Blogging Around

After "blogging around" for quite some time, I decided to comment on Katy's post, "Metacognition: Jane Eyre Mashup." With her first sentence as "I wasn't looking forward to this project," I felt the urge to delve further into her thoughts about this project. Katy's post resonated with me because she discussed her shift in mindset after the mashup, something that I found out myself as well. She discussed how she went into the project with one mindset of love, but came out with a completely different understanding. The following is what I commented on Katy's blog:

Katy, 

Wonderful post! Your thoughts really resonated with me. What I love about your commentary is how you recognized that not only did the mash-up experience teach you about Jane Eyre, but also about yourself. It amazes me that a high school English project caused you to come to conclusions about such complex ideas like love and your individual mind. This is especially important considering you weren't even looking forward to this project! I believe that your blog post demonstrates the significance of learning in a different type of way. This mash-up was very unconventional. However, I believe it taught me much more than a single test could ever do. As you mentioned, it managed to "shift my convictions about one of the most important concepts on Earth: love." This single sentence is living proof that the mash-up was a very worthwhile and rewarding experience. I wish that we could have more of these assignments in school. Thank you for sharing!

The next blog that I commented on was Hannah's post, "Dialectics: Ignorance and Truth." Hannah examined the differences between these two ideas, as well as shared some insight regarding finding a happy medium between the two ideas. I enjoyed Hannah's post because it made me wonder which pill I would choose if I were in The Matrix. The following is my comment to Hannah:

Hey Hannah! Fantastic post. I love the question that you bring up towards the end of your blog post because I constantly wonder the same thing. It's challenging to tell whether or not knowledge is power or ignorance is bliss today. For example, I can recall plenty of moments in which I've withheld information solely because I knew that it would change my life at that moment. Yet, I can also say that in the back of my mind at that time, I was dying to find out the information. There's no way to tell which is better because both have pros and cons. Ultimately, the only thing we can do is act according based on whichever path we choose to take. Thanks for sharing! 

As always, I love hearing what my classmates have to say because they constantly bring up new, complex ideas that I never would have thought of previously. 

Dialectics: Reality and Imagination

Reality is the state of things that actually exist. They're not in our head, in our heart, or even on a television screen. Instead, they're things that we can physically interact with through actual existence. In other words, reality is not something that we imagine. This is because imagination forms ideas that are not perceived through our physical senses. Therefore, reality and imagination are two completely different ideas. However, from The Matrix, I've learned that reality and imagination might instead be one existing idea. 

Surely, this idea sounds crazy. I know that it goes against everything I've learned growing up in school. Over the years, I've been taught to separate my imagination from my reality. I've been taught that my dreams might not always come true. In fact, I've learned to stop dreaming and start thinking in reality. Yet, The Matrix completely changed the way I perceive my reality versus my imagination. It's challenging for me to separate the two from each other now. 

The Matrix opened the door for a new realm of possibilities. Instead of seeing reality and imagination as two separate ideas, the film led me to explore their relativity. It begs the question "to what degree is our reality actually imagination?" Morpheus makes the point that nothing is real within the Matrix. He states that everything is a figment of our imagination. In which case, our imagination makes us believe everything is reality. Complicated, right? Although I don't completely agree with Morpheus that nothing is real within my life, I can say that I question certain "realities." For example, whenever I have a difficult time telling what color an object like a shirt is, I question whether or not the color is part of my imagination. Although one of my friends may say the shirt is red, another may say it is orange. While writing this blog post, I'm even questioning whether or not I'm actually typing. 

Prior to viewing The Matrix, I kept these ideas completely separate within my life. My imagination was only to come out at night, on the pillow case, with my eyes closed. Whereas my reality was for the day, interacting with people and other objects. Never before was my reality in any way false. Well, at least I thought this was the case. However, now I'm beginning to recognize that these ideas coexist. I'm starting to question what is real and what is my imagination during the day, which I previously left only for reality. The Matrix opened these possibilities because it presented a new world, where everything was fiction. Through this idea, I've learned to relate reality and imagination. 

Metacognition: Jane Eyre Mashup

When I first saw on Mr. Allen's website the words "Jane Eyre Mashup," I freaked. Everything from the bolded, colored words on the site to the amount of quotes we had to compile seemed foreign and almost impossible. Not only did I not understand the task of the assignment at first, but I also didn't understand how I could perform this. While it took time to realize the meaning of a mashup, I've now realized what positive impact the assignment had on my learning experience. 


In the beginning, I struggled with defining a topic present throughout the novel Jane Eyre. I spent so much of my time trying to find the perfect idea-one that could relate to the outside world through quotes or film, like Mr. Allen asked for. I searched, and searched, and searched for quotes pertaining to different topics such as love, individualism, and challenging the status quo. Ultimately, however, I narrowed down my top quotes to fall under the individualism category. I'm pleased with my thinking in this sense because rather than narrowing myself in on one topic at first, I allowed myself to search the entire novel for quotes that interested me and were full of rich, deep meaning. This proved to be extremely effective. I went through the each part of the novel with a specific colored post-it note that depended on the topic I was looking for. This method helped me organize my thoughts in a coordinated manner, which saved me time. 


After all of my research with Jane Eyre, I chose the topic individualism because I enjoyed the way each quote related and flowed, something that I knew was necessary for the mashup. I continued to use my organization method with post-it notes for the rest of my necessary quote requirements. This allowed me to arrange my elements to create meaning, depth, and insight like Mr. Allen wanted. It surprised me how well this way of thinking worked, but it also taught me the power of organization. 


The most difficult process, however, was creating the illusion of one mind. Although my organization method allowed me to easily arrange my elements, my own perfectionist personality made it difficult to create the illusion of one mind. I constantly doubted myself that each quote flowed correctly, because I was so worried about the flow sounding perfect. It took me longer to create the illusion of one mind than to find my quotes because I spent so much time over-thinking myself. Looking back, I now realize that one mind does not flow perfectly. Thus, no quote could do the same. I would have liked for this process to work better, but now I realize for next time. 


Ultimately, the Jane Eyre project allowed me to realize the impact that the novel has on our everyday lives. Not only did this project help me relate Jane's life to the modern world, but it also taught me about the power of organization. While I've mentioned about my struggle with perfectionism in other blog posts, this project just proved to be one more reason why perfection isn't always so perfect. All in all, I absolutely loved the Jane Eyre mashup because it was like no other project I'd ever seen. 

Field Trip Thoughts: A Midsummer Night's Dream

After having the opportunity to see Macbeth last year at the Chicago Shakespeare Theater, I pretty much knew the rundown in terms of how the field trip would work. I knew that we'd arrive in the morning at Navy Pier, watch the play, eat, and then travel back at the end of the school day. However, since I'd already been on the field trip before, I also went into the play with the mentality that I was about to sit through a long, confusing, and tragic performance.

Within the first few minutes of the play, I was proven wrong. Instead, A Midsummer Night's Dream was filled with bright colors, amusing scenes, and surprisingly understandable language. It surprised me that I enjoyed the play so much, especially considering it was about two and a half hours long. However, I think that the plot line, actors, and my improved knowledge of Shakespeare all played a significant role in helping me enjoy A Midsummer Night's Dream much more than Macbeth.

As a freshman last year on the field trip, I had a limited amount of exposure to Shakespeare's writing. I read excerpts of his work and saw a modern teenage version of the play Romeo and Juliet. However, I do not think that this was enough to help me fully understand Macbeth. Last year, I walked out of the theater feeling utterly confused. The language of Macbeth was overwhelming to me, and I felt as if I just walked out of a play performed in Japanese. Although it was obvious that the play was tragic and filled with many deaths, I didn't feel like I grasped a solid foundation of the play's meaning. I was mad at myself because I couldn't appreciate the performance like I hoped to.

However, as a sophomore now who has read and analyzed two Shakespeare plays, my knowledge has increased dramatically since last year. I didn't realize this, however, until right now. When I walked out of the play, I couldn't believe how incredible I found it to be. I loved the characters, especially Puck, because of their vibrancy and uniqueness. In addition, I loved the ambiance of the theater itself. It was incredible to look around and see hundreds of other students appreciating and experiencing the highly professional actors. Almost every scene made me laugh, and I left the theater much more satisfied than Macbeth. Even though A Midsummer Night's Dream was unlike any other Shakespeare play I've experienced because it is a comedy, I still believe that my increased exposure to Shakespeare within the past year has made a significant difference in my appreciation of this performance. As one of the actors said, "Shakespeare is like the dark. It takes some time to get used to." I agree wholeheartedly with this statement through my experience within the past year.

I hope that in the future I'll be able to see more of Shakespeare's work and compare it to Macbeth and A Midsummer Night's Dream. I feel so fortunate to have been able to experience this learning process because it has made me appreciate the art of Shakespearian language, as well as the art of acting.

Metacognition: Short Story Writing Process

Thinking, writing, deleting, and rewriting, I spent an unbelievable amount of time over the weekend revising my short story. Whether I was developing a specific passage in my story to hold onto a moment with rich language, or I was searching for grammatical errors, I learned a lot about myself, my writing, and even my learning during the short story writing process. Surely, I didn't accomplish this process overnight, but I'm thankful that I had the opportunity to embark on such a journey in my writing.

The first day that I sat down to write my story, I remember sitting at the computer for two hours with nothing. With a blank, white Word document and a flashing bar lighting up my screen, I was constantly reminded that I had made no progress within the two hours. Now, I'm not saying that I wasn't thinking. In fact, that was just the opposite. I spent the full two hours thinking about what to write, that I couldn't spend any of my time actually writing. I was so caught up in trying to find the perfect idea, and conform to a perfect writing style, that I had no idea where to start. My mind constantly shifted between different ideas, and I was unable to settle on a specific topic.

Eventually, however, I realized that the best way to go about this challenge for myself was to look at the professional short stories we read in class and take advice from those authors. Specifically, I looked at Gina Berriault's The Stone Boy. I enjoyed her writing because of how well she held onto the moments of her text. I used her writing as an example for my story, and I realized how influential and helpful her writing was. Not only did The Stone Boy spark the idea for my topic, but I also used the story as a guide for how I wanted my story to progress. I learned after turning to The Stone Boy, that I learn the best by following examples. This way of thinking definitely improved my short story because I was able to have guidance without needing someone else's opinion. I could channel my inner creativity, but with a guide to help me stay focused.

While the beginning of my thinking during the short story process was very ineffective and wasted a large sum of my time, ultimately I realized that I couldn't think like how I usually do when I write. I've grown accustom to writing things such as blogs, research papers, or essays. Never before had I written a short story, until now. So, when I finally realized that I was going to need to go about my writing process differently, everything shifted and fell into place. While it still surprises me that I took so long to figure out that I needed guidance with how to write a story, I like that I've learned what best works for me in terms of this kind of writing. From now on, I hope to go directly to the process of examining other's writing and actively thinking, rather than how I began this short story writing process through inactively thinking.

An Inconvenient Truth: Gender Inequality

This past week, we started to read Jane Eyre in English class. The author, Charlotte Brontë, emphasizes the issue of gender inequality and the role of women in society during the nineteenth century. However, as I've learned through class discussions, these issues still present themselves today in the twenty-first century. I find this issue very irritating as a modern teenager, because I do not understand why our world has come so far with things such as technological advances, but gender inequality still remains a problem.

In the nineteenth century, Jane struggles for a sense of belonging within her life. She is suppressed not only because she is a woman, but also because she is an orphan. Brontë illustrates the issue of gender inequality within her Victorian style literature. Women during this time period were exploited for work, provided cheap labor, and inferior to men in almost all senses. They were considered lower class, a problem even more severe for Jane, because she was an orphan.

Nowadays, gender issues are less severe in certain areas, like the United States. However, inequality is still present within the twenty-first century. Women face issues such as unequal pay, double standards, and domestic abuse. In some countries, like Saudi Arabia, women are still forbidden to drive. While on the surface women may seem equal, I still believe there is an underlying inferiority that some people perceive women with. Even in class this week, Mr. Allen mentioned that teachers discriminate on books that they read in class, depending on whether or not the boys will "get into it." This demonstrates the archetypal characteristic of gender inequality. Ultimately, I believe the inconvenience of this truth is that it has become so rooted in our society that everyone believes it.

This issue really irritates me because I do not understand why our society has progressed so far with some issues, but we've made little progress with this issue of gender inequality. Especially as a female teenager, I have high aspirations to be successful when I grow up. But, when I hear about gender inequality, it upsets me to know that I might not be able to make an equal income with a male co-worker. I hope that one day, this will not be the truth. However, I believe the only way we can come to terms with this issue is through awareness and actions against issues such as unequal pay. While it may take time, I'm not sure if there is any other way to solve this inconvenient truth.

Change of Mind: Heart of Darkness

2 weeks ago, the thought of reading Heart of Darkness made me want to yank my hair out. I had no idea what the book was about, where it took place, or even the setting. Yet, I judged the book based off of what I had heard from previous Academy students. Quotes such as "get ready for the hardest book of your life," and "expect to not understand anything," were just a few of the responses I received that made me fear opening to the first page. I was afraid that I'd be the only one in class to not understand the novel. Like we've talked about before in English, I've sometimes felt like I've reached my "plateau," and thus I was afraid that Heart of Darkness would be the ultimate test of my level of intelligence. However, after successfully completing this novel, I've had a complete change in mindset. While the saying goes, "don't judge a book based on its cover," I believe it should really be, "don't judge a book based on others."

Why? Well, I'll own up to my inner nerd and say that I loved Heart of Darkness. Surely, the material was challenging and at times treacherous, but that's why I enjoyed it. The power of language within this text was incredible, and I'm disappointed that I underestimated my ability to read this type of writing beforehand. Not only did Conrad provide a captivating story, but each and every one of his sentences could be picked apart, investigated, and found meaningful. It takes a skilled writer to do so, as I've learned throughout this year in English. Previously, I didn't know why it was necessary to read Heart of Darkness, since it seemed as though nobody understood it. Now, I realize that the depth and complexity of this novel, while at times confusing, provided an important "so what" level. However, I've realized that Conrad's novel wasn't impossible to read. Instead, I found it enjoyable and fascinating. 2 weeks later, I question the previous Academy students, because to me I didn't find the reading to be unbearable. This demonstrates that everything is relative, and I shouldn't base my judgements off of others.

Overall, I've realized that I need to keep a more open mind when it comes to literature. Heart of Darkness is now currently my favorite book that we've read in class so far, and I'm so thankful for the literary experience it provided me with. Conrad taught me importance of structure, language, and meaning. All of these elements will be very helpful for my future English classes and years of writing to come.