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.
Friday, April 27, 2012
Friday, April 6, 2012
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.
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.
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.
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