Metacognition: Jane Eyre

While reading Jane Eyre, I saw a slight change in my reading habits and began to understand more of how I work as a reader. There were some parts that would just be descriptions for a full page. For these, sometimes I would read enough to capture the essence and then would skim the rest of the paragraph or page until something 'interesting' came up. I've always been the type of person who has read novels where something is always happening. I need something in there to keep me wondering and pulled towards the novel. I wish that with this book, I would've taken more time to read these slower passages and see the beauty that came from the writing. To be quite honest, I feel that at times I would read just so I knew would be prepared for a reading quiz. Yes, at times they could be obnoxious or what I found annoying, but in the future, I'd like to not be so quick to dismiss such passages from the start. Though I tried to become more aware as the novel went on, I hope that in the future, I would be more careful with parts like these and take them slowly rather then just try getting past them.

However, as the novel progressed, I began trying to read these more and paying attention to these details. As hard as it was at times, I attempted taking breathers and reading slower to take it all in. I know in class we talked about Jane's submission to others and looking for something to admire in other people, while putting herself down. Then I realized that this occurs in our society as well. We sometimes look to others whom we perceive to be better off in some way or another. We see people bashing on themselves because they don't think they are good enough. Over the reading of this novel, I began to make deeper connections between our society and Victorian society. I began to see the importance of Jane's story and how it might've impacted female readers of that time period.

This really shocked me about my thinking, because without really noticing it, I was able to make valid connections within and outside of the text and this illustrates an improvement I've made over the reading and year as well. This book may not have been my favorite this year, but I learned that I can bear with it and learn something from it. Yes, it might've been much too slow for my taste, but that shows how our society differs from Jane's and we can then compare fast and slow cultures as well as how the culture impacts the speeds of life. After reading Jane Eyre and thinking about my thinking while I read it, I was able to not only pinpoint what I've liked about my reading and learning habits, but what I would like to improve as well.