Metacognition: Jane Eyre Writing Assignment

To me, the most important aspect of this writing assignment was working together as a group. It is a skill that we don't practice very often, and this project was a good opportunity to work on collaboration skills.

It was difficult to adapt my writing style to fit those of my group members. It's hard to mesh the ideas of three people into one coherent piece. It required more work, effort, and time than an independent writing assignment would have. But, we did manage to fight through all the distractions and create a nice transcript.

Working with other people is a skill that I wish I was better at. I know that it will become an important skill for the future and will determine any one's success. I often like to do things by myself and not have to deal with other people, but I know this is not a realistic way of thinking. I hope to change my thinking in a way so that I become more compatible with other people.

Overall, this was a good working experience and a nice way to practice our collaborating skills for the future. I believe that the learning from the writing process was of equal, if not greater importance than the intellectual learning from Jane Eyre.

Metacognition: Jane Eyre

Reading Jane Eyre was a refreshing change to the previous books we have read this year. Unlike Sophie's World and Heart of Darkness, it wasn't overwhelming. I didn't dread having to read it every night, and the storyline was captivating. I couldn't help but wondering why this book was so different.

I have decided it is because of the overall slower pace of the novel. Not every sentence was jam packed with information, and many pages were devoted simply to the setting and descriptions. The slower pace obviously slowed my thinking, allowing more knowledge, feelings and opinions to be absorbed while reading the text. It was a nice change to not feel so rushed while reading.

I was surprised to find out how engulfed I became in the story. I felt both sympathy and anger towards the characters, which usually doesn't happen to me while reading school books. Being so involved in this story greatly improved my comprehension, and with increased comprehension comes increased overall enjoyment.

To improve my thinking, I wish I had annotated my book with more care. When the time came for small group discussions, I felt as though I had forgotten my initial reactions and thoughts, and it was hard to look back and know what I was thinking.

Overall, reading Jane Eyre was a good experience with many opportunities to relax and fully enjoy and interpret the story.

360 Degrees: Our Future

As I am beginning to recieve more and more college letters in the mail, I am also beginning to feel more and more guilty about not preparing for college yet. I have no idea where I want to go or what I plan to do in the future, and sometimes this scares me.

I know people already enrolled in ACT prep classes. My friends are already signed up to take the ACT at the end of the school year. They're counting how many volunteer jobs they can put on their applications. They are doing all of these things while we are only sophomores in high school.

This is sometimes viewed as a positive thing: we are beginning to take control of our own lives as students and learning to make our own decisions to benefit us in the future. We are becoming independent.

Yet our college preparation can also be seen as a looming stressor, sucking up our time, thoughts and energy as teenagers and forcing us to grow up too soon. As sophomores, we still have mistakes to make and lessons to learn before we have the power to plan our own futures.

Despite this, one thing is for sure. We must think and plan our futures, but it is our decision how much this planning controls our lives.

An Inconvenient Truth: Suburban Bubble

We often complain about how we are trapped in our own small surbaban bubble and don't get to experience the world outside. Sometimes I do feel this way, and that is one of the reasons why I was so excited to fly away to the Caribbean for spring break. My family and I went to St. John in the US Virgin Islands, and the culture and atmosphere could not be more different.

I love it on that island. It's small, crammed, and loud. There are no sidewalks, small one way streets, and it's always a challenge to get around. You don't always feel safe. There are bright colors, exotic smells, and beautiful scenery. I think that I enjoy it so much there because of the large contrast between there and home. Being in that different surrounding made it frighteningly clear that their is so much more outside of our bubble than we could imagine.

The truth is we are in our bubble. It's annoying to believe we are missing out on the diversity of the world just because of where we live. It's bothersome to think about all that is going on that we don't see. This is the reality of the bubble.

But then again we must also appreciate where we live. We are almost always safe. We have food, homes, water, good schools, and an immense amount of luxuries. Some are satisfied with the suburban life, for it provides stability and security. This is also the reality of the bubble.

No matter which way you look at it, we all know of life outside of the suburbs. Yet by traveling, exploring, and gaining knowledge about the rest of the world, we might not feel so stuck.

Dialectics: Culture and Government

In our current events group on Friday, we discussed the increasing amount of female abortion in India. Eventually, this led us to discuss the relationship between India's culture, traditions, and beliefs, and India's government and politics. We talked about how large a role culture plays in society versus the government, and how powerful each was.

Some argued that culture is more effective and has a larger impact on people than the government. You are completely immersed in the culture of your society at all times, and it is very important to fit into this culture if one wants to survive. Culture is not as formal as the government and its laws are, which can make it easier to follow for some people. Culture is something that brings people together, and is therefore very important for our society.

Government is very important for obvious reasons, but sometimes we feel more a cultural presence in our day to day lives. But when we analyze the relationship between the two, we see that both are important for controlling different aspects of life. Government provides the order while our culture provides our unique identity.

Yet we need both culture and government in order to be successful, and the most important thing is to find a balance between the two.

Blogging Around

In response to Rebekah's Captured Thought post about her daily routine:

I'm pretty sure I understand what you mean. Our routines and repeated actions act as safe places for us. They put us in our comfort zone and we know what to expect. It is when we don't know what is to come or expect when we feel uncomfortable, and this is most likely what causes our bad days. Something out of the ordinary happens, which takes you out of your safe place. As much as everyone wants to 'take a chance' or 'live a little' or 'get out of their comfort zone,' we all really feel the safest in what we know.

In response to Fatiti's Best of Week post about reading The Cathedral:

Hi Fatiti! I'm going to have to disagree with you about your thoughts about the ending of this story. I am actually a fan of all cliffhangers in general because it leaves the ending open to your interpretation. It adds a mysterious quality, and allows you to draw your own conclusions. They make the story unique to your personal thoughts because you determine the ending. Sure, it is nice when stories end in neat little packages, but it's also nice when the story doesn't end when the text does.

Best of Week: Apocalypse Now

On Monday we watched a few clips from the movie Apocalypse Now that related to Heart of Darkness. Viewing parts of this film was the best part of the week because it modernized many of the themes in Heart of Darkness to make them more understandable.

This movie brought the events and lessons in Heart of Darkness into a different time period and place with different characters. Doing this allowed us as an audience to both better understand the already existing elements of postmodernism and modernism, and additionally appreciate them in a new way. By seeing another perspective on Heart of Darkness, we find new aspects and new ideas. It is important to view many interpretations so we can be opened up to different ideas to help us learn even more about any topic.

By physically viewing the actions, characters, and people in Apocalypse Now, it settles some of the confusion that the novel brings. It puts new and powerful pictures in your head. When you compare the images in the movie to the images that you have created in your mind while reading the novel, you find both differences and similarities. And it is these differences that make comparison and analyzing different things so important.

In short, the viewing of Apocalypse Now was the best of the week because of the new spin it provided to Heart of Darkness. It helped me to better understand the novel, and get more insights out of it.

Change of Mind: Heart of Darkness

I began to read this novel with a negative attitude, similarly to many other of my classmates. Its daunting reputation set me up for disaster with this book. And as I read each page and gathered more information, I got more and more lost and confused. I had no idea what was happening even though I struggled through every word of the text. My reading quiz grade reflected what was happening, and if I had any intention of passing the test, I knew something had to change.

After an extremely low F and a few difficult nights of reading, I realized that our class discussions were the answer to my problems. Sentences and words with no meaning were brought to light and the true meanings and themes were discovered. The novel is now easier to understand and I am able to appreciate all that it offers.

This just goes to show the power of your peers and the thoughts of others. When you share your confusions with others, as we did in our small groups, one often finds others in the same situation. As cliche as it sounds, two heads are truly better than one.

Sure, discussions may be long and somewhat boring at times. But their is lots of value to them. Simply let yourself sit back and listen as the powerful ideas of this novel unfold around you. You will find that what seems nearly impossible can become understandable.

Connection: Postmodernism and the Classroom

While reading Heart of Darkness, we have discovered the effects of postmodernist thinking on the world. We know is affects our surroundings and our government, but how does it directly affect us? How are our own lives influenced by postmodernism? Sometimes it is difficult to trace the topics of our class discussions back to our own lives, and this is why this relationship is so important.

Postmodernism affects our lives in that we find elements of postmodernism in the way our classroom works. This was especially displayed in our poetry unit. While reading poems, we focus on the multiple points of view and multiple worlds. We discuss the importance of our culture and the large role it plays. We also question our position as humans with that of nature.

Thinking in a postmodern way has been all that we know. Yet as we read Heart of Darkness, we begin to see the real effects of the transition from modernism to postmodernism. Recognizing this major shift in thinking is important to us because its shows us how we have progressed. The connection between postmodernism and our classroom allows for more insight because we can actually see the methods of this way of thinking in our everyday life in something as simple as going to school.

Metacognition: First Semester

This first semester has taught me that there are two ways to handle our English class. Some find it easier to slump down in their chair and completely zone out, mentally leaving the room all together. These people stare down the clock, watching the second hand ever so slowly click round and round, wanting time to fly by. On the other hand, you can remain active and actually focus. Speaking aloud or avidly listening, these people know what is going on. They know there is never enough time to discuss what truly matters.

Sure, the first option seems infinitely easier than the second. Everyone has those days when they can't deal with school at the moment. But, in reality, you have to sit class no matter what your situation, so it truly is your choice what you make of it. Letting something as beneficial as a good class discussion slip by unnoticed is much worse than being bored for an hour. During this first semester, I have grown as a thinker. Personally, I prefer to take the easy way out of things. Yet this mindset is changing, for I have realized that you miss far too much learning and profound thoughts through the easy way.

I know that I still don't speak very often in class. But I feel as though it is unrealistic to determine whether someone is active in a discussion solely by the amount of times they raise their hand. Your thoughts are what really matter, and being constantly and actively listening allows you to be present in class. For me personally, I often have those philosophical thoughts, yet choose to keep them to myself. These beliefs are often unique to me, something personal that doesn't need to be shared in the classroom. When teachers count how many times a student speaks, they are trying to measure the unmeasurable.

This does not mean that I refuse to attempt to participate more, for that is something that I know I must improve on. I have a long journey ahead of me to become a better student, and as each semester passes, I am closer and closer to becoming the best student I know I can be.