Metacognition: Jane Eyre Mash Up

First thing's first: This project was fantastic and I loved every minute of it!
        Now the details...

        I have to say that this project truly tested a lot of different as well as similar aspects in thought process to that of a simple essay. For this project, honestly, when we were first assigned it, I was happy about couple of things, the fact that it required no analysis therefore might be easier, and that we had a lot of liberty in the connections we could make. So, that's how it all started for me. After we had selected a theme, I thought the search for the quotes would be really simple. However, I noticed that for this project there was more needed in order to do a good job. For one thing, the analysis was completely embedded within the search. As I was searching for the quotes, I had to sit down and really break down and analyze the theme and the possible connections and meanings that could come from it. Unlike an essay, this analysis wasn't subject to solely the book, Jane Eyre, but its meaning outside of the text, in the real world. On top of that, the choice of our sources would reflect the analysis, a picture is truly worth a thousand words.
        Another aspect that required me to come to terms with was organization. This mash up was particular in a way that on the outside there needs to be no sign of organization just a - as it is called - a mash up, but in order to reach that point, you had to have such a specific organization. After we had collected the quotes/pictures/sources, the organization was the most difficult part, something that isn't as true in an essay. In order to organize the mash up, we had to try several methods: We tried organizing on the computer, on a word document, and then finally we ended up printing all our sources and cutting them up and organizing them on the ground. It was a very frustrating process because as we were organizing, we had to choose ourselves which part of the theme we wanted to represent and bring out in a source that said a lot of things. So we had to make a lot of difficult decisions by weighing the individual meanings in one source, and picking the heaviest one. It was almost like pruning of a poem because we might've appreciated all the different aspects that the source brought, but then in the end we had to pick one. At that moment it felt that we lost a part of the source...
     I think that overall it was a very good experience, and I think for the future I'd like to work more on the pruning stage, or the organization stage. For me, I thought it was really interesting how the thinking process while writing a poem could be used for creating a mash up!  
 

Change of Mind: Jane Eyre

          I honestly think that it is more than strange to marry someone a lot older than you, and I mean old enough to be your father/mother. For me, I think I can tolerate up to 10 years age difference, but when that number increases to 30 year difference like that between Jane and Mr.Rochester, well let's just say I'm not a big fan. However, I find that as I read more and more and as Charlotte Bronte reveals more aspects of their love, I'm further convinced that my previous conception of the thought is slightly unjust to the rest of the world and love.
         After reading a bit over half of the story, I feel that through the relationship and the conversations that Rochester and Jane share that age really doesn't make a difference. For example, I at first found myself agreeing with Mrs. Fairfax's first impression of the marriage. Complete shock and aversion to the idea that they were getting married. Mrs.Fairfax warns Jane of getting involved with a man old enough to be her father, which I thought was well justified. So, I still wasn't convinced despite the reality that Jane and Rochester felt this intense love for each other. I guess I didn't really appreciate the dialogue that Rochester and Jane were able to share with each other. I was in a way superficial by looking at what the pair looks like on the outside. It was Mrs. Fairfax's change in point of view that really persuaded me as well. After Mrs.Fairfax is finally convince that the marriage will happen despite all her warnings, she finally learns to accept it. Why? Because Jane and Rochester make each other so happy.
         This in turn made me think, why did I have the viewpoint of marrying someone old enough to be the father/mother is immoral? For Mrs.Fairfax she carried this viewpoint at first because of her time period, there were a lot of restrictions on marriage and social status. However, in a time like the 21st century, where anything can happen, why was I still thinking this way? This in a way proves the fact that superficiality that we accuse Bronte's time of having, isn't really gone. I found that in a way the characters of Jane Eyre could be a bit more 21st century than I was. Since, my conception about who you "should" marry was based solely on age, but what really should be addressed is love. Realizing this has helped me realize the open-minded nature of love and I find myself being more open to the idea of marriage between two people with such a drastic age difference.
         

360 Degrees: Marrying Someone much older (Jane Eyre)

Marrying someone who is at least 30 years older. 

         What a strange sentence, but the truth is it exists today as it did during Jane Eyre's era. There's a lot of questions that I'd like to ask Jane and Mr.Rochester about their undying love for each other, even though nearly 32 years separate the two lives. I mean, what allows them to be together? Can love truly overcome all obstacles? How does it work within the brain? Does it seem moral to marry someone who could be your father/mother? What is there to gain from marrying someone much older than you? Disadvantages? (Aside from true love). How does agreeing with this sentence impact us or define us? What makes it hard for us to accept this concept for some people?

          This phenomenon that occurs in our society is something that I've been wanting to understand, and Jane Eyre has helped me to understand a bit further. I'd like to think from the relationship between Jane and Rochester that for Jane, especially, the reason why she can come to love Rochester might have something to do with her own past childhood. Jane grew up fatherless for he had passed away, and grew up with her Aunt who was supposed to substitute her mother figure, but that didn't work out either. Therefore, even after losing her parents, she felt no love in her life. So is it possible that she was able to marry a man so much older than her because not only does he play her husband, but a patriarchal role? Perhaps there is influence of one's past and childhood, especially since our childhood forms our perceptions and foundation of love.

       One concept of love that Jane Eyre also touches on is the sense of morality when marrying between such "unequals" so to speak. In Jane Eyre, it is Mrs.Fairfax who really points this out. She's the one who gives Jane the sort of guilty look, and a bit of a lecture of Jane and Rochester's inequality, both in terms of financial wise as well as age. I kind of see myself along the lines of Mrs. Fairfax, kind of giving caveats to possible results of the inequality between them (age wise). However, Mrs. Fairfax's final response and reaction to Jane and Rochester getting married is of joy for them. That for me is another way of saying, "if they're truly happy and love each other, then why not?"

             In a way, marrying someone much older than you can actually better the relationship in a way that both the husband and wife could overcome these prejudices and viewpoints and actually get married. I think in a different way, it strengthens the relationship. Love truly knows no bounds and feels no aging.