My Favorite Reading in College Lit.

So I'm running out of things to blog about, but since it's the end of the quarter I thought I'd reflect on everything we've done and all the books and short stories we've read.

I came to conclusion that my favorite piece that we read, although it was weird and super creepy, was the yellow wallpaper. I'm the type of reader that likes to use my imagination and Charlotte Gilman left a lot of room for that. She never told you exactly what was going on and left a lot of open ends. I found myself confused and questioning the majority of the story, but it kept my intrigued and kept me reading.

At first I wasn't completely sure what relation it had to Jane Eyre, but I pieced some things together. For example the women caught in the room could represent Bertha, because both of them are locked in the attic of a house. The lady that was stuck behind the Yellow Wallpaper could represent Bertha, because she too was trapped and trying to escape, but she only got out and night, the same way Bertha only escaped her room at night.

As weird as it was, I found it kind of interesting. I also like the fact we didn't have to annotate and it was relatively short(:

First Impressions of Persepolis

Persepolis is a lot different then any book I've ever read. This is probably because I'm not acquainted with any sort of graphic novel. I've never read a comic book, the only connection I really have is reading the comics in the newspaper on rare occasions.

I kind of like it. It's really different because I'm used to focusing primarily on words and not so much pictures, but I like the visuals. The pictures really help convey how the character is feeling, instead of actually spelling it out. It defiantly teaches you a new perspective of literature. It's going to take a little getting used to, but it seems like a good skill to have. In comparison to Jane Eyre, I think it will read a lot faster with a lot less in depth focus on descriptions.

Not only is it a new form of literature, but it's a new topic. I don't know much about the Islamic Revolution and I've never read about it. It'll be interesting reading in this new style as well as learning about something I don't know very much about. I guess I always thought of comics as a hobby, something you do in your free time, not necessarily an effective mean of learning.

Wrongs of Passage

1. I agree with some aspects of Sydney Cook's paper, like the fact that Americans rites of passage do seem to be primarily focused on materialistic things, such as birthdays, presents, and alcohol. Then again that isn't always true. The rites of passage the Sydney mentioned weren't based on ritual or anything spiritual, but there are things such as being baptised or confirmed that could be a passage in someones life, it just depends on the person and what they value.

2. I guess I haven't really gone through anything that has been a significant rite of passage in my life, but I did turn 18. Nothing really changed, I didn't feel any different and I wasn't a new person, but I did realize that everything I did was on my shoulders. No longer could I pawn off my problems onto my parents. I was responsible for my actions and the consequences carried over onto me. I do consider this a positive experience, because my life is now completely MY life and I'm allowed to live it however I want.

JANE EYREEEEE

Hahhaa, I know a lot of people think I'm crazy, but I really liked the book Jane Eyre. I thought it had an interesting love story, especially for that time period where a master marrying his governess was unheard of. Also, the old English writing style actually grew on me.

 I chose to read the second half of the book for my project and I'm actually really glad I did. I would have to agree with a lot of people in the fact that the beginning of the book is really slow, I almost considered spark noting it, but I'm glad I stuck with it, because I really warmed up to it.

I don't want to ruin it for everyone that hasn't read it yet, even though most of you won't, so I'm not going to talk about the ending. I know we watched the movie in class, but it cut out a huge chunk of the book, probably one of the better parts. I think this was defiantely a mistake on the filmmakers part. Although the first half was pretty dry and uneventful, the ending reads a lot faster and I'd recommend reading it.

Overall it was a lot better then Catcher in the Rye,
ahhhhhhhhhhhh I hated that book.

Final Reflections on Jane Eyre

1. Jane was presented with a very tough decision, whether or not she should stay with Mr. Rochester. If I was Jane I would have probably stayed with Mr. Rochester, because she really doesn't have anywhere to go. She doesn't have a family or any amount of money that's going to last her long. He really did seem to care about her and the situation with his wife would put him in a tough position. I know Jane is a very stubborn individual and leaving obviously was the best decision for her, but I couldn't stand the idea of wandering the streets with no money and no place to stay.

2. After reading Jane Eyre, I was surprised because I actually like the story. The first hundred pages were slow and I wasn't sure I'd actually finish it, but once it got going it was good. I really liked the love story behind it, it was something you wouldn't expect, especially around that time period. Relationships between a master and his governess were rare and I think it worked contribute to the overall read. Also, I didn't think I would like the Old English writting style , but as the story went on I got used to it and it actually started to grow on me.

3. I think this book should be taught in College Literature, because it does go well with the whole 'Coming of Age' theme this quarter. It shows what life was like for a teenager in the 1800s, it's a much different perspective then what we're used to. It also is written in a different text then most people are used to. In college we're going to have to read plenty of books written in Old English and I think that this was a good introduction to get us ready for college, before were thrown into it.

Archtypes

In class we were talking about archetypes and how it is repeated over and over again stories plot lines. The most common of the archetypes is the heroic.

It usually follows this general pattern:
-the character beginning in a land that's secure and dependent
-call to adventure
-involves divine helpers/guide
-many tests/challenges
-gains treasure
-then the ultimate challenge
-sometimes death/resurrection
-returns home victorious or with a new sense of self-realization

Many of today's movies follow this plot line closely, if not exactly.

I recently finished reading the book Twilight and noticed that it had almost the same structure as the heroic archetype.

It started out with Bella living in the small town of Forks with her dad. Her life was secure, but pretty boring. So when the mysterious Edward Cullen came into her life things changed from boring to exciting and when she began to discover the secrets behind Edward, that he indeed was a vampire, a whole new adventure unfolded. Bella decided that she too wanted to become a vampire and certain members of Edward's family helped guide and support her in her choice, while others disagreed with her choice and tried to influence her in the opposite way. There was also the Volturi that proved to be a huge obstacle that Bella had to overcome. She also had to battle with the fact that she would never be able to see her parents again, but she made her decision anyway.
In Twilight I'd have to say that the treasure she ultimately gained was Edward. The climax in the book, or the ultimate challenge, was when Bella was finally bitten by Edward. Not all heroic archetypes have the seventh step, death or resurrection, but I'd consider the transformation Bella went through to be the same thing in a sense. Although in this book, Bella doesn't return to her actual home in Forks with her dad, but rather finds a new home with Edward and his family.

Fire and Ice

We talked about all the different motifs in Jane Eyre and I don't know maybe I'm not a very close reader, but I rarely picked up on any. The only recurrence I found was fire and ice, so I figured Charlotte Bronte must have really wanted the reader to pick up on it, if she made it obvious enough for even me to pick out.

When fire and ice are used together, I typically interpret fire to represent passion and desire, while I assume that ice represents just the opposite. Likewise fire is often grouped with love, while ice represents hatred.

The main character, Jane, seems to have the fiery personality of anyone in the book. She's passionate about her schooling as well as her job, which allows her to quickly excel. She's also fiery in the way that assaults John Reed in a time period where something like that is unheard of. Shortly after that, she yells at Mrs. Reed yet again proving her feisty personality. Not only does the scene show the fire that Jane has, but the ice/ hatred she has for Mrs. Reed. Jane shows hatred towards most of the residents at Gateshead (all except Bessie), but the love that Jane also possesses comes out in Lowood and Thornfeild. She shows fire in the way she cares about Miss Temple, Helen Burns, Mrs, Fairfox, Mr. Rochester, and Adele.

Mr. Rochester becomes a main character in the book upon Jane's arrival at Thornfeild. On their first encounter he seems arrogant and icy towards Jane, but as the book goes on his regards to Jane quickly soften.

I don't think that Charlotte Bronte intends for her characters to be strictly firey or icy, but for them to have a combination of traits to make them different from each other and show the way different character interact.