Metacognition: Reading Jane Eyre

I found reading Jane Eyre to be very relaxing to my brain. The long descriptions, the attention to detail--it made me enjoy doing the homework. This was the moment of my day where I could decompress and finally take things slow. This was not something that I could quickly get through. Each page would take me between 1-2 minutes to read. When we started Jane Eyre I was frustrated that the reading homework was taking me so long. I wanted to get it done. But after the first few, I began to accept that it wasn't possible to accomplish the reading quickly and decided to try and enjoy the chunk of time that I had to set aside to read.

What else I found that was refreshing was that Jane would have a conversation with the reading and would forcefully engage me in the reading. Oftentimes, I feel that authors sometimes neglect the reader and ignore the fact that there is someone on the other side who is reading that story they created. Bronte's attention to the reader really help to keep me engaged and focused in the reading when I became so relaxed that I would realize that I had no idea what had happened in the previous few paragraphs. It was her way of telling me that I shouldn't miss any action of Jane's because the theme of love in the novel was very complex.

The thing that I will take away from reading Jane Eyre is the idea that you should be able to find excitement and enjoyment in the ordinary. Bronte would describe a house or a field with such description and passion and craft in her writing that I would find myself wrapped-up in the story. If I can notice the tiny details and be very deliberate and patient, then life will be so much more exciting. I just need to learn how to slow down the tempo of my life and observe what has always been around me, but what I've failed to notice.

360 Degree: Jane Eyre's Trust

The reading of Jane Eyre has really drawn my interest into the dynamics of trust.

Trust is key in developing who we are. When Jane was little and live at ----shire, she trusted Mrs. Reed to take care of her and supply for her. But, what Jane experienced as a child due to the lack of trust caused her to go into a state of shutting herself off from most human connections. She feared that the hurt she experienced would occur again so it was better to close herself off then to stay open and risk being hurt again.

But then Jane went to Gateshead and through her professional relationship, she began to build bonds of trust with Mr. Rochester. I believe that due to the trust bonds being built, they were able to fall in love with each other. Their love was possible in this period of time where two people of very different class getting married was unheard of because of their mutual trust. Relationship will remain stagnant if there is not some degree of mutual trust.

But then Mr. Rochester betrayed her trust by revealing that he was still married, and in a couple of minutes, he had lost all of the trust that he had spent so much time to attain. And, no matter what his efforts, he could not bring Jane to trust him to the degree that she previously had. She came to the conclusion that she could not be with someone for the rest of her life if she could not know that she could put all of herself in his hands and know that she would be safe. But Jane would never have been vulnerable to this hurt if she had remained shut off from the world and had not allowed Mr. Rochester to breach her defenses. I am curious about whether or not Jane will close herself off even more due to this second betrayal or if she will continue to remain open to other people regardless of the risk of being hurt because of the joy that she had while in Mr. Rochester's presence.

An Inconvenient Truth: Grades Matter

It is unfortunate that your learning and progression has to quantified.
This constant evaluation has the capability to make many dislike school and the learning that comes with it. Who enjoys doing homework, especially when it is "busy work"? Even the most assiduous student would become irritated and slack. I know that homework is given to reinforce what was previously taught and to practice concepts and apply them, but most people don't see it that way, and even the ones that do don't receive enjoyment from doing homework. This is one of the reasons that some student don't apply themselves. Why should anyone do something that they don't enjoy especially when there are options more appealing?

Some people say that your grades now won't matter once you get into college, but how you do now affects your future. Your grades and test scores determine your options for college and which college you go to determines your career. The better your grades, the more option and choice you have. So if you act immaturely now and are lazy and slack off because you dislike school and all of its responsibilities, then you are severely limiting your future.

I know that now, our school system is dependent upon grades, but I don't feel that a grade should represent your knowledge or intelligence. It should instead represent your growth and progression. By measuring this, you showing the passion and effort that has been applied. And, if you put in passion and effort you will gain a lot. There would no longer be the added stress of memorizing information. Doing things this way would create a system in which people would be enjoy learning more.