Metacognition: Jane Eyre Mashup

The Jane Eyre Mashup was a lot of collecting, searching, and organizing of the books I have read this year, especially Jane Eyre, as well as movies, songs, and quotes that may have resonated with me. 

This project allowed my thoughts to be very broad, but they also became very contained as I sifted through all we have done this year.  I was surprised that I was able to stay on task for as long as I did.  This project required work to be done every day, for a sustained period of time, and I succeeded in doing that.  Although I was please with that, I would like for my thinking to follow structure better.  I do enjoy having a creative, wild mind, but for projects like this, a simple-thinking brain would suit just fine. 

My ability to stay focused for a long time was truly effective.  I learned that I always had the ability, that it is all about desire.  I wanted to do well on this project, so I worked with a sense of urgency, especially during the final day.  Obviously it would be nice if I could always work with that sense of urgency.  That would definitely be something I would like to change.  I do believe though, that with some extra effort, my interest in all subjects in school could soar, leading to more success. 

As I stated before I do at times enjoy a wild, creative brain; however, in some scenarios it would quite helpful to be able to turn a switch and be able to structure my thoughts and ideas without going off on a tangent. I don't know if that is possible, turning a switch that would make me think in a different way, but I am sure I can change my thinking slightly in order to accomplish what I want.

My thinking has been challenged rigorously this whole year, but this project challenged my thinking in a whole different way.  Structure and organization were key, but paradoxically so were imagination and creativity.  I am struggling with the fine line between the two sides.  This project was definitely a useful way to make more observations about my brain, and how it works.  As well as how I am going to need it to work in the future.

What If: Mashups

What if mashups became a common tool used to express complex ideas?  Could they replace genres like books, newspaper articles, and/ or videos?  Mashups are a new and possibly upcoming way of making a claim or observation using multiple sources.  Mashups can take multiple forms, like video, written paper, etc.  I believe that mashups have the potential to become something commonplace in the future.

Why would mashups need to replace the genres like novels, music, etc?  In other words, what do mashups do that our current genres can not do?  First, mashups provide multiple viewpoints.  The mashups we are working out contain around eight to fifteen sources.  That means that fifteen different perspectives on one issue form one whole idea.  This postmodern idea that fragments form the whole shows us that mashups could possibly be the next big thing. 

Also, mashups go further than the current genres because it requires more research.  For example, Khaled Hosseni's Kite Runner most likely required little research.  The most i could imagine him doing, is making visits to Kabul, San Francisco, and also doing research on the human neurological responses like regret.  On the other hand, the mashups that we are doing now demand that we use at least a dozen, maybe even two dozen sources.  This means obviously that we need to find the sources, then peruse them for proper mashup material.

Mashups go further than the current genres because they are more complex, and therefore produce more complex claims or ideas.  Using Khaled Hosseni as an example again, his memoir inside a fiction was about as complex a narrative scheme that an author has ever implemented.  However, with mashups a memoir within a fiction is combined with other novels, songs, videos, or articles.  These sources are all working together within one mashup (in whatever form the creator chooses). 

I truly believe that mashups have the potential to overcome the genres we see today for the reasons i mentioned above.  I also hope that mashups pass the genres because of its ability to communicate complex ideas. 

360 Degrees: Facebook Use

Facebook has become a primary tool used to communicate and keep up with friends in this day and age. It is a widely used method to manage your social life.  However, Facebook also has the damaging sideaffects of poor grades in students, addicts, and has even ironically done something that directly contradicts its purpose- pull people apart. 

From the positive spectrum, Facebook has done it all.  It is used by over 200 million people all around the world.  To all these people, Facebook is a convinient way to talk to their friends, family, and collegues.  Facebook has even helped in dethroning a vicious dictator in north Africa.  Aside from the bright side, Facebook has a dark side that many people ignore.

Facebook's addicting side has served as an inconvinient distractor for many students, at least in America.  A quick second away, Facebook is always available to provide relief to overwhelmed students.  Surrounded by friends and games, kids have a hard time concentrating on what is really important, and are lured into the Facebook trap.

Facebook can be a drug to those who abuse its purpose.  Some stay up late at night updating statuses, following friends, or uploading pics of themselves in their favorite footsie pajamas.  But is that what Facebook was made for?  How much is too much?  These are lines that each individual needs to draw for themselves, not just with Facebook, but with other unimportant things like Twitter, MySpace, etc.

Facebook, ironically, defeats its own purpose because it does something nobody would have expected- pull people apart.  Why go over to your friends house to talk about how cute Christopher Jenkins looked in class today if you can instant message her on Facebook?  This effect is one of many postmodern ideas today.

These negative effects of Facebook can all be intertwined.  Once an individual gets on Facebook, to connect with friends, he/she becomes attached to the website- eventually addicted.  Then, that individual is ironically pulled away from what they were originally looking for.