Metacognition: Jane Eyre Writing Assignment

I believe that our group for the Jane Eyre script writing assignment (Anna, Meghana, and I) worked very well together in order to complete the assignment. We met on Friday and attempted to complete the whole thing. This of course didn't work. Three friends+ Friday night+ MANY distractions= getting about one and a half pages of the script done with topic changes about every five seconds. We found that starting the project was much harder than it seemed, especially without having a direct end goal; we were just letting the discussion flow and hoped it would end up in the right place. However, though it didn't work out the way we wanted (we hoped to get everything done and out of the way besides edits), it sure did help. We were much more relaxed throughout the process and it gave time to let the ideas sink in.

What I was shocked about was how much I learned from my group. In the script, when I was reading through it, I found myself having many thoughts to add in and piggy-backing off of ideas. This worked out much better than our original intention of us each covering a character. Every time, there was something new and intriguing, and I found that what another person said caused me to have cool ideas as well. This shows the balance in our group, where we tried to cover as much ground as possible by editing several times.

Another thing I liked about the way our group worked was that we let the ideas flow into the basis of the script, then afterwords we tried to find text evidence. This is because we knew it was all there, so we'd much rather get out what we thought and wanted to say, then we'd go back and cite things.

Sure there was some last minute going over, but that's expected. There was some shouting during the editing process, but honestly I preferred that because it meant our group put in the effort to get together and work face-to-face rather than through a computer screen. And I believe this in part is what brought success to our group. In the end, it turned out just the way I'd expected from a group assignment and I was proud of the work we'd done.

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.

Metacognition: Semester 1 Reflection

This semester, I've found that I've analyzed things in different ways than I did before. Previously, I just thought of writing as something you merely do and that's just it. I mean I knew there was something to it, but I didn't think of it as musical. I thought it was part natural and part practice, which as you practice, you could say becomes more natural. I read it and love it, but I never thought of it musically. Learning about the rhythm of writing at first seemed like to much analyzing. But soon after, I realized that it had benefits. It made me look and think twice when reading.

For example, in The Kite Runner, the rhythm made me think of word choice and that made me realize how much thought was put into it. Like we talked about, rewriting all of it with different words just didn't have the same effect. By capturing this concept, I was able to understand it better. Though I haven't particularly concentrated on it in my writing, I have noticed that it's more concise and flows more. By learning about rhythm and noticing it while reading, they are slowly infuse into my work. By reading even more in the future and slowly concentrating more on flow, my writing can improve even more.

In addition, I've found that I look at poetry differently now. Before, I used to really dislike it, mainly the writing part but also reading it. I prefered novels and the like. However, just by flipping through the poetry book we got, I realized how many poems I remembered and realized how interesting they are to read. They have such great flow and use such wonderful vocabulary that anything else would just fall short. Especially after reading "Beauty" by Emily Dickinson, I realized how much meaning there is to so few lines. I've discovered that I do enjoy reading poetry, because it's so different and there's so many ways to interpret it. I'm not saying I like writing it because I haven't really given it a try and don't know how to achieve that quality and effect. Perhaps because I don't know the techniques or maybe because coming up with ideas for poetry makes my brain explode. But what I did discover is that whether it works or not, it's worth a try. Because in the end, I'll either realize I like reading it but writing it isn't my thing, or I'll see that I can do something different and learn more through that.

Through this semester in English, I've pretty much learned that I shouldn't shoot things down before I know more about them. Because if you look and give it a shot, there might be something you really enjoy. I can't say I like everything, so even if I try it out and don't like it, at least I can support my opinion of why not, and appreciate that I did make an effort.

Metacognition: The Kite Runner Essay

While working on The Kite Runner essay, a specific type of thinking that helped me create my essay was resonance. I first let my pen flow and brainstormed several thesis ideas and expanded on a few with thoughts that burst into my head. After a day or two, I looked back at my list and tried to see what I could find more levels with, what I could prove well, and what interested me. I finally lowered my list down to my final thesis, which was saying that Amir can only gain closure with Hassan through Sohrab. This required me to make several connections and use resonance to relate the scenes. By doing so, I was able to see how my evidence and connections came to life and really did make sense. I think this was an effective method for me. By writing down all the ideas and possible evidence that jumped right out at me while brainstorming, I was able to see what would work right off the bat. Then, by waiting, I was able to get a fresher perspective, so in reality, whatever theses that may have been awkward, I was able to realize that and eliminate them. This really helped me find the best thesis I came up with and one that I cared to write about.

I was really surprised that I was able to make deep and valid connections, and that I didn't have to rewrite my plan, because for once it all just clicked and made sense. It made me feel more confident since what I connected within the text really worked, and that I knew exactly what I was doing. I realized that I am better at understanding what goes on in books than I thought I was. I liked that my evidence proved my point, in both simple and obvious ways, but then I drew in on them to make it deep and worthwhile. I found that my writing can make an impact and I am able to prove a valid point. One thing I would like to work better on in is writing openers that are catchy and not just boring.