emphasized the rich interrelation
between interpersonal and intrapersonal in writing. Gardner similarly emphasizes
the interplay of self and society, or rather of society with each individual's
"wide variety of 'selves'" (242).
Some common writing activities engage the personal intelligences--including
writing from personal experience, writing about another person, writing
to a specific audience, and presenting an issue in terms of its impact upon
a single person. Following the lead of Proust or Montaigne, students could
use writing to explore their developing selves; journals, notebooks, and
diaries provide powerful vehicles for recording introspections, for reflecting
on experience, and for coming to understand one's core concerns, skills,
feelings, and values. (Journals are a good vehicle for recording and reflecting
on the kind of experiments suggested in this paper.) Following Keats or
Shakespeare, students could practice projecting themselves invisibly into
the skins of others, seeing through others' eyes, speaking through others'
voices. Such an exercise could lead naturally to the point where student
writers carefully distinguish their own experiences from those the culture
leads them to expect. They are ripe then for one of the great themes of
literature and life: the development of the sense of self through the confrontation
of an individual's dreams and a culture's certainties--a theme that lights
up every page of Don Quixote.
School and community leaders often possess interpersonal skills well worth
observing. Send students to observe labor-management negotiations, a political
rally, or to interview a notable therapist or teacher. Also look for nearly
invisible examples of this type of intelligence, such as women who have
a genius for being good mothers. Here one can ask if love is an intelligence
and speak of the gift for relating. The interpersonal gifts of some people
arise only during crises--such as the tiresome little woman who knows better
than anyone how to comfort the bereaved.
Intrapersonal intelligence may be more difficult to locate, but looking
for wise people is a fine way to spend a semester. What makes a person wise?
What prevents it? If you want to grow to be a wise person, what might help
you do that? More simply, students might find and write about individuals
who possess unusual self-knowledge or a highly developed spiritual sense.
Religious leaders might be willing speak on this point. It is always instructive
to interview and write about passionate adherents of differing beliefs--such
as Christian Scientists and Christian fundamentalists, Baptists and Catholics,
or Hindus and Moslems.
Personal and interpersonal form one another most vitally in family life--a
deep source to write from. Students interested in genealogy could be encouraged
to write a genealogy of personal traits--not just birth charts, but geneaolgies
of personality and learned habits. Another theme: What would we know about
ourselves and other people if the mass media were our only source of knowledge?
What would be missing?
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