Metacognition: Jane Eyre Project

This year, in Academy english, our group conducted an english essay project for the rather lengthy book of Jane Eyre. Our group made rules and guidlines that demanded organization and no procrastination. Despite the rule, I still found the need to procrastinate and do the last minute work, which was not at all appreciated by my group members. I was curious as do why I most of the time find myslef doing work last minute. Perhaps, I am addicted to the stress. But I don't want to be. Life is less enjoyable with the abundance of stress and I have brainstormed some easy things I can change in order to make my life better and more stress-free.

One thing that I should have done that I didn't was plan. Planning, although very simple, is a very easy way to space out the work and avoid stressful last minute frenzies. If you plan, and follow through with the plan, then things will get done on time and life will become a lot less hectic. Planning not only makes your life more organized, but it makes you a more productive student as well. When my work time is planned out, I tend to be more focused and more efficient in my work. I am more focused because I feel I am under a time limit to get each load of work done, so I work very hard to finish the work in the allotted time. By planning, life becomes less stressful and work, more manageable.

The thing I am amazed about myself is my willingness to not plan and instead, procrastinate. This project was example of what I tend to do a lot of the times. The amount of time given to work on a project is irrelevant because I end up doing it at the last minute anyway. The question is, why I do keep doing this? Perhaps I'm addicted to the stress of last minute work. Most likely it is that I never have the desire or necessity to do homework unless it is due tomorrow or the next day. If I try to work on things in advance, it usually ends in failure. I usually spend a lot of time getting very little done because I have no focus or efficiency. However, if the due date is very near, I feel it needed to get it done and I become more focused and diligent. It's a shame that I procrastinate, especially for this book because I might have enjoyed it a lot more, understood it better, found a deeper meaning, and wouldn't have received so much stress.

Overall, if I hope to be more efficient and successful in life, I need to immediately change my habits of procrastination by planning, organizing, and following through.

Metacognition: Jane Eyre readings

For me, reading Jane Eyre was a very difficult process. First of all, I never could find a good time in the day to read it. I always would try to read it earlier in the day, but I found that I was to energetic and not focused enough to read efficiently. Thus, I decided to read in the later hours of the day. However, problems occurred here too as a lot of the times I fall asleep while reading or I would submit to temptation and put the reading off until the morning. Either time of the day I read, I couldn't seem to get the reading done. Another problem I had when trying to read Jane Eyre was picking the right day to read it. The Jane Eyre readings, to me, required a lot of time to read and annotate. Therefore, I had a difficult time being able to read the section all in one day. For the majority of the book, mostly as a result of procrastination, found myself reading the section the day before it was due. In an attempt to change my habits, I tried reading the next section days before it was due. Unfortunately, I found after taking the reading quiz that I had not remembered what I had read because of the elapsed time in between the reading and the quiz. Finding the right day and time to read Jane Eyre, though as simple as it seems, was one of the biggest problems I had. If I could change something about myself, I would make myself read more efficiently and increase my memory.

However, there were a few things that were done well when it came to reading the book. For example, I was impressed with the fact that I was able to hold on to a lot of what I read and was amazed when it came to remembering fine details. I find it very interesting how we can never choose exactly what we remember, we just simply remember. A lot of the time, I found myself recalling insignificant and minute details details while at the same time, not being able to remember a key part of the section. I also was able to read and understand Jane Eyre quicker than I do other books. When it comes to reading, I tend to not read efficiently or have my mind wander. I will be reading a section and find that it is very similar to or reminds me of something else and mind wanders off. Luckily, while reading Jane Eyre I was able to maintain focus on the text and read trough pages in a matter of minutes. If I could apply this level of focus to my other occupations and activities I believe that my life would improve greatly on all levels.

360 degree thinking: The Palestinian Conflict

When asked to discuss an issue, my mind immediately went back to world issue discussed yesterday through Hands of Peace, the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. But first, to start out with some history of the conflict. This conflict has been raging ever since Israel's desire to form there own country. In their perspective, they believe that that land was promised to the people Joshua by God. For centuries, Jews, Christians, and Muslims alike lived harmoniously in the Middle East. However, things changed in 1947, when the British, with the support of the United Nations, allocated land, including the city of Jerusalem, to Israel, because of the suffering they endured during the Holocaust. The Arabs did not agree. After their declared independence in 1948, Israel, supported by the United States, has fought its way to maintain a country with Jordanians, Syrians, Egyptians, and especially, the Palestinians. Israel, because they are a democracy and are fighting terrorism, are supported by the U.S. and other democratic states. The conflict between the Israelis and Palestinians continues even to this day as Palestinians and Israelis alike continue to die everyday. The Israeli army continues to bomb innocent civilians, invade Palestine, and force Palestinians to live in small squalid spaces. The Palestinians are pushed too far and begin to resort to terrorism and killing innocent Israelis. This cycle of hate will continue to turn until a ceasefire is met.
I wonder why, if both sides continue to suffer greatly, the war continues. The answer is a multiple of things. The obivious answer is the land. Both the Israelites and the Palestinians desire their own land for their own people. The land also allows each side to establish their own country, and for the Israelis, their own identity. Religion also has its role in the matter. For both sides, the land is signifcant and carries a vast ammount of religious importance. For Israel, it is the "Promised Land", the land that is the center of their faith and it also is the place where their people have lived for generations. For Palestine, the land was the birthplace and deathplace for Jesus, and is also home to alot of Muslim religious structures including the Al-Aqsa Mosque. Another reason for the conflict is the animosity that exists between both populations. Today, most Israelis and Palestinians assume that all Palestinians are different from them. All they know the "other side" for is for killing their neighbors and family. Thus, stereotyping and racism is another thing contributing to this conflict's existence. If each side continues to fight and not colloborate, then the hate and conflict will continue, until one side is completely the eliminated, most likely the Palestinians.
Another question I have is which side is right? Is there a possibillity for both sides to live in harmony? Is peace possible? I personally believe that peace is possible but it is not easy to attain. Both sides have to work to agree on a solution. Even after peace is declared, it will take decades for the hate to dissapate. Perhaps in a century, after decades of peace, will both sides be able to see the others as equals and live together. Until then, the massacre of Palestinians citizens and the terrorizing of the Israeli popluation will continue. As for which side is right, I believe that neither side has a superior claim. Both have ancestors that have lived in that land for centuries. Both have legitimite claims to the land. But who's land is it? Personally, I believe that it is both their land and that it either needs to be shared via one united country or the more plausible two country solution. If peace is not met soon, the world might loose one of the most historic populations in the Palestinians.

An Inconvenient Truth: Man exists as a result of evolution

Being a decently devout Christian and an avid biology student, Darwin's theory of evolution has always been a subject of argument and confusion in my mind. Going into my freshman year, I had been raised to believe that God made the world and its inhabitants in seven days, with men being made the last day. However, after reading Ishmael and taking a year of honors biology, I was in for a rude awakening. In Biology and in English, I was introduced to a Darwin's theory of evolution, that used man's knowledge of science to conclude that men, like every other animal before it, evolved from another species. We, I found out, came from monkeys.
This inconvenient discovery was not widely accepted following its debut in 1859 in the book "On the Orgin of Species". After his publishing, Darwin was continuely criticized and mocked. I have to give Charles Darwin some respect, it most of been really hard to publish this book and stand by his findings in such a popular chirstian society. Eventually, his findings have been accepted and are the basis of many more current discoveries.
The reason that this discovery rubs me a wrong way is because it conflicts and doesn't agree with the christian belief of man's creation, a belief that I had since I grew up. However, this isn't the only time that science conflicts with my religious beliefs. It seems that for everything Christianity states as the truth, science has something else to contradict it. Whether it be man's creation, history of Jesus, the Jews history, or even god's existence, science and religion can never agree. This puts me in a great conflict becasue I am never able to choose what side to agree with and decide which side tells the truth. My friends and I had a discussion about this issue one night while we were hanging out in a neighbor's backyard. Being all Christian, we all discussed how much of the Christian religion we believed in and how much we disagreed with and chose to believe science instead. We concluded that the Garden of Eden wasn't true, but Jesus's death and ressurection was true. Ever since that day, I am still confused and don't know what to turn to, science, or god?
Darwin, the creator of "The Theory of Evolution", I found out later was also a strict Christian. I would love to find out how he managed to balance both science and religion, and if he had a way of making their beliefs coexist. It seems as if school doesn't do a good job with balancing religion and science, partially because it is a public institute and has no offialiation with religion. I recently have heard of a school's experiment with teaching both the scientific side and the religious side of an issue. Though I'm guessing this school is a private Christian school, I believe that this is a good approach to teaching a subject. If the subject of man's creation was tought like this, through a religious view, then a scientific one, then a student would have the chioce to believe in the one he wants and wouldn't have to feel forced to agree with science's view on history.

Dialectics: Friendships and Purpose

A question, in one form or another, that seems to be asked by everyone sometime in their live is, "Do I matter?" Many people experiencing life's journey want to find a way to answer "yes" and strive to find purpose or meaning to their life. Some people turn towards religion and try to become closer to god. Those people come to the belief that the physical world and life is a gift from god, and in turn, they must repay him for it by worshipping him. They also believe that they will spend the majority of their existence in heaven (or hell). Thus, they believe that their purpose in live is to thank god and make sure that they arrive at heaven after their death. Others think that one needs to accomplish something profound in their live so that they can be remembered by others. Some, like Marc Gold, live their life to serve and help others. There are a few people that choose to indulge in life's pleasures and accumulate wealth believing that the purpose of life is to live luxuriously. However, for those many that still struggle to find purpose, I suggest that they look to establish more healthy relationships and friendships.

Relationships, though as simple as they might seem, offer many benefits in life's journey. First off, relationships help you solve and recover from any hardship's in your life. Whether your relationship is with a friend, a lover, or a family member, having another person you can talk to gives one the feeling that they aren't going through life on their own. If you lack friends and comrades in your life, you begin to feel worthless and alone. This feeling of isolation starts to make you feel like there isn't meaning to your life and that you don't matter. However, if you have companions and acquaintances that you spend a lot of time with, you feel like you matter to them, making your life meaningful. The more friendly you are to others, the more others care about you and the more important to those others you become. Relationships create a strong bond between individuals that make life more enjoyable and create a more meaningful life. In my opinon, life is supposed to be shared with others, the more lasting and postive relationships you create, the more meaningful your's and others' lives are.

Blogging Around: Jordyn and Mackenzie

Here is my response to Mackenzie's Best of Week: Food Crisis:
Mackenzie, this is a big problem indeed. Living in Glenview, we live in our own personal bubble. Very little crime, always an abundance of water and food, great education, great transportation, access to a variety of stores are some of the things that we typically take for granted. Though global issues arise and we discuss them, alot of us never realize the importance of the issue because it never really affects us. The worst part of the food crisis for us is higher food prices. For some unlucky others, it's starvation and death. It is important to attempt to do your part in helping solve these issues. For example, one could not waste water or food, turn of the lights, use their car less, pick up trash, and recycle. It is sad that many of us will not really care to do these simple things until it is too late. When their faucet stops running, or their grocery stores are emptied, that will be the point when they will want to help. I can't say that I'm the "greenist" person, but I will try my best to preserve and protect our earth.

This is the response to Jordyn's imedia: Tik Tok:
First off, I am just as surprised as you that Ke$ha is actually a very smart teenager, because she comes off VERY trashy.
Like you, I also like this song, it is one of my favorites. Thinking about why I enjoy it so much, I have come to the conclusion that I like her singing and the beats that go with it. It's a song that creates energy and liveliness in a room that is almost impossible to resist. I agree, the lyrics to the song are quite trashy, but I think everyone enjoys them because they are simply so rediculous. With lyrics like "Wake up in the morning feelin' like P Diddy" and "Leave, brush my teeth with a bottle of Jack [Daniels]", it's hard not to laugh.
But I definetly agree, Jordan, our culture keeps slowly getting trashier. Today, songs can't be popular in less they discuss sex or drinking,(Bonus points if both are mentioned). If you watch TV today, you'll often hear commercial's about erectile disfunction, enlarged prostates, tampons, push up bras. I can't help but chuckle when I saw an hour paid-advertisement for "Booty Pop", underwear that has padding to make a female's bottom look larger. Some of these things should just not be on television. Many teens today cannot have fun unless they get drunk, high, or do something stupid. Parents are slowly getting less involved in their children's life and decisions, giving their teens the freedom to do something they might regret. I predict that parents will continue to comprimise and allow their kids more unmonitered freedom. Eventually, our culture is going to become more vulgar and trashy to the point where it will be ok to drink and smoke in 5th grade.

Best of the Week: Suicide

Last Friday, our current events group discussed an article about an assisted-suicide program in Switzerland. The program was corporately ran and supplied its customers with fatal drugs in exchange for money. Our group were discussing on whether or not this business should be allowed to continue and if people could be allowed to commit suicide. Many of the group members were troubled by the fact that the business was corporately owned because it means that the owners benefit off of other's depression and death. Others also didn't like the fact that the patients felt that their only choice was to live miserably or commit suicide when really they had different options like seeking counseling or professional help. But to some that are old and truly struggling to live and live painfully, they feel it is best to end their misery.
Suicide, since it has existed, has been frowned upon by all aspects of society and now it is starting to be accepted. Many argued that suicide is a choice, if you are suffering and you no longer have any desire to live, it is your choice to day. Only you have the freedom and the right to make the decision. This seemed to make sense and as our group began to agree when Darrell brought up an excellent point. He said that he didn't agree that it was "our choice" to commit suicide. He believed that just like how one doesn't get to control whether or not you are born, you shouldn't get to control if you die. He made the point that we only have the freedom to choose "what is right". This new point seemed to spark more discussion as I later added in that it is god who control who lives and who dies. God has given us the gift of life and to throw it away by committing suicide is the ultimate sin and an insult to god. Others also brought up the point that even though you make the decision to commit suicide, your decision to kill yourself effects others, such as friends and family members. Therefore, we decided that if one were to kill themselves, they would need others consent to do so.
This discussion has made me question how much freedom one should have in his life. Personally, I believe that no one has the right to end their own or anyone else's life (I guess this makes me anti-abortion). Also, the decisions and choices you make in your life, though you may not think so all of the time, affect the others around you. Focusing on the purpose of life, I believe that the goal of life is to enjoy your life on earth and help others enjoy their own lives, while still allotting time for thanking god. With this purpose of life in mind, suicide is selfish because it destroys your life, makes other peoples' lives less enjoyable, and is a sin. Overall, this "Best of the Week" has provoked many new questions and thoughts in my mind concerning life's purpose and obligations.

360 degrees: Colonialism

In past days in Academy, a theme of both history and English alike has been colonialism. Colonialism, though it may not exist today, had both negative and positive effects that have made the world what it is today. Specifically in Africa, during the 19th and 20th centuries, colonialism existed in a large scale as both the Netherlands and Britain sent men to colonize what they considered the unknown. The Europeans, because of the Natives primitiveness and how different they were from the typical European, were disregarded as "nobody" and pushed out of their land. Was this fair? Is colonialism fair? and is its impact negative or positive?

Colonialism, through a statistical point of view, had a negative world impact. As a result of the Dutch colonization of Africa, 4-8 million Africans died plus many others were mistreated and lived awful lives. During this time, African families were split up and villages tribes were broken because the Dutch needed labor. Many natives were pushed off of their lands and forced to move. This pushing around of the native people caused natives to clash with one another, resulting in more deaths. Many people lost their lands and homes to the Europeans and some even their life. However, Europeans benefited as they were able to gather the large amount of raw materials and natural resources that the continent contained. In fact, the Dutch and European economy boomed during this time, alot in part to colonization. However, the colonization also created an unequal relationship between Africans and Europeans which in part leads alot to the problem of racism in society.

One could argue that colonization was not completely bad for the Africans at all. The lives before the Europeans came infact were not that much better. Many Africans had been already dying because of lack of food, many diseases, and wars. Africa was alrdeady struggling and had been living dirt poor compared to other countries. The colonization was what they needed as it was an attempt to civiilize the Africans and create a society more like that of the Europeans. The Africans lacked structure in politics and lacked a stable economy and needed the Europeans.
Either way you look at it, colonization was a big part of history that has shaped global society into what it is today.

It Matters: Colonialism

Here's the link: http://www.globalpolitician.com/23759-poverty

In the last weeks, both our english and social studies classes have been centered around the theme of colonialsim. Specifically in english, we have been reading the book "Heart of Darkness" which is essientually about a Dutch ivory supplying company that travels into Africa to exploit it for its resources and labor. The book gives the reader a secondhand experience as to what the colonization of Africa was like. One can look at statistics or read this book, or anything similar, and figure out that Africa suffered greatly during this time. Thousands died and even more were mistreated. Though many british might have benefitted from the colonialization of Africa, Africa suffered as economies and lives were destroyed. But besides being a dark point of history, why does it matter? After all, it is just history, events that have already happenned.
Today, Africa is the most impovershed continent in the world. Many of its inhabitants are dirt poor and many others are dying from famine or diseases. Africa, compared to other continents, lacks infrastrucure in both their politics and economy. Everything, from medicine to trade seems to be a significantly worse in the African countries then in other countries. How did Africa get so far behind the rest of the world? Both the article and I agree that a major reason Africa has fallen so far behind is because of the colonization that took place centuries before. First of all, it depleaded Africa of most of its valuable resources like gold, diamond, and ivory. Also, as the colonies grew in power, they eventually became powerful then the African leaders and ruled over a majority over Africa. When they imposed european rule, they also disrupted the little economic progress Africa was making as they pratically enslaved much of the population. Though the article makes a good point about how Africa grew under European rule, I believe the opposite. I believe that Europeans benefitted but Africa didn't. The article also points out that the wealthiest African countries were the last ones to liberate. But this fact is misleading. Hearing this you might think that colonialization was good for African society when infact it shows the downfall of colonialization. After liberation, alot of countries found themselves unable to continue what the Europeans had set up for them. In other words, colonialization made Africa dependent on Europe and has kept Africa from catching up with the rest of the world.

Metacognition:First Semester

My first thoughts of English first semester began way before the beginning of school. It was during summer and I had just reluctantly chosen to read the assigned "The Blue Sweater". The title itself made me satisfied if I were never to open or read about the book. However, forced to finish it, I read. After the slow start, I began to grow more interested into the book. I found myself silently rooting for her and trying to think of advice I could give her to reach her goals. Every one of her success seemed like one of my own. By the books end, I realized surprisingly how much more I enjoyed it than I thought. The more I learned, the less ignorant I grew. This process and the lesson "Don't judge what you don't understand" was something that would continue to appear throughout my sophomore English semester.
Through English class, I noticed the importance of an open-mind and having the willingness to learn. In English, the only way to truly reach an in depth analysis of literature is to keep your mind open and persevere for the meaning or importance of a page, chapter, quote, poem, short story, or any type of art or literature. When I started The Kite Runner I found it to be interesting and enjoyed reading it. But, after some class discussions and conversations, I realized some important and analytical details that I missed. I thought I knew there was all to know about the chapter, but by listening and learning from the observations and connections from Mr. Allen and others, I was able to get more meaning out of the book and enjoy it a lot more. This was even truer with King Lear. While reading it I that I knew exactly what Shakespeare meant and thought I identified most of the important quotes and lines. But once again, I was amazed when others had noticed much more like the style of writing and the poetic language used, and after hearing their findings, I felt more accomplished and enlightened. By listening, wanting to learn, and accepting others thoughts I was able to learn that both analysis and collaboration were tools that could be used to find deeper meaning in literature and life in general.
Finally, my thoughts on the most recent literature, Sophie's world. Frankly, I wasn't to excited because I didn't know philosophy, the main subject of the book, that well. But in hopes of learning it more and perhaps going to like it I read and annotated carefully. With the help of other classmates and Mr. Allen, I was able to understand pretty well the views of each philosopher and apply their views on life to today's issues. During the unit, both Darrell and I found that we continued to agree with the views of the philosopher that we were reading. I couldn't figure out why that was until I remembered that in English, there are no "right" answers. As long as one can support his views, opinions, and ideas with evidence, logic, or science, one can claim whatever they believe. Besides the similarities between the philosophers, I found that the reason why we were always agreeing with the philosopher we were reading is because they were able to persuade us to agree with their ideas using logic and science. Overall, There are many lessons that I’ve learned and traits I’ve adopted when it comes to the first semester that I hope I continue to keep in mind and use during both English and the real world.